#para1

Selene lingers in the hallway, face hot, arms hot, hands cold, dread and longing mixing impossibly inside the cavity of her chest, head swiveling at every footstep she heard, starched shirts and black Jimmy Choo's slipping in and out of offices. Somewhere in there was Kieran.

Somewhere in there was the person she held closest to her heart. Not for the first time, Selene curses her father for having to meet in these circumstances. And not for the last time, Selene curses herself for being complicit in the betrayal of her own heart. And maybe her best friend too.

But years had passed since college— it was possible that Kieran simply didn't care. Maybe to him, she just represented the faded imprint of nostalgia. Textbooks wet with the circle of a beer can. A tight embrace before finals week. Maybe it didn't matter to Kieran she was engaged to his brother, and training her would simply be a chore rather than the marathon of pain it felt like to Selene. Maybe he barely thought of her at all these days. After all. Wasn't he essentially running a Fortune 500?

Oh!

Selene had warned Gabi this would be no small affair, but looking around at the penthouse, massive, littered with revelers, she was only now understanding just how big. The reverb from the speakers is loud enough to rattle her teeth. Maybe it'll reset her brain, or something. It'd been a rough fucking week.

"Like I said, he has this ... thing, about him, so if he's surrounded by a gaggle of admirers or something I'll scare 'em off." Selene shoots her friend a wry grin. "Just worry about having fun."

There's a snort, a flutter of Gabi's eyes. Now the woman who worked eighty-hour weeks was going to lecture her?

"Selene. You wouldn't know fun if it showed up in your Google calendar."

Her best friend volleys back an eye-roll of her own, smiles affectionately as she instructs her to stay put.

"Let me go make sure he's not back-flipping across the balcony rail."

There was no telling what he'd be doing at this point in the party. Selene wants to set this introduction up perfectly ... she just has this instinct about it! And a Machiavellian drive to execute this idea.

"Matty. Matty, Matty, Matty."

There he was. Thoroughly enjoying himself, of course. Selene smiles at her little cousin, extends her arm to ruffle that perfect array of hair.

The world had continuously proven itself small to Liv. She isn’t even shocked her ex was in the same apartment building as her and her brothers. She too had just moved into the building and no longer feels like it wasn’t the worst choice given the news Brett had just given her. 

The Basement isn’t anything special. Mostly a sports bar but they had a generous amount of seating and a special on drinks on Wednesdays. Liv couldn’t turn down a four dollar drink.

When she spots Alex enter the building she is quick to her feet. Sure it had been a couple years but it was great to see him and Liv had always been able to make it seem like no time had passed- a blessing and a curse really. 

Madison didn't exactly care that her work was pissed she was leaving during a shift. When it came to her brother she didn't fuck around and this seemed to her like a pretty serious matter. She makes the drive, music booming, and white knuckling the steering wheel. 

It feels like the drive takes hours and all sorts of things are running through her mind when she finally parks in the driveway of the semi-looking house. 

She has zero chill as she swings open the front door and marches into, eyes looking around frantically. When she sees Mason sat on the couch next to a guy she’s never seen in her life and her mind goes blank. 

“What the hell did you put in those cookies?” The strength comes out of nowhere as she slaps Mason’s hands out of the guys hair and grabs him by the scruff of his shirt. “You don’t give people edibles without telling them first you fucking dumb ass.” And she’s tossing them to the side before pulling Mason up into her arms. 

It’s still summer, by all accounts— most days Gwen is sweating by noon, but there’s a sharpness to the air this morning that betrays the greenery and foliage all around them, a cold bite on Gwen’s reddened nose. It only meant one thing.

Fall was coming.

Fall, then winter, which meant harsh weather, harsh conditions, biting cold and dwindling food supplies.

Gwen knows all about scarcity. Which is why she’s trailing after one of the more senior members of the settlement, pack and weapon in tow. It was never too soon to start pulling her own weight at here. And if Gwen couldn’t be happy, at least she could be helpful.

“Now, Paul is sick — some flu bug, or something — so he won’t be going with you on your first run. I don’t know who’s replacing him, don’t know the rotation schedule offhand, but the two of you will be exiting out the west gate. You need to be sure to be back before nightfall.”

They round the corner of a salvaged barn. The figure standing by gate stands sharply out against the weathered wood, and the silhouette itself screams familiarity inside her head.

Gwen dismisses it as nothing more than phantom memory and longing.

She smiles at the back of the man’s head. Her new partner. Better to get off on the right foot. Your survival could depend on who accompanied you, so Gwen tries to infuse enough friendliness in her observation, piling her hair on the top of her head in preparation to leave.

“Your pack is undone.”

As one of the few females in this business, Gloria always had to put in a little extra effort compared to her male colleagues. She was used to that by now; it had been the same way back in Quantico and her determined and head-strong nature helped to get her the results she wanted on top of that list. Although most of the fellow recruits got distracted by her pretty face and petite Frame, she learned to use it to her Advantage early on - always aiming to surprise and proving them wrong. She worked very hard and practically lived for her Job but she didn’t mind since she loved what she was doing. 

While she was hoping to get a chance to prove herself, she didn’t expect to get the opportunity this soon. The boss called her last night to tell her About a case they wanted to reopen, despite the small chance of finally solving it, there was too much on line not to at least try. She was nervous and excited About this and couldn’t wait to get started. She would solve it, and if it was the last thing she did - or she’d die trying, that much she knew!

6am sharp, she was at the station to attend the meeting in which the boss officially announced her assignment along with the Little detail he left out during their phone call - her partner. Wait what?! Did he just really mention that name?! No, hell no! There were probably a billion guys called - and just before she could finnish her little self-pep-talk he walked in. It was him. That overly annoying guy from Quantico. Gloria internally screamed at the realization she would be stuck with her former rival for a while now and her first challenge was to Refrain from rolling her eyes at him as he approached the Team. “Welcome to the Team, I guess.”