Chapter 50.5

The two sat in silence for some time before the sounds of giggling from a distance off interrupted them. Looking up, Jason noticed that the laughter came from the direction of the girls and, to his incredulous eyes, he saw them laughing and talking cheerfully. The three then made their way to a bemused Jason before stopping right in front of him.

What on earth . . . ? Jason thought when he saw how cheerful they were. Weren't they at each other's throats just a moment ago? The hell happened? Damn, girls are scary.

Before Jason could wrap his head around what was happening, Elizabeth turned to Alice in order to introduce herself.

"Who are you?" Alice demanded.

"Elizabeth. But you can call me Lizzy," an amused Elizabeth introduced herself to a frowning Alice who glared back angrily while crossing her arms.

"Where are you from?"

"Originally? Scotland, though I'm American."

"Where do you live?"

"Hotels, mostly. Nice hair, by the way."

"Keep the compliments to yourself," Alice shot back with narrowed eyes before relenting. "But thanks, your hair looks awesome too.

"Now, what do you do for a living?" Alice turned stern once again before she began interrogating Elizabeth. Again.

"Sing in concerts and stuff," Elizabeth answered while trying not to grin. "What's your favourite color?"

"I'm the one asking questions here, grandma," Alice hmphed and Elizabeth's face changed, shocked that she was called a grandmother.

Do ay look old?! Elizabeth asked herself while Alice hesitated before answering in a quiet voice, "Blue. Yours?"

"Red."

Both Emily and Melanie tried not to laugh as they saw Alice 'interrogate' Elizabeth while Jason wisely remained silent. He pulled a flask out and took a swing before noticing everyone staring at him. "What?"

"No drinking," Emily replied firmly before grabbing his flask.

"It's water. Or rather, Gatorade," a stunned Jason finally said.

Under Melanie and Elizabeth's stare, Emily opened the flask and gingerly took a small sip. Her eyes flashed with surprise before she admitted, "It is Gatorade."

"Little Red, is that you?" a Russian accent interrupted the gang and Elizabeth froze before slowly turning to Dhole. The latter had slowly and cautiously approached the group once he felt that it was appropriate.

"Yegor?" a stunned Elizabeth asked in disbelief.

Dhole erupted in a bellow of laughter before rushing forward and bearhugging Elizabeth, much to the surprise of everyone. "Haha! It really is you!"

"Ah ger off!" Elizabeth shouted as her Scottish accent accidentally leaked. Jason stood up and glared at Dhole with enough killing intent to frighten even the most courageous soul, and Dhole noticed it instantaneously.

"Hmm, so then you are Red's . . . hmm. I don't like you," Dhole released Elizabeth and walked over to Jason, trying to intimidate him with his colossal figure while scoffing. Unfortunately, Jason's height was not far off from his own.

"Ex?" Jason asked as he turned to Elizabeth who shuddered and shook her head in denial, trying her best to erase that question from her memory.

"No! God, no! We grew up together. You can say he's the closest thing I have to an annoying - and brainless - brother."

Grew up together? Then he's from the same division as Freya, Jason deduced. He knew Freya's true history before she lost her eyes and quickly came to that conclusion.

"Hmm. He's not what I expected," Dhole was studying Jason and noticed how tall and imposing he was before turning to Elizabeth. "I didn't think you liked tall and muscles. I thought you liked small and thin."

Oh, she did like small, Jason thought wryly. It's why she went for me when I was a kid.

Despite neither saying anything, Dhole picked up the awkwardness emanating from both Jason and Elizabeth and his eyes widened.

"Wait, you two . . ." Dhole kept looking back and forth between the two. "When did you . . . ?"

"Ever since he turned thirteen," Melanie answered casually.

Jason grimaced, pursing his lips and scrunching his chin while looking down at the ground before turning to Melanie.

"TMI?" Melanie asked 'naively' when she saw Jason staring at her.

"Mmhm," Jason nodded while giving a noncommittal grunt. All the while, Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders, indicating that she couldn't see the judgemental stares from all around her. Which was ironic considering that she was blind.

"Neveroyatno," Dhole muttered before a wide grin appeared on his face. "So Little Red is a - what do you Americans call it? - ah! A cougar!"

"Ah shut it, ye Russian commie," Elizabeth swung her stick at him but Dhole sniggered and dodged.

"A milf!"

"Yegor, I swear -"

"Dhole!" Junco called over Dhole, who turned to Elizabeth with his laughter fading.

"I have to go. But I'm sure I'll see you again," he said to her gently, his eyes full of affection.

"Yeah, don't count on it."

He turned around and started to walk back to Junco but paused for a moment with a grin. "And no more eating little boys, eh?"

"You fucking -" Elizabeth swore but Dhole ran off while chuckling leaving her stomping her feet. "Arrgh!"

"Ahem," Jason cleared his throat and instead gestured at Alice who, despite still being angry, could hardly open her eyes. "It's already late, I need to take her back home. Also, would you mind if Maple stayed at my place?"

Jason turned to Melanie as he asked his question and the latter shook her head, implying she didn't mind. "She'll be safer with you."

"Well, I mean, it'd be safer if all of us were together," Jason murmured, but everyone heard him. Noticing that everyone was staring at him with different emotions, he cleared his throat. "I mean if we were - what am I saying? W-would you all be willing to stay at my place?"

Silence engulfed the surroundings and Jason felt the quietness pressing down on him like a mountain. The gazes all three women sent him suffocated all the air from his lungs and he felt some cold sweat drop down his back. Finally, Elizabeth laughed and the atmosphere became more relaxed.

"I'm going to take a raincheck. I need to go home and check on my siblings," Emily shook her head, being the first to refuse Jason.

"And I have a concert coming, so I need to go back and figure it all out with my bandmates," Elizabeth followed after exchanging a glance with Emily.

"I'll be staying here. I need to come up with a housing solution for the orphans," Melanie also refused while gesturing at the direction of Grace and the other children. "Look after Maple for me, mmkay?"

"Although I wouldn't mind a ride, baby boy," Elizabeth said with a smile.

"Neither would I," Emily added.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure," Jason nodded stoically, his impassive face not betraying his conflicting emotions. Before leaving, Jason kissed Melanie on the cheek. "You take care, okay?"

"Always," Melanie replied with a smile and Jason nodded at her before leaving with the others.

Melanie watched them leave together with her smile turning forlorn. Her hands tightened and the nails dug into her hands until it almost bled. She actually wanted to join Jason, but Emily's refusal and the deal the three made earlier, prevented her from getting a headstart. However, that didn't stop Elizabeth and Emily from getting a drive from Jason, possibly trying to get close to him without her.

Doesn't matter, Melanie thought as a rather devious smile crossed her face. The fact that Jason noticed her inner turmoil and kissed her spoke volumes. In the end, he'll still be mine, regardless of what they do. After all, I know him better than anyone.

"Well?" Junco turned to Dhole as soon as he came back.

"That was Freya. The Freya," Dhole said and Junco raised an eyebrow.

"Freya . . . and Fenrir," Junco muttered, as she thought about Jason and Elizabeth. "Looks like the rumors were true."

The whispers surrounding the fact that Fenrir and Freya had once been a duo, completing all sorts of tasks together had been proven right, and Junco felt that it was necessary for headquarters to know of this.

"Lucky bastard," Suni muttered before coughing when he saw both Junco and Dhole staring at him, one with exasperation and the other with a hint of threatening violence. "Your orders, Junco?"

"Keep an eye on both Fenrir and Freya," Junco said. "Also, inform Watson about Salamander's corpse. Something tells me this wasn't a sanctioned mission. We need to get to the bottom of this before the major returns from his mission."

As Junco continued instructing everyone, a paramedic was placing the cadaver of Salamander into a body bag and failed to notice that the cold fingers twitched ever so slightly . . .