They were almost back in the 'safe zone'. There was more corruption here than there used to be though, and there was... something in the air, recently. All around the place. Glint claimed the screaming was getting louder. It was like... pressure. Like the Light in the air was straining, getting ready to crack.
It made him nervous. The graffiti yesterday had eased some of the tension, and it helped that the magic trick with the Veil hadn't actually been preformed to completion. They still didn't know how that would affect Crow; it could send him into a coma or make him spontaneously combust for all they knew. He'd rather be somewhere familiar if the side effects were less than helpful.
As familiar as this overgrown version of the Tower could be. His office actually looked like something he would have enjoyed spending time in like this, ironically. The whole place was uncannily 'Hunter-friendly' now.
"Okay, so this is where we'll hunker down until they wire you and your sister to cosmic forces we barely understand." He had been pleasantly surprised to discover all the secret hidey holes and escape routes he and the Hunter Vanguards of the past had built into his office were still here in this weird version of the Tower. "The hammock is mine, you hear?"
"Crystal." Crow said, looking around the place. "Is this really where all the Hunter Vanguards lived?"
"Nah, Andal and I have- had a pack. Lived out of our fireteam quarters." He wondered if Shiro had kept the place or finally given in and bought a one-room. They had sprung for a six-room when he picked up Lush, in case he and Andal found new bloods of their own to train. It survived Twilight Gap and the Red War, somehow.
He wondered if his room was left untouched, like Lush and Andal's were.
"Check this out." he kicks open the trap door that was hidden under the desk. "Tallulah Fairwind built this one. Used to be chute that came out at the wall, she would just drop from the sky."
"How could anyone fit in there?" Crow leaned over to squint at the door.
"Andal told me she was vertically challenged. And horizontally. Small woman." He's pretty sure she's who the red stripe on his cloak was for, Andal always did talk about her like she was his mom. Always dodged whether or not she was actually his mentor.
"And this one," he jumped up on the desk and pulled part of the ceiling down. "Caliban-8 built. He liked climbing tall shit, and jumping onto other tall shit, had a habit of sleeping in ceilings and ventilation shafts. Got my training from him. Not my mentor, though, I got the Vanguard standard stuff."
"Saladin's always reaming the standards." the younger Hunter commented, before dropping his voice in an impression. "'The Vanguard standard is a chain of predictability, break it.'"
"Hey, that was a pretty good one!"
"Thanks, just don't tell him about it."