Midnight's Shadow sat on one of the couches in the lobby of a nice hotel. Scarlett, Breaker, and Snake Eyes sat beside her, each of their bags set on the ground by their feet. The dark haired woman glanced over her shoulder. Heavy Duty was standing at the counter on the far side of the lobby, checking into their rooms. With a sigh, she turned back around and leaned further back into the cushy fabric of the couch.
They had arrived in London about an hour ago, all of them dressed in plain street clothes-all except for Snake Eyes, that is. Needless to say, everyone looked exhausted. Everyone except for Shadow. She felt an excitement welling up inside her. Her past was within her reach. They were in the place where she was born, where she lived with her family before…
She paused in her thoughts. Before everything else happened. For the entire plane ride, she sifted through the possible theories of what had happened to her father and her after they supposedly disappeared off the face of the earth. Where did they go? What did they do? Why did they leave? Did they really leave because someone was out to get their family? Had her father really created something that drew these terrorist's attention? Midnight's Shadow knew that this was all theory. It didn't mean that it was actually what happened, but as far as she could tell, it was the only theory they had. Perhaps they would know more after the investigated her old home.
Midnight's Shadow glanced up briefly as a young couple walked past the four of them. Their gazes shifted in the direction and instantly locked upon the masked face of Snake Eyes, seated just beside her. The ninja's head turned slightly, the visor of his mask pointed in their direction. The couple seemed momentarily afraid and hurriedly averted their eyes as they quickly made their way out of his sight.
She watched them walk away for a moment before her bright blue eyes shifted to Snake Eyes. "Does it bother you when people do that?" she asked. As soon as the words left her mouth, she began mentally kicking herself. Why did she have to voice every question that popped into her head?
The sound of shifting fabric reached her ears as the black ninja turned his head to look at her. She could feel the intensity of his gaze upon her, even through his dark mask. In answer, he simply shrugged. It was as if he was either saying that he never really cared what people thought or he just never really noticed. Snake Eyes was anything but oblivious, so Midnight's Shadow went with the first one.
"So?" Both Midnight's Shadow and Snake Eyes shifted their gazes from one another to look at Scarlett. The red head leaned forward in her seat, propping her elbows on her knees as she let her chin rest on her hands. "I guess we can't call you Shadow anymore," she said, a light smile playing on her lips. "Should we call you Katherine?"
Midnight's Shadow was silent for a moment as she considered it. Finally, she merely shrugged. "You can call me both, I guess. Doesn't really matter to me. I'll answer to both." Scarlett nodded and began to lean back in her seat. "But," the red head paused, her blue eyes looking back to the woman sitting across from her, "why not call me Kate for sort? Katherine seems to be too long-at least to me."
The corner of Scarlett's mouth tugged up into a smile. "I think we can do that. Kate it is then."
Kate Moon nodded. Her bright blue eyes flicked over to Breaker, who was sitting just on the other side of Scarlett. "Hey, Breaker?" The Moroccan lifted his brown gaze from the phone he held in one hand to look at her. "What did you say my middle name was again?"
Breaker pushed his glasses up a little farther on his nose. "Aithne, is what I believe it was," he replied.
The dark haired woman nodded. "What does that even mean? Is it in a different language?"
Scarlett was the one to answer. The nodding of her red head drew the other woman's attention. "Yes. It's Celtic. It means fire. And now that I think about it, Katherine actually means pure in English, Irish, and Latin. So, put together, your first and middle name mean 'pure fire,'" she told her.
Breaker looked back down to his phone. "Now you're just showing off," he muttered just loud enough for them to hear.
Both Scarlett and Kate turned their gazes on the Moroccan, their expressions amused as they suppressed their laughter. "Awww. Are you feeling a little underappreciated, Breaker?" the dark haired woman asked gently, doing her best to hide her smile.
Once again, the hacker lifted his gaze from the screen of his phone. He glanced briefly over at Scarlett before looking at Shadow. He shook his head. "No," he said in an unconvincing tone. The red head beside him rolled her bright blue eyes and leaned back into the couch, crossing her arms over her chest. As soon as she could no longer see his face, Breaker mouthed the word "yes."
Midnight's Shadow had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the look on the Moroccan's face. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Snake Eyes shake his head. It was a gesture that seemed to say "I can't believe I know these people." She felt her smile widen, her lower lip slowly escaping the hold her teeth had on it.
Scarlett watched the two of them critically, not knowing what they were reacting to. The smile was no longer on her face as she leaned forward, drawing their gazes. "What's so funny?" she asked.
Kate shook her head. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing," she said with her best attempt at a dead pan expression.
The red head appeared as if she was about to press the issue, her mouth opening, when Heavy Duty walked up to them. Her jaw instantly clamped shut as all eyes turned to look at the massive British man. Just by looking at his eyes, Midnight's Shadow could see that he was just as tired as the rest of them. He tossed a key card to Scarlett who caught it easily out of the air. The second he held onto. "Scarlett. You and Shadow get your own room. The rest of us are in the other. Feel free to pay me back for paying for your rooms," he said in a sarcastic tone.
"Thank you, Heavy," Scarlett and Midnight's Shadow said in unison, smiles playing on each of their lips.
The large man rolled his brown eyes. He swiftly bent down, a massive hand wrapping around the handle of his duffel bag, and raised to his full height, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he did so. Without so much as a word, he turned and began to walk away across the lobby-more than likely towards the elevators. The rest of them exchanged sheepish glances at one another before they hurriedly gathered up their own belongings, rose to their feet, and followed the British man to the elevators.
"Room 233. This is it," Scarlett said. She stopped in front of one of the hotel room doors in the long hallway.
Midnight's Shadow stopped just behind her, taking note of the number 233 carved onto the nameplate on the wooden surface of the door. Just below it, just like with every other hotel door, was a small peephole. Scarlett set her bag down on the floor with a barely audible thud and began to dig through her purse to locate the keycard which she had thrown in there only moments before. Midnight's Shadow cast her gaze about the hallway as she patiently awaited the discovery of the currently missing keycard. The entire hallway was carpeted in a worn red carpet with swirling gold patterns in it that only hotels seemed to find desirable. The walls were a strange pattern of beige pinstripes. Wall lights lit the hallways down for several feet, the only light available for the long hall besides the single windows at each end.
Midnight's Shadow glanced to her left as she saw Heavy Duty open the door to their room. With the click of the handle turning, the three men filed into their room. Snake Eyes briefly glanced over at her, just for a moment, before he proceeded through the threshold. With a loud thud, the door shut behind them.
"Found it!" Scarlett exclaimed triumphantly.
The dark haired woman looked back to her just as she produced a small white card from her purse. She inserted the key into the slot before pulling it out again. A moment later, the light on the handle turned green, signaling that the door was unlocked. The red head's pale fingers wrapped around the handle and pulled down. The door swung inward and the two women proceeded into their room.
It was the way you would expect a hotel room to look. There were two queen size beds, each with neatly folded tan colored sheets and a pile of pillows leaning against the headboards. A nightstand sat between these two beds, bearing a lamp, a clock, and several pamphlets and brochures on its polished surface. Across from the beds was a long dresser with a TV on top sitting at one end and a microwave and mini fridge residing on the other. On the far side right corner of the room was a desk and chair ready for use while in the other corner, by the beds, was a small lounge chair. As Midnight's Shadow proceeded through the door, she noticed a door to her left. She glanced to the side and saw a divided bathroom. There was a sink, counter, and mirror ready for use with a large sliding door closet at their disposal. Looking deeper into the room, she could see a little of the bathroom but not much without the light on.
Walking into the room, Scarlett set her bag down on the nearest bed, closely followed by her purse. The bed jiggled a little with the new weight, the springs in the mattress squeaking quietly in protest. The red head placed her hands on her hips and sighed. She quickly kicked off her shoes before falling face first onto her bed. She let out a tired groan and didn't move again.
Midnight's Shadow smiled a little at the other woman as she walked past. She set her bag down onto the only other available bed. Her hand released the strap letting the full weight of her bag settle onto the bed, which sagged a little. The dark haired woman rolled her shoulder, her muscles grateful for the release from carrying the heavy bag. Similar to Scarlett, Kate kicked off her shoes, kicking them off to the side after she had done so, ensuring that they would not become a tripping hazard. Her bright blue eyes shifted to her right, to the large open window that looked out into London. From where their hotel was situated, she could see the London Eye along with many other buildings in the skyline.
"So…," the dark haired woman began, "what do we do now?"
"We sleep," came the muffled response from Scarlett as she answered through the fabric of the pillow she currently had her face buried into.
A slight smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. She paused for a moment as she heard the sound of someone talking, although it was muffled. Midnight's Shadow turned halfway around, her brow furrowing as she tried to listen closer to discern its source. Scarlett, too, had heard it. She propped herself up on one elbow, sweeping her long red hair over one shoulder as she listened.
Finally, she scoffed. "I can't believe how thin these walls are," she stated in disbelief. "I can hear the boys talking in the other room." Scarlett shook her head, her blue eyes shifting over to Kate's face. "So much for sleeping tonight."
The dark haired woman's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What do you mean?"
A smile appeared on her face. "Right. You haven't been out in the field with us before." She jerked her thumb over at the wall that they shared with the other three members of their team. "Heavy Duty snores horribly loud," she told her, emphasizing every word. "You don't really hear it back in the Pit because there are layers of solid rock separating us from his room. Here though," she scoffed and shook her head once more.
"If it's so bad, then how do Snake Eyes and Breaker sleep over there with him?" she inquired, feeling slightly amused.
Scarlett laughed. "Oh they don't. They've tried to wake him up but either he gets pissed at them or he simply doesn't wake up at all. Don't be too surprised if we get a knock on our door in the middle of the night and it is them asking for sanctuary," she grinned.
Midnight's Shadow laughed lightly. She turned back around, turning her attention to the view from their window once more. From the other room, she could hear the noise of their TV, the sounds changing as they presumably flipped through the channels. From their own room, she heard the sound of the fabric of Scarlett's bed rustle as the other woman probably laid herself down upon it in a similar fashion as she had before.
As the dark haired woman looked out the window, admiring the look as the sun began to set over the city, she couldn't help but wonder how long it had been since she had last gazed upon a sunset in London. Had it been since the day her father had taken her away after her mom had died? Or had she returned sometime later?
As these thoughts crossed her mind, questions began to form in the forefront of her mind. This made her want to voice them to a currently exhausted Scarlett. "Hey Scarlett?"
"Hmm?" came the response.
"Do you think while we are here, we can go and explore the city a little?" she asked in a careful tone.
"What do you mean? Like touristy stuff?" the red head questioned for clarification.
Midnight's Shadow nodded, even though she knew Scarlett wasn't looking at her. "Yeah. I mean, I know we're here to learn more about my past and everything, but does that really mean that it has to be all business. We could go and do something fun." She gestured out the window. "Like we could go on the London Eye, for example."
Scarlett let out a heavy sigh. The sound of shifting fabric reached Midnight's Shadow's ears as the red head raised herself once more but she didn't turn around to look at her, instead keeping her gaze fixated out the window. "We could," Scarlett said finally, "but we still, technically, on the clock. That doesn't mean we can't do anything fun though." She paused for a moment. "I thought you would want to see your old house first before anything else."
Kate crossed her arms over her chest as she shrugged. "I do. I just don't want it to feel like I'm dragging you guys around on some wild goose chase. I thought this could be an opportunity for you guys to have some fun too."
Scarlett laughed lightly. "Don't worry about it, Shadow. We don't mind. It's our job to help you."
Midnight's Shadow inwardly flinched. So they were only helping her because it was their job?
"But," Scarlett continued, "I think I also speak for the boys when I say that we're also doing this so that we can help you as well. So if you want to do something then I'm sure we can make time."
The dark haired woman turned around to look at the other woman, a grateful smile on her face. "Thanks." The smile on her face faded a little. "Actually…"
"Don't tell me you wanted to do something now. We agreed that we'd start tomorrow."
"No, no. I actually have something different in mind."
A/N: So SORRY for the long wait! Life got REALLY hectic! Work, family, remodeling a house to sell, and trying to start writing a book of my own took up all my time! But I'm back now and hope to start updating regularly. It's sad to think that I wanted to be to the end of the first movie by the time the second one came out on dvd. Oh, well. I'm hoping that after I buy it, it will restore some of my interest and help me start cranking out chapters again. Fingers crossed!
As always, welcome to all my new followers and favorites! PLEASE REVIEW!