Day two of house arrest. Morning kinda sucked. I rolled over in a practiced move, hitting the floor with my feet and my knee on the bedpost.

Totally planned, and not painful in any way, limping aside.

This stupid underwear; with nothing to stop it, it rides up everywhere.

"Charming," Gray informed me, having watched everything.

It was too early to think of witty things to say, so I flipped him off instead and shut the bathroom door in his face.

A quick strip and shower later I was feeling almost human, my hat/hair clip riding out the water with me - and my reflexes proved I was better by kicking in just before I would have banged my knee (the same one!) again on the sink; instead I only tripped a bit and fell on my ass.

"You alright in there Sasha?" Gray asked.

"Just peachy."

Screw walking, it was too hard anyway; I rolled over and crawled up to the door. So of course Gray had something to say when I opened it.

"Sasha, why are you naked? Doesn't your society have some sort of nudity taboo? Won't you get cold? Why are you crawling?"

"Clothes are a overrated, and I won't need them in bed. Walking is too hard."

"Please put on some clothes, Sasha. I don't want to see a naked ape without something in the way."

Was Gray trying to imply I wasn't hot? Did I care if he was? Why did I care if he was?

Thinking was also overrated. I dragged myself up my bed and curled up in my covers, which were somehow clean. Mm, nice and warm.

"Come on Sasha, get dressed. You have more generators to fill, and you have the energy to fill them."

Yeah, no. "I'm full of sleep -that's what I'm full of."

"Sasha..."

Special attack, pillow to the face. Shut up Gray, or you'll get another one. And then I'll be without, and sleeping will suck.

Gray shrugged and curled up with the pillow on the floor, like a dog. An extremely annoying, talking too much dog.

My bed was nice and soft.

Someone knocked on my door. "Sasha, time to get up."

"Kindly fuck off, Ivan."

"Sasha..."

"No, go away. Whatever it is, it can be done later."

Some clicking, and my door opened. "Come on Sasha, it's nearly eleven, You've slept too long already."

"Get out, today sucks."

"So I see." Ivan told me, probably looking around and making a face about the mess.

"Ivan, Sasha is nude."

Ivan stopped breathing for a moment. "Right; I'll wait outside the door. And keep knocking, in case Sasha tries to keep sleeping."

What an odd reaction. Was he embarrassed or something? It wasn't like we hadn't seen each other before, we hunted together, and he had seen me during the experiment, while I was out of it. hm, this bears some investigation.

When I unwrapped myself, the first sight that greeted me was Gray holding out a clean pair of underwear in one hand, and a matching bra in the other. Kind of what I expected, and I slipped them on.

One shirt later and who cared about buttons, and I was ready.

"Get in here, Ivan."

I turned away, keeping the door in view out of the corner of my eye.

"What's wrong, Sasha?"

To his credit, Ivan didn't miss a beat, and his eyes took me in but didn't so much as widen.

"Nothing's wrong, I'm just up now, and it's wrong to make you wait in the hall."

At that, his eyes widened; what did I say?

"Alright, who are you and what did you do with the real Sasha?"

Now that wasn't funny at all. Just for that, I was getting dressed socks first. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You considered how I'd feel, waiting in the hall for you to wake up and get dressed; is Gray feeding you lines or something?"

Wait, that brought something up. "He doesn't, but that reminds me - you heard him earlier, didn't you?"

No one had heard Gray talk before.

"I did," Ivan admitted. "I assume that's because he wanted me to."

Gray looked up from some device he was tinkering with and nodded gravely at me. Well, that was good to know, and I suppose it followed, since other witch familiars could also make themselves be heard; truthfully it was kind of hard getting most of them to shut up, without violence. Sometimes even violence didn't shut them up; stupid ones that got away.

"Apparently that is the case."

Button the buttons, pull up the skirt, tuck the shirt in... and done. Oh wait, I need a belt to be in uniform. So belt on, slide the boots on, tying boots is for suckers, and gun belt on. All set.

"Okay, good enough."

"Might want to run a brush through that hair of yours." Ivan told me.

"Why?" I'd brushed it before - hadn't I? I was sure I had.

"You obviously slept on it. I mean, if you're trying to look professional, bed head isn't the way to go."

Back in the bathroom, I could see what he meant. Since my hair was long, it had gotten tangled in the blankets and dried a bit lopsided. It wasn't fully dry, so that probably helped, but I needed to brush it again. A few strokes got it even.

"There, all professional, shirt is all tucked in and everything."

Again, Ivan was staring at me. "What? there's nothing on my face or anything."

I'd just looked in the mirror after all.

"Nothing, let's just go; breakfast is on me."

He said that like it was unusual; I was still too busy paying for past collateral damage - unfairly - to spring for things like food often, even if it was my own.

"What'll it be today?"

"Pancakes from the cafeteria."

Ugh, right, Ivan was probably broke too; we hadn't done a whole lot recently. At least not anything we got paid a bunch for.

Wait. "We aren't actually going to the cafeteria, are we?"

No one ever went to the cafeteria, ever. No one sane. Not even Gloom would set foot in the cafeteria, and he didn't fear the lab. If any outsider asked, any hunter would deny it's very existence. Even so, rumors have spread.

"Hell no, we step foot in there we won't walk out," Ivan hissed, proving he knew the same rumors I did. "Instead I sent Alicia."

Well, Alicia could be mistaken for cattle of some kind or another - which was exactly what the place didn't serve, so she'd be alright. Probably.

Alicia proved to be made of stern stuff by being at the front desk as we came down. She was visibly shaking and was staring off into the distance, but she was in one piece and had three takeout boxes sitting next to her. Sarah was ignoring Alicia as she filed paperwork, but she was shooting glances at the boxes; had she skipped breakfast?

Alicia, for her part in this play, was hovering over the boxes and staring Sarah down with a look of bored venom.

I could smell it from across the lobby - and it didn't smell half bad. And it was hard to sneak mystery meat in pancakes, so there was that. Gray pulled out a thing, for lack of a better word, a device of flashing lights and beeping noises with an antenna on top, and started waving it around.

I wanted to call him out on that, but the lobby itself was full of both hunters and petitioners, and I was sure that wouldn't go well. Gray could make himself visible at any time, I knew that, so it only followed that he could make himself heard too. Other familiars did both all the time, so why was I so surprised by it now? Hm.

"Gray, a question." I whispered, leaning over as far as I dared in order to make sure no one overheard us.

"I have an answer, Sasha," Gray replied. "Please ask."

"Why do I have problems waking up sometimes?"

Gray blinked. "You have low blood pressure after sleeping, on occasion. I suspect your diet and exercise regime, or lack thereof. Who are you and what have you done with the real Sasha?"

"Laugh it up, ass." So a medical thing, but not a serious one, or I'd have been booted out a long time ago. One minor mystery solved.

Ivan turned back. "You say something, Sasha?"

Whoops, too loud. "Nothing important."

Ivan gave me another loaded look but let it go. Alicia on the other hand...

"Wow, before noon! I owe some people money."

"What's that supposed to mean? I get up when it's important!" It wasn't my fault I wasn't really needed at the moment. Busy work was just... boring.

"Nothing Sasha, I just saw how much you drank last night, and took a guess. What did Ivan say to get you up?"

What Ivan actually said must never be uttered to Alicia, no matter how much her beard whiskers were twitching. "Nothing, I was already mostly awake I'll have you know."

Everyone in range stopped for a full beat; jerks all. Sarah actually palmed a bill, and slipped it to Alicia, who made a big show of taking it - even sniffing it once before making it disappear.

Gray on the other hand, was aiming his device at the food boxes. It was beeping in slow, steady tones. "There are no pathogens, bacteriological agents, or other questionable substances in any of these substances," he informed me. "It is safe to consume."

"Thanks Gray," I whispered before turning to Alicia. "Which one is mine?"

Alicia shrugged. "Take your pick, they are all the same. Pancakes with strawberries on them, toast with butter, no meats. I didn't trust the meats."

Alicia knew the stories too, and I applauded her wisdom. "Good call. Strawberries though? Fresh ones?"

Alicia nodded. "Fresh ones, picked three days ago and inspected, if the cook is to be believed."

I'd still check them myself, and Alicia clearly would to; at least, if Gray hadn't done that thing with his device. I knew I could trust Gray. But keeping up appearances was a thing too.

"Alright, pass me the first then."

More money exchanged hands. "What now?"

"We had a bet on which one you'd ask for too," Sarah replied. "I bet the last one, and Alicia bet the first."

"I know of the ego," Alicia told Sarah smugly. At least Sarah didn't appear mad about her loss; she was still smiling.

They were wrong about why I always picked the first one though, not that I'd tell them that.

The box smelled even better up close, and when I opened it, I was greeted by pancakes so large they had been folded into the thing, just slathered with fresh bright red strawberries. Even the toast placed carefully to the side looked fresh and not at all burnt.
It was almost like real food or something.

Alicia handed me a fork and a knife, both so clean they caught enough light to force me to squint. I wondered where she stole them from.
I inspected the first bite carefully - then gulped it down. It was actually good!

"Well, I'm not dead."

"So you aren't," Alicia said, finally grabbing her own box and passing the last one to Ivan.

Ivan also inspected each bite, but Alicia didn't bother. She caught me looking.

"Well, I've already decided to eat it, so what's the point? no matter how bad it is, you know we've had worse."

She wasn't wrong. But there was always worse, probably.

I carried my box away from the lobby desk and to the bench we had sat at yesterday, so Sarah could continue her work without me in the way. Ivan followed, but Alicia stayed put because she was a jerk.

I finished up and threw the trash away, wrapping the silverware up and pocketing it for cleaning later. Then it was time to go back down to the lab to fill more generators. Hopefully without Emil hiding in the cabinets this time. The question was did I check them or did I just not want to know?

I'd decide when I got there.

Ivan stood up, throwing his own trash away. "Come on, it's time."

When I stood Alicia stuffed her face full and hurried to close ranks with us - with me. I actually felt a little something which I wasn't about to look at too closely for fear I'd have to kill the feeling with fire.

Gray and Ivan were right, something was wrong with me today.

The hall leading into the labs was even darker than usual; some of the lights that had been working yesterday were broken. Must have been one wild night. My hair clip went to goggles, and Suddenly I could see everything, in dim to bright greens, It was kind of neat.

Since I could see I took point, signaling the lack of movement or enemies seen. The doc probably counted. When I sensed hesitation I grabbed wrists and pulled the two idiots behind me; they had said I wasn't going to be doing this alone, and they were going to keep going.

The room was empty, and this time so were the cabinets. Well, empty of bodies anyway; there was some weird machinery in a few of them; how had those two fit in there yesterday?

Then Gray pointed at them. The machines were free of all dust and on, lights blinking or solid. There were no sounds, no gentle hum or mechanical click, but it was clear the devices were doing what they were supposed to do.

"Lock the door," I whispered, loud in the silence, and Ivan complied. Alicia hit the light switch and my goggles went back to their hair clip status, Alicia watching it happen without a word.

"Safe for now, at any rate. I guess we'll have to see about the way out when we need it."

Alicia shook her head with a slight grin, beard waving in the breeze created. "Typical Sasha."

I wanted to ask her what she meant by that, since I was the best planner I knew, (with her included) but I didn't want to listen to her yell in my ear for the next hour. Instead I lamented on our lack of liquor today, which at least made yesterday bearable. Sobriety was overrated.

Oh well, the sooner I got started the sooner I got finished. I started off with a different shelf this time, for the feeling that I'd made some progress in this somehow. I was pretty sure that despite the generators clearly claimed yesterday, there were enough new ones placed here dry that I didn't see any empty spots. We didn't even have that many hunters operating out of central, did we? This seemed like a lot.

As if, it was still only around fifty gennys. We were always shorthanded.

This time there were only a few generators I recognized; the rest seemed to be new and unmarked or personalized in ways I didn't recognize.

Like this sticker coated one for example; cartoon character stickers I didn't know, little mutant people and critters. I didn't see the atraction, but there had to be one somewhere.

The one painted pink was too flashy, and the one painted black was a little too try-hard. Everyone knew that gray and muted forest colors were the best colors for a big box with flashing lights anyway.

Ivan and Alicia both knew what I was thinking when I pointed them out, even going so far as to roll their eyes for a few of the more extreme examples.

An hour later I was done, all energy expended. I had to let Ivan help me up, and as soon as I was upright, the room started a slow spin I was all too familiar with. I should probably stop using everything.

"Whoa."

"Don't worry, I've got you," Ivan assured me.

Alicia was letting her inner chicken show though. "If the science team shows up, I'm going to throw you at them and run."

"Thanks for the warning Alicia, I'll be sure to trip you on the way down, you Judas."

Ivan wrapped my arm around him, then ruined it. "Ladies, please. Now is not the time."

"How long have you been waiting to use that one?"

"Awhile now," he admitted to me. "Worked, didn't it?"

I shut up, I wasn't going to admit something like that. Words could make one feel like they had been doused with ice water though, that was good to know; never felt that before.

The hall outside was empty. Completely empty, and still very dark. My hair clip didn't change this time, so I was just as much a bat as my team, but at least we knew what the way out was.

Despite the screams sounding behind us (which sounded canned), nothing rushed out of the darkness. We made it to the door safe and sound. And because the day and the visit had gone smoothly, this was the moment the universe decided to screw us.

Gloom was waiting for us. His eyes might have lingered a bit more on me than the rest of the team.

"Come on." He growled out, and swept back up towards his office. People dodging left and right to stay out of his path.

Ivan sped up to keep pace, and I tried to help but he dragged me more than I wanted. Even so, we entered Gloom's office a good minute after he did; stairs were hard at the moment.

"Take a seat." Gloom told us once the door was shut.

I sank into one gratefully. "Whatever it was, I didn't do it."

Gloom sighed. "Nothing like that, this is an assignment."

Well that was a relief. "When do we leave?"

"When you can stand up," Gloom replied dryly. "Want to hear where it is at least?"

Oh, right, knew I was forgetting something. "Sure."

"Pack your summer clothes, South has requested help in Egypt." Gloom tossed a folder - at Ivan, who caught it.

Wait, South? But they sucked! "South? Really?"

"It seems they feel they have a situation they can't resolve themselves. It also seems a large teddy bear spitting fire might have been seen near Cairo recently; at least that was the description given to the police there."

Ana. And she wouldn't be alone. But what would they be doing there? It was too far away from their usual stomping grounds, and the last sighting of them had been in France, last I heard.

Gloom looked me right in the eye. "Just don't blow up a pyramid or anything."

Only if it got in my way. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Gloom sighed again. "Get out of here. And read the briefing this time! Be ready to go by tomorrow morning!"

I couldn't really exit any better than I could enter, so Ivan had to help me while Gloom stared at us awkwardly. "Don't worry, we're on the job."

He didn't use the line the way he was supposed to, instead sinking his head into his hands.