Pierce's POV
—

FOUR SLEEPING BEAUTIES finally aroused from their slumber after succumbing to the hideous screech that was K2's voice hollering for them to wake up. Risa had long saved herself from the human alarm clock by climbing off of the helicopter beforehand for an extremely long, muscle-ripping stretch.

Asao grumbled that he wanted to stay back in the copter, still lifeless from a lack of sleep. When Cody nudged the boy awake a little bit rougher than he intended to, he got thwacked coincidentally when Asao twisted his body away. Kenya crossed her heart and performed a questionable voodoo chant so that it seemed like instead of wishing away 'dark-Asao,' she worshiped its return if the boys ever got on her nerves.

Pierce decided to resort to desperate measures and nodded solemnly to Osias, who snatched up the limp, twelve year old body and slung him over his shoulders. They marched off the aircraft bravely as one while an irritated Asao slowly banged his head on his carrier's back.

Pierce made a mental note to himself that while the boy may not have DID, dark-Asao came close enough as a second persona.

With Osias and Kenya cleared off the craft, Pierce observed Cody walking up to K2 with his face set in creased folds, and his jaws clenched in definition. "You veered the plane twice on purpose, didn't you?"

When he apprehended that his teammate was trying to take up a fight with their director, he waited for a good show with mental encouragement. K2 merely swiveled around to the man with his mouth hanging pitifully before boasting, "Oh, you were awake? Now I feel half as bad."

Pierce saw the blonde man pouncing forward in a restrained manner and clasp his brawny hands around the older one's suit collar. "Shut up. Give me a wet wipe. I know you have some in one of these confidential compartments in here."

K2 scoffed and actually appeared indignant for once. "This actual dumbo, do you think I carry around a nonexistent baby everywhere I go so that I'll have wet wipes to wipe its arse? Use your spit! We do that in the old days— oh god, this generation is—you think we had wet wipes during the War—"

Maybe... it was his time to diffuse the conflict. Maybe. He could see why Cody became Risa's best friend. The two had the potential to kill brains cells that weren't even theirs.

Pierce pondered on whether or not he should banish Cody off the helicopter now, or tell him that the old geezer actually had some gentle, clean baby wipes underneath his seat, and he had seen the director use them to wipe his forehead earlier when Risa gave him a heart attack.

"Ryder, off the plane," Pierce lifted his eyebrows with a hint of amusement, deciding to side with the director. "We have a mission to complete."

"Wow, I didn't even realize you were here. Next time, speak up." Cody shook his head sarcastically as he tried his best to clean the streak mark off his face. "Look, I can't walk in there," he thrusted his hand out towards the mansion. "Looking like this."

It was then that they heard Risa's voice resonating up to the helicopter. "What's taking you two so long?"

Pierce slanted his head towards the door to see her as she waited at the frame. "Your friend's face is ruining his self-confidence. You don't happen to have a spare face for him, do you?" He saw the woman's lips twist into a sly smile as she directed her attention to Cody. Her eyes lit up in mischief.

"Stop laughing," Cody implored irritably as he reluctantly climbed off.

Risa stuck out her tongue and helped him off with a mocking guise. "Alright, come here you big baby. I'll help you get it off."

"—stop talking to me like you gave birth to me."

Pierce observed the two engross themselves in a light squabble before Cody was chasing Risa in the backyard of a supposedly sacred and exorbitant property, but they didn't seem to care. He shared a sideways glance with K2. The older man rolled his eyes like he couldn't be bothered with any further.

"I'm handing them over to you now. Taking a trip back to the penthouse," K2 yawned and switched on the helicopter's control lever once Pierce hopped off. "You guys will have to sleep in your apartments again, is that okay?"

Pierce smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "Like I have a choice. I'll trust you to provide lift in the morning, though."

K2 cracked his neck and massaged his shoulders as if he did an excessive amount of work tonight. "Whatever. I'm stuck with you people anyway."

Before they parted, Pierce remembered what he wanted to discuss with the director in private. "Hey old man, I know Risa mentioned about our old Commander on the ride here, but you didn't tell her anything."

They met eyes and K2's face turned dark. "Will you tell me?" he continued. This was the first time he observed the man giving him such a lamentable look. Not even Risa could pull off such an expression, at least not in this situation.

"Casey Alston," he delivered the name like the words alone were acid in his mouth. "That man held your position before Risa made him step down."

Pierce's eyes tapered at the mention of the familiar name. His past memory didn't resurface of the former Commander, but he did remember that this was the boy that hung around Kenya, and it the same boy that he himself was wary about when Risa's campus had a break-in.

"Casey." He tested the name in a chiding tone. He wasn't one to judge people right off the bat, but for some aberrant reason, his whole body felt an overwhelming amount of hate for the man. Why was that? Why did a bitter feeling replace what ought to be profound respect?

A voice broke him out of his silent state. Both men deep in bitter thoughts turned their heads towards the woman standing to the side of the mansion with a casual frown etched on her brows.

"Pierce, you okay?" Risa called out. "Finish conspiring with K2 and come, would you? I don't feel safe babysitting them alone."

-
She turned to him with firm eyes and lips parted. "Finish bandaging and leave. I don't feel safe with you in the same place as this team, regardless of what he thinks."
-

K2 noticed the younger man looking fixedly at Risa standing outside with no intention of moving, so he leaned in and whispered in his dramatically low octave, "What are you doing?"

But Pierce remained inert and his eyes didn't falter while seeing through his murky memory a scene from the past. He turned to the director with wide eyes. "I just had the impression that I hated Risa with all my heart."

"Doesn't everyone?"

Pierce ignored the elder man's remark and began returning back to reality. With one final shake of his head, he pushed away from the helicopter and headed towards Risa. But that wasn't before K2 heard him groan unconvincingly and mutter under his breath, "Dear god, I hate her so fucking much."

The director's brows twitched. Anyone could tell— even his nonexistent baby in the secret compartment that the Cody boy accused him of having— that the Agent was lying through his perfect teeth.

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

Risa's POV
—

Pierce fell into step beside me as we made our way around the mansion's perimeter and towards the front gates. I gave him a peculiar look as I collected the hem of my dress in my palms and walked inelegantly across the yard.

"What'd you talk about with K2?" I asked him bemusedly, wondering why the both of them were staring me down a few minutes ago.

Pierce laced his hands through his hair. When he exhaled, I could see the frost in the air condensing into a silver trail. "You won't be able to handle it."

"Try me, Commander."

"Fine. I rambled about how much I hated you and he agreed. We're thinking of packing you up next thing tomorrow for an orphanage." He looked smug enough for me to take a challenge.

I nodded along with a dignified expression and crossed my arms. "Can I request the same place you lived at in Russia? I need to see the environment you were raised in, and then prevent another one of you from being born."

To my unpleasant surprise, Serena's mother stood at the gates serving as the hostess that was welcoming people in. Before we even had a chance to greet her, she held out her hand towards me and demanded my invitation. Pierce and I shared a sideways glance before I shook my head. Sure, we had invitations, but that was as T6.

"Uh, well I'm uh..." My hands had already found its way to the nape of my neck. "Serena's friend."

"You?" The lady scrunched up her wrinkly face and began analyzing my appearance. "With that attire? Darling, I'm sure you could've scrubbed your clothes a bit before coming here. Not having a mother is no excuse. We take Serenity very seriously."

You don't say. Like mother, like daughter.

A smile crept on my lips as I drove my mind to stop thinking about everything I've been through in the last few hours for me to deserve to hear that. "My apologies, Mrs. Heatherine. I had a long night. The dress looks more modest than it did a few hours ago."

"What did you do to the poor thing on the ride here then, you ratchet child? I've heard plenty about you from Serena." She raised her eyebrows at me. Meanwhile, the men behind her allowed a colossal crew of students in without harassing them once for their invitations.

She seemed to enjoy the badgering though, because she stirred up even more talk. "The whole school board despises you. I heard you were always a pain in the ass."

My face morphed into a faint pout as my hand balled into a fist by my hip. "Is it really necessary to talk to me that way?"

"I can't let you step in my house looking like that if you really are Serena's friend. There's a hose in the back of you want to wash off the debri—" Her voice cut off as she noticed something below my chin. She leaned forward and her eyes flickered in disbelief. "Is that... it's red... is that blood?"

Her hand shot forward, wanting to rip the cloth apart that cushioned my wounded neck. It was then that I realized the blood was probably staining through the cotton because I was tensing my muscles too much. Before I could react, I felt a gust of wind past by my ear and saw a hand in my line of vision.

Pierce had rapped the repulsive woman's hand away from me before shooting her one of his callous stares that made anyone break into nervous sweats. I saw his face set in an resentful smile, drawling out his next words in an unsettling tone. "How shameless are you?"

Chagrined, she withdrew back with disturbed eyes. "Excuse me?"

"I found your tone quite hilarious, like you were over the moon you were a mother. Don't tell me you treat only your daughter right and everyone else like shit?" I realized that Pierce had taken the lead and was standing in front of me so that even if she wanted to clasp her bony fingers around my throat, she couldn't.

The woman huffed in the cold weather with apparent displeasure. She peered over his shoulders to send me a disgusted stare before her eyes traveled back to Pierce's. "Son, I don't know who you are— you don't look like you're from here— but she's not worth your time. You can come in, this doesn't involve you."

"Where is your daughter?" Pierce blatantly ignored her suggestion. "I want a word with her as well." When I heard him say that, my numb hand reached out and tugged at his suit's sleeve. I slid him a questioning look when he shifted and saw me. Just go in with the team, I told him through one look. What are you doing?

All of a sudden, I sensed a prodigious shadow emerging from the entrance of the house. All three of us snapped our heads to the front door and saw an exalted man surrounded by college girls running their mouths beside him for his attention.

"They're with me," Osias announced in an overwhelming tone. "Don't mess with them, ma'am, or I'm leaving this place, and your daughter would be pretty upset you lost my visit here."

As much as I knew it all sounded too conceited, I also knew, it was all verifiable. I had forgotten he was a well-known actor here, and that was fully apparent now that we were back where we started. Pierce arched his head back and shot the actor an entertained look, "First time you're useful, Blake."

"Don't belittle my shimmer, Easton." Osias retorted with a dry look.

Mrs. Heatherine bobbled back and forth between the two men with wide eyes. She, like any mother that was up to date with all the trends because of her daughter, couldn't afford to lose Osias at Serenity. The actor brought in high ratings, upstanding impressions, and especially skyrocketed the green cash inside their donation box at the foyer.

It took every last cell in her body to allow Pierce and I to pass, and we made sure she regretted it with every last drop of blood in her body too. The both of us flipped her the bird, formed a heart with it, and presented it to her with a wink before we walked past the gates.

Pierce brought forth his fist with a smirk without looking at me and I responded with a fist bump out of the woman's sight, finally joining Osias at the door. The man before us gave us a judgmental look but we brushed it off as if it never happened.

Cody was in the middle of rejecting a drink when he spotted me and Pierce. He strode over, bringing along a now awake and radiant Asao, who was devouring a cake pop that he snatched up at the food table.

I decided to address Osias with a teasing manner. "I thought you were pursuing our beautiful Kenya. Why are you surrounded by..." I stopped myself short when my schoolmates sent me forbidding looks not to finish that sentence. "Not... beautiful Kenya's..." I finished awkwardly instead, swiftly stealing a glance at Cody and Pierce.

Osias froze and seemed to have furrowed his brows. "She was here a moment ago. We were going to get a drink, but I was distracted for a moment by these kids asking for my phone number. When I turned back around, she disappeared. I'm a... bit disappointed she didn't wait for me."

I held back a smug smile. Looks like we had our own game of cat and mouse within our team. Someone was a little hesitant to admit to his and her feelings.

Pierce came up right behind me and shook his head sympathetically towards the actor. "You lost your chance, huh big fella. Do you need a tissue?"

"I hate how this one oversteps his boundaries every second of his life like he has nothing better to do." Osias squinted at me while complaining about our Commander, as if I could do something about it.

"Bruh, don't look at me," I took a step back. "I'm in the same boat as you."

It was then that I heard the sound of heels against glazed floorboard and I angled my head to the side to see Serena and Vanessa sashaying over. They were extravagant-looking, I'll admit. My eyes landed on Jeremy, who also spotted me and Pierce standing right behind. Pierce and I exchanged a silent look as the two musketeers and the drumstick waddled up to us.

"Reese's piec—" Jeremy choked at the demonic glare I gave him, and he cleared his throat and started on his second try. "—Risa. You're... here."

"I can practically hear the excitement dripping from your tone," my eyes shone with amusement. I took a step forward and he leaned back to escape from the vengeful aura. "It's been a while, molester. Did your hockey time ever question that ferrule mark after you straddled me? I think it makes for a wonderful news article, don't you think so, Mr. Journalist in the back?"

The boy's horrified eyes spun around to find the prominent camera rolling, capturing every moment of the party. He should've stayed away, I thought to myself as I stared distastefully at the back of Jeremy's head. I'll  never forgive someone that touched me like that.

I felt dark energy being emitted towards me so I shifted my attention back to the girls blocking my peripheral view. Serena twisted a curled end of her locks as her glossy eyes rode down my body and back up like a lint roller. Vanessa chewed her gum for the sixtieth round that night, making her jaws stiff and her reaction speed as slow as her brain.

The highness of the maestoso dance noticed the boys behind me and her face folded so much that there were cracks apparent where her make-up didn't conceal. A hand protruded out from her side as she stabbed me in the chest.

"You are late, Risa." She appeared a little too bashful after several eyes turned towards the front of the mansion. What made it worse though, was that someone decided to dismantle the speaker cords from the plugs in the wall while having their intense make-out session, and the music abruptly cut off.

The whole student body as well as international guests were here tonight, all previously doing well with minding their own business. But now, their eyes were leeching onto mine.

I nodded slowly before I sensed the boys behind me squaring up and possibly exchanging cold death glares in my place, and my heart skipped a beat in swift awe. My lips parted slightly ajar as I noted, "Good, your mother was spared. If I had come early, that would've given us a lot of time for a lot of accidents."

I saw her bite back her response, most likely because it wouldn't look professional on camera. She instead resorted to drawing attention to my seemingly tattered and threadbare evening gown to shift the concentration away from her family.

"What did you do to your dress already?" The highness swayed her chest proudly before the phones that were recording our conversation, indicating that no one could rival her apparel. It didn't matter to me that I was the center of attention once again, and not for something dignifiedly good as well. What I did find concern over though, was the fact that people I cared for was currently witnessing my entire college life treatment.

I knew Osias already felt the need to roll up his suit sleeves. I knew Asao wanted to pull me away from the stares. I knew Cody absolutely despised these girls and the fact that I was involved with them, and that he was waiting for the perfect moment to call them out. And for Pierce, I knew there was no fight— not even the one in France— that would satisfy him as much as the one tonight if he could instigate it.

I leaned my head patiently, but it was Cody that spoke in my place. "We just came out of a French Revolution, what have you been doing?" The man had pulled out his phone to text someone and was currently stuffing it back in a pocket inside his suit jacket. "But right, you don't even remember the one in 1789, do you? You failed that portion on your history test."

Students all around us showered him with a good laugh, believing he was the comedian of the century. Between the whistles and the snaps, my best friend locked eyes with me and I could see how disappointed he was to witness me being treated this way. The truth was, I could handle them, sure, but I was still figuring out how I got tangled with these girls, so I'm sticking around to understand just as much as they were.

I whispered a question to Pierce in my mother tongue, because I knew the majority of these students took Spanish and not French. He shook his head to indicate that they haven't found fake Beta yet, but Cody gestured that he just texted the group chat for the man to reveal himself soon.

Vanessa jutted in when she realized I was unaffected by the negative attention I was receiving. "Don't you know that T6 are coming as special guests? You'll have to go upstairs when they do then, cause we can't have that dress in the pictures."

The boys straightened up slowly with their expression showing pure irony at her remark, and I relaxed my shoulders. "May I ask who's your favorite?"

"Obviously M&M," she scowled at me as if I should've known better. "Everyone in our friend group knows that, but I guess you're not up to date with anything because you miss school like everyday."

... There's a reason for that.

I held back a sigh and rubbed my earlobe, making her uneasy. My weight shifted to one side as I gave her a piqued look. Before I could say anything, a woman's voice echoed down the stairs.

"Really now?"

Everyone turned to see Kenya reappearing on the scene for tonight. She descended the staircase effortlessly, it seeming to serve as her runway instead. She had let all her hair free since it was dismantled during the fight at Versailles. It cascaded down her back and shaped her dark shoulders gracefully. The woman looked stunningly ethereal.

Kenya gave me a quick look-over to make sure I was okay before she aimed her icy stare over at Vanessa. "You're definitely not her favorite, on the other hand. Seeing how you carry yourself."

"I don't remember asking for your opin—"

"And I don't remember you being taught properly ever in your life. Don't cut me off when I'm talking, kid. I've had more experience behind cameras than you ever will. My word of advice is to shut up before you humiliate yourself." Kenya walked up to us and gave the boys a reassuring look that she was back. Osias' eyes lingered on hers after she broke away and turned to me.

"I met up with someone during the party. We ran into each other," she whispered by my ear. When I pulled away, she continued. "I remembered you asking me a strange question back then. How about you decide for yourself how close he is to us?"

It was then that I realized there was someone else standing behind her. When Kenya stepped to the side and twisted her body towards the man, the rest of the team was able to see him as clear as day. He looked exactly like he did four years ago, save a slight stubble with time, but his face and eyes remained identical to memory.

Why was it only now that I connected Kenya's friend to the man in my dreams?

"Blondie," I let the replacement word roll out instead of his name to keep myself safe. There was something weird in the air that only our team could sense.

Casey caught my eye and his eyes returned an odd glint of bewilderment. "Risa! It's been a while." He walked forward and collected my hand into his palm, gently stroking my skin courteously with his crooked smile that only suited him.

I was confused. I gazed into the man's eyes like he was the only person in the room, not registering how he had already placed his hands on me when we only just reunited. Where was the bad feeling I had when I saw him in my dreams?

Osias, on the other hand, took an immediate bad impression of Casey, especially since the man returned with Kenya, and he started, "I don't understand why you're so touchy with her already. Hands off."

At that, Casey noticed the larger man and a mysterious smile crept at the corners of his mouth. "Of course, she just looked so beautiful tonight." He released me. "I've been waiting for my people to come for a while, but I'm a bit let down. So I was just excited to see faces I knew."

"Who is 'your people?'" It was the first time I heard Pierce talk since meeting all of these new faces. He'd never seen Casey before, and only heard about him from me.

Casey directed his eyes to Pierce, and immediately, I sensed something was too off. It was like two men with equal dominating power facing off each other, and no one understood why they were conjuring up that specific image.

Casey raised his brows. "Well, let's just say it would've been nice if it was you people. You're all friends of Kenya's, and all fairly attractive. Hell, you stole the spotlight right when you came in. I'm impressed."

"Name." Pierce demanded without wasting time on flattery. Although Kenya, Cody, and I knew the man's name, we were all too stunned to tell him when we heard the weighty air in his voice.

Casey glowered slightly, but the faint smile on his lips were still perceptible as he laughed and chimed, "I'm getting bad vibes from you in particular, though. How about you tell me your name first?"

"I won't bother. For all you know, I could be a letter." Pierce hurled back crisply.

"Hm, you're right. I may not know your name, but tell me..." The man placed his hand on my shoulder and I felt his fingers clawing into my skin with every passing second. He saw my sudden dark expression and lended me a dominating smile, before peering over my shoulders at Pierce.

"Is that any way to talk to your past Commander, X?"

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

RSMS: You were friends with him...?

M&M: For the last time, he's not my friend.

RSMS: Then what am I?

Beta: —CUT! Re-roll. I need something more. Someone pass him the tear drops.

Venus: We're out. Cody and Asao's already at the supermarket buying more.

K2: Is this what you people do in your free time? Also Risa, I dare you to dim those lights any slower. Work with me here.