Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

If it was any other day Kay would have offered to be the one to cook for everyone but this one particular day she just wasn't up for standing in front of a worktop and cooker and actually prepared and cook food. Now that unborn Fia had finally calmed down, she felt worn out from it all, so in her eyes not only was cooking what was in the apartment a better choice in her eyes, she just didn't want to be the one doin git, so for that reason either choice would have been suitable for her. When Cliff spoke up about using the food in the kitchen that was still good to consume, whilst also flickering her eyes toward Fia when mentioning about massive appetites, she couldn't help but stifle a snigger. Fia just rolled her eyes at the playful dig about her appetite from Cliff, all too used now at everyone making remarks about her ability to eat her body weight in food.

With Elliott offering up his skills to eat, Kay was glad that it didn't have to be her, even if she did enjoy cooking. Fia being Fia, smiled at the offer from her brother, having always enjoyed his cooking growing up. Neither were also surprised that John spoke up about taking some the cash that Zan had stashed away. They also thought his suggestion of Cal and Cliff taking the rest and using it as a way of paying themselves back from what they had loaned the rest of them all this time was actually a very fair suggestion. They also had to mod their agreement with the suggestion and that the cash did indeed look old and close to not being even valid currency if it was just left where it was found. "I'll never complain at Ell cooking, massive appetite or not" Fia spoke up, making a play at Cliff's earlier words about her, to show she was fine with jokes being made about her. "I also agree with John that you two taking what we owe you out of this cash. It makes the most valid sense to do that. At least until you can ever visit us on Earth and we repay you by paying for everything" Kay added, with a small smile, as she rubbed the tips of her fingers back and forth on the side of her head.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal and Cliff at first gave each other the initial awkward look they always did whenever money of being paid back for everything they'd done for the Earth group was brought up. Neither felt that they needed to be paid back, they were family after all and that's what family did. Cal had never said it, but she felt that she should be the one paying back John and Chas (and to an extent Jay), as the two men had been the ones to really take her brother in, look after him, nurture him, keep him on the straight and narrow and each were responsible in their own way for turning Elliott into the man he was today. Both knew enough about John to read through the lines and see that he hated being in debt to those that he liked, and that even though he was advocating stealing money, it was a sort of compliment. Cal picked up one of the bundles of notes, turned it over and carefully flicked through it, looking at the date or printing. "Well the Attilian notes are very much still legal tender." Cal commented. "And the best way to hide money IS with other money." Cliff shrugged, sifting through the various currencies. "And since I work off world often, it is useful to have cash in these kinds of currencies." It wasn't an outright refusal from the two women, but it wasn't them jumping at the opportunity to take as much cash as possible either.

Elliott saw no point in wasting time, so while the others talked money he headed to the kitchen to assess exactly what supplies and equipment he had. When it came to cooking meals, Elliott was used to free-styling with whatever was to hand. It was a skill he'd had to pick up living with John, regular grocery shopping was not something John indulged in, and every time Elliott came round as an adult he always brought enough ingredients to stock up the fridge and cupboards. Even in the future it didn't change, it was really down to Kay (and Elliott whenever he popped round) that there was consistently food in the house. It didn't take him too long for inspiration to come. He ended up making two separate dishes- a mixed meat curry with a side of naan-like bread and a pasta dish. In total it would take him about forty minutes to make, and as he began to relax and get into the zone of cooking, he started to hum ever so slightly.

 

[MzHyde]

If Kay hadn't had the recent past she had, she would have questioned the whole stealing someone else's emergency money that John was advocating, but she knew she was far from perfect and whatever cash she ever had on Earth it was mostly because she stole wallets from people on the street or begged for it. So she wasn't going to say anything that would disagree with John's actions. Nor was she was going to take back her words of agreement that Cal and Cliff should take some cut, even if it wasn't their money they're telling them to take. She watched as Cliff and Cal looked through the money and confirmed it was still legal tender, as well as being able to find uses for the other currencies in their own way. She could tell they weren't fully happy with taking the cash, which just showed Kay that they were much better people than herself or John when it came to these things.

The whole chat about money made Fia realise yet again what differences there were between this Kay and her Kay, knowing that in her time Kay wouldn't so easily advocate for taking someone else's money or possessions like it was a perfectly acceptable thing to do. Hearing and seeing John say it was of no surprise, but it was a bit more of a surprise when it came to Kay. Showing her she really didn't know her mother's past as well as she thought she did. As Elliott tarted doing the cooking in the kitchen, she popped inside after around fifteen minutes of him being in there to get a drink as she was desperate for one and just wanted some water for the time being. Yet apart from that she left Elliott alone to cook during that entire forty minutes until her stomach strated feeling really empty, making her stand up and go back inside, "is it nearly done? I'm withering away from hunger" she asked him in a fake complaint. Both dishes were smelling absolutely devine and she definitely was going to go for the curry he was doing.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John was true to his words and took a big wad of cash, first putting what he could in his wallet while the rest went into one of the pockets of his trenchcoat. He had no qualms with taking this money, he didn't think for a moment it was actually Zan's own money, firmly believing it was some kind of untraceable money given to Elliott and Cal's by Dakkon, or somebody similarly high up the spook food chain. Now that it had come to light just what an arsehole Dakkon really was, and, more importantly that the lizardkin didn't give two tosses about the people he needed to hurt to get his hands on the sword that scarred Elliott, John felt more than entitled in taking this money as a way of getting back at Dakkon. Given Zan's deep-running hatred of the lizard, he didn't think the other man would have any qualms with him doing such a thing. Hearing that Elliott was humming softly as he worked brought a slight smile and a look of relief to John's face. It was a sure sign Elliott was feeling better.

While Elliott cooked Jay sat herself down on the floor, crossing one foot over the other, with her back against the wall. There was nowhere near enough chairs for all of them in the apartment and priority for sitting obviously went first and foremost to Kay and secondly to Dan who'd succumbed to tiredness and nodded off in the armchair. She fished out the file about Zan's neural implants from the bag and began reading. having spent the last few years on earth she felt she was woefully out of touch with what was the latest tech being developed. As an assassin she'd had contacts who could tell her such things, but Jay hadn't felt it necessary to get in contact with her network in case it brought killers after Elliott. A decision she was feeling incredibly grateful she'd made at this particular moment in time. Reading Zan's file and the man's own notes were the closest she'd get to being on the inside and for her it made gripping reading, so much so that she barely noticed the time passing by.

Elliott couldn't help but roll his eyes at Fia's impatience to eat. "They're just about done" he told her, before gesturing at one of the cupboards, "but what will make it faster is if somebody was to get out and lay out whatever cutlery and crockery is in there." This was a tactic he often did in Fia's timeline, getting his sister to lay the table so that he (and whoever else was there) wouldn't have to waste their precious time laying the table when they could be eating.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay couldn't help but overhear what Fia asked Elliott as the teenager walked into the kitchen to get herself a drink of water, making her think what a typical teenage thing it was to do and probably did herself but couldn't remember doing so. She also had noticed throughout the time how engrossed Jay had become reading whatever file it was she chose to pull out and read, knowing that Jay always had a reason for doing everything she did. She was ready to tell Fia not to bother Elliott when Elliott came back with the perfect comeback to his half sister which made her smirk that also showed amusement in her eyes. To her, this kind of banter between them just added to the hope and opinion she had that the two of them would bond close as Fia grew up, even without Elliott living at home.

Fia recognised the tactic all too well that Elliott was using, even if she did smile at the news the food that smelled absolutely amazing to her was ready. "I'm on it, I just knew you'd say that" she replied to him, as she poured herself some water from the tap into a glass and downed it before going to the cupboards that she saw earlier on held the crockery and cutlery. She did as she was told and began to pulling out the right number of crockery and cutlery, luckily there being just enough for everyone which surprised her earlier considering Zan lived alone. For the next minute or so she went back and forth setting the table and any surface she could where people could sit and eat with everything before making sure there was space on the nearest worktop in the kitchen for the food to be laid out to try and be of as much help as possible to Elliott. "okay, it's all set out" she told him, having found helping him nice as it felt like a moment in her timeline for that short moment. Just like when she helped Cal out, even though the latter was a lot rarer, it still had the same kind of emotion trigger in her.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Fia wasn't the only one surprised that Zan possessed just enough cutlery and crockery to cater for their entire group, it was something that took both Elliott and Cal by surprise. Although nobody had outright said it, it was heavily inferred that Zan had been living alone ever since the brainwashing was undone, but seeing all the plates did put a spark of doubt into both siblings' minds. Cal liked to think she'd have known if there was somebody else in Zan's life, she may have been very much estranged from her birth father this past decade, but they were on the same planet and news travelled quickly. There was a number of people she knew who'd take great in delight in dumping such information on her with the deliberate goal of upsetting her or throwing her off balance. But one she actually properly looked at the plates in question, she recognised them to be the same ones that the they'd used as kids. Clearly Zan hadn't bothered with buying new plates.

Elliott gave a nod when Fia told him everything was laid out. "Excellent timing, it's just ready." It had brought a slight smile to his face earlier when Fia had said that she'd expected to be told to set the table. It told him a little something about the way things were in the future, just like how Rinaa had always done the dishes at Cal and Cliff's apartment, leaning against one particular part of the under counter cupboards. Given that they were all going to be eating off whatever surface they could he figured it would be easiest to put everything in large serving bowls and leave them on the coffee table where everybody could access them. By now Dan had woken up of his own accord and couldn't help but sniff the air appreciatively. "It smells amazing" he told Elliott who gave a smile and nod of thanks. "Well tuck in you lot, there's plenty to go around."

 

[MzHyde]

Elliott's smile to her earlier remark about knowing he was going to tell her to do such a task didn't go amiss on Fia in the slightest. She knew it would have given him a clue to how things were in her timeline, without her actually flat out giving anything away at the same time. When it came to the more positive clues like her little remark, she always felt happy to give her family the little insights to show the little things that could dare she say it, spark hope for the future having little or large moments of light in their lives. She of course wouldn't ever openly say her thoughts to them all, knowing she'd get a barrage of 'you're too bloody hopeful and bright eyed' or similar, which wasn't entirely the truth at all. At the declaration of the food being ready, she couldn't stop the grin of joy from appearing on her face.

She helped Elliott bring everything over to the coffee table, putting it all down with him but making sure nothing got in the way of Kay's or Dan's plates at the same time. At Dan's waking words Kay nodded in agreement, "it really does, thanks Ell" she spoke up after he told them all to dig in, which she helped herself to some of the curry and naan bread, even pregnant finding the more spicy dish more appealing which just drilled home to her she wasn't fully human and no matter what her phoenix blood and soul will always be drawn toward the spices in the universe. It may not have been as big a dish as she would have had normally, her actions making her think the whole 'eating for two' wasn't entirely a fact, despite the fact the other day she couldn't resist eating more breakfast fried sandwiches than strictly necessary. Fia on the other hand went for the pasta dish, finding she just wasn't in the mood for curry this time round, but she did take a naan bread as well because she could never resist naan bread. With her plate piled up, she propped herself up on one of the kitchen worktops that weren't cluttered, sitting cross legged, her plate balancing on her lap. It took her all of a few seconds before she dived in and used all her effort not to make a noise of happiness.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John wasted no time in doling out a big portion for himself, deciding to take some of everything on offer. In his experience everything Elliott cooked was good (the man really did have a knack in the kitchen, one that John completely lacked) and the smells that had been emanating from Zan's kitchen over the past forty minutes or so had been utterly divine. Like Fia he saw nothing wrong in eating naan as a side with any meal or even just on it's own. Elliott had never gotten around to learning how to make naan from scratch, there had been a few attempts at making regular bread, but they'd ended in either a burnt disaster or an under proved dense loaf, so Elliott had decided to leave bread making to the expert. AJ's older brother was the only person Elliott knew who could make bread, and whenever word got round amounts the usually customers at AJ's restaurant that Martín was around, there was a 'mysterious' increase in the amount of people wanting to buy breakfast.

All in the room gave some form of thanks or compliment on the taste of the dishes to Elliott. His favourite by far was Cal's, up until now his sister had never tasted any of his proper cooking and the look of surprise followed by an exclamation of 'oh my gods this is amazing' through a barely chewed mouthful of food made him grin broadly. It was nice to find something he could surprise his sister about (and be better than his sister at- Cal's cooking was good, but Elliott's was on another level entirely. Jay was the one who said the least as they ate, after initially commenting on how good it both looked and smelled, she made no particular effort to join in the conversation (now much more light-hearted than it had been in the morning), instead keeping her attention on the thick file. With the plate carefully balanced on her legs (which she'd crossed in a sort of yoga pose) she used her left hand to fork up the food, while using her right hand to flip the pages on the file. This wasn't an entirely uncommon thing for her to do, particularly in Fia's timeline, where both Jay and Leah had were in the habit of bringing novels/ work files (Jay) and novels/ textbooks/ homework /coursework (Leah) to the dinner table. Without an intervention (usually by Elliott) the two would be quite content to ignore all the others at the table, only paying attention when a topic they found interesting came up in conversation.

 

[MzHyde]

When it came to the cooking, Kay always couldn't help but think how it seemed to be her and Elliott who were the natural cooks in their group, or at least out of their Earth bound group as she hadn't experienced if Chas could cook herself, she knew john considered himself useless when it came to cooking anything substantial, and then she had only really experienced Cal's proper cooking and Jay/RInaa's snack based cooking. So like the others, she gave her thanks and compliments to Elliott for the food, never complaining when someone else took the kitchen's helm and did the cooking, especially at her current state, otherwise she would have quite possibly gladly cooked again for everyone. Fia was indeed used to having either Elliott cook or her mother, or if either were a) around or b) feel bothered to cook, then it was a case of getting a takeout as she knew it would be pointless asking her father (her or anyone else who was around) to cook, unless it was a sandwich or similarly basic. So she was very used to eating Elliott's cooking and always enjoyed it. There was even a time or two where she would make an excuse to go visit him, Jay and Leah just so she could stay long enough to get fed there before going home, or being dropped off at home. She was also used to seeing Jay occupied in something else whilst eating, ignoring everyone else in the room.

Cal's exclamation was amusing not to just Elliott but also to Kay and Fia, as it was clear that it gave Elliott that little boost of ego for him as he now saw he could do one thing just that bit better than his sister. Neither spoke much after the round of compliments as both were well and truly enjoying their meals, tucking in silently but happily. Fia unashamedly used her naan bread like she did garlic bread, tearing a bit off and using it scoop up some of the pasta and folding over of it and eating it like a mini sandwich. It was a flavour that really shouldn't go together in her eyes but she enjoyed it and she would never stop eating her food in some strange unconvientional manners. Kay was more dignified than Fia as she usually was, but she was glad she chose the curry as it was going down incredibly well, even if her body might or might not regret it later. Truth was, she didn't realise just how hungry she was until she started eating, and she didn't spend much longer than twenty minutes to finish the meal, only leaving the smallest of bit and a little bit of naan bread on her plate. "That was great Ell, thanks again" she said, sitting back in her chair as much as she could in the particular chair she was in, for ocne rubbing her stomach out of being full, rather than anything else. Fia was one of the first to finish, devouring it all in ten minutes flat before reaching over to the sink and putting her plate in it from where she sat on the worktop. She uncrossed her legs and gently swung back and forth, refusing to budge now she was well and truly stuffed.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas could indeed cook (he wasn't as good as Elliott, Kay or Cliff, but he was leagues better than John). The nature of his job (and his friendship with John) meant that he was working all hours and it was actually a rare occurrence for him to be home at lunchtime to cook lunch. He tried to cook something at least once every two or three weeks, with mixed success. the only time he'd be guaranteed to find time to be in the kitchen was when Cheryl and her daughter came down to visit. It was traditional that him, Renee, Trish, John, Cheryl, Gemma and Elliott would eat dinner together and stay up into the long hours of the night gossiping and bitching about their respective lives- all too often it turned into a 'my life is more shit than yours contest'. At some point the children (and Elliott) would slope off to play Mario Kart and the parents would then exchange gossip and worries about their respective kids, saying the things they didn't want their kids to hear. Meanwhile the kids were doing the exact same kind of moaning about their parents.

Elliott took the others' declaration of undying love for his food with a genuine smile. There was barely any leftovers, which Cliff saw as a very good thing, both from the point of the lack of food waste and that it was a sure sign they were all well and truly out of shock. Nobody had eaten anything yesterday aside form some toast and now it seemed to her that appetites were back with full force. There was two medium sized portions left, or one large one which prompted Cal to suggest "we could box these up too and give them to Bec and Dexter. They're in the hospital for the long haul and we have it on good authority that the food there isn't the greatest." "I think that's a great idea, it's not uncommon for NOK and ECs to arrange to have food stored in the break room fridge and I'd happily donate my slot in the fridge for the cause." Cliff nodded enthusiastically, in complete agreement with her wife. "I agree on that, it's what I was thinking myself, though I wasn't sure if there'd be any leftovers."

After boxing up the leftovers Elliott felt it was time he made a comment on Jay's behaviour, clearly nobody else was going to do it. "Gripping literature I take it?" he raised a questioning eyebrow. Jay nodded, flipping the file around so he could see what she'd chosen to engross herself in reading. "It really is. he's been testing for so long that there's a wealth of information here about the evolution of neural implants, what worked, what didn't. Some of it I knew, from researching for getting my own implants, but there's so much more to it than meets the eye. He's also added a lot of his own thoughts and theories on the matter on sticky notes, both good and bad, as well as the things he didn't understand and wanted clarification on. Seems he was very much an active participant- questioning the logic of things and the practicalities as opposed to just going 'oh my god this is amazing I can access the entire internet from this tiny chip' " the last part Jay said in an over the top fangirl voice, before rolling her eyes and reverting to her normal tone. "Or whatever. The more recent stuff is even more interesting. I've been SO out of the loop living on Earth!"

 

[MzHyde]

Elliott wasn't the only one thinking there may not have been any leftovers, Fia was convinced that between the lot of them it would have all been gone, but low and behold she was wrong and there was indeed at least two servings left, which would be more than enough for Bec and Dexter if they so wished to have it, along with what was in the tupperware her and Kay earlier found in the fridge. She pulled down the empty spare tupperware boxes for Elliott to box up the leftovers as she was still in arm's reach of everything, due to being still on the worktop. She then jumped off the worktop and took it upon herself to do the washing up as she had idle hands by this point, and realised quickly enough that Elliott was more intrigued in what Jay was reading, as he questioned her on it, when no one else had done until now. She personally didn't ask the woman on it because she was too used to seeing it so didn't see any point in asking her on it, and she was far more interested in eating the food on her plate at the time.

Kay didn't want to ask Jay about her chosen reading material over dinner because she didn't want to come across as being nosey or sticking her nose in where it wasn't wanted. Not only that, just like Fia, she just wanted to focus on eating her food. She was also used to Jay just being Jay, and doing her own thing, but seeing Elliott ask the woman what was gripping tor ead in his own way, she had to admit she was curious to what the answer would be. She listened, as did Fia from where she was at what Jay was finding out and could hear the intrigue and fascination in Jay's tone of voice as she spoke. She had to smirk in an amused manner at the faked over the top fangirl tone Jay put on before continuing on about her realisation of how much she had missed by being on Earth for so many years. "sounds like you're learning a lot by reading it all" she remarked.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John and Elliott both smirked at the quite frankly ridiculous voice the assassin had adopted. Elliott suspected that that particular voice was one Jay used fairly frequently in her internal monologue when ridiculing women she didn't like. Out of all of them, Elliott felt that he could empathise the most with being out of the loop with what was happening off world, most noticeably when it came to pop-culture and fashion, his knowledge was well over a decade out of date. "I get you" he nodded in reply, placing the tupperware boxes on the table "things move on at a scary pace when you're not around to see them." Saying the second part he was half referring to the tech, half referring to the fact that in the years they'd been separated, not only had Cal grown up into a woman, joined the military and got a career, she'd also fallen in love and got married. Elliott couldn't even begin to verbalise how lucky he felt that he'd actually been able to be around for the wedding. had he showed up a few weeks later than he had he would have missed this momentous moment entirely.

"Oh yeah." Jay replied with a nod and a sort of smile at Kay's words. "I have, like I said, I've missed quite a lot, regardless of whether you look at what's commercially available or what's in development. I don't necessarily understand ALL of it, Attili isn't my native language, so it's somewhat of a slog to go through all the technical jargon, but the data sheets are a big help." She flipped the file open to another page and turned it around so the rest of the people in the room could see the data in question. "Ah yes" Elliott nodded in understanding, before giving a broad smirk, knowing that his next set of words were going to piss Jay off. "Data, the universal language of nerds." Jay narrowed her eyes at him, then slowly raised her middle finger in response, though there was no real malice visible in her eyes.

 

[MzHyde]

Jay's fake fangirl voice was amusing to even to Fia, as she couldn't understand why people got that way, but then she was certain if she was to meet anyone she truly admired there was no guarantee she wouldn't act exactly like that herself. Yet she also knew Jay's choice of tone was a way of taking the utter piss out of said people who acted in such a way at the same time and hoped if she were to ever meet someone she admired, she didn't act like that and certainly didn't act that way in front of Jay as she just knew Jay would tease the living shit out of her for it for as long as she possibly could get away with it for. Fia also had a feeling that if anyone could understand what Jay truly meant by the mention of things going on so far ahead since last being on another planet, it would be Elliott and that was proven correct from his reply. She even got the impression that for Elliott, his agreement was holding a lot more meaning than just technology based agreement.

Kay smiled back a little at Jay's reply, not being able to imagine what a mind fuck it must be for her to come back here and read how far neural implants had come since her own had been implanted/installed/whatever term one would prefer to use. She also could understand how it must be a bit of a slog to read through, no matter how interesting it was to read if Attili wasn't her native language, which they all knew it wasn't. At Elliott's teasing toward her made her stifle a chuckle as she saw Jay's response to it, knowing that it was clear Jay mesnt no malice with the action. Fia couldn't stifle the chuckle as well as Kay did and did actually let it out slightly before stopping herself from laughing. It felt so familiar to see them teasing and bantering with each other, that it made her get a twinge of homesickness which swiftly left her as soon as it came. "you know she could come back and say similar about your fanboy moment over Dexter" she couldn't resist saying to him back, taking Jay's side partially. In her eyes as little sister, she wasn't going to let Elliott ever forget that moment for as long as she could whilst she was still here and they would all know they've met.

 

[_gallifrog_]

It was at times like this that Elliott, Cal and Cliff forgot that Attili wasn't Jay's native language, and neither for that matter was English. She was so fluent in both and never showed any outwards signs of not being able to keep up when the conversation got either very technical or very fast. Whoever had taught her deserved some serious credit, she spoke both like a native. Both women tried to stifle their chuckles at Elliott's remark, but the reaction from Jay set them off, both exchanging grins with each other. Like Fia they enjoyed the banter between the two, at points it reminded them of the way they were with each other just before they'd started dating and how they were in the early stages of their relationship. It was much easier for them to affectionately tease each other in such a way than have to discuss the real depth of what they were starting to feel for each other.

"She could do that" Elliott agreed, not feeling the slightest bit of shame over his earlier fanboy reaction. He believed it to be completely justified given that all of the others in the room had been trying to persuade him that photography was a path he should follow, and by getting back into Dexter's work he was really just following their advice. "But mine was completely justified. Jay hacking into Kane's laptop to snoop through classified test data wasn't." Jay made a noise of disagreement, while Cal leaned forwards, saying exactly what John was intending to "okay... what? We need the full story and context for whatever on Attil you're talking about." "Agreed, ya can't just leave us hangin' on summat like that."

Elliott and Jay looked at each other, not exactly seeking permission from the other to tell the story, but to confirm they were going to tell the same version of it. "This was back when I was their prisoner and not trusted in the slightest. They were under the opinion that if I was let out in the general public I'd go on some kind of murder spree, so I spent a LOT of time in the sublevels of AJ's place." Jay's eyeroll made it quite clear how stupid she thought that mindset was, she wasn't just going to go around killing people without reason. "And out of boredom you decided to hack into Kane's laptop." Jay shook her head in response. "That's a gross oversimplification. I didn't HACK his laptop, I just installed a programme in it that re-routed all emails to my laptop." She gave a smirk and a nonchalant shrug before continuing. "And besides I did it for everybody's, not like I was singling Kane out or anything- just turned out that he had the most interesting emails what with everything he was getting from Wayne Enterprises and his own not yet named test facilities." "Anyway, one day Kane comes down to the basement and sees Jay scrolling through reams of data, making all kinds of notes on it. He couldn't resist looking at it and soon the two are having their first civil conversation and when AJ makes a smart comment on it Jay uttered the now immortal words of 'it's data- the universal language of nerds' followed by a snarky comment about how at least Kane has interesting emails, and that AJ really needed to clean out his spam folder as there was a surprising amount of things related to erectile dysfunction." "There wasn't actually but the look on both their faces when they realised I'd been reading all their emails was PRICELESS." Jay smirked

 

[MzHyde]

At Elliott's come back of how Jay could use his earlier moment against him if she so wished, but it wouldn't work due to it being fully justified, Fia was interested to where this was going. When he said Jay had hacked Kane's laptop, she gave the look and slight lean forward that showed she was just as curious as everyone else seemed to suddenly become. Kay remembered that time watching horror films with Kane on John's netflix account, whilst eating the food she had made up earlier on, remembering what a cool and decent guy he seemed to her and wondered all of a sudden how that whole group were doing. She felt like she got on relatively good terms with the guy that one time. Yet it also wasn't entirely shocking that Jay would have hacked the group's laptops as she seemed more than capable (as she had previously proved) to do so if she so wished or was bored enough. The lack of shock however wasn't overpowering the height of curiosity and need to hear the story, which showed on her face, just as it did with everyone else. She watched as Elliott and Jay both glanced at each other before they began to explain the story, with Jay giving only the slightest bit of correction to Elliott's words, the beginning part of making her smirk and snigger.

She and Fia both could easily see Jay getting bored enough and thinking 'oh I'll just hack someone's laptop' way before anything else that could be considered a normal thing to do like read a book or similar. When Jay said she didn't just hack the laptops, but instead managed to install a programme to have all emails diverted to her own, Kay couldn't help but think 'of course you did'. As Elliott finished the story and ended it on quite the finishing line, both Kay and Fia couldn't help but laugh, easily imagining how straight faced Jay would be able to say such a fake line to make it all the more believable whilst also encouraging someone to really get sorting through their spam folder. "That's brilliant!" Fia laughed, her prankster side of her personality totally seeing the genius of it all as it was so simple but so effective onto the victim of the line. "Of course the prankster likes the story, but don't go getting ideas" Kay teased. "As if I would!" Fia sarcastically said, because she definitely would do something of that ilk if she ever could get away with it. She had made it perfectly clear nothing was truly off limits for her if it meant an epic prank or comeback would ensue.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal and Cliff also thought that it was very typical of the Jay they knew to alleviate her boredom by hacking into a whole set of laptops and couldn't help but smirk, knowing that the rest of the story had to be good. The rest of the story emphasised once again that Jay wasn't somebody you wanted to leave your tech around if you'd pissed her off. Despite her claims not be an expert and not a high level hacker, her skills were scary to those who only had the most basic skills in that department. From the way she was correcting Elliott throughout the story with a slight smirk on her face it was clear she was proud of what she'd done. Even though it meant that the phrase 'data- the universal language of nerds' was forever going to be an in-joke used when talking about her, she clearly wouldn't take it back.

The room erupted into laughter when it came to the punchline of the story- the way Jay had made AJ search his spam folder in a panic, only to find that by searching he'd become the punchline of the joke which the others were all trying not to laugh at. There was no doubt in John, Chas and Dan's mind as to whether or not the Irish boy would've taken the bait. At that age, the thought of that particular organ failing was more than terrifying and it didn't matter who said it, it was a male reflex of sorts to check. "That's bloody brilliant!" John smirked after he'd finished laughing. His choice of words was unintentional and both Elliott and Chas picked up on the fact that Fia and John had not only reacted in the same way but said almost exactly the same thing. Jay was caught between trying to dissuade Fia from doing such a prank (the programme in question was a serious battery drainer both on the target device and the device things were being re-routed to) and basking in the glory of her achievement. In the end she chose the latter, knowing that nobody would give Fia that particular programme, as only she had a copy of it and had no intention of handing it out.

"It was brilliant I agree." She replied, her smirk growing. "And I got one hell of a kick out of seeing his though process play out on his face. AJ initially didn't believe it, but all it took was one slight lift of the eyebrow and he was jumping -literally- to check his spam." She chuckled to herself at the memory "and Kane's face turned such a strange gone-off milk colour at the idea of me having being through all his classified files. That was QUITE a kick." Elliott, for context added "those two were always at each other's throats over one thing or another in the early days." Chas nodded slowly in understanding, during the time they'd been trying to track down Kay after she'd been nabbed from outside AJ's sub-basement, he'd heard the tension between the two (Kan had been in the basement talking on comms to jay who'd been out in the city following up leads). When Elliott was around near Kane they'd been civil, but one Ell had vanished they were right back to arguing. He'd briefly entertained the idea of there being sexual tension between the two, but that theory was promptly chucked out when the cabbie saw how Jay and Elliott were around each other. John's thoughts were somewhere else entirely, his brain having picked up on something Jay said earlier "am I startin' to lose it" he leaned forwards in his seat to look the assassin in the eyes"or did you say Kane was gettin' emails from Wayne Enterprises?" Jay shook her head in response. "You're not hearing things, he was... and still is. He's Bruce Wayne's cousin.... which I'm guessing Ell neglected to tell you."

 

[MzHyde]

Elliott and Chas weren't the only ones who noticed how John and Fia both said nearly identical words to express their reactions to the story that was told. It made her note that it was yet another thing that made them so alike, even if John rarely saw the similarities, she sure did. She also noted that Fia didn't seem to notice the same reaction, or if the teenager did she didn't let it show in any way on her face which told her that if Fia did notice it then she was either all too familiar with the fact they could react in the same ways at certain things or she genuinely didn't notice it. Kay was guessing the former out of the two options however. Besides all that, she did take notice of how Jay smirked all the more at the very idea of Fia logging it in as an idea for a prank or for serious methods, but did take some kind of relief in the fact that Jay made no clear comment about letting Fia anywhere near the software. She listened as Jay continued to revel in her glory of managing to achieve such a moment and such reactions out of not only them, but Kane and AJ as well at the time of the hacking. From the little she knew of the group, she could almost picture AJ jumping quite literally to check his spam, whilst Kane paling at the idea of someone finding his classified emails.

She continued to listen as Elliott and Jay said more before John asked the question about the one thing that almost went right over her head. For her, the mention of the Wayne Enterprises went in one ear and out the other as she so focused on hearing everything that had to be said about how Jay got into everyone's emails. Hearing that he did still indeed get said emails, made her wonder what could possibly make Kane have any kind of interactions with such a large corporation like Wayne Enterprises. So when Jay said that Kane was Bruce's cousin, she couldn't even stop herself from going wide eyed. Of all the things that she could have expected to hear, that was most definitely not one of them, not that she could actually say what she could have expected to have been told anyway. "Wait... cousin? Ell definitely never said anything of the sort, at least not when I've been around" She replied, and Kane sure as hell didn't tell her when they had their private chat, one that she would never tell anyone as they both spoke in confidence of each other. She promised she would never tell anyone what he told her, and that was a promise she would always keep. She also couldn't help but wonder how John react to such a bombshell of news, knowing his complicated opinions of the millionaire.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott gave a sort of shrug, before scratching the back of neck as he often did when nervous. The cat was well and truly out of the bag now, so there was no point in trying to deny it. He was all too aware of the kind of relationship /rivalry/ hating the other person's guts, but grudgingly having accept that there were times when they were necessary that existed between John and Bruce. And so Elliott had decided that the best course of action was to keep from John the fact that somebody he considered one of his closest friends was actually Bruce Wayne's cousin. It helped matters that Kane was very private about his personal life and his family, he'd opened up a bit to Kay because he could see that she was a person to be trusted and it had been a long, long day for and he really needed to let some of what was going on in his head out.

John initial reaction was shock, of all the answer he'd been expecting, Kane being related to Bruce Wayne was one he hadn't seen coming. His eyes widened visibly as he tried to wrap his head around the fact that a) Elliott had kept this from him for long and b) that he'd let this man into his apartment. In John's eyes nobody connected with the Wayne family could possibly be up to good and would without a doubt report back to Bruce on everything in their lives. No wonder Bruce had been so quick to figure out the links between him and Elliott, he'd had a spy embedded. John blood was already beginning to boil at the thought of what Kane could have reported back to the Bat. If anything about kay had gotten back, he could guarantee it would be common knowledge among the League within a few weeks and would be the next point of blackmail used to enlist him whenever they needed a mage to do the dirty work Zatanna wouldn't or couldn't. "You've got ta be bloody kiddin me!" John exclaimed. "He's related to that arse wanker?!"

Elliott and Jay both nodded, the latter feeling somewhat guilty for having opened this can of worms, but also knew it had to come out at some point. "And no, Elliott obviously didn't tell me that at all." John confirmed in a sharp tone fixing Elliott with a 'explain yourself right now young man' kind of look. He already didn't approve and it would take a Hells of a lot to make him change his mind. "Yes.... he's Bruce's cousin.... well half cousins if you want to really get technical about it all." Elliott confirmed with a slow nod, giving in to the urge to scratch the back of his neck as he spoke, something he often did when nervous. "Kane's father and Bruce's mother were half-siblings, though there's always been links of some sort between the Wayne and Kane families." Seeing the look on John's face and the obvious question written on it Jay interjected with. "Kane's his surname, not his first name. He doesn't like people knowing about the links between him and Bruce or the links between him and his father. Somehow using his surname as a first name throws people off the scent." Jay's last sentence had an edge of 'people can be so stupid sometimes' in the tone, even though it had taken her a number of months to learn of the connection between the two..

 

[MzHyde]

With this news very much confirmed, it was no wonder Kane didn't want to go into any details about his family too much when he opened up to her a bit that one night. Seeing John's reaction, it showed even more that he didn't know Kane's family link to Bruce and it was super clear to her that he was not happy about hearing this but she had a feeling he would find this out at some point, if it wasn't now. She didn't even think that it could have been because of Kane that Bruce and the League found out about Elliott's tie to John and if she had she would have had the same thoughts of what if they now know about about her? She wouldn't want to be used as any kind of bribe to make John do something for them, as she never handled being used as a pawn for someone else's gain well. It's why she didn't even protest or put up an argument when Bruce visited John and he told her to hide from him. She accepted the order and did as she was told, trusting that if John felt it was vital to be hidden from Bruce, then there was a damn good reason for it. She could also see how nervous this was making Elliott from his tic of rubbing the back of his neck, as well as the look John was giving him, looking all the typical father in doing so.

Fia was just as shocked as she had only met Elliott's friends a couple of times whilst in AJ's restaurant when they popped up to say hi to him in a casual manner, but other than that she hadn't known a lot about them. Just that they were his friends and he did jobs with them all. She was also certain that they possibly just saw her as his kid sister who loved to go to lunch with him and stay at his to get away from her parents. So hearing that Kane was THE Bruce Wayne's cousin, or half cousins was a big surprise. She listened to what Jay said, to give more context and hearing that Kane was his surname and not his first name, she didn't know how to comprehend that. Despite Jay's tone in her last statement, FIa did have to think that it was actually rather clever and simple. She certainly never made the connection of the Kane family which would have given a link to Wayne's, and she was certain that judging by the shock on Kay's and John's faces neither had they. "That may be but it's a simple clever way of doing it." Fia commented. Kay nodded in her agreement at what Fia said in reply to Jay, thinking that if there was ever aperfect way to throw off the scent of a link to someone, doing that was it. "I certainly never would have made the connection if you hadn't told us it's actually his surname." Kay admitted. "So, how much does he converse with Bruce or Wayne Enterprises? I know you said its a complex thing between him and his family but, if he converses with them it certainly brings a lot of questions" She asked, not wanting to outright say 'could he have been responsible for the league's knowledge on Elliott being a link to John?' but she was beginning to think it now it was all setting into her mind. She didn't want to feel differently about Kane as she thought he was a decent bloke that one night, but she didn't want this to start making her think 'could he indeed be a spy for Bruce?'.

 

[_gallifrog_]

In John's mind the fact that Kane and Bruce were only half cousins changed nothing, anybody who was related to Bruce was trouble and very much on his blacklist. The surname as a first name was clever, John would admit that much, but now that his vision was well and truly distorted by the lens of 'he's related to Bruce Wayne and therefore cannot be trusted' he saw it as clever in a sly and deceptive way as opposed to a kind of funny way. It didn't matter that Kane was the name the man preferred to go by, it was still a deliberate deception in John's mind and one Elliott had chosen to go along with, which arguably, made things far worse. He'd picked up on Elliott's neck scratching tic and knew all too well the significance. When explaining exactly what it was that he and the others did in this basement kitted out with high-spec equipment and tech Elliott's left hand has barely moved away from the back of his neck. That told John there was more to the story, and that he more than likely wouldn't like it.

Elliott noticed that Fia was just as shocked as the others were at this revelation, which he found surprising. He figured it would have been something that came up at some point or another- Rinaa had mentioned Kane in an off-hand sort of way a few times, saying she'd worked summers with his tech company- so clearly the blonde was still in his life in at least one timeline. Fia had never shared with him the fact that she wasn't particularly close to any of his friends. Both Elliott, Jay, John and Chas easily deciphered the second meaning to Kay's question. It was a valid question, and Elliott and Jay were thankful it had been Kay who asked as she had the decency to phrase it in a diplomatic way, where as John would have blurted it out as bluntly (and as rudely) as he could. The cabbie and Elliott knew all too well just how seriously John took people finding out about Elliott's true connection with him and the lengths he had gone to to ensure people didn't find out. Elliott knew he had to tread carefully with his explanation as one wrong phrase would make John blow his lid entirely. John was still scowling, his face making his disapproval very clear and like any child, Elliott hated to be in a position where his father was so blatantly not a fan of his life choices.

"Well.. first off Wayne Industries and Bruce aren't one and the same. Bruce just finances it, acts as a public figurehead, approves projects and suggests projects. Kane mainly deals with Lucius Fox and his underlings and it's on a purely exchange of scientific knowledge basis- Lucius is the head of all the science divisions and the R&D teams, so he's pretty much at the top of the power pyramid. Kane is an outside consultant I guess you'd call it, he checks data and makes suggestions, but he's not directly involved with the gathering process. his does run his own projects there, but that's nothing to do with his half cousin. What he talks about with Bruce..." Elliott gave a shrug "well that's more complicated. And personal." "He's no rat" Jay butted in, crossing her arms firmly. "He's an arse at times and infuriatingly smug should the occasion call for it, but he's not a rat. Given all that fucked up shit that happened when his dad found out about Toby, the last thing he's gonna do is put Elliott through that kind of shit. Again." The last word was delivered with a pointed look, she certainly wasn't Kane's biggest fan, he really did succeed in rubbing her up the wrong way, but at the same time she wanted a truthful account to be given.

"So what do they talk about then? The fuckin' weather? The Times crossword?" John shot back, still angry that such a thing had been kept from him, not verbally acknowledging that he'd understood Jay's point and the sense in it. Elliott hadn't told them the full story, but the fact that Kane's father had actively put a hit on his illegitimate daughter, made him a top arsehole in John's books. "Kane's father mainly, and Toby. Bruce is all too aware of the sorry tale with Toby and the criminal empire he resides over." "Wait a second...." Chas shook his head in disbelief as his brain finally made the connection. "You're saying that Amadeus Kane is your friend's father?" Elliott and Jay nodded mutely. "Christ! So that means not only is he related to darling" John let the sarcasm ooze right off the word darling. "Brucie he's also their heir to a massive criminal empire?"

 

[MzHyde]

Fia didn't really pay much attention to who Elliott's friends were, and when they were around she just took them at face value rather than questioning her brother about every little detail he knew about his friends. If she did get told it or overhear the information, she certainly didn't pay any mind to it or had just simply forgotten ever hear it. She knew RInaa had spoken of Kane a few times when talking about what she could of her own timeline, but Fia never really did. She only spoke of things when either asked or something truly reminded her of something, and even then it was mostly to John or RInaa before she left. Like the others, Fia figured out that Kay's question had a second meaning, even if she didn't fully deceifer it, she could tell Kay was asking her queries in the most diplomatic way possible to try and stop John asking in an incredibly rude manner. Something told her that both Jay and Elliott were glad that Kay didn't give John the chance to ask the questions, she certainly knew how much John could lose his temper if something or someone pissed him off enough and she most definitely could see how much Elliott was hating being on the receiving end of John's current mood.

Kay listened to the answer that Elliott started to give, wishing that her careful choice of words didn't make it sound like she was implying Bruce and Wayne Enterprises were one thing. She knew frm reading the papers that they were very much separate things and that Bruce just funded the place for the most part, but she didn't know how else to ask such a question without it coming across as accusatory or rude. She found it interesting that Kane mostly conversed with Lucius Fox about things on a work related scenario, but also it did make sense. The answer about what was spoken with Bruce was personal and complicated made Kay instantly know that none of them were going to like the answers that were currently being held back from them, especially John. She mentally flinched at the way Jay instantly told them that Kane was no rat, knowing that her carefully chosen question clearly hit a nerve with Jay. She had to admit to herself that she wasn't expecting Jay to jump to Kane's defence in such a manner, as it was no surprise that they butted heads on a lot of things. Yet because of her jumping to his defence as he wasn't here said a thousand things to her. She glanced at John as he practically spat his questions toward the two of them, seeing that even now he was still very much seeing red in this moment.

Kay and Fia also thought that if a man could put a hit out on his own family members then they were indeed one of the biggest assholes on any planet in any universe. Neither could imagine doing that, but then Kay got reminded of when her own father, albeit not fully human anymore, tried to kill her himself with an iron blade in front of John. A story that her future self tried to fully keep secret from Fia the entire, but unknowingly her daughter found it out anyway. Yet it was when Chas made the connection by joining the metaphorical dots in his mind that it suddenly opened both their eyes and minds to the reality. Kay had only heard of the criminal like most people had, via either the internet or a newspaper. Yet to hear that Kane was the heir to the empire based on criminal activity and was the son of one of the most nortorious criminals in existence, she could understand why Kane wouldn't want to talk about his family lineage and why it would be considered complicated. "No wonder he never wants to talk about his family" she replied. "I think anyone decent would be the same in his shoes" Fia agreed.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The way Jay leapt so firmly to Kane's defence didn't just surprise Elliott, it also surprised Jay herself. She didn't think she felt that strongly about other people's perceptions of the man, but apparently, she did. She was happy to badmouth him for being incredibly smug and at times so morally straight-laced it was infuriating, but when it came to this particular aspect of his life, she wanted the story told one way- straight. Another thing prompting her to make it crystal clear that Kane wasn't informing back to Bruce was the way John was being with Elliott, blatantly disapproving, sharp and cold. She could see it was really getting to Elliott, knowing that John's approval meant a hell of a lot to her boyfriend? partner? partner-in-crime? whatever the hell he was. John's approval was hard to earn and easy to lose, the last thing Elliott wanted was for some kind of rift to form between him and John, the kind of rift that could potential rip this fledgling family apart.

When Jay and Elliott once again confirming that it was indeed the Amadeus Kane they were talking about and that Kane was practically royalty in criminal circles Chas let out a "my god..." and slumped back into his chair, while John just shook his head "well bollocks. I dunno which of the two is worse." It made perfect sense now why he was so reluctant to talk about any part of his family that wasn't Toby. With Bruce Wayne and all his drama on one side, and Amadeus Kane and his criminal empire on the other the press would have a field day if they found out Kane's lineage. Chas and John both knew of Amadeus Kane by reputation, although the bulk of his criminal empire was based in the States (with firm business links to areas of Kowloon, Macau and Japan), he was also fairly notorious in Britain. He was one of those criminals who everybody knew was involved in all manner of dodgy activities, but nobody could ever prove it as he masked his activities too well and unlike Al Capone paid his taxes impeccably. There was at least two British taskforces John knew of (from the reliable source of Aisha) working to bring down Amadeus Kane and even more in the States. No wonder Bruce was helping, it was exactly the kind of blot that do-gooder would want removed from his family tree (and John couldn't really blame him, Amadeus was the kind of rich criminal scum that John wanted to see burn in Hells).

"Yeah...." Elliott nodded, feeling he didn't need to say any more in response to Kay and Fia's comments. What he wanted to say was that Amadeus was the worse option of the two to be related to, Bruce genuinely cared about his half cousin and quarter cousin where as Kane's father saw his children as a mistake that needed to be eliminated or a protege to mould into his image of the perfect criminal heir. Kane had perfected the art of playing along with his father's desires, Elliott had only heard him slip into the role of 'heir to the throne' once, but it had quite frankly terrified him. "Like I said, he's the expert on fucked up families." Jay shrugged, leaned back, uncrossing her arms slightly.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia and Kay both knew also how hard it was to earn John's respect or trust and how easy it could be to lose it. They had heard the stories and just knowing how many people he knew or was in his inner circle, told them everything about John and earning his trust and respect. Both could also see that Elliott was clearly scared he was about to lose both of those things over this bit of information, and it was something neither of them could fully blame him for thinking. Kay didn't want to imply in any manner that Kane could be a rat but she knew if she didn't ask in a diplomatic manner, then John would ask in a way that would be far from politely. She had a feeling that Kane wasn't a rat, she never got that vibe from him when she spent most of the evening with him that one time, but she knew if it wasn't asked then it would haunt John's mind for a very long time, until he would do nothing but snap. That didn't mean she liked asking the question however.

The confirmation of who was Kane's father was a lot to digest, and neither could speak other than what they said initially. Like Elliott, they both most definitely would say that being the son of Amadeus was far worse than being related to Bruce Wayne. Sure, they didn't know Bruce the same way that john did, and Kay particularly only knew of Bruce from social media or the newspaper like with nearly everyone mentioned, but she couldn't see how being related to Bruce would be anywhere worse than being related to Amadeus. "That's an understatement. I definitely don't envy him that's for sure. Poor kid must always feel like he's stuck between a rock and a hard place to say the very least" Kay commented, actually feeling sorry for Kane in a way, but she wouldn't actually say that in front of John. Fia knew the least about Amadeus due to her age, but having done the odd night secret jobs, she had about him through word of mouth in a 'this person has connections which link up to Amadeus Kane' way and not actually doing anything that put her anywhere near him, something she was very thankful for. Instead the closest she got was reading his name in contacts from people or the like, which made her do her own quick search to see why the name was always cropping up, but that was far as it ever went. "Definitely an understatement" Fia agreed.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"He does, that I can say with a hundred percent certainty" Elliott confirmed, now that the disapproval on John's face had been replaced with a mixture of sympathy and trying to wrap around his head how anybody could end up with such a fucked up family he felt he could relax and return to his position of leaning comfortably in the kitchen doorway. If John wasn't so biased towards and protective of Elliott he'd say that out of Elliott and Kane the latter had far it worse. Zan may have tried to kill Elliott, but it hand't been of his own free will and he certainly hadn't put a hit out on Elliott. Zan was also at least trying to make some kind of amends, albeit most of his scheming had been done without Elliott around, but at least the thought was there, unlike with Amadeus. "It's why he ended up studying in the UK as opposed to in the States, he got offered a place at MIT but declined it, knowing he'd still be very much under his father's thumb."

"MIT? Really?" Chas asked, eyebrow raising in surprise, he, like most knew of MIT's fame in training engineers and scientists who went on to work in the most cutting edge of research. Getting offered a place meant you had serious skill, it was one of the few universities you (or your parents) couldn't simply buy your way into. You needed to have the skills to back it up. "Yeah, really." Jay nodded. "The man's VERY good with that kind of stuff, particularly coding and the theoretical modelling of prototypes- AJ's skills lie in the building side of things which is why they make a good team." "And you?" Cliff asked, knowing that while tech wasn't Jay's biggest strength, she certainly was proficient with it. "Field testing I suppose you'd call it if you wanted to be pompous about it. Also known as using- some would say ABusing it in ways it wasn't intended for and putting it through it's paces in situations a nominal person would rarely be involved in."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay noticed how John seemed to finally relax back a bit and seemingly calm down a bit also, judging by his willingness to lean against the doorway once more. Hearing that Kane really did feel like he was stuck no matter which way he turned actually made her feel sorry for the kid more, as she didn't want to be right about her assumption but she knew she had to be anything but wrong on that matter. Hell, if she felt torn on getting rid of her own father in a brief unknown moment to John, just because she was shocked to see her father there in the old house, she knew Kane would have to feel stuck in some manner or another. It also seemed to her that quite possibly, Elliott's and Kane's similar background of having fucked up pasts was a way of how they could have bonded, as surely it would have made them realised that both knew where each other were coming from. She also wondered if that was possibly one reason that could have made both of them see her as a non threat and created that building block for Elliott to start trusting her, when her own past came out. It was however the moment Elliott brought up that MIT offered Kane a place, to which he declined that made her snap out of her brief thoughts and become shocked once again. She wa about to react when Chas said exactly what she was about to do. Like the others, she knew all too well the repuation MIT had for being one of the finest education establishments in the world, one that was incredibly difficult to get into as they had very high standards for their students.

She couldn't ever have imagined that anyone in their own right mind would have declined an offer from the place, but here she was hearing that Kane had done exactly that. Jay explaining everything made both Kay and Fia listen with interest even though Fia knew Kane was good at such things but she never realised just how good he was. Hearing what AJ specialised in in comparison, they could both see how the two of them would make such a great team, and why they would work well together. It really did seem to the both of them that it was becoming rapidly more clear why each of that group were good as a team, as each and every one of them brought something another couldn't to the team. Kay now started to understand even more why they were so good at finding her that time she was taken from AJ's. Especially with John's skills. Fia couldn't help but smirk ever so slightly and briefly at Jay's answer about what she was good at in particular after Cliff asked her. The way Jay worded it all, felt like such a typical Jay reply as it sounded to Fia, that Jay was all but calling herself a guinea pig for the new technology that was designed and built by Kane and AJ, a tester that she figured Jay willingly would volunteer to be. "Seems pretty clear to me that you all bring something to your group that's very vital in whatever situation. From what I saw back on that night, it's clear you all work really well together. Seems like you all are an important piece to your group's metaphorical puzzle" Kay commented.