Chapter 37

Grace skipped school the following morning and joined Hal on his drills with the military. She never dreamed of skipping school back in her student days, but if 'the brass' weren't going to listen to her, she'd have to take matters into her own hands. Showing these boys how to be proper fighters would be a better use of her time. Luckily, no one had questioned her presence.

She had field stripped her weapon about five times now, each time under a minute. She had beaten Hal's record by three seconds, much to his annoyance.

"You're right, this is easy." She placed her weapon back on the table, her bored gaze drifting around the underground parking lot that the army were using as their training area. There were dozens of them grouped around, engaged in various exercises and activities. "They do this all day?"

"Target practice, close-order drills. I'm sure they can do it all in their sleep by now, but it's useless if it's not out in the field." Hal finished reassembling the rifle, placing it on the table with a thud. "Captain Weaver just says we've gotta grin and bear it."

She noticed the captain on the other side of the lot, dressed up in army combats as he spoke to General Bressler. Bressler was in charge of the army here, but he still took his orders from Manchester. She wondered if he shared Manchester's conservative views that hiding from the aliens was better than fighting them, but as a military man she highly doubted it. Next to them was Tector. Except he was 'Gunnery Sergeant Murphy' now, and he was following Weaver and General Bressler around like a lost puppy. The only thing weirder than seeing Captain Weaver in the proper uniform was seeing Tector in them. Grace hadn't been aware of his military background. It was out of character for a Beserker, but now he was all 'Yes, sir' and 'reporting for duty, sir'. She'd never seen him so obedient. She bet his buddies weren't thrilled about it. Funny. She thought they would have been down here with the rest of them.

She glanced around again, sitting back in her seat. "Do the Beserkers have better things to do or something?"

Hal's brows pinched together. "You haven't heard? There was an…incident last night."

She instinctively rolled her eyes. "Should have known they'd pull something."

"Yeah. They tried to raid the armoury and hightail it but Maggie and Casey caught them. It got a little messy. They're all in lockup now."

"Even Maggie and Casey?"

"Yeah. Guilty until proven innocent I guess. Plus, Lyle got shot. Don't worry, he's fine. But it looks bad on us. Dad's trying to talk to Manchester about it now."

"Where's Etta? Is she still with Casey?"

"They took her. I'm not sure where."

Grace pushed back her loose strands of hair, frustrated. Of course they'd separate a baby from her guardian without thinking.

"Are Casey and Maggie okay?"

"Yeah. I keep going down to check on Maggie." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table next to the rifle. "Not sure she appreciates it though."

"Why not?"

He sighed heavily, glancing at Grace with a look she recognised. He'd messed up somehow.

"She told me some pretty personal stuff from her past while we were on the road the other night. It was…kind of intense. I froze up. Told her I needed time to think."

Grace nodded slowly. She wasn't sure if this had to do with the cancer Maggie had as a kid, but she had a feeling it was something else. Something dark. It would have to be big to faze Hal.

"Did thinking help?"

He shook his head. "I just needed time to process it. The things she told me didn't sound like her at all."

"I see." She paused, watching the gleam in Hal's eye and how genuinely lost he looked. "We've all done things we aren't proud of. And none of us are the same people we were. I wouldn't hold it against her."

"Of course not. I was just…surprised."

"Do you like her? Who she is now?"

He barely paused a beat. "Yeah."

"It sounds like she likes you if she's trusting you with all this. That couldn't have been easy for her. Just talk to her, let her know how you feel. None of this teen angst crap!" She nudged him playfully.

He chuckled. "Fine, fine! It's just…I've only felt like this with one other person…and that didn't end so well."

Grace swallowed, seeing the pain in his features. "Karen."

"I don't want to mess this up."

He tensed up, wringing his hands together. This was one of those rare moments where Hal showed his true vulnerability. A year ago, he would have never talked to Grace about his love life or his feelings. She didn't want to take that for granted. She squeezed his shoulder, smiling sweetly at him.

"You won't."

He was already starting to relax, smiling back at her. "Thanks, sis."

"Miss Mason?"

They turned their heads to see Sergeant Miles Wray approaching, a stern look on his face. Grace immediately rolled her eyes, sighing.

"Who's this?" Hal whispered to her.

"Trouble," she muttered, getting to her feet and forcing a smile at the sergeant. "Sergeant Wray. Good Morning."

He returned the friendly greeting with a disappointed frown. "Miss Mason, you didn't turn up to your assignment this morning."

"I told you it wasn't a good fit."

"And I told you I'd run it up the chain."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Did you?"

He paused, making a light snort. Those small dimples forming underneath the slight stubble. "Belligerence seems to be a common theme in your outfit. A number of your people were found stealing weapons from the armoury last night."

"The Beserkers," uttered Grace. "I heard."

"Berserk is the right term. One of them even had a baby with them."

"Etta. Is she okay?" Grace asked. She figured Casey must be worried sick.

"She's fine at Monroe's which you'd know if you turned up to work."

She sighed. He wasn't letting this go.

"It's not how things work around here. You can't just not show up to your job."

"Unfortunately, I've only ever had one job," she retorted. "Fighting skitters. I always show up for that."

The sergeant's handsome face softened, his blue eyes piercing into her for a moment before he placed a hand on her back, leading her somewhere more secluded.

"I appreciate your dedication. Everything you've been through…it's admirable. You're clearly brave, resilient…but if you want to stay here, you'll have to conduct yourself a little differently."

Grace was hardly listening. All she could concentrate on was the feeling of his fingers across her back, and the coldness once he removed his hand.

She blinked, returning to the conversation. "Then maybe I don't want to stay. Maybe I don't belong here after all."

The blue eyes were on her again, gleaming at her, resting beneath drawn-together brows. Did he actually seem worried?

"Okay. I'll pull some strings. Get you reassigned." The smile was back, giving her a warm feeling in her chest. "You don't belong in a classroom. You belong in the fight."

She felt strange, a little confused. He was actually doing her a favour? Maybe he wasn't the stern, compliant dick she first thought.

"Just keep it quiet, okay? Otherwise I'll have a queue of people outside my office wanting favours. And keep out of trouble. I wouldn't want to see you behind bars like your friends." His tone was serious but the smirk in the corner of his lips was playful. If she didn't know better, she might have thought that was a half-assed attempt at flirting with her. But her conclusion was that it was just a friendly warning.

"Thanks, sergeant."

"Miles, please."

She smirked at him before heading towards the stairwell. "Sure thing, sergeant!"

He straightened up, wrinkling his nose. "Wait, I've reassigned you! Where are you going?"

She glanced behind her before jogging away from him and calling back, "I've got to check on my friend's baby!"

It was strange not seeing Etta attached to Casey's hip, but she was content enough napping in one of the cribs, oblivious to what was going on around her. Grace had to explain to Jackie and Gael that she wasn't working a shift, and that could they keep a special eye on Etta until her guardian returned. They seemed okay with it. It was the kids who didn't want her to go. Big Imagination Girl, Izzie, wrapped her arms around her hips and begged her not to go, or the Kingdom would collapse without her. Grace gave her a quick squeeze back and assured her that she was more than capable of taking on the evil ghost monsters by herself.

She waved an enthusiastic goodbye before bumping into Zoe, who apparently was on playground duty.

"Sorry," Grace muttered, avoiding her gaze.

Zoe smiled awkwardly, no doubt feeling the tension just as much as Grace was.

"How's Matt doing?" Zoe asked timidly.

"He's fine."

"Good. Sorry for suspending him, but I had no choice," she paused, scratching her arm. "I had someone watching them while we were at lunch but she's just a kid herself - I should have been there."

Grace held her breath. She was still mad at Zoe for letting Matt get hurt. Or maybe she wasn't mad at Zoe, but the kids who provoked him. Or maybe she was just mad at herself for being a crappy role model for her baby brother. Grace sighed and rested her back against a pillar, crossing her arms as she watched the kids who were badmouthing her brother yesterday run around, laughing and playing.

"Sorry I yelled at you," she finally admitted. "I just freak when I see my brothers hurt. Matt's not usually like this. It's my fault. He's seen me lash out and…the things those kids were saying. It just brought up some bad feelings. I'm just tired of people treating me and my family like outcasts."

"What you went through…it couldn't have been easy." Zoe swallowed. "What was it like? On the alien ship?"

"Scary. Confusing. It all looked so…well…alien." She breathed shakily, glancing down at her boots, noticing the pieces of dried mud on them. "They used a human to talk to me. Karen. She used to be one of us before she was harnessed."

"I think I've heard Hal mention her," said Zoe quietly.

"They tortured me. Not as badly as they did with my dad, but they kept shocking me with this electric rod, like I was cattle or something, until I passed out.

"You must have been so scared."

"Nothing scared me more than seeing that ship fly away, thinking I might never see my dad again. Now everyone thinks we're undercover traitors."

Zoe looked Grace up and down, impressed. "You really are a badass, aren't you?"

Grace snorted. "Well, according to Charleston, I'm a badass kindergarten teacher!"

Zoe suppressed a giggle. "You sort that out yet?"

"Actually, I spoke to Sergeant Charming again and he's finally reassigned me."

"Sergeant Wray? Did you get lost in his eyes?"

"Uh, no!" Grace pulled a repulsed face at her.

"Come on. All the girls crush on him. He's gorgeous and he's nice once you get to know him. It's because of him, me and Jeanne got out of latrine duty."

"Then you ask him out!"

"Can't," Zoe sighed dreamily. "I only have eyes for one person nowadays."

Grace's stomach tied in a knot. Diego. "Sorry, Zo. You must miss him like crazy."

She closed her eyes for a moment. "I think Jeanne's right. We have to say something tonight. We need to stand up to Manchester again. We have to try. But I'm not going to let her do it alone."

Grace squeezed her arm, smiling proudly at her. "You know, sometimes you're a badass too."