Someone whistled at them, and he threw them a withering look. It was no secret they were together now, but they'd probably always get some amount of ribbing.
"Hey, you all should be partying with the winner!" He raised his voice and thumbed to the finish line. "Get your butts over there before we get in trouble for steeling the show!"
"You did steel it!" someone shouted. "And for good reason!"
Hunter grinned and just rolled his eyes. He was glad the crowd appreciated what they'd done though. There had been chance they could have really caused trouble, but it looked like most everyone liked having Thunder forced from a race he didn't belong in. Looking back down at Ryan, he gave her one more lighter kiss. "What say we go find the others and see what if they wanna stick around or go do something?"
Zan was about to say something but was cut off as Destiny pulled him in for a kiss. His eyes widened for just a moment before they fell shut and he wrapped his arms around her, returning her kiss and matching her level of passion.
As she pulled away, he'd completely forgotten they weren't alone, and Scarlet's whistle and comment startled him. Though his cheeks gained some color, he chuckled and released Destiny but left an arm around her shoulders. He scratched his head in thought, and finally shrugged a bit sheepishly. "Yeah well... things evolve you know."
Dylan had cocked his head to stare at them curiously, and now grinned. Yep. More than friends. They both seemed like super nice people and he kind of hoped he'd get to see more of them while he was here.
"Awesome job, man!" Jett's sudden entrance was another slight startle, and gave Zan's arm a playful whack.
Zan chuckled and looked back over to where Hunter and Ryan still were. "Well, I only get a third of the credit, you know."
"A third, a full, who cares?!" Jett took a swig out of his beer bottle. "I say we celebrate." He glanced at Destiny - who was under Zan's arm - then back to Zan and gained a suggestive grin. "What say I go pick up Christy and the four of us meet back up at your place for a good time, eh?"
Zan's face flushed again. Despite having just been victorious, he'd also had enough. He'd had enough of Jett's comments about him, Destiny, or any other girl for that matter, and he'd had enough of Jett having such a loose mouth in front of Destiny, too. It embarrassed him, and he knew it embarrassed her. Not to mention, Scarlet and Dylan were right here too. Spinning around, he glared down at Jett. "No!"
Jett backed up a step and put his hands in the air. "Whoa, man, okay, fine. Just thought I'd help bring a little excitement to your life. Look at how uptight you are. How long's it been since you got-"
"Enough!" Zan released Destiny to set his hands on his hips. "Is your mind always in the gutter? I'm tired of it. If you can't clean up your act, at least clean up your mouth when in present company!"
Jett's jaw clamped shut and he glanced awkwardly at Destiny then back at Zan. "I-"
"I'm not finished!" Everything Zan had wanted to say for weeks all came spilling out. "I have great times, and you know what? I do it without a beer and without sleepovers. It's actually possible to enjoy yourself without those! Why not suggest pizza? Or a card game or movie? How about getting together at a restaurant instead of someone's apartment where there's a bed in the corner?!"
By now, Jett's gaze had dropped to the ground and his face flushed red as the tongue-lashing continued.
Dylan had straightened a little, unsure what to think. While Jett did seem to not be quite as clean-cut as the others, he hadn't realized there was that much tension there. He glanced at Scarlet warily, searching for clues as how to react - or not.
"You may have to get a girl drunk just so you'll have a friend for a night, but I actually have a life." As Zan's adrenaline slowed, his tone calmed down as well. "So you can walk away right now and go do whatever it is you wanna do, or you can start acting decently enough to stick around. Up to you."
Jett's shoulders couldn't have gotten any lower if he'd tried. He felt like he was about two inches tall, and couldn't even bring himself to look up at Zan, let alone Destiny or the others. He tried to ignore how hot his face felt, and he swallowed hard. "I... apologize... for my behavior." He fingered his beer bottle but didn't even want the rest of it now. "I, um... I guess I'll catch you guys later." Turning around, he walked away without giving Zan another chance to speak.
Zan ran a hand over his face and sighed deeply. Turning back to Destiny, he gave her an apologetic expression. "He'll get over it. I'm sorry I blew up in front of you, though. I should have saved that conversation for when he and I were alone. He just... always goes too far and I just can't take it any more." He paused and searched her face. "You're too good for his kind of comments."
Pete paused a moment to look at Sam before he shook his head. "You didn't. I still could have stopped Aaron. He woulda been a handful but I still made the choice not to do anything. And that... isn't your fault."
He sighed deeply. "I guess... I'll go shut off my computer and take off. If you hear any news about Aaron before I do... let me know." Continuing on his way, he went back to his cubicle. Everything was falling apart. The Elite was changing so much. Gunner was gone. Now he was suspended and might lose his badge permanently. He dared not ask what else could go wrong.
He'd forgotten Ron was still there, and sighed again. Going to his desk, he didn't sit down, but simply shut off his computer and grabbed his keys. "Hold down the fort," he mentioned. "I'm on suspension." He cringed a little. "Maybe we should grab supper so I can tell you about it. I gotta go now though before I get in any deeper trouble."
"You got it." Garret grabbed his keys. He'd feel a whole lot better if he had a sidearm, but he hadn't quite gotten that far with Reese yet.
Within two minutes, they were out the door and getting into the SUV. Garret sped out of the parking lot and stopped, looking left and right. His instincts told him to turn left. "Watch out for alleyways or open buildings. Aaron likes sticking to the shadows."
Hearing about Aaron, Jason was quick to get with Katie and head out. Seeing Garret and Nate go left, Jason chose right, keeping his eyes out for any sign of the missing man.
"How on earth did he even get out?" Jason questioned. "The man can hardly walk and he just... escaped?"
It doesn't feel right. And did you feel the tension right before we left? We gotta find out what's really going on.
Garret slowed the vehicle as he and Nate scouted the area. After going several blocks though, he pulled over and parked. "He can't have gotten too far, distance wise. Let's look around on foot."
After a whole half hour of searching though, it was becoming more and more obvious that Aaron truly had disappeared. Back at the SUV, Garret leaned against the bumper and sighed. "He always was good at slipping away. That's what made him valuable on missions. He could go in and do a job and then just be gone." He shook his head. "Darned if I know how he did it with a bum leg though." In all honesty, he felt like he'd just failed. He should have been able to track down his own man but somehow couldn't even do that. Was he losing his touch? Or had they all just underestimated Aaron?
"Hey. Find anything?" Jason pulled up along side them with the window down. "We got nothing. I could always bring Trooper - he's a pretty good tracker."
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