Gaia's tail swayed when Ethan texted Benjamin.
When Ethan mentioned the Gym her head tilted to the left. "Gym means... training, yes?" She asked, as if she didn't know. "I don't think I will fit equipment but I can be a sparing partner? That was how Harriet and I trained."

Harriet nodded at Benjamin's words, "Yeah, that'd be a good idea." She started before the Demon Waiter came with her and Steph's drink.
He placed two pinky-red smoothies in front of them. "Food shall be out shortly." He said before he walked off again.
Harriet's eyes lit up at the sight of the smoothie, she moved and took a large sip through her straw. "Mmmmmmm~" She mumbled happily.

Steph looked at her drink before she leaned forward to take a small sip, her nose scrunching slightly at the cold, mildly sour liquid in her mouth.
"Strawberry.." She started as she pulled away, "Banana... Pomegranate?" She asked, Harriet nodded.
"Coconut milk and blood orange infusion, yeah." She said with a grin, "Healthy and tasty!~"

"Yeah, well, you both can fly. The only thing I'm somewhat decent at is a fist-fight." He took a moment to take in her height and muscles. "Not sure if I would stand much of a change against you." It reminded him he needed to talk with Ben, the agents had told him to start working on his endurance. "But I guess I need to practise fighting against those who are bigger and stronger than me." He got up. "Just don't breathe fire on me. That wouldn't be fair."

"It sounds good," Benjamin said and looked at Steph."Is it?" According to Harriet it was, but different people, different taste and her nose had scrunched.
He drank from his water and leaned back, it was relaxing to have lunch in good company, but he did think about the job and his two team-members. One was still at HQ, the other having his own lunch with Mitch. He wondered what they would be talking about. He decided it didn't matter, if it was important Mike would tell, and if it was just a lunch between friends it really was none of his business.

Gaia only grinned at the idea of using fire against Ethan; "I would never." She said with a sway of her tail, "Fire is often a last resort for me, or if I can't hit from where I am. It consumes a lot of energy to keep the fire going." She mentioned, almost absentmindedly.
She glanced down at him, "I could let you throw a few punches at me?" She asked, "I can handle being a punching bag." She said with a sly grin.

Steph looked at Benjamin when he asked if it was good, "It's... sour." She said with a small smile, "It's not disgusting. I just wasn't expecting that sort of sour from a smoothie."
Harriet watched Steph as she spoke, she was about to ask if she actually liked it before the waiter returned with their food. He placed the soup in front of Benjamin and the BLT in front of Duncan.
"Which of you wanted the plain one?" He asked Harriet and Steph, the latter gently lifted her hand.
A medium sized plate was placed in front of her; decorated with different things- wedges, air fried fries, what looked to be potato balls and a small array of sauces.
A similar plate was placed in front of Harriet, but the wedges seemed to be seasoned differently and the potato balls had a slightly different crumb to them.

Ethan put his feet firmly on the ground and raised his fists, but he lowered them again. "Yeah, no, that's not gonna work. I'd rather punch a real punching bag. Or some guy who deserves it, that's the same." He turned his attention to a tree. "We could hang something on there, for punching or target practice." He scanned the garden, but there was nothing suitable there. "In the shed should be stuff to maintain the garden, there's probably some bags we can fill with something."

Benjamin opened the package of butter that came with the soup, real butter too, that was a treat, and he smeared it on the bread. As he did, he glanced at what the girls were having. Nothing he was in the mood for, but it was good to remember this for another time. It looked like a perfect evening snack while having a beer.
"Any chance of you joining the agency in the future?" he asked as he looked at Duncan.

Gaia listened to his words, her tail swayed before she nodded once. She wordlessly turned towards the shed and walked along, she paused and glanced back towards Ethan with a blink and a sway of her tail; "Shall we have a look?" She asked, smiling softly-the most human smile she had ever smiled. Her ears pricked up as she looked to the sky, a small speck in the distance zoomed towards her, causing her ears to droop backwards as she couldn't exactly figure out what was coming towards her.

It didn't take too long to find out; Gaia stumbled back as Harriets Wyvern, Arvo, smacked into her face happily.
"Garh!" She growled before she pulled the small Drake from her face and held him in her hands, her arms outstretched all the way as the creature wriggled and tried to coil himself around her arms.

---

Duncan had taken a bit of his sandwich as Benjamin asked his question. He mulled it over as he chewed, moving his left hand to cover his mouth as he swallowed.
"I'm unsure." He started, "There isn't a reason to leave my Police Force just yet." He continued, moving to sip his coffee quietly, "I've thought it over, honestly. But I doubt they'd allow someone to be a 'part-timer' of sense. Someone to pop in and out when they can type thing."

Harriet listened while she ate, she loved the idea of Duncan joining the agency, but she understood why he didn't want to. She knew it was hard for him to be the only Unknown in the front force like he was, but at the same time it's everything he wanted to do. He trained his life to be a Policeman. Harriet thought about what she had done all of her life for where she was now.
She had trained all of her life to be an ambassador, a helper, someone to tie Humans and Unknowns together... And here she was hunting down unwanted Unknowns without a second thought to who they were. A frown formed over her face as she continued to eat.

Steph looked at her food before her stomach gave a loud rumble before she tucked in, happily crunching down into everything. It was... surprisingly better than what she expected? everything was soft and puffy with the perfect amount of crunch.
Her tail swayed happily, flicking in and out of view as her wings seemed to relax.

---

A figure tapped the tablet screen in front of them; looking over the things that the Vampire gave to them on this 'Gaia'.
They leaned back in their chair as they checked the emotion scanner on the chip, Irritation. They though as they pulled the pen from their mouth to make some notes. They had to keep track for the boss, otherwise the plan in action wouldn't work properly.
They paused and pulled up a phone app on the tablet, slinging a text towards Mr. Johnson. I'm just monitoring for now, yes? Making sure I can see what it's temper is like and how it reacts to things?

Ethan nodded and followed Gaia to the shed, but stopped when she looked at the sky. Moments later something small with wings crashed into her and it made some incomprehensible but cheerful noises. Then he recognized it. "It's Harriets creature. Guess it likes you."
He continued to the shed and opened the door. There were gardening tools, ropes, nets. Nothing he could use for what he had in mind. Unless he'd use a bag with fertilizer, but the groundskeeper wouldn't like that, and he was fairly sure he wouldn't want to be next to a bag of that stuff when it ripped.

"There could be some old boxing bags in the attic or the basement," he said, looking back at Gaia. "This place has nothing."

---

"No, they want a 24/7 commitment. That's why they have agents living at the base." He took a small break to eat some soup. "I used to work with a group of ghost hunters, we'd travel around to sightings and sleep in motels or the vans, always going from one place to the other. We didn't have a lot of money either, there were times I had to play on the street to earn money for food while the others were trying to find a new case we could work. Which is also how I met Mike." He smiled a bit, taking a bite from his bread. "The job itself was fulfilling, but this is definitely an upgrade. I've got a clean bed and free food every day, and some money I can spend on whatever I want. Plus, if you resign you get a decent pay-out."

---

As Mike was having lunch with Mitch in a four-star restaurant, Stuart Greyhill joined them.
"I'm sorry to disturb you," he said, "but mr. Johnson let me know there is an emergency. We need to talk about Succubi."
Mitch looked at the man and gestured to an empty chair. "Go ahead. I'm interested in the subject too."
Mr. Greyhill looked at Mike and only after an approving nod he sat down. "I know there is one in the agency, but they are predators. Every one of them, but some hide it better than others." He put a tablet on the table. "Here is a record of all the victims we know about."
As Mike started swiping through the pictures of the dead people, he realised how many there were. It was quite disturbing, he hadn't realized how dangerous they could be. Mitch looked at the tablet too, only pausing to address the waiter who came to see if the new guest wanted something as well.

---

Mr. Johnson looked at the text. Just monitor for now. I'm keeping an eye on them through the security system too. When I give the order, activate the device.
He watched them at the shed, Ethan was still too damn familiar with that monster, but it would soon change. He had been shown the massacre demons with similar traits like Gaia were capable of. He was certain Ethan would act when needed. That reminded him of something, Ethan was the kind of guy to help a damsel in distress. If one of the female agents would seemingly be in danger because of Gaia...
He picked up the phone. "Miss Lockheart, please come to my office."

After a moment the small Wyvern flew back off again, darting into Harriet's room.
Gaia watched Ethan, following him slowly before she twitched her wings. Then the attic was mentioned, she moved to grab Ethan around the chest and lifted him up.
She fanned her wings out quietly before she took off quickly.

A couple of agents outside yelled at Gaia to get on the ground before she landed on the roof, letting Ethan down softly.
"Sorry." She said, blinking as she swayed her tail. She looked around, "I saw a hatch to the attic up here. Better than running though a building, yes?" She tilted her head, ready for Ethan to growl at her for flying him without consent.

---

Duncan nodded at Benjamin's words, "The Police Force has some... Interesting perks." He said as he glanced to Harriet, who had finished her food but went to drink her drink.
"Like... What?" Steph added as she slowly finished eating, Duncan looked to the Succubus with a small smile.
"Well, when your partner used to be the leader of the City Mob; having the ability to pull her out of jail when the others arrested her for anything she didn't do."
"They really liked the blame me for everything." Harriet said with a frown, furrowing her eyes, "Half of those guys they arrested weren't even from here!"

There was silence between the Cyborg and the Alien before they both laughed, they shook their heads before they looked back to Benjamin and Steph, Duncan spoke first.
"I guess we all have relative background in this type of work at least." He started, he had heard Ben's story so he looked at Steph, ready to hear hers.

"I...I wouldn't say I have... background, in this work." Steph said with a weak stutter, all eyes on her made her uncomfortable, and her stomach seemed to twist and something seemed to stir.
A sudden hunger suddenly started to blossom, not her usual hunger, something... worse. Something she didn't want to feel.

Ethan had his eyes on the mansion when Gaia suddenly grabbed him. "Gaia!" he exclaimed, grabbing her arms so he couldn't fall. Moments later he felt the roof under his feet and once released he turned around to face. "How about a warning next time," he said, turning to the mentioned hatch. "But yeah, beats climbing all those stairs."
Right, okay, he had to work on his condition, but that didn't mean he had to sprint up any staircase he came across. He opened the hatch and looked inside. It was downright dark in there. But there were noises coming from there.
"You have a light with you?" he asked as he went inside, using his cellphone to see where he was going.

The place was filled with boxes and crates, the labels on them had codes with letters and numbers, but no description of what was inside. The noises came from a rectangular shape with a cloth draped over it. Maybe it was true curiosity killed the cat, but he did want to see what was under that.

---

Benjamin glanced at Steph and put the spoon in the now empty bowl. "Ethan doesn't either," he said, in an attempt to draw the attention away from her again. "He's just now learning how to deal vampires. Before this the best he had ever done was fight with neighbouring kids. When Mike and I decided to apply for a position in the agency Ethan said we'd get our asses kicked, and Mike and I really can't fight so he could be right about that, and he said he'd join us. Because someone had to look after us."
He finished his drink and looked at the table to see if everyone was done. After the text of Ethan he didn't want to drag the lunch out. There would be plenty of time for further socializing.

---

"And now?" Mike asked after looking through the photo's. "Is Steph a threat?"
"All Succibi and Incubi are," mr. Greyhill said, looking at Mike over his glasses. "There is a binding spell that will hold them in place long enough for someone to pierce both the heart of the human and the demon." He showed both the anatomy and the spell on the tablet and Mike looked examined them. "Mr. Johnson informed me it is your friend Benjamin who is at risk," mr. Greyhill continued.
"Ben?" Mike said as he looked up.
"He's letting his guard down around her, she obviously put a spell on him. And they found a victim, one of the male agents died." He swiped to show the picture. "Mr. Johnson send me the picture. Classic Succubus death. She needs to be stopped, or your friend may be next."
After looking at the picture, Mike looked up again and nodded. "I understand," he said.
"Now, she may act all innocent, but don't let her fool you. They are born seductresses. Succubi will always hunger for men, it's in their nature. Having one in the agency is too dangerous."
Mitch decided to join the conversation. "I will join you," he said, looking at Mike. "You bind her, I will kill her. I don't think you have it in you to do that. But I can. And I saw her in action before, I saw her kill a man. I know what to look out for." That piercing tail, for instance. She wouldn't get him as she had gotten that Jackson guy.
It was reluctant, but Mike nodded again.
"We'll finish the lunch, then we'll leave," Mitch decided, turning his attention to his mushroom and truffle omelette.

Gaia recoiled slightly at Ethans growling, before she followed after him. Her ears pricked up at the noise before she made a small, concentrated ball of flame in her hand. It gave off no heat, and only existed to create light in order not to burn anything.
Her nose twitched as she entered.

"It stinks of dust and old blood." She started, thinking out loud more than talking to Ethan. "Mildew as well. Not a good combination."
She looked over the boxes, pausing to flex her tail to a position where it wouldn't break anything, "definitely needs a dusting..."
She had an idea, she stepped back towards the way they came and fanned her wings out. She gave a hefty flap to clear away the dust, not strong enough to move the boxes themselves, but enough to cause the sheet over the noisy box off of it.

---

Harriet listened to Steph's words before she nodded. Looking at her empty plate; Steph had finished hers as well; but she looked... Ill?
"Are you okay Steph?" Harriet asked quietly.

"Yeah i just... need some fresh air." She started quietly, standing up from the booth and walked outside with her phone in hand.
She hoped no one would follow her; she had a feeling Benjamin would....

She rounded the corner behind the Cafe and dialled the number she had entered a day ago.
"Hello?" She said as the dial clicked.
"Oh! Steph, darling." A familiar voice echoed through, "I didn't expect a call from you so soon."
"I'm sorry. But I really need your help, I'm getting weird cravings and I don't like it and the cravings themselves make me feel-" Steph started before the voice cut her off.
"I'm on my way over with some elixir to help with that. I shouldn't be long. Just enjoy the outside air and stay low. Thugs around these parts love demons." The phone hung up and the tone echoed through Stephs ears.

Her entire being was sensitive; she didn't like it. It felt like somethinf warring inside her; trying to take control.
She looked to her hands as her vision swayed as the queeziness appeared again.
A wolf whistle echoed through her ears, "Well well boys!" A males voice echoed from down the road. She looked up to see three figures heading her way, "We found a lady Demon!"

Ethan watched the dust be blown out of a window on the others side. It smelled a lot better at the attic now. His eyes moved to the cage, it was filled with imps. "Hey," he said as he walked to the cage. "Aren't this the guys we caught?"
The imps pressed themselves on the opposite side of the cage, making fast and high-pitched noises. Were they... afraid? "There's less of them," he said, going over them. And some were injured. "What the hell? I thought they would be relocated or something. And if they were dangerous enough to be terminated, at least a quick death you know."
But to see these creatures frightened instead of enraged, it didn't feel good at all.

---

Benjamin watched Harriet hurry outside. "I'm going to see if she's okay," he said to the others and followed her, but not before quickly grabbing his hat.
Outside he couldn't see her, and she wasn't down the street, so she had to be around the corner. He went in that direction and heard the wolf whistle. As he rounded the corner he saw three men approach her and that smug look didn't bode well. He quickly walked to her and grabbed her arm.
"I'm sorry guys," he said. "I found her first."
Maybe this wasn't the smartest move, but he'd improvise as this went along.

Gaia's nostrils grew slightly, now she could breathe easier. She gave a huff as she saw the Imps, moving to stand beside Ethan before she crouched.
She watched the Imps cower with a frown, moving to push her hand through the bars and offered it to the Imps.
Her ears flattened backwards with a sneer, before softening her facial expression. "I wonder if they understand Common." She started, looking at Ethan before she looked back to the Imps, "Do you understand me?" She spoke slowly.

On the other side of the mansion, the two male agents from before were sitting in one of their rooms. Jase sat on his bed as Carl rested on the floor, his wings out for view, the feathers glistening in the sunlight.
Jase chewed quietly on a sandwich, watching Carls wings as he seemed to be playing with a tablet.

---

Harriet blinked before she watched Steph then Benjamin go. She moved to leave before Duncan gripped her arm gently.
"No, don't get into this. Let Steph breathe." He said quietly, Harriet nodded as she started to sit back down.

Steph readied herself, although she wasn't sure how. She lifted her arms up and tried to go into a fighting styled stance before Benjamin came and grabbed her arm.
She relaxed almost instinctively at his touch now; she wasn't afraid of him touching her now. Her horns flushed a soft pink, but she stayed focused.

The three men seemed to pause, two two standing behind the main one just looked at each other and gave a small grin.
All 3 men wore hoodies, their hoods over their faces.
"We honestly don't care who found her first." The man male started, lifting his head so his silver eyes glistened in the sun. From what could be seen his skin was pale. "She's a demon; she belongs to us."

One of the imps shook its head as it moved away from Gaia, but it was unclear if that was because it didn't understand them, or didn't want to talk to them. Their trembling limbs and injured bodies left no doubt. These imps had been mistreated badly.
"I'm getting to the bottom of this," Ethan grumbled. "Someone dumped this cage in a dusty attic, that was not an accident. I don't care if they are pests and nuisances, they didn't deserve this!"

He marched to the door, ready to take whatever agent had been responsible for this and knock some sense into them. He had no issues with killing monsters, but killing to protect humans and sadism were two very different things.

---

Benjamin looked at the three men in hoodies, taking place in front of Steph. He noticed the silver glimmer when one lifted the head, and the pale skin.
"She doesn't belong to anyone," he stated, walking backwards as they came forward, using his hand to guide Steph in the same direction. "Least of all to you."
He realized he had no weapons with him and he lacked any decent fighting skill. And to be fair, Steph was probably stronger than him. But he couldn't do nothing and let Steph deal with it herself. All they had to do was get back to the bar, back-up was there.
"Can you contact Harriet and tell her we could use a bit of help out here?" he whispered to Steph. "Unless you think you can take them on yourself."

He would defend her for as long as he could. Probably a minute or so. Ethan would definitely yell at him...

Gaia gave a low growl at the imps condition. Her tail swayed before she looked at Ethan, "Wait." She said without a thought, moving to grip the cages door.
She moved quickly and snapped whatever lock was on it, pulling the door off with a fluff of her wings. "There. They're free." She rumbled, her eyes flexed to red in anger.

Seeing these creatures caged up caused memories to flood back, memories she thought she didn't have. Memories of cage bars and people in white coats. Small etches of smoke pillowed from the edges of her mouth.
"I refuse to have any more creatures stuck in cages." She said sternly, anger and venom through her words, "I refuse to allow other creatures the same life as what I had."

---

Steph could barely move as she watched the men step towards her and Benjamin. She closed her eyes as she tried to focus, her brain was on overdrive.
She didn't listen to Benjamin's words, her hand moving to dial the first number that she tapped; April's.

The main male laughed, "She's a demon." He started again, "She's on Angel Turf, she's ours." He started.
"Although you say it's Angel Turf." A familiar voice echoed from above them, "The City is mine Chris."
The male looked up and narrowed his eyes, "April." He said coldly, stepping back slightly. "This isn't about you."

---

Mr. Johnson's phone rung, and unknown number appearing on screen.

Ethan watched Gaia wreck the lock and open the cage. The red in her eyes and the smoke escaping the corners of her mouth worried him. He recalled what agent Barow had said to him the previous night.
"That Gaia isn't human. She may act like it, but she's dangerous. Be careful around her."
He didn't want that to be true, but right now Gaia did seem dangerous. Her reasoning was very human though.
The imps were still in the cage, unsure what to do with the open door. Ethan let out an irritated groan and walked to the cage. "Come on you little devils, out of it," he said as he took the back of it and tilted it, so they had no choice but to go to the unlocked door. "Don't stay on these grounds, if they catch you doing mischief they might do worse than what they already did."
Now the imps all hurried to the hatch and went outside, where they used their talent to disappear from sight and flee the place.

Ethan dropped the empty cage. "Happy now?" he asked.

---

Agent Morrison went to the room where Jase and Carl went. He knocked twice and immediately after opened it. "Hey," he said. "I need-" He stopped when he saw the wings, but hurried to hide his surprise and act normal. "I need the combination for weapon locker 3, I'm going hunting vampires again tonight, but I forgot. Did it end with 57 or 75?"

---

Mr. Johnson looked at his phone and frowned. He picked it up. "Mr. Johnson speaking," he said, waiting for the unknown caller to identify themselves.

---

Benjamin looked up when he heard a familiar voice. Wasn't that the same demon who had joined them after Jackson had... killed Steph. That was something he'd rather not think about, he clearly remembered the devastating grief when he thought she had died. By the looks of it she had an effect on the guys, because they actually took a step back.
"Are you okay, Steph?" he asked as he turned around to look at her. He was glad April was here, truth to be told, he wouldn't have been able to do much to help Steph aside from trying to talk his way out of it.

Gaia breathed in, holding her breath as the smoke stopped before she breathed out. She nodded as she stood up after watching the Imps leave.
"Yes." She stated calmly, the anger and venom away from her voice now, "Sorry." She looked around more, now that the imps were out of the way they should be able to find something to use to train.

"There's gotta be something here..." She stated, her voice back to a relaxed tone. She went to move some boxes out of the way. Her tail swayed quietly, she could feel that Ethan wasn't comfortable with what she did, she had to learn to control her emotion and her memory...

---

Jase jolted upwards when Morrison walked in, he froze as he could tell that Morrison noticed Carls wings. Should he say something? Was it his place to-
"I think it was 57." Carl interjected as he glanced up from his book, looking back to Morrison with a smile, "It is locker 3 yeah? Locker 8 was 75." He explained with a gentle smile.

Carl glanced back at Jase with a tilt of his head, "Are you gonna go with him Jase?" He spoke calmly, as if it wasn't as big of a deal as Jase was making it out to be.
"I... Uh." Jase finally managed to sputter out, "If... Morrison wants me to, yeah. I was gonna check my note book on the numbers but it looks like you know it off by heart..." He trailed off with a weak smile towards Carl.

---

"Good day mr. Johnson." The voice started, it was indistinguishable from male or female, "Its a pleasure to actually get ahold of you. We have news that you have our... project in your midst."

---

Stephs breathing has picked up, her tail swayed quietly as her brain tried to focus on reality.
She had started to panic again, the mention of Angels didn't help her emotions settle either.

April didn't look back at the people behind her, her wings unfurled and she stepped towards the Angels again.
While the main male was trying to stand his ground, the two behind him seemed to back up, ready to run away.
"Do I have to tell your dad that you're doing this Chris? You don't want to be grounded again, do you?" April said with a bit of a teasing tone. The three boys looked at each other and moved to run away.

April smirked before she softened her smile before turning to face Benjamin and Steph.
"Thank you for contacting me Darling." She said with a bow of her head, "I have the thing you need."
Steph still hadn't fully calmed yet, her breathing still shaky and her body trembling.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Ethan said. "The little buggers are gone. I just hope we won't get in trouble for this." Although, he'd like to have a word with the agent who dumped them on the attic like that.
He too started searching for something they could use, but as far as he could see, this wasn't a place where they dumped the old equipment. Most of the boxes were filled with old personnel files and reports. None of it was particularly interesting. He flipped through some of the papers, but nothing here was confidential.
He pulled a crate to the side and saw a mousetrap with a half rotten mouse in it. "I don't think they come here very often," he muttered.

---

"No," Morrison said, maybe a bit too quick. "No need to come, I know the combination, it's all I need." He closed the door and stood there a moment longer, then he turned around and started walking. Not to the weapon lockers, he'd go there later. He went straight to the office of mr. Johnson.

---

"I see," mr. Johnson said, leaning back in his chair and looking at the computer screen in front of him. "Who is this project we have in our midst and why do you call about it?"
He didn't like this mysterious phonecall, or the mystery caller. He took a cable from the table and plugged it into the phone. With three mouseclicks he opened he program that hopefully would allow him to discover where the caller was calling from.

---

Benjamin put his hand on Stephs shoulder. He didn't know what the demon woman was talking about and he didn't really care either. Not as long as Steph was shaking like this. "It's okay," he said to her. "They are gone. Which is probably for the best, because I suck at personal combat." He turned to April. "Thanks for coming. I admit I was in over my head, but I couldn't turn my back on Steph."
He looked back at Steph to make sure she was getting calmer.

Gaia grumbled at the lack of things in here.
"Where else could we look?" She asked, lowering her ears slightly in annoyance. She looked around a bit more, lifting a few boxes at a time and shifted things around.
She swayed her tail quietly, moving to place a few boxes back down- accidentally making it more clean than when they got up there.

"I guess we can't find anything to use." She said with a rumble, looking over to Ethan and crossing her arms. "Where to next?"

---

"He saw your wings!" Jase held back on yelling, as soon as Morrison left.
Carl glanced up at his friend from his book, blinking calmly before he returned his gaze to his book. "I know." He stated.
"And you're not afraid?" Jase asked, he started to panicking, Carl sighed and closed his book. He stood up and moved to stand in front of Jase, moving to gently grab his arms.
"Please relax." Carl said calmly, Jase's eyes clouded slightly before he nodded and swayed. "Just stay calm. Everything will be fine, okay?"
Jase nodded as Carl dropped his hands from his friends arms with a weak smile.

---

The call seemed to jump all over the place on the program, unable to really be placed.
The voice seemed to give a small laugh, "The Dragon." They started, after a bit of silence they continued, "I call because we've only just gotten the knowledge of their... Whereabouts. And as you are, apparently, the leader of this... organisation."
There was silence again, some sound echoed from behind them and the sound of other voices in the background were heard, but their words were indistinguishable, "Yess. I get that." The voice said to someone in the background before returning their attention to the phone call, "Apologies. We were wondering what your plan was with them? We would rather you not... Dispose of her; she costed a lot of money to make and some of the DNA strands involved are... no longer in our possession."

---

April paused, noticing Steph was Panicking before she stepped back, allowing the demon her space and looked to Benjamin with a small raise of her eyebrow.
"You're definitely... A good catalyst." She said to Benjamin with a smirk.

Steph started to relax, her shaking slowly stopping and her body only really trembling.
"Sorry... S..Sorry." Steph uttered quietly, "I...I haven't panicked like that... In a while..." She said, her voice still shaking.
She looked to April and gave a weak smile, "T...Thank you."
April waved her hand with a small smile. "I'm glad neither of you were hurt."

Ethan went through his hair with his fingers as he thought about it. "Basement, probably. It's close to the fitness rooms and I think there's a latch outside too. It's probably the easiest place to dump the old and broken shit from gyms and everything down there." He cursed under his breath. "Should have come to that conclusion earlier." As he said it, it seemed to be the most logical place to find an old punching bag. At least they had been able to release the imps, so it wasn't all in vain. And it wasn't like he had climbed up any stairs for nothing.

---

Mr. Johnson frowned to the computer screen and was able to hold in an irritated groan. "I see," he said. "Well, you'll be pleased to know I consider her a valuable asset to our team. I won't dispose of her." He had no qualms about lying, and he had been doing it for long enough to be rather good at it too.
Truthfully, hearing they couldn't make another Gaia was a relief, and now he was even more resolved to dispose of her. If the monster died, no other monsters could be created. So the monster had to die.
"Are there special needs I need to know about?" he asked, taking a pen so he could write down any information he got. "Or perhaps weaknesses that I should protect her from. Just like you, I want to keep her alive."

---

Agent Morrison knocked on the door and opened it to see if mr. Johnson was available. He saw he was on the phone, but mr. Johnson allowed him to come in with a gesture of the hand. So he went inside and closed the door behind him. He stood silently at the door, waiting for the phonecall to end.

---

Benjamin only smiled at the remark of April and looked at Steph. There was something he wanted to say to her ever since he saw the menu, but he'd rather not do that when someone was around. Maybe later, there was plenty of time for that. Steph needed a moment to collect herself after all, and the female demon had said she had something for Steph.
So he waited.

Gaia's tail swayed as Ethan seemed angry with himself. She stepped towards him and offered a hand, "Another quick flight?" She asked with a tilt of her head and a gentle smile. "basement will hopefully have fruit of our search." She said, unsure if she used the analogy correctly.

---

There was a bit of radio silence from the other side of the phone as Mr. Johnson asked about weaknesses.
There were whispers from behind the phone, before a muffled yell echoed at the other end pf the phone call.
The caller hissed at someone in the background, "I would hope you'd consider her a valuable asset." Did they believe the lie? Or could they cut through it? It wasn't very clear, "She can make a fine hunter if her stubbornness is cut, either through potions or reconditioning."
"We never got a chance to test for weaknesses, sadly. She escaped as soon as she came to consciousness- We never got a chance to test essentially anything; Much to the Masters disappointment."
There was chatter from the other side again, more voices seemed to chime in and out before sudden silence, "If you wish, I would like to visit you in person to potentially make a deal on what shall happen to the Beast, we could give you a handsome sum of money or equipment if you agree."

---

Stephs legs shook, she almost collapsed before she pushed her arm against the wall, propping herself up.
"I'm focusing." She whispered to herself before she nodded. "Yeah, no... I'm okay. Bearings..."
She counted things she could see; Benjamin, April, the wall, the cracks in the concrete and her feet. She counted the things she could touch; The hardness of the brick wall, the strength of the ground under her feet, The fabric of her clothes and the gentle billow of the wind around her.
She counted the things she could hear; The Cars in the street, Benjamin's beautiful Voice, her own breathing. She was almost grounded, going through the steps of things she had learnt, She slowly breathed, starting to relax. She counted two things she could smell, the dust of the backstreet they stood in... And the lingering smell from the Diner. She straightened up and pushed herself off the wall, breathing in. She could taste her own saliva, she had grounded herself...

"No... I'm okay now." She breathed out with a small smile, "Thank you April. Thank you so much."
April waved her hand before she pulled out what looked to be a small medicine box. "This should be enough for a few months, contact me as soon as you need more." April said calmly, a gentle smile across her face, she blinked slowly when Steph moved to take the pills offered to her. "I'm sorry for interrupting your date," April said to Benjamin, "I guess for the second time now." She finished with a laugh.

"Yeah... if it's not there I give up," Ethan sighed. There couldn't be another place where they would dump shit like that. Unless they disposed of things immediately, but companies usually weren't strict with getting rid of old things, at least not until they had enough to make it worth it to bring in a container. "We'll fly. Just ignore the fuckheads who say you can't do that."

---

Mr. Johnson narrowed his eyes. Were they lying? A vampire had given him documents where he had seen the mention of a high-pitch sound emitter placed between her wings, it's where he had gotten the idea. Maybe they didn't know, or they did and didn't want to tell him. Either way, he wasn't going to tell them.
"Come to my office in two days, 9 in the morning. We'll talk. I have another meeting now, so if you'll excuse me. Have a good day." He hung up and looked at Morrison, who had patiently waited at the door. "Yes?"
"Carl has wings."
Again Johnson's eyes narrowed. "Describe them."
"Large... and perhaps... angelic."
"Okay," Johnson said, nodding slowly. "Thanks. I'll deal with it."
Agent Morrison nodded as well and left the office.

---

"Oh, it's not really a date," Benjamin said. "We were just having lunch with two more friends. And technically you never interrupted anything. Those guys did. And Jackson and Mitch did the last time." He turned to Steph, offering her his hand. "I think a date with you will never be boring, but let's go back inside. Harriet will be worried, you ran off pretty suddenly and she'll want to know everything is okay with you."