Veronika was always faintly amused when the group gathered together. Whether it was plotting out a mission, exchanging information, tutoring each other for school or in practical skills like shooting and lock-picking, or simply to hang out and watch cheesy movies. The group had a rightness that felt similar to a military unit at the top of their game; a friendship borne of trust and extreme situations when your life was on the line. When one was gone, the others felt it sorely.
She mused that she much prefered this sort of circle than the Family over which her parents ruled. Being the daughter of Tsar Ivan had its advantages of course, but there was a certain edge and definite lack of brutality that this gathering lacked. It was much nicer, but Veronika knew she would forever walk the line between her Comrades and her friends. They all would.
She watched Melissa out of the corner of her eye. There was something much bigger going on between her and Lidia than a simple bouquet. She had been there when it had happened.
12:47
Third Period
Earlier that Day
Veronika wasn't particularly bothered by Tuesdays, or any day of the week really. It was only that on Tuesdays the school required that she meet with a college advisory for fifteen minutes at the end of second period.
She shifted slightly in the purple plastic chair, mentally reviewing the Gilded Age and it's importance in American history. Her counselor, Mr. Thatch, was helping someone else at the moment. The basketball player lounging behind the aide's desk to her left, kept checking her out and it was beginning to get on her nerves. Lidia was an aide this period and typically they chatted or played Sticks to pass the time, but today she was out on an errand.
Veronika idly contemplated shooting him with her watch air-pellet gun. It would be a lovely distraction, but she was sure Lidia would find out and that would mean losing her watch under contract breach. He looked her up and down again and waggled his eyebrows. Her fingers twitched over her watch. One more time, I swear, one more time and-
"-I'm going to scream!" yelled a familiar voice.
Impeccable timing, as usual, she thought with sour humor. As these things usually go, she was interrupted by an uncanny bit of comedic timing that only one person would ever be able to pull off.
Melissa stormed through the small hallway that connected the main office to the counselors' offices and the nurse's office. She was cradling a rather beautiful bouquet of flowers to her chest and looked murderous. Her towering rage was momentarily sidetracked at finding the Russian sitting there.
"Afternoon," she snapped, glaring at the flowers in her arms. "Please tell me that you had nothing to do with this."
Veronika raised an eyebrow eloquently. The basketball player behind the desk looked on interestedly, leaning forward over the desk to take a better look at Melissa. He leered at her suggestively and Veronika sent up a brief prayer for his soul. Ten seconds later the jock was on the floor clutching his stomach and Melissa was glowering over him.
"Do it again, I DARE you!" she hissed.
"That is enough," Veronika said quietly, too amused to put any threat in the words.
A dramatic sigh was heard from the doorway. Veronika turned to see Lidia, leaning against the door frame and glaring at Melissa. She caught a fleeting look of satisfaction cross Lidia's face when she saw the bouquet in Melissa's arms. Then again, it might just have been a trick of the light.
"Now I have to listen to him complain for the next week. Thanks," she said dryly.
Melissa turned ever so slowly to look at Lidia and even Veronika wanted to take a step back.
"YOU." The malice and blood-lust compacted into that one word should've been Lidia's specialty.
Lidia raised both eyebrows, took a step back and then gave Veronika a curious look. She shrugged in return. It was most likely something to do with a boy or an internet stalker or something mundane like joyriding.
"You did this," Melissa said quietly, an odd expression on her face. "I want you to know that you did this. Whatever happens next, it is all on you, Lidia Anne Cooper. You." She held up the bouquet, glaring fiercely into Lidia's ice blue eyes.
A thick rope of uneasiness snaked it's way into Veronika's stomach. This wasn't right. Melissa was loud, annoying, arrogant, oddly proper in her speech, melodramatic, paranoid, extremely talented and completely irreplaceable. But rarely ever was she serious.
Lidia's expression shut itself down into a completely unreadable mask at that and Melissa swept out the door, not bothering to say goodbye.
Veronika had frowned then and she had frowned at the earlier rant on privacy. It appeared Lidia had overstepped herself and done something on one of Melissa's highly important computers. Both of them were aware enough to never breach the subject while arguing in Russian, but judging by the way Melissa was carrying on, this was something very, very big. And something she didn't want the twins to hear, either, which in itself might be the strangest thing.
It sorely puzzled her. She couldn't imagine any reason that Lidia would have had to do something to Melissa's gear without asking. Sure, Lidia had been particularly furious about Operation Humble Saint (the unfortunate mishap in San Diego) much like her father, but surely it hadn't triggered this. But then again, the group still wasn't exactly sure what had happened at San Diego.
And now this utterly ridiculous behavior of ignoring Lidia, who didn't say much to begin with. None of the pieces fit, none of the clues were right. Veronika decided that it was time to contact her Comrades and see if they had any information to share. Given the rather glorious explosion that had followed their escape, she could safely bank on the fact that they would. Russians loved a good fire show, after all.
She broke herself out of her thoughts and continued to look over Melissa's compiled information on the scum they would be dealing with this time. Taylor and Sarah had maps spread out all over the floor and were arguing over the possible routes for this weekend's race and where they would all need to be. Her ears caught the sound of the door at the top of the stairs opening and closing.
Her sister Elizabeth walked into the garage, holding up a hand in greeting. "What are you lazy blokes about now? Did we receive a mission?" Her British accent fell crisply into the air and broke Lidia's silence neatly.
"Melissa's op. She'll fill you in." Lidia said looking up from her files, a tinge of disapproval in her voice.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "I had a Robotics meeting to attend after school today, seeing as I am President and everything." She looked around and noticed Melissa's unhappiness. "I miss something?"
Taylor and Sarah surfaced from their papers grinning wickedly.
"Something?" Taylor asked innocently.
"What thing?" Sarah asked matching her sister's tone.
"That thing?"
"My thing?"
"Your thing?"
"Which thing?"
"This thing?"
"One thing?"
"This thing between us?"
"Nothing!" Elizabeth growled as the twins burst out into laughter, "Forget I said anything!"
Now they were howling in laughter and Melissa was too.
"You walked into that one," Veronika teased her sister.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
She walked over to Melissa and looked down at her apprehensively. "You're not going to bite my head off are you?"
"No," Melissa said, frowning up at her.
"She already bit mine off," Lidia muttered causing the twins and Veronika to chuckle. Melissa flushed a brilliant cherry but didn't respond. Elizabeth adopted a surprised expression but refrained from making a comment at Melissa's dark look.
"Let's get to work then, shall we?" Elizabeth said cheerily, but not one of them missed the underlying nervousness of her tone. Melissa rolled her neck.
"I'm in a bad mood, Elizaveta. So listen up and pay attention because I will NOT be repeating myself. Understand?" She said in her flawless Muscovite Russian. Then without waiting for an answer she launched into a super condensed, almost too fast recap of what they'd gone over earlier...in Russian of course. Finished speaking, Melissa turned to Elizabeth.
"Too much eyeshadow today, Dove. Is he treating you right?"
The whole group went into an uproar at that and Elizabeth's face lost of it's natural color.
"Say WHAT?" -Taylor
"Pinch me, I'm dreaming!" -Sarah
"He who?" - Lidia
Unintelligible English and outraged Russian from Veronika.
"You forgot to tell them, didn't you?" Melissa muttered in her ear.
She nodded minutely.
"Well then, I handle this for you, you owe me a favor. Deal?"
"Deal!"
Melissa grinned at that. "Too easy," she said, looking at her hands. She pulled her MPMPR (mulit-purpose multi-program remote) out of her pocket and pressed a few buttons in quick succession and suddenly It's a Small World After All was crescendo-ing through the room. It had the desired effect of knocking everyone temporarily slack-jawed. Another button and the resulting silence further shocked them.
"It's seems that as usual, you have misunderstood me. Brian was practicing his make-up skills and Dove here agreed to be his guinea pig. Now, if you're all done causing a fuss, we've got work to do."
The two turned their backs on the others and set to analyzing the video, running it through multiple programs chatting comfortably about resolution and image quality. The others glared at Melissa, just about fed up with her antics, but eventually got back to work. An hour later everyone was ready to head home.
"Homework sound-off," Lidia ordered.
"Finish puttin' together the disguises me 'n Taylor'll be usin'," Sarah said.
"Finish the layout of the city rooftops," Veronika said, holding up a roll of paper.
"Modify our camera's and test them out," Elizabeth said, stuffing wires and tools back into her backpack.
"Track down Kimawari's finances and monitor the betting as the race approaches, see if I can't manipulate the odds and track down some of Wan's shipments," Melissa said, typing something into her phone.
"Permission, or at least a window to work in," Lidia stated.
"Finish modifications on my bike," Taylor said with a grin. "Ladies, start your engines!"