As the evening set and night was growing darker, five of them sat on the sofa and armchairs watching the tv. A ritual that couldn't be broken.
"Do you guys have any of Isabelle's contact info?" Eliza asked as she realised the time. Isabelle stayed behind with Frank and they haven't seen her since. Eliza expected her to knock on a door or even call her. Surely Frank gave her their contact details. He did it with every single one of them, creating a buddy system.
"No, why?" Kirsty was munching on some salted pretzels.
She returned with Tony fairly recently after they enjoyed a takeaway together. Sometimes Eliza wondered if they dated or something but then she was reminded just how impossible that would be.
"I haven't had a chance to chat with her and I wanted to see if she needed help moving in and settling down." Eliza admitted. "I wonder where she is at this time. It's 10pm already and no sign of her." She let out a sigh. Of course she was worried. Eliza joined agency fairly recently. She was twenty years old now and she commenced her training after she was eighteen. She lost her family in an accident when she was sixteen. Perhaps that's why she wanted to take Isabelle under her wing so badly. She still remembered vividly that she and how terrifying and upsetting it was.
It didn't seem that her colleagues shared her worry.
Frank had confidence in Isabelle because of his experience with her which he wasn't very willing to share. Tony and Kirsty were indifferent. They were the kind that rarely cared about others.
Edmund remained silent. He was curious about Isabelle and he felt a smidge of empathy towards another teen who joined the agency, but he wouldn't show it as openly as Eliza did. He wasn't going to show any weakness.
They soon went to their respective bedrooms taking their well deserved rest.
However, Edmund and Eliza couldn't sleep that night.
In the morning, Eliza, Frank and Edmund had their breakfast together. They were leaving earlier to get their exercise in.
Luck had it that they still entered the office at the same time as Tony and Kirsty.
One thing about their office was a pinboard on the side wall. They often kept a tally of the number of cases their resolved as a healthy competition, which may have involved bets and a meal out for the monthly winner sponsored by the losers.
"Hang on, how did Isabelle's count go up overnight?" Kirsty asked out loud as they've passed by the board. Four others turned around and looked at a tally. Indeed, there was another tick by Isabelle's name which was added, presumably by Greg, to the board using a black marker.
"It must be a mistake." Tony shrugged as he walked to his desk.
"It is not a mistake." Greg said as he walked through to the open office. "Isa solved a case since last night. She's working on her third case now. Since she's fine to work on it solo, I have something else for you lot." Greg separated the pile of papers that he held. "Tony and Kirsty, you can have the robbery case. Frank and Eliza, you can have narcotics case. And Edmund, my boy, you can have a murder mystery."
"Oh, the joy." Tony answered with a fake smile. Another day of work has started.
"What is Isabelle working on?" Eliza asked curiously.
"A murder case." Greg answered. "I have number of meetings today so if you need me, call me. And if you don't need me, still call me. I need an excuse to get out of them."
Greg wished them good luck and each got on with their cases as he left grumpily for his meetings. At first, they all sat by their desks in silence, analysing the files and all that was already gathered. And then, one after another, they disappeared out of the office. Some went to get more evidence, and some went to study the crime scenes.
The day was busy, and most of their new cases were in full swing by the evening.
Eliza's mind still kept going back to Isabelle so when Greg came into their office and put another tick by Isabelle's name, she quickly enquired about Isabelle's whereabouts.
Isabelle was in the staff locker room in the first underground floor (level -1), putting away the equipment that she used whilst out on the mission.
Eliza approached her with a warm smile.
"Hi." Eliza tried her hardest to be as friendly and as welcoming as possible.
Isabelle turned around and looked at Eliza with surprise as if she never expected someone to speak to her.
"Hi." Isabelle replied with reservations.
"I'm Eliza and I wanted to welcome you to our team. It's great to have someone new join us." Eliza fidgeted nervously. Isabelle's stern and suspicious gaze seemed to push her to the edge. "I'm not sure how much Greg told you about us but one of the things is that we all live together to make things easier for us."
"I know."
"Well…" Eliza started picking on her fingers. "We do have a room ready for you. Greg wanted us to look after you so…" Eliza struggle to say anything else.
"Thanks?" Isabelle furrowed her brows.
"Have you been staying somewhere nice?" Eliza tried to continue the conversation.
"Yeah." Isabelle answered as she returned to putting her equipment away into the locker. There was something truly unnerving to see a teenager putting away a gun.
"That's good." Eliza still tried. "Do let me know when you want to move in."
"Will do." Isabelle agreed although she barely paid any attention to Eliza anymore, focused on putting her equipment in the proper way.
"I'll see you around." Eliza waved to her before walking away.
Eliza went back upstairs. "Frank." Eliza walked up to him with a frown. Frank laid back in his chair with his feet on his desk. He was playing around with a stress ball while supposedly thinking, although, there was an equal chance that he was distracted or daydreaming.
"What's up?"
"I've introduced myself to Isabelle and I kind of tried to welcome her but…" Eliza let out a sigh.
"She shut you down." Frank finished for her.
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"I've spent a few months around her. She was always a bit of a hermit and kept to the outside. It takes her longer than normal to warm up to people and even then, she gets along with the select few."
"And she gets along with you?"
"I suppose."
"Go and talk to her then. You can represent our team." Frank didn't look convinced. "Come on, Frank. You can be our mediator."
Frank let out a long sigh. "Alright." He gave in. He slowly got up as if it was a chore. Eliza passed him a set of keys with an expectation that he was to give them to Isabelle. As Frank turned around, Isabelle came upstairs herself with some paperwork in her hand. She seemed to be completely engrossed in them, not giving anyone else any notice.
"Hey, kid." Frank called out towards her. Isabelle hasn't responded, still walking with a file in her hands. "Isa!"
"Hey, Frank." Isabelle looked up. She seemed taken aback that someone spoke to her - again.
"Come and live with us." Frank said directly at which Eliza flinched.
"I don't want to cause any trouble."
"It's going to be less trouble if you stick with us." Frank told her loudly. "I would at least know when to start searching the ditches for your dead body."
"If I end up in a ditch, leave me there to rot." Isabelle answered sharply. "Don't waste your efforts."
"Okay, you ray of sunshine." Frank threw the keys at her which she caught. "I can help you to move in tonight."
"I'll be fine."
"I'll send you all the info." Frank sat back down. "And before you say anything, just know that you're upsetting Eliza." Frank didn't even look at her as he added.
Isabelle scowled at him before turning around and leaving the office.
"Jesus Christ, couldn't you be more subtle?" Eliza punched Frank on his arm.
"I liked it. It was efficient." Edmund laughed.
"I did the thing. You've got what you asked for. So…?" Frank shrugged.
Eliza huffed as she walked away. Her cheeks turned all red. Partially from embarrassment and partially from frustration.
"Why is she so worried anyways?" Frank turned to Edmund.
"Who knows. I guess that she already made Isabelle her responsibility."
"That's so unnecessary. Isabelle can easily whop her ass."
"You obviously know her but you haven't really told us much about your time together."
"We were trained together for several months and as part of the prep we went out for several missions. She was well known in my training unit. After the training ended we were send separate ways. Although she was the best of the best, for some reason she was sent to high risk infiltration unit. I was send to the investigations and analysis unit and then moved here once I've completed my rota and once I've passed all the extra training and clearance. I'm not sure why it would have taken her so long to end up here with her scores and training. She had more modules than I did and all were a perfect score." Frank explained as he looked down the corridor where Isabelle has disappeared. "She's very nice once you get to know her but she doesn't really trust anyone and she works on her own for most part."
"How did she end up being recruited at such a young age?"
"I honestly don't know. I don't know where she came from and how. She never spoke of it and no one really knew. There were rumours, of course, but nothing solid."
"What kind of rumours?"
"There were so many." Frank chuckled. "One was as ridiculous as to say that she killed someone and hence ended up in the agency."
"You don't end up in here after killing someone." Edmund said decisively.
"Exactly. Anyways, I'm going to try to find her to make sure that she does actually move in today as I don't think I'll be able to stand much more of Eliza's mourning." Frank stood up and shoved bits of paper into the top drawer of his very disorganised desk.
Some time later Edmund walked towards their apartment along the corridor when he noticed Frank a few steps ahead of him walking along with Isabelle. He didn't intend to hear any of it but their conversation echoed across the hallway towards him.
"Was staying in that shit hole really that much better than staying with us?" Frank asked grumpily. Isabelle hasn't answered. "Why didn't you say that you were staying in the hostel? Also, how long were you there?"
"Just a couple of weeks."
"Still going for extreme minimalism?" Frank pointed to the bag on her shoulder.
"I don't need anything more."
"If you say so. Your bedroom is right next to mine. The key set that I've thrown at you earlier has a key to the building, our apartment, and your room." Frank explained as he was unlocking the apartment door. "I did send you our usual house rules. We tend to spread the chores between us when it comes to communal areas. We often share dinners together but that one's on you. Tony and Kirsty chip in for three nights a week and that is how many they share with us. Myself, Edmund and Eliza, we share most of our dinners and some breakfasts. Comes out cheaper that way."
"Okay." Isabelle nodded.
"I've send you our phone numbers as well. And you can also be added to our shared chat."
"Uh-huh." Isabelle wasn't very enthusiastic about any of it.
"I have send you the claim forms that you can use for the money back for the rent as well. Anyways, let me know if you need anything." Frank stopped by her new bedroom door. Edmund could still hear them from the living room.
"Thanks, Frank."
"No worries. We do need to catch up soon though. I am curious as to what you have been up to since I've last seen you."
"Not much. I doubt it is worth catching up on."
"Have you done your annual firearms license renewal tests?"
"No, not yet."
"We're going to the shooting range next week to have ours sorted. You should join us."
"I'll think about it."
"Some of us could use getting our egos shattered."
"I don't want to make anyone feel bad about themselves."
Frank laughed at Isabelle's comment but didn't contradict it. Soon they bid each other good night and Edmund made his way to his own room.
He knew that he shouldn't be loosing sleep over Isabelle but he did.
She was sixteen. He was seventeen when he joined. It was just over a year ago that he was in her shoes when he joined the 'Specials'.
It was triggering for him. It reminded him of his own trauma and experiences that led to it. It reminded him of all the downsides of the agency. The danger, risk-taking, living on edge, stress, and most importantly, the lack of a normal life. Some were more accepting of it than other's but he still felt like his own life with all its guilty pleasures was stripped away from him. And now, Isabelle who was even younger, continued the cycle.