I'm SO SORRY about the lateness+shortness of this chapter. Melbourne had a massive heat wave that involved multiple days above 40. My brain died. I promise next week I'll have it on time.

Felix used to call himself a freelancer. Now, if he simply mentioned the word, deadly glares would be sent his direction until he hurriedly explained his meaning. He had no specific friend group, preferring to hang out with whoever caught his interest that day. Most people accepted him pretty easily; he was a charismatic guy.

Today he decided to entertain himself by walking into the cafeteria and sitting next to the first person he saw wearing grey. Why grey, he wasn't too sure. Perhaps he thought not too many people would willingly wear grey.

He recognised the person he ended up picking. Wash always wore grey. Felix sat across from the blonde, cheerily greeting him.

"What do you want, Felix?" Oh, right. Maine hung with him. Creepy... really big guy.

"Uh... Can I hang out with you guys?"

Maine frowned at Wash. Seriously; why would they have a problem with him?

"Of course you can Felix!" Doc smiled warmly at him, ignoring the looks from his friends.

Felix returned the smile, grateful that at least someone here wasn't a freaky ex-freelancer.

"Get the fuck away from me, Freelancer." York wasn't really surprised at Church's hostility. It still kind of annoyed him, though.

"What's your problem with my gang, dude, seriously."

Church rolled his eyes. York knew exactly why. He just wanted Church to admit it. Instead of sounding like a 'caring little brother', Church just flipped the guy off, returning to his food.

"Ugh. Anyway, I wasn't here to talk to you. Where's Tex?"

Church blinked at that. "Why the fuck do you want Tex?"

York allowed a victorious smirk to show. "I just wanted to talk to my gang's newest member."

"WHAT!" The yell echoed across the cafeteria, causing York to chuckle.

"What's up here?" Tex had quickened her place (slightly) at the yell, alarmed but used to Church's anger.

"You fucking joined Freelancer! What the fuck is wrong with you?" Church was standing, hands gripping the table. His eyes flicked from York to Tex, completely ignoring everything but the two.

"Church I-" I had to keep you safe. "It's not your business what I do or don't do." She wasn't about to let all that out now. Had she her way, she never would. It would be too much for Church. He had enough on his shoulders already.

"Tex... They're dangerous. You'll get yourself... Caught, or hurt." He couldn't say killed, couldn't bear to even risk jinxing it.

"I can take care of myself asshole." She walked off, closely followed by York, who had a smug grin on this face Church instantly despised.

Tucker, who had been silent up until then, clearly frightened by the anger radiating from Church, decided to speak up. "She'll be fine. It's Tex."

Church responded by burying his head in his hands, groaning loudly. "I said the same about Carolina, remember?"

Kai watched the confrontation between Tex and Church with interest. They were loud enough that half the room could hear them. "Wonder what's going on there."

"I honestly don't care, so long as they don't involve us somehow." Simmons had agreed to study with the other three, so long as they left him alone when he told them to.

Kai had noticed Simmons grouchiness a little quicker than Donut had. "What's up with him?" she whispered to Donut.

"I have no idea. Has Grif said anything?"

"Nope."

"He seems a little odd too." Donut took a good like at Grif whist his sister agreed, noting the deadly glare being sent his way. "Uh... Grif?"

Kai rolled her eyes. "He's suspicious of the fact we're whispering to eachother."

"Grif! You know I'm gay."

"You kissed her once."

"Once. Besides, she kissed me... years ago!"

"Seriously bro. You hold grudges way too long.

Epsilon's favourite pastime was messing with people. He was very good at it too. Being at school, surrounded by teachers, he could only use his words, but he still found a way. One of his favourite targets was Omega. The guy seemed to be on the edge of an explosion constantly. Also, Epsilon had worked at him long enough that he knew exactly what to say to get the outcome he wanted.

"So, what happened between you and Tex? I've heard a lot of stories." He loved the way Omega's face changed upon hearing Epsilon's voice; the thin eyes glaring at the table, unwilling to look up. The hands that turned to shaking fists, the way he hunched over slightly and shook with each breath.

"Did you cheat on her? I can't see how. Not many people like you enough for that. Did she cheat on you? Is that it? She probably got bored of you." Sigma and Theta tried to soothe their brother. Epsilon watched in amusement, knowing that even they couldn't stop him getting the reaction he wanted. Even so, he wanted to enjoy how desperately they were trying to calm him down.

"Maybe she just got sick of you. But that doesn't really explain why she hates you so much. Hmm... Let's think. What would make the untouchable Tex hate you the most...? Did you hurt her? Is that it? I can see her being very upset by someone she trusts attacking her. Perhaps you lost your temper. Not very hard to imagine. Maybe you left her a few bruises after a fight... Or was it something more?" Epsilon smiled, feeling the sensation of triumphant glee surge through his body. He looked at Sigma as she tried to convince Omega to ignore it. He loved knowing more than others, or, in this case, knowing some secret they thought they had to themselves alone.

"Did you rape her?" He hadn't finished the sentence before Omega had thrown off his siblings, racing towards Epsilon.

"How dare you fucking accuse me of that, you sick little asshole!" Epsilon had a thin, light build. He was used to running and dodging, usually while laughing slightly manically. None of Omega's punches hit their mark, which seemed to infuriate him further.

"Oooh. That got you. Does that mean it's true?"

Omega was desperately trying to strangle him when one of the teachers, with an odd last name of Four-Seven-Niner, came to intervene. "What's happening here?"

Epsilon adopted an innocent voice, in stark contrast to Omega, who continued to curse and threaten. "It's Omega, miss. He's gone nuts."

Four-Seven-Niner didn't have much trouble believing it. Omega's rage was known even among the teachers. "Omega, calm yourself down, or you can swear to the walls in detention. He didn't seem to notice her warning, but his sister walked up to now-fuming boy, placed a firm hand on his shoulder and led him away. Her face was stony, like all emotion had been leaked out of her.

Epsilon grinned as he overheard a few rambling mutterings 'I'll make him taste oblivion. Which tastes worse than red bull!' It always took a lot longer for Omega to calm down than it did for him to run out of coherent threats to yell. Epsilon returned to the table at which the majority of the Freelancers sat.

"Do you really have to do that, mate? My head is still ringing from his yell."

"It's fun, Wyoming. Best fun to be had here."

"You're sick." Epsilon replied to South's mutter with a grin, clearly unfazed by her opinion.

"Where's York and North?"

"Most likely introducing dear Tex to the inner workings of our gang."

So, she gave in. Shame, she was fun to annoy too. But it wasn't a good idea to torment those in Freelancer; they were the main reason Epsilon hadn't been beaten up, and he wanted to keep it that way. "That would explain the yelling I heard."

"Of course Church is worried about her." Carolina seemed irritated. Epsilon wanted to make a remark suggesting incest, but there was the whole Freelancer-protected-him thing, and York would certainly listen to Carolina. That boy was so love-struck it was sickening.

[Linebreak]

C.T. found very quickly how frightening it was to be a possible target of a gang. Ever since she had left Freelancer, not wanting to be involved after the Carolina incident, she'd feared a visit from Epsilon or Wyoming or even Carolina every time she was alone.

It didn't help that she had no one to counter being alone. If it weren't for South, C.T. was pretty damn sure she'd end up dead in some back alley one day.

Surprisingly, despite Wash being the perfect example of her fears, she allowed herself to work with him, even agreeing when his friends offered her a seat beside him. She just managed to ignore the half-hidden scars beneath his hair, pretending like the two of them had no involvement with Freelancer. It helped that Maine scared even them away.

Classes resumed, ever-boring and annoying. Church didn't let his eyes leave the classroom door, waiting for the moment Tex would enter.

She never did. Church's worry only increased with time. He tried to deny the feeling of betrayal, but it was there nevertheless. Tex knew he despised York and his gang, and she knew why. Was she that determined to prove herself as a badass that she would join a gang? Sure, Freelancer usually did little more than steal petty stuff (except for Epsilon), but they had gotten into deep shit at least once.

What were you thinking?

"So, what do I have to do?"

North looked at York, who coughed slightly and replied. "We usually come up with some little task as an initiation."

Yes, I know how these things work. Tex fidgeted, wondering how inventive the two were with their initiations.

"Uh, maybe we can get her to steal something? Have her prove she's not afraid to break laws?" North offered.

Tex couldn't hide a snort of laughter. She had done much worse than steal, and was fine with it. York noticed her amusement. "Well, do you have a suggestion?"

This 'initiation' is just a waste of my time. I need to get rid of the Insurrection as soon as possible. "How about I give you everything I know about the Insurrection. Is that worth a membership?"

North shrugged, York nodded. "I'll pick you up after school. Don't tell anyone about anything we've told you."

"Obviously." Tex checked her phone, noting it was almost lunch. She had spent a fair amount of time being told the majority of info about Freelancer. They should have waited until they could trust me, and even then only let me know what I needed. Church was wrong in fearing the Freelancers. They were disorganised and badly lead.

Hopefully they'll still be good enough.

Is it wrong and creepy that I loved writing the bit where Epsilon was tormenting Omega? Anyway. I used a shit ton of hints in this chapter. Trying to reveal all the stuff I've planned, without rushing it is hard.

Oh! One last thing. I was at a train station a few days ago and ended up inventing the first-meet scene between Donut and Sister. I have a few more ideas of that type bubbling around; later on, would you guys like a flashback style chapter or something?