Risk and Rebel

33: LOADED GUN

[ THIRD PERSON POV ]

Gunner didn't trust the mercenaries. He hadn't since he first saw them. Actually, he wasn't sure why Gray trusted them.

It took one look at the faces of teams Alpha and Bravo to confirm that he wasn't being paranoid; neither of the teams seemed comfortable with following Ilga off into the city to wherever her 'contact' was. By the time they made it to the appropriate building, Gunner was anxiously tapping the handle of the gun on his hip.

Something was wrong.

Gunner stood at the bottom of the stairs as Ilga led everyone up, watching each of the mercenaries ascend before Team Bravo came in. He pulled them aside right before Team Alpha slipped inside and followed everyone else.

Risk and Rebel both cast them short looks that he didn't have time to interpret before disappearing up the stairs. Rebel still had a firm grip on the Walski kid's arm, who had no choice but to go upstairs with them.

Gray didn't cast the trio a second look; instead he shut the door after him and followed Team Alpha upstairs.

"Looks like he's got his priorities all ironed out," Sergeant said sarcastically before turning his attention to Gunner. "What's up?"

Gunner shifted his stance, eyes following Gray until he disappeared into a hallway. "I don't trust them."

"Us either," Legion agreed immediately. His light eyes focused on Gunner. "Haven't since we laid eyes on 'em. Why are you pulling us aside now?"

"Alpha's going to be busy interrogating the brat," Gunner said. "Which despite appearances, I think we," he gestured between all of them, "know they'd rather be taking other means of action."

"Would've settled it in the streets if Gray hadn't been there," Sergeant agreed.

"Let's be frank, Sarge," Legion sighed, "they would've done a lot of things if it was just the five of us."

Gunner nodded his silent agreement. The fact of the matter was, something was wrong — and all of the ex-LASAR agents knew it. With all of these new mercenaries come into play, not to even mention Gray, or the kid ... the situation was becoming far more complex than they could have anticipated. None of them liked it.

It was time to switch things up.

"What bright idea is it you have, then?" Sergeant asked, arching a brow at Gunner. So was the way of the LASAR agents. It wasn't meant to be a demeaning question so much as it was a kick-start. Any plans were up for consideration.

Gunner shifted on his feet, his right hand now resting firmly on the gun on his hip. He licked his lips before speaking. "I think we need to reach out to the other former agents," he said slowly, looking between Sergeant and Legion hesitantly. It was a daring move, he knew that — but it was also exactly what they needed. People they could trust.

He was surprised when neither of the older agents shot the idea down. Instead, Legion hummed, a small smile tugging at his lips, while Sergeant made a 'eh, why not,' face and shrugged. "Seems like a good enough starting point to me," Sarge said. "What say you?" he elbowed his partner.

When Legion's smile broadened, Gunner found himself grinning, too. "I say let's do it," Legion said. "Cat and Low probably fled to Europe after their Asian incident. Wouldn't take much to get them to head our way. And I'd bet good money that Rage, maybe even Team Delta, aren't far off. We just need to start dropping lines."

"You up for that, Gun?" Sergeant asked, crossing his arms over his chest and regarding the younger male with a smirk.

"I— you want me to help contact them?" Gunner asked with wide eyes. As a weapons specialist, his communication skills weren't quite on par with that of a field agent. That wasn't to say he didn't know how to call in a favor when he needed one ... but he knew just how well LASAR agents could hide.

And he thought it was safe to assume that the remnants of LASAR had gone as deep into hiding as was humanly possible.

"Two's good," Legion pointed out, "but three's better. 'Sides," he jerked his chin up toward where everyone had gone, "they won't care to notice our absences, anyway. Nobody's come looking for us yet, after all."

"It'll be a piece of cake," Sergeant said, clapping a hand on Gunner's shoulder before using it to lead him back toward the door, "we'll walk you through it every step of the way."

"Guess I can't argue with that," Gunner said with a small smile. He allowed himself to be dragged out of the building without complaints. It wasn't as though there was a point in fighting with Team Bravo, and it wasn't as though he wanted spend any more time around Gray's mercenary team than he had to. "Where to first?" he asked, shaking off Sergeant's hold once they were back on the streets.

"Library," Sergeant and Legion said simultaneously. Legion gave him a half smile. "We have protocols for this sort of thing, don't you know that?"

Gunner shook his head. "Is there a protocol for everything?"

"Just about," Sergeant agreed. "Not all of 'em company designated, of course."

"Of course," Gunner said sarcastically, rolling his eyes once both of them looked away from him. "Who are we going to track down first?"

"Catatonic's easiest," Sergeant said, though it was an absent-minded observation that wasn't necessarily directed toward him. "He's got more social connections."

Legion continued right where he left off, as though they were both speaking from the same brain; "Low's usually with him, though; no doubt she certainly is since the Asian incident."

"What 'Asian incident'?" Gunner asked, though he wasn't certain if he'd get an answer.

"Funny story," Legion chuckled.

"The Kinetic tried to eliminate them somewhere in China," Sergeant shrugged, taking a sharp turn down a tight street, looking between his smartphone and his surroundings. "It went as well as you can imagine."

"I believe the news pieces that caught wind of it called it an international incident," Legion hummed.

"International?" Gunner echoed.

"An ambassador might've been involved," Sergeant shrugged. "We're not really clear on all the details."

"We have been off-grid for a while, remember?" Legion shot him a look.

Gunner nodded slowly at that, even though he knew neither of them were paying him much attention. Silence ensued for a few moments, and Gunner did his best to stay close behind the duo. "Are you sure we should've left Team Alpha alone?"

"They'll be fine," Legion said, waving a hand flippantly. "It isn't as though anything's going to happen."

Gunner made a face at that before shrugging it off. "All right, well ... how long will it take to get to the library?"

"We'll need to take a taxi," Sergeant piped up, finally looking up from his phone and coming to a pause on a bustling sidewalk. "Shouldn't be too difficult, though. Now then," he smiled a little too brightly, "who wants to practice their taxi-hailing skills?"