B Z Z Z T B Z Z Z Z Z T
"Fuck off."
BAM.
Hughes slammed his alarm clock, wincing at the pounding headache that followed. He groaned, rolling out of bed and stumbling into the bathroom, splashing cold water on his face.
He took a deep, shuddering breath, focusing. A familiar warmth unfurled within him, a subtle hum as Lu began its steady flow through his meridians. Last night's indulgence broke apart, slowly dispersed and absorbed into his being. The throbbing in his temples softened, the metallic tang of last night's vodka fading with each exhale.
"Fuck. I swear I'll never drink again." he promised himself for the dozenth time now, shaking his head.
Once he felt somewhat human again, Hughes made his way to the office, the sharp tap of his boots against the tiled floors echoing through the quiet corridor. Writing mission reports wasn't his favorite task—he much preferred action to paperwork—but it was part of the job.
Dropping into his chair with a grunt, he booted up his terminal. The screen flickered to life, casting a dim glow across the cluttered desk: half-finished water bottles, a fossilized snack wrapper, and a tower of unfiled files fought for space, threatening mutiny. Hughes cracked his knuckles before starting the report.
"Alright, let's get this over with" he muttered, tapping away at the keys. His fingers were surprisingly nimble for someone of his build, typing with a rhythm with no wasted motion.
// AFTER-ACTION REPORT //
Operation: BLACK WATCH
Unit: Veritas Syndicate, Squad Alpha
Lead Agent: Dominic Hughes
Location: Valenkov Depot, Eastern Border
Mission Parameters: Secure and destroy chemical weapon cache (Designation: CX-9). Eliminate high-value target (HVT): Colonel Vasily "Grim" Petrov.
Mission Difficulty: Two star, two stripe.
....
The clack of keys echoed like a staccato drumbeat as the report took shape. Click. Clack. Click. At first, his fingers hesitated, each keystroke a reluctant step back into the chaos. But then, a subtle shift: his posture straightened, eyes sharpening, the lazy drawl of his thoughts replaced by a sniper's laser focus. The mission played behind his eyelids in flashes: muzzle flashes in the dark, the acrid stink of gunpowder, Rufe's grunt as shrapnel bit into his armor.
The recent mission had been short but intense, and the details mattered. Hughes was the type of man to cut corners on most things, but never on this. It was the reports that kept everyone alive. As much as he hated the paperwork, he understood the importance of documenting everything, especially when dealing with three-star missions.
His fingers flew, weaving the chaos into cold, clean prose: timestamps precise to the second, casualties listed without embellishment, tactical notes etched in merciless detail so the next squad wouldn't walk into an ambush. Alongside each factual recounting was a separate annotation of his own subjective personal experience and opinion on the situation.
The screen's glow deepened as dusk bled into the office. Empty coffee cups piled up. His spine ached.
Click. Clack. Pause.
By the time the sun began painting the sky in soft shades of orange, Hughes stood from his desk, grabbing the freshly printed papers. He headed straight for Ren Takeda's office, the boss of the Veritas Syndicate.
Before his knuckles could graze the mahogany door, Ren's voice cut through: "Enter."
Hughes shouldered it open to find the squad already assembled and lounging in the room. Amongst the calligraphy and poetry on the walls, each done personally by the boss himself, Jax stood rigid by the window, fingers drumming a restless rhythm on his tablet. Luna perched on the edge of Ren's desk, twirling a knife, while Rufe loomed behind her like a battleship at anchor.
"I'm the last one, huh ?" Hughes said with a smirk, tossing his report onto the pile.
Ren didn't glance up as he chuckled. "If guilt motivated you, Dominic, you'd have reformed fifteen years ago." His calloused fingers turned a page.
"Guilty as charged." Hughes flopped into a chair and propped his boots on Ren's immaculate desk, ignoring Jax's disapproving glare.
The boss and Hughes had known each other even before their current positions. They had practically grown up together, a brotherhood forged in spilled blood, not born from it. Ren and Hughes had been cut from the same cloth once—reckless, loud, and allergic to rules. But Ren had learned when to rein it in, trading wild nights for boardroom polish while Hughes… well, Hughes was Hughes.
He just couldn't bother to be as "corporate" as Ren.
Ren Takeda was a tall man with an air of authority, his piercing eyes serene yet capable of seeing through anyone. Scars and calluses coated his hands and silver stroked his black hair, and his face bore the lines of wisdom and experience from battling his way through both the battlefield and politics.
"Excellent work," Ren said at last, setting the report down. "Squad Alpha exceeds expectations again."
Hughes grinned. "We're the best for a—"
"—reason, yes." Ren's piercing gaze lifted. "Your humility remains as absent as your punctuality."
"Speaking of absent," Hughes pivoted, "when are you telling Theon about Lu? Kid could shred rifts if he—"
Ren's chair creaked as he leaned back. "Dominic, you know all matters related to Lu are sensitive already. I do plan on telling him soon but you know about his situation. Though he's getting there, his situation is still a bit... unique. The matters relating to his soul are delicate. We've been relying on the pills for now but I don't know for sure how long they will work for. His soul is slowly stabilizing itself as he gets older. I'll tell him when he turns—"
Ren's communicator buzzed, interrupting him. Ren's expression, usually serene, hardened. His grip on the device tightened, knuckles white. He looked up, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. "Theon has gone missing. A rift opened in his training room."
Everyone froze as they snapped to attention.
"Of course the first rift inside HQ swallows our rookie. Classic luck." chuckled Hughes.
"Hughes! " exclaimed Luna. "He's in danger! This isn't a joke!"
"Oh come on Luna, you've seen the kid in action, he'll do well. Actually, knowing him he's probably getting stronger as we speak."
Rufe's knuckles cracked audibly as he clenched his fists. "Then let's go. Before he clears it alone and makes us look bad."
Hughes grinned. "Now that's the spirit."
The squad quickly geared up, their expressions shifting from relaxed to focused in an instant. They gathered their equipment, checked their weapons, and prepared for the unpredictable dangers of the rift.
"Alright, Squad Alpha." Hughes rallied his team, "let's get our guy back."
A collective groan came from Squad Alpha. "You just have to make it cheesy don't you ? " mumbled Jax.