Veronica slept like someone knocked her out. There were no dreams or nightmares, only pure exhaustion.
Waking up she was confused with her surroundings. She set up and stretched while yawning. She looked around with still sleepy eyes.
She was in a normal sized room. From behind her, light shined in through a window.
'Huh... Its already morning?... How long was I asleep?'
Slowly the yesterday returned to her, and she was surprised that she was finally able to move normally.
In fact she was so estranged from movement, that when she jumped to her feet, she instantly collapsed, and hit the floor with a large bang.
Everything worked fine, but it would take a bit longer to get used to moving again.
From the other side of the corner sofa a groan sounded. Veronica stared there for a second, then her eyes snapped to her still very naked body.
"Shit." She muttered to herself, then quickly grabbed the blanket from the floor.
By the time Michael opened his eyes she had already haphazardly covered herself. He looked around tiredly, awoken by the loud noise of Veronica's fall. His eyes stopped on her.
"Why are you lying on the floor? And what was that loud bang?" He asked in a deep sleepy voice.
Michael looked her up and down slowly. Her shoulders and arms were bare, same as most of her legs. Seeing this much of a Free Cities woman was scandalous. Even whore wouldn't dare to show so much.
Luckily Veronica wasn't looking at him. Her face was bright red from blushing and she tried to make herself as small as possible.
"I fell..." Was the only thing she said.
After spending a minute of staring at her, Michael eventually realized how much of a creep he was. He yawned and climbed to his feet, stretching out his arms.
"I will get you some clothes and some breakfast. Or do you want to leave for the inn after getting dressed?" He asked while walking towards the door.
"It's fine if we eat first. I don't want to get scolded on an empty stomach." She said while looking a bit sad.
She knew exactly how Suze felt each time she came home after a fight, and today's was by far worse than anything from before. She had no idea how she will break her the news about nearly getting killed and the ascension.
Michael nodded from the doorway, then left the room making sure to lock it behind himself.
The first place he went to was the walk-in closet of the whole headquarters. They constantly got their clothes bloodied and dirtied, so everyone had multiple change of clothes at hand.
It was right next to the recreation room, so he only had to walk a few steps to enter. Inside there were about a dozen different suits –most of them his– and a few dresses.
There were eight different people working at the Unbroken Headquarters. Six men and two women. Only five of them were ascended though.
Billie's husband Rob was the main caretaker of the whole building, while Otis and Carol were both receptionists.
Looking at the dresses Michael wasn't sure which one to pick. Billie's figure was smaller in both height and size compared to Veronica, but Carol was pretty similar to her actually. The only issue was that Carol really hated if anyone touched her stuff.
"I will just say sorry later." He mumbled to himself while grabbing one of the flowery dresses.
Carol was a bit older than most of them working here. She was in her late thirties, and her choice of dress style was questionable at best.
Michael stared down at the long blue dress with dozens of different colored flowers adorning it. He giggled at imagining Veronica's face when she would wear it.
While thinking about this, he left the closet and walked towards the kitchen. The building wasn't too big, there were five main rooms, the reception area, the recreation room, the kitchen, the office area... and the basement.
As he walked by the basement door a shiver went down his spine. That place always gave him the creeps, but what would one expect from a space filled with dangerous Relics and Ethereal Items.
The place also had about a hundred different spells, traps, locks, alarms and other deadly defensive measures in place. It was nearly impossible to break in, but that didn't make it foolproof... And that's where the Unbroken came into the picture.
Their job here wasn't only to take care of supernatural cases, but to defend everything hidden in the building's basement.
He spent a second looking at the door. He heard a beautiful singing voice coming from behind it. Without even noticing he reached out his hand and touched the door handle. In that moment a small electric zap shocked his body, causing his reverie to disappear.
He made a small yelped, then left the area with hurried footsteps. There were very strict rules of how one can approach and venture down the stairs into the basement. Only Ted, the leader of the Unbroken's Hammon Chapter knew the exact formula.
Walking away he soon arrived at the kitchen door. He heard people talking and chuckling inside. With a deep sigh Michael pushed open the door and prepared himself for the upcoming jokes.
"...I'm telling you, the two of them are hundred percent having sex!" Said Gerald. The room contained three people, Gerald, his brother Cory and the receptionist Carol. They were each eating breakfast and drinking coffee, or tea.
"Don't be so vulgar. Poor girl is probably still passed out from the previous night." Said Carol in her usual whiny voice. She wore a similar flowery dress that Michael held in his hand. Her hair was long, black and not too well maintained. Her looks were average, but what really made her great was her attitude.
She was a generally nice lady, but she took no shit from anyone. Even Ted. If someone said or done something she didn't like, she would say it straight to their face, and wouldn't care about the consequences.
If Billie was like the little sister of the Unbroken, then Carol was the grumpy aunt.
"I talked to Billie before leaving. She said that she left Veronica naked in the room, with only a blanket covering her." Said Cory in his monotone voice, causing Gerald to boom with laughter.
"Then they hundred percent fu... Hey! What was that for?" As Gerald spoke Carol hit the back of his head hard. Since he was an ascended there was no real pain, but he still caressed it with his hand.
"What did I say? No vulgar words!" She shouted, then drank a bit of tea and turned towards Michael with a small cunning smile. "Good morning, how is the girl?"
The two brothers' heads snapped to Michael. Somehow Carol –a normal human– noticed him entering sooner than either of the ascended.
They looked at him, then at each other. They both had annoying grins on their faces and Michael was already preparing himself for the banter.
He placed the dress on an empty chair, then walked to the kitchen area, where the breakfast was still steaming. There were scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, sausage, lots of vegetables and fruits, plus different dairy products.
Since he had no idea what Veronica might like, he took a bit of everything. While placing the food onto a tray he answered Carol's previous question.
"She is doing good. The antidote worked and she could move freely again." After getting the food on the tray he moved onto the beverages.
"And did you spent a bit of time with her while she couldn't move?" Asked Gerald while giggling. Michael rolled his eyes and spoke with exasperation without looking back at him.
"Did you really just suggest I rape her?" This accusation sadly wouldn't work on the pair, they were way too shameless.
"I mean... You could ask for permission. I'm sure she would love to spend some quality time with you!" Said Gerald causing Cory to giggle.
Michael moved expertly. He finished pouring drinks, then with a packed tray she grabbed the dress and began to walk towards the exit.
"I suggest you each get yourself someone that sleeps with you without paying them." He said before opening the door.
"Wait! Isn't that my dress?!" Said an outraged voice behind him.
"Got to go!" He said before quickly leaving the kitchen. Behind him Cory and Gerald both died of laughter while Carol was yelling and cursing at him.
Not long after, he entered the recreation room. Veronica was standing beside the window. Her only cover was still that lone blanket, but she didn't seem to care. Her eyes were on the people walking down the street.
Michael placed the tray on the table next to the door, he also put the dress gently on one of the chairs and called for Veronica to get dressed.
With that he left the room and stood beside the doorway waiting for her to get dressed. The door's lock clicked shut next to him and he heard the blanket hit the floor.
He couldn't stop his imagination to ran wild, but when she heard Veronica's grumblings through the closed door, all the dirty thoughts went away. Instead he began to chuckle to himself, and his laughter only increased when Veronica opened the door.
The dress look absolutely ridiculous on her, but with her grumpy expression the sight was just hilarious.
At that moment she was tempted to chuck the door straight into Michael's face, but when she took one glance at herself, she also began to laugh.
Not long after they stopped chuckling, they sat down and began eating breakfast.