Chapter Thirty-Five - Death Opens Another Door

Tyler slowly walked into the great hall, his teammates by his side. The Grand Master towered above them, much like he usually did before projecting his deep voice across the room.

"I want a good reason that Tyler brought a young girl to the morgue this evening. What do you have to say for yourselves?" He bellowed.

Charity turned white with fear and began assuming the worst for their fates, whereas Elvie stood in front of Tyler, taking charge of the situation.

"We heard shooting on the boat after we escorted Mr Gould onto it, so, naturally, Tyler rushed off on his own to protect the target and told us to stay behind for our protection. Ava, however, rushed to join him as she was worried about him going alone, and we, following the instructions from Tyler, stayed behind. Unfortunately, Miss Smith was caught in the crossfire, as was Mr Gould." Elvie stood proud and confident.

The Grand Master stroked his beard before responding. "I appreciate your canonicity Miss Coffery and your ability to listen to instructions, but your performance was horrendous for your first mission. Did you or did you not, in your training, learn that a Hunter must always have backup? It was not enough for Tyler to protect her, so your better instinct should've come into play. As a result of this situation, you will receive no pay for this mission. Not to mention your target, who you were supposed to protect, might I add, is dead. And what of the shooter, Tyler?"

"I was able to take them down, but unfortunately not before Ava was shot, Sir." Tyler sheepishly replied.

"Understood. Good work, Mr Brown. I expect a report by the end of the day. Now, the big question of the day, would you like to explain to Miss Smith the unfortunate news about her sister, or would you rather I?"

"I think it would be best if I tell her, Sir. I'm sure I will finish my debriefing at some point, though I hope it won't be long."

Tyler carefully opened the door to his bedroom after souring the house for any sign of Roxy, but there she sat, pleased as ever to see him. He took one step into the room, and the Roxy scampered towards him, missing his foot by inches in her rush to smother him.

"Hey! How did the mission go? Also, I have something to tell you but don't get angry." Roxy flooded his ears with a volley of words, and all Tyler could respond with was a sigh.

"I have something to tell you. I'm afraid it's not good news." Without hesitation, Roxy ran to the bed and carefully placed herself on top.

"What's on your mind?" She tapped the bed, indicating to sit next to her.

"I don't quite know how to tell you this, but the mission went *okay* to start with, but it turned sour very quickly. Someone got hurt." He began to explain. "See, we were to protect his man, Mr Gould, and I sensed something off about him, so I tailed him onto his boat and overheard a meeting about the R.E.A.P.E.R.S, but that's another story. I told the team to stay put until I got back, but *she* followed me. There was an altercation with Mr Gould, and he shot her." Tyler began to cry, his feelings overwhelming him.

"Tyler," Roxy touched his face. "Who died tonight? I'm sure it wasn't your fault!" Roxy did her best to cheer him up but had no luck.

After a deep sigh and a long pause, the name slipped out of his mouth and filled him with so much guilt that he began to walk away. "Ava."

"... Ava?" asked Roxy in disbelief. She refused to believe it; the words 'no' and 'she can't be' were one of the many. "What happened? Tell me exactly how it went down."

"I followed Mr Gould onto the boat, and like I said, I heard a meeting. I turned to leave, and there she was, brave and stupid at the same time. She said that she wanted to learn from a pro. I grabbed her arm and began to lead her out safely, but she knocked over something, I don't know what. Mr Gould came to check and pulled out a gun when he spotted us. Ava attempted to disarm him in a reckless move, but he was too quick. He fired on her. She fell, and I rushed to help her after taking down Mr Gould, but I was too late. I called for help, but she was already *gone*. The Grand Master is aware of the situation, and I'll explain the meeting in more detail when you're ready to hear it, but that's what happened."

Roxy paced the room for what felt like hours, her mind racing until finally settling. "I believe you."

Those words stuck in Tyler's mind as he watched her leave without another word. something about the whole situation nagged at him, chewing at the edges of his brain as he started to leave the room, following behind.

"I think I need to be alone for a bit, Tyler. It's not you. I just need to process everything. Please don't wait up for me tonight. I don't know when I'll be home if I come home."

"Okay. Take the car if you'd like. Clear your head and just let me know you're okay no matter where you are. I'm so sorry, Roxy." He gulped back more tears while Roxy packed a small satchel with items she may need on whatever adventure she planned to take and watched her leave in the car out of the window. He wondered if she would return or simply vanish into the night, but after shaking the thought, he crashed onto his bed and slept through the tears that bellowed from him. However, his sweet slumber was disturbed by Thomas' phone call. Tyler wearily answered, "Tyler, where are you? I have a lead on the Werewolf! Let's catch this bastard!"