The organization had already spotted and gotten the couple's attention, walking over. Nathan was smiling— that was new. They approached, Nathan and Emily leading the rest.
"You all are back?" Lorrell had an unnervingly calm voice. It wasn't anything like what she showed the other group. Colder, yet a calm intensity behind it. Ty stood beside her, as laid-back as ever, one arm on Lorrell's shoulder, the other hand shoved into his pocket.
"Yeah… We're 'back'." Nathan reluctantly replied.
"Back to us?" Lorrell asked.
"..No, never back with you two."
Silence. Before Emily sighed, purposefully loud.
"Well, why don't we get to the point..?"
"So you do have a reason for being here." Lorrell mumbled back. "Talk, then." she added.
Stalling wasn't a particularly easy job. Especially not when the people you had to do it with were your former allies— nonetheless a middle aged couple. Nathan let Emily talk, because for all the organization knew, if Nathan started talking they'd be doomed from the first word. Whether it was believable or not, Nathan was too much of an honest man— or, well, just couldn't lie even if his life depended on it. But what he was good at; cold stares, harsh words or just not saying anything at all. And maybe coming back from the dead(??).
"So you're here for the cure? Are you going to steal that?" Ty asked, tilting his head innocently. But he had a gaze that burned through each and every one of them when his gaze landed.
"What if we do?" Damian stepped forward, a small smirk playing on his otherwise calm face.
"..Tch. Well, then, have you found my daughter?" Lorrell asked, arms crossing over her chest.
───────•°•𐦂𖨆𐀪𖠋•°•──────•
"Is it that file??? No wait—! don't TOUCH it??" Rexine panicked, trying to stop Maverick from taking anything that seemed close to being a trap for getting caught. Like the suspiciously big lettered heading; 'Secret' on a file placed a bit too indiscreetly.
"Let's just take some stuff and leave. Let's be quick." she spoke, sighing. She watched her friends converse. They were already in a risky enough position. And now they want to be dumb? Well..— Maverick was always, but c'mon. Moving around some things in the room, she searched for anything useful they could take back. Then, she spotted something in the very far left of the room. Was that..?
Friday.
She's disappeared just as fast as she appeared, and Perry just thought it was a cat thing. It wasn't like she really belonged to them or anything. She was cut open, dissected. No, it wasn't gruesome. It was a bunch of wires, and mechanical parts. Perry stared, trying to process what she was seeing. She wasn't.. well, devastated. Just.. something more than surprised, but less than utterly shocked. Christian had noticed. He turned towards her, walking over.
".. Isn't that the stupid cat you were having around?" He mumbled, looking over her shoulder. She slowly nodded. For a moment, everything clicked. She had never really eaten the food Perry gave her. Only bite it then spit it out. Darren, as curious as ever, walked over as well. He immediately spotted something, his eyes widening for just a split second.
"..That's a GPS." He said, and picked it up, observing it.
"A GPS, seriously?" Perry spoke through gritted teeth, a little speechless right now. She stepped back, almost bumping into Christian.
"Hey uh, guys!" Axelle called out. "Look at this file. It looks.. important. And useful." She pointed at a file, maroon in colour, 'leads' written on it. Leads to what? it didn't specify. They'd just have to assume. Axelle reached out, and took it. That was the first mistake. An alarm started buzzing— so assuming it was important, while everyone was distracted Maverick who was nearby snatched it when Axelle had kept it again.
Nicole and Eli were on lookout duty. And sure enough, Lorrell and Ty weren't oblivious to the point of being dumb. Nicole had gotten a message from Nathan, a clear indication that indeed they'd been caught. Nicole opened the door with urgency, practically just gesturing for everyone to get out with what they can, words barely heard over the alarm.
After they had Successfully gotten out without Lorrell and Ty spotting them, they ran towards the van, hoping they wouldn't get caught. Perry was one of the last, behind the group as he tried making it out of there. But there was a certain speed 10 people could go all at once, after all. But unfortunately, after Perry heard rustling behind her she couldn't help but look.
"Perry..?" Lorrell's voice was back to being soft again. She used that unresistable softness in her gaze, unwillingly pulling Perry in.
"..." Perry didn't know what to say. Should she just leave? Staying wouldn't be.. good. It's not that she trusted them at any cost, but rather she was scared they might pull her in without her knowing.
The others are leaving, so should I.
But she didn't. She stayed, eyes glued to every move the couple made. She couldn't pull away. Why was it physically hard?
"Perry.. you know we've been searching for you for so long, right?" Lorrell spoke, her voice completely different from when she had spoken with the organization. "Don't leave us again.." she pleaded, but it seemed more like deception to Perry.
"I never left you." She stated, voice colder than it had ever been. "You gave me away. And I'm the bad guy here? Youtwo started the apocalypse, and I'm still the bad guy?" She was getting further irritated with them. Sure, it was a bit of a stretch to assume that outright, but she was almost completely sure. There was evidence everywhere. In the files, the notebooks, the USB they had stolen and still handy gone through fully. She was convinced at this point. And there didn't seem to be changing that anytime in the near future.
"Oh honey… I'm sorry, okay? We weren't in a bit of a tight situation back then." She feigned innocence. "But now we're alright.. we're doing better. So why don't you come with us now?" As if Perry would fall for that. Yeah sure she was born at night, but not last night. And she wasn't gullible. Not anymore.