Amaranthine

General Hale nodded at his son as he re-entered the War Room, trailing Kennedy and Breastman.

“Sir, Sonder and BREAST MAN confirm there are no remaining Characters on premises,” Lieutenant Hale said, nodding stiffly back at his father. Cait raised an eyebrow at Kennedy, who looked a little ruffled.

‘Tell you later’, she mouthed, the glossy black of her lips twitching upwards in a self-satisfied smirk.

Welp, gonna have to take that at face value, Cait thought, returning her attention to the tactical display. The General had been going through the nitty gritty of the diversionary assault, which had largely been flying right over Cait’s head. That was fine, since she wouldn’t be participating anyway.

Gwyn, however, was proving to be something of a military buff. Or maybe she was just that smart, hard to know. Either way, she had helped fine tune the tactics to be more effective against a foe that promised to be more ‘implacable horde’ than the fanatic-but-mortal zealots that made up the bulk of DC forces.

They were currently going over a rolling earthwork layout that would hopefully slow down the enemy enough that melee engagement would be minimal, as that would be a massively risky proposition based on what they were likely to be facing. That said, everyone in the room was aware of what happened to battle plans upon contact with the enemy, and as such preparations for melee engagement by mechanized units and exo-soldiers to cover tactical retreat of the more mundane military units were underway.

Not that Cait knew that. Kennedy had thrown her hat into the planning ring, having picked up a thing or two from her mother. She leaned over the holo-table, and Cait found it impossible to focus on anything but the real tactical weapon in the room.

Her eyes traced the tight black denim of Kennedy’s jeans as it hugged her ass, and Cait was quickly lost in dreams of what she’d do with that ass next time she got as close as that fabric was.

As was happening far too often recently, a wet tentacle slithering into her ear pulled her out of her pleasant thoughts.

“Gah! Bad touch!” she said, slapping at the intruding appendage before noticing the looks of disdain she was getting from the attending military personnel. A teasing flash of heat flowed through her link with Kennedy as the goth winked at her over her shoulder.

Cait glared at her, then B-man next to her. He was getting disturbingly adept at turning that gaping maw into a shit-eating grin. She sighed.

“Okay. I’m assuming I missed something?” Cait asked, to a frustrated sigh from the General.

“—don’t know how she fucking handles you people,” Cait heard General Hale mutter under his breath before he glared at her once more. “How confident are you, in you and Sonder’s ability to deal with Bookkeeper? The entire assault hinges on the two of you winning that fight.”

Cait met his eyes, holding them for a second before her gaze slid to Kennedy.

Her girl looked angry. Kennedy was good at controlling the emotions that showed on her face, but her eyes burned, and the metal table was beginning to creak under her superhard grip. She needed this kill. That was why Cait shook her head.

“Not confident, for once,” she admitted, returning her gaze to find the General a shade paler than before. “Papercut Dick is gonna be wondering where we are—”

“Oh my god,” Gwyn groaned, running a hand down her face, “Did you hear nothing? I said I can make nano-decoys of you two!”

“And I told you that won’t fool him for long,” Kennedy growled at the frustrated techie. “However he sees, it’s more than physical.”

“—he’s gonna be wondering where we are,” Cait continued, raising her volume a bit to forge ahead, “and with the absolute buffet of powers he has at his disposal, I guarantee he will have something waiting for us that neutralizes me. I’m tougher than a planet and hit like an extinction level event, but I think history has shown that I’m not exactly insurmountable with the proper application of Nickelodeon Slime.”

Cait sighed, cringing a bit from the heat in Kennedy’s eyes.

“Kennedy is a stone-cold badass, but if me and Kev are all she has to draw on, it won’t be enough.” She scanned her team, eyes locking onto a different, more literal kind of heat burning behind Qi’s ruby reds. “Qi, you’re up. Kennedy doesn’t get much from the others, and they’re both hella suited to open warfare. Not that you aren't, but you’ve seen what our girl can do in scale mail.”

Qi grinned, nodding, before Kennedy surprised the team by agreeing.

“Damn straight,” she said, her face beginning to change to mirror Qi’s sharp toothed grin. “Never felt stronger than when I’m wearing these sparkly black scales.”

She turned her inferno orange eyes on the General, the man visibly having to stop himself from taking a step back from their ferocity.

“We done here for now, General?” she growled, but with a feirce kind of elation. “I need to let off some steam, get in a bit of practice for the shit I’m gonna do to good ol’ Granddad when I get these claws on him.”

“Uh… yes, dismissed,” General Hale had, seeming flustered by the way the energy of the room had shifted. “Jordan, please escort the AEGIS detachment to their quarters… and go ahead and get them set up for entry and exit. Whatever training they do, I want it done outside our pallisade.”

“Smart man,” Cait said, clapping the General on the back and following his son out of the room.

He led them to a nearby building, much like the others, save for the AEGIS logo emblazoned across its entry way. Pushing open the door, they found a tight hallway with doors leading off to private quarters.

“I know it’s not what you Guardians are used to, but amenities come at a premium on a pop up base like this,” Hale said, looking a little sheepish. “I’ve been to the mansions you guys call dorms, believe me, I wish we had the same luxury. Private rooms for each of you though! Better than most of us get!”

Cait opened her mouth to speak, but Kennedy beat her to it.

“You’re welcome to one of ours,” she said, her claws clinking against Cait’s skin as she wrapped her arm around her waist. “We’ll have at least two empty rooms.”

Two? Cait looked down at her, following the curve of her sinuous black tail towards where it intertwined with Qi’s. Moving her gaze to Qi’s face the big dragon was actually blushing.

Oh hell yeah.

Cait got a weak empathic reprimand for her excitement, but honestly she didn’t know what Kennedy had expected.

“Uhhh…” Hale sputtered, clearly taken a little off guard. “I… uh… actually I think I’ll take you up on that. I am attached to your group during the preparations after all. Proximity should help things.”

YOU GET THE ROOM NEXT TO THEM, THEN

“What?”

GOOD LUCK SLEEPING

“Ooookay,” Hale said, looking warily at the three women. “Anyway, I was told your things will be arriving later, so let’s get you outside. Unless you meant an entirely different kind of team building activity, Miss Swan?”

“Por que no los dos?” Kennedy said with a wicked grin. “Gonna need to unwind after this. Lead us outside, we’re gonna kick each others asses.”

Lieutenant Hale rolled his eyes, then led them back out of the compound. Unsurprisingly, the gate guards remembered this particular group, and there was much less fuss on the second go round.

The cleared area around the base was as good an arena as some keyed up superheroes looking to get some practice in could hope for, and Hale gave them leave to make use of it.

I VOTE WE ALL JUST TAKE TURNS HITTING CAIT AS HARD AS WE CAN, suggested Breastman, to a smattering of pleased agreement, and a frown from the woman in question.

“That was like, the first thing we did in team training back at the Coliseum. Its always the first thing you want to do,” she continued with a glare. “Makes a girl wonder if the trauma bond here only goes one way!”

The little horror ball brought a group of tentacles to his gaping maw in a passable approximation of shock.

YOU WOUND

THERES JUST NOTHING ELSE THAT DOESN’T SHATTER INTO A MILLION PIECES WHEN IN FRONT OF THESE FUCKIN’ PYTHONS

Cait had to get close and squint to read that last, absolutely squished onto his hat. While she did, Breastman flexed his tentacles, achieving nothing. Wherever their strength came from, it wasn’t actual muscle.

She chuckled as she finished, standing back up with a big stretch.

“Alright, fuck it, not like it costs me anything to help y’all warm up.” She struck a pose, legs spread wide and beckoning at her teammates. “Come ‘n ‘ave a go, if you think you’re ‘ard enough.”