Band looked over and blinked. “Well…not what I expected…” Iris looked up from Matias wound and said “no fighting in here. I barely have Dante stable right now…”

Midnight followed after the bug and said “we have come to a truce of sorts. It seems our bug friend here was the one leaving the notes. He has need of our help and we need his. Instead of more blood shed, I believe working together is the best course here. But…our friend here has something to do first…”

She nodded to Matias, making it clear the bug needed to say his apologies first.

With Midnight's motion, the bug began hobbling over to Matias, head lowered, boots creaking, breath heavy. Matias's body was erect and wary as he watched the thing approach him. He looked towards his teammates, stammering as he saw them just stand there.

"Uh... Hello? Do you not see that thing coming? Are you just gonna let it kill me?! Hello?!"

The bug towered over Matias now, observing him like one would an animal from a distance. Much like an animal, Matias huddled back and grit his teeth.

"Back off!" he hissed, "I'll smash you with a book, you stupid–"

"I'M SORRY."

Matias paused, straightened his back, and blinked rapidly. He looked at the giant moth like it grew a head.

"... What?"

"I SAID I'M SORRY."

Matías furrowed his brow at the creature, his confidence slowly recovering.

"Sorry for what? Almost killing me and stalking me for a week straight?"

"YES."

Matias only looked even more confused at this point. His eyes darted towards his teammates again, gauging if they too could believe what they were hearing. He then glared back at the bug.

"Well, sorry's not gonna cut it. And like hell you're joining us. I don't care what the boss says. No way."

The bug didn't respond. It only stared at Matias like it was about to bite his head off and plant eggs into his spine, or something equally horrible. At least that's what Matias thought.

Bane moved to talk but Midnight said “it’s not your call Matias. He is trying to make amends. It’s up to you to except it, but I won’t let you be harsh. He was trying to do the right thing…which is what we are all trying to do is it not?”

Bane leaned against the wall as Midnight said “I can’t turn away help…he is looking for his comrade. He believes they are part of the missing…so we are going to help each other. In return he said he would explain the notes. Isn’t that what you wanted? Answers?”

As much as he could without his shoulder aching, Matias folded his arms.

"'Comrade', eh? So there's more of you freaks?"

"YES," the bug signed, "BUT REFRAIN FROM REFERRING TO MY KIND AS SUCH. IT IS DEROGATORY."

"Oh, please. I can only imagine what you look like under that stupid mask. Freak."

The bug fell silent.

"Anyway, you don't look like you're going away any time soon, but you better scram when this is all over. And stay out of my way. ¿Entendiste?"

The bug remained quiet.

"What? Did your translator stop working?"

"NO. I JUST HAVE NOTHING MORE TO SAY TO YOU."

The bug began hobbling off to a dark corner in the other side of the room, Matias observing from a distance. The bug's wings opened slowly as it descended, allowing it to sit and cross its legs.

"W- Well," Matias stuttered, "me neither."

Midnight rubbed her temples, a headache forming. Bane growled and said “knock it off both of you…your making this worse then it needs to be.” Iris shoved Matias arms back down and said “keep moving and you’ll undo my work. Now shut up before I knock you out..the painful way”

Matias's hateful stare was now directed at Iris, the shove squeezing an "Oye!" from his lungs. His eyes narrowed at her threat; he couldn't help but scoff.

"Knock me out and you'll only give yourself more work," he sneered, "but fine. I won't move. Christ."

The bug remained in its corner, the bickering becoming background noise to it at this point. It tapped the sides of its helmet, causing it to beep softly.

"Entering torpor," a gentler robotic voice chimed from the helmet.

Right after, the helmet's lenses flickered off, and the bug's body fell limp, a very slow movement at its chest being the only sign that it was still alive.

Bane was watching the bug and said “he tell you what he is?” Midnight shook her head tiredly and said “no…but I didn’t push it. He will tell if he wishes”

Iris went back to repairing the shoulder and muttered “if another fight breaks out I’m drugging everyone”

Matias didn't move, just as promised, but he also didn't talk. He glared at the wall, occasionally looking towards the bug to see if it would move– or attack him. It did neither, nor did it look like it would do either at any point, but he nonetheless anticipated it. He eventually felt his shoulder return to normal, no discomfort of any sort when he moved the joint.

"Thanks," he mumbled, not even looking Iris in the face as he rose to his feet.

He gave one more peep to the bug for good measure.

Nothing.

"Okay," he huffed, "I'm going back to bed. Hopefully I keep my shoulder this time."

Bane nodded and said “sounds like a good idea. Boss are you…” but midnight was already slipping out of the room and heading back to her office. Bane sighed and shook his head. Iris was checking on Scarlet who she had given something to help sleep then looked up.

“She’s determined I’ll give her that…”

Matias watched Midnight take her leave in silence. He only looked back at the sound of Iris's voice, raising his eyebrows when she was done.

"Well," he said, "she can have fun losing sleep. I'm going to get mine back. Good night."

And off he went to "his" room. As he approached the bed, he ran his finger along where he was shot. The faux leather of his jacket had been ripped clean through, crisp around the edge of the bullet hole. Iris did a good job fixing him up, but he was left with a small but noticeable scar that was rather touch to the touch.

"Damn moth," he snarled under his breath, tossing his ruined jacket onto the floor.

He made himself comfortable. No jacket, no jeans, comforters wrapped nicely around him as he laid on his side. His unease poked at him to keep him awake, but it only worked for so long. Soon he was undergoing REM, and soon he'd get to see what was in store for him when the sun rose, for better or for worse.

The next morning the sun broke thru the windows. Bane was sleeping against the wall as Iris was watching the sleeping ones. She was dead tired but couldn’t rest till Dante opened his eyes which he hadn’t yet.

Midnight was still working in the office, making head way on the case.

Matias had cocooned himself in the sheets, the soft linen pressing lovingly against his skin. He would have slept in forever were it not for the sun piercing his eyes with its brilliant rays. He stirred awake, slowly but surely pulling himself out of his literal comfort zone with a yawn. There was a pit in his stomach that was begging to be filled with something– anything– so he ventured out of the room in search of some sort of kitchen.

That was when he heard a sudden hiss, like gas escaping a broken pipe, from the guest room. A peep from the crack of the door revealed to him that the bug's helmet was oozing blue smoke like it was on fire. The hissing tapered off eventually, as did the smoke. Then, the helmet's lenses flickered on, and the bug was reanimated, slowly rising to its feet. It took a moment to groom its antennae and neck fur in its hands before looking towards Iris.

"GOOD MORNING," it signed, flicking one of its antennae before looking towards the door. "AND SALUTATIONS, HUMAN."

Matias swore under his breath, practically scrambling away from the door and nearly falling onto his posterior. The wall behind him served as support, but it had the drawback of making him sound a quite noticable impact with his back.

Iris smiled weakly at the bug and said “good morning. I hope you slept well. I forgot to ask last night, what would you like us to call you? And Matias? If your done falling over out there, the kitchen is next to the boss’s office. We should start making food”

Midnight was pacing around the office, a smart pad in her hands as she was working on pieces of the case.

The bug gave Iris a gentle nod, dwelling on the question for a few seconds after. Its hands floated over its chest as it seemed to be thinking. Then, suddenly, it looked at Iris again, ready to speak.

"MY TRUE NAME IS CONFIDENTIAL," it signed, "BUT YOU MAY CALL ME OLEANDER. I DO NOT HAVE A PRONOUN PREFERENCE."

"Oleander" began making its way to the door, its hobble from last night now gone. It stared at Matias from the doorway and even stayed doing so for a few moments as it stepped down the hall without a word. Matias watched it creep down the stairs, hearing every creak under the creature's boots. He only stood straight once he couldn't see or hear it anymore.

From there, he began walking to where he was told to go. That was when he heard pacing behind the door to the supposed office. He could only assume what was going on in there.

"Have you been doing that all night?" he called. "Mija, ya es suficiente. At least come out to get something to eat."

Midnight turned in her pacing and muttered “yes, it helps me think…and I think I fianlly have a handle on this. Thanks to the data Dante grabbed for us last night. It wasn’t just the lab results…” she held up the smart pad and said “he got all the files and all missing persons from the last hundred years…Matias, this has happened before. A few times before…”

Matias took Midnight's response as an indirect invitation to enter her office. Being a third naked wasn't exactly appropriate in the current situation, but he was stuck now. His eyes squinted at the bright screen before him, name after name after name after name filling his vision. He swiped up out of curiosity; different sets of names sped by, yet the scroll bar at the right of the screen barely moved. The dates differed by months and years; some were recorded back before Matias was even conceived.

"That's way more than 'a few times'," he said, pulling back from the screen. "So there's even more mystics missing and we didn't even know about them? Are they dead or something? Why haven't we been focusing on them? He clearly knew about them."

Midnight held up a finger and said “because before this recent set, no one realized it was all linked. The first two times it happened it was during the war, so no one really had time to pay attention. Then the ones after that they were reported but when the ones looking into got close, the kidnappings stopped. Now look at the races of those taken. What pattern do you see?”

"Well..."

He took a look, starting from the most recent entry.

Water elemental.

Fae.

Werewolf.

Something he couldn't even think of pronouncing despite being bilingual.

"Uh..."

With every row of names, the field had a different variable. Maybe the longer ones did, but Matias couldn't find a single repeat of any race as far as he could see...

Until about fifty years in.

Fae.

Long name.

Werewolf.

Water elemental.

He had to blink a few times. He swiped down to read the first few fields again just to be sure.

"It's... It's almost identical. Fifty years in, the same races went missing... Is that it?"

Midnight nodded and said “indeed. Every fifty years it’s the same. It’s like a rotation. Which means there’s pattern and a reason for them. Not the level or rank. It’s all what they are. We have a lead now. We have to learn what could need those exact types of creatures and the same thing that changes every time”

She took the pad and set it on the table, rubbed her eyes. “And I’m sorry for not warning you about bringing in the bug…” she looked worn and pulled thin suddenly

A hand met Matias's brow, massaging the center as he let out a hefty sigh. His head rose, and he took one last gander at the list of names before Midnight set it aside.

"I had no idea this was going on for so long," he huffed, "like, this has been going on for longer than I've been alive. And no one knew until now? Geez..."

He heard the word "bug", and that was enough for him to huff out some steam.

"It's... Ugh. Whatever. I still don't trust that thing, but maybe you know more than I do. What is it providing to the team exactly?"