Alex's POV
I normally didn't listen to music when I was working, but Jake had let me know that he was working on something important to do with family, so I thought I'd give music a shot. He sent me a link to his mix on YouTube, so I plugged my headphones in and let the music drown out the sounds of my pack to try and see if I could feel how he does, and never did I expect what happened. The song "Make Waves" made me feel like I was unstoppable, and I went from job to job around the pack with an almost unnatural level of motivation. It honestly felt like Jack had said 'Hey, You feeling down? We can't have that' and shot me forward with a newfound love for my family. Pack members saw me going around as fast as I could, but couldn't get my attention, it was tunnel vision but I loved it. As the song neared its end I finished taking stock of the food we had in the kitchens and made a list of things we needed for some of my Gammas to pick up.
Alexis' POV
I'm going to be brutally honest here, I don't know how and I don't want to know, but the music that Alexandria was listening to made her ten times as efficient as she normally was; It was something I'd never thought possible, but I should've seen it, every time she thought she reached her limit she broke through with newfound motivation. It just so happens that the motivation she had this time came from Jacke, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't proud of them. They were using their own individual strengths to help each other out even when they were nowhere near each other, a small text with a link for Jake's playlist was all it took for this to happen? I was shocked, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Jake's POV
We were approaching Arizona's border when I got a text from Alex.
"I don't know how you did it, but your playlist made it so that I could do my Pack Work way faster than I normally do, Thanks Pup."
I didn't know how, truly, I guess music was my remedy whenever I felt lost or without purpose and thought I'd share it with her to see if it would help her too; Turns out I was right, and I loved it.
"The music helped her with her job, Jack."
"Good shit, even if we're busy with this job, it feels good to help her out, doesn't it?"
"Oh yeah," I said as I put the phone down, and started looking around. It had been ages since we'd been here, and the last time we were here wasn't exactly pleasant, before I had died I got in a fight with my dad because I was a "Pushover" and he wanted me to be a man, "You know, it's funny, Dad always said I needed to grow up, and 'Be a man' but I was more of a man now than he'll ever be. I'm okay being the submissive one, simply because it's Alex, and I think this proves it as fact."
"Fuck yeah it does, he was jealous that you could be whoever you wanted to be, and tried to bring you down to his level. In a way, he succeeded, and in the same way, he failed because you met me," Jack said as we crossed the border, and as we did I started taking in my surroundings, Arizona hadn't changed much. It was still the barren desert I remembered it to be, but it felt like home, crazily enough.
Jack's POV
'Bang Bang' was next in the playlist and I floored the gas, this song got Jake going and in the same sense I got crazy whenever this song came on, not a care in the world because he was searching so I could drive; He was damn good at it too, some called it to sightseeing, others called it taking in your surroundings. We called it hunting, even if our "Target" were two potential family members, and we were damn good at our job.
"So, Milo and Gloria, these two are apparently really dangerous and unpredictable. We need to be careful so that we don't scare them off, otherwise, they might blow up on us," I said, and Jake nodded his head in agreeance, it was nice to have the confidence that Jake brought. He might not be the most confident in his own abilities, but he was confident in me, and I was confident in him.
We pulled over at a gas station, and I grabbed a 20 before heading inside, Jake quick behind me. It was kind of ironic in a mundane way, I was his bodyguard and he was essentially my therapist, but we wouldn't have each other otherwise so we didn't really question it. Jake went off and started grabbing snacks while I grabbed a couple of cups, and mixed some drinks for us, before heading to the counter.
"$23.47," The cashier said, and I handed him the 20 before Jake started towards the car to get the remaining 3.47.
"It's okay, we gotcha," Said two voices behind us and stepped up to add their stuff to our order, the cashier shrugged his shoulders and started scanning their stuff, but something didn't sit right with me.
"You okay, dude? Looks like a cat got your tongue," The man said, dressed in a leather jacket and vibrant red hair, The woman beside him swiped his card and the transaction cleared.
"Yeah, would you two follow me outside? I'd like to ask y'all something," I asked, and they nodded their heads, following me outside back to our car, "What's your names?"
"Milo, and she's Gloria, why?" The man said, looking anxious, not that I could blame him; After the shit, he's been through, he could punch me in the jaw and I'd probably say that I understood him.
"My name is Jack, him over there is Jake, and we have a job to find you both and invite you to join our family," I said, nerves running back and forth, and Jake could probably see it plain as day. I wasn't used to playing nice with others, but it was my job to invite them in, not force them.
"Can you elaborate? You understand my hesitation, of course, it sounds like you're offering a place to stay, and we have nowhere to go," He said before extending his hand to shake, and I graciously took it.
"It won't be easy, but if you're willing to trust me, we'll take you to our home and Jake will explain as much as he can when we get there. You don't have to get in our car, of course, seeing as you have your own. Just follow us and we'll show you the way," I said, and they shrugged their shoulders before getting in their car; This was going to be a whole new ball game, and I was as ready as ever to play it.