Realistic or Modern THIRDS Task Force

[H8becomesyou]

Below the city was alive. People going out for the night or heading into work. He stood and looked out his bedroom window onto the city below. He enjoyed watching the city below on night like this. Because down below Therian’s and Humans alike mingled together. 20 years before they hated each other. The Therian’s thought to nothing more than creatures, animals to be kept in a zoo. They were never thought of as people. But after the riots that happened. Many Therian’s having lost their lives at the hands of humans. That is when people started to see that there needed to be a change. The change was an uphill battle. Now they were accepted as part of the human race. It wasn’t their fault what they were. If nothing else it was the government that had made them. We still had people and groups that thought low of Therian’s. They would come around one day. Russ Hardy hoped that they would come sooner rather than later. He would work until all Therian’s would all be accepted.



Turning from the window making his way to the bathroom. To take a shower and get ready for bed. He had a early morning at the office. Slipping the silk robe from her body. He stepped into the shower. The hot water came down on his head blocking out all sound in the bathroom. The steam rose and filled his bathroom. He didn’t hear the killer that walked into his bathroom. Standing off in the dark corner that the light didn’t touch. Standing and waiting for Russ to get out of the shower. Which wasn’t as long as the killer thought it would be.



Stepping out of the shower Russ toweled himself dry, slipping his robe back over his body. Standing in front of the mirror going through his nighttime activities of getting ready for bed. As he brushed his teeth he didn’t even notice when the killer stepped out of the darkened corner. Walking up behind him. Russ looked into the mirror. Their eyes met one another. Russ’s eyes going wide when the killer brought his hand around to the front of his throat. Ripping the claws across his throat. Blood sprayed on the front of the mirror. As Russ dropped his tooth brush on the sink. Covering his throat to hold in the blood that poured down his body. He fell to the floor, his eyes wide open as he knew he wouldn’t live. His blood pooled on the marble floor. As the killer looked down at him. A smile played on the killers lips. Nothing was left behind, as the killer slipped out of the bathroom and back out into the night.



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It was another long night for Selena. Sitting at her desk at THIRDS headquarters. Doing some paperwork that needed to be done. She could do it from home, but not really wanting to go home. It was easier to just stay here and get it done. A team leader's job is never done. Pulling up the team training schedule. They needed to have more time in training. Yes her team was the best of the best. People wanted to be on their team. But the only way that one would get on the team. Is if someone died or got transferred out to another team. And nothing like that was about to happen. She was bound to keep her team together. They were a family, though a crazy one. She held each and everyone of them dear to her. Though no would know that. If you weren’t part of the team you wouldn’t know how close they were. That is the way that it always has been and always will be.



Getting done with putting in training she sent them to the other members of her team. They might not like that they will have to be up early in the morning. But they would have to live with it. She wasn’t about to let any of her team get hurt. And not being at the top of their game they would get hurt or worse get killed. Selena had already lost one partner. She didn’t want to go through losing anyone ever again. It wore still on her heart this day. She would never forget him. They were closer than anyone would have thought. One could say that they loved one another. But they couldn’t let that be known. It could used against them later.



Damn it! She never should have started thinking of Josh. A deep wound that she thought has healed, ached in her heart. Sighing turning off her computer. Pinching the bridge of her nose. This wasn’t going to work for her. Needing to get sleep, well if she could fall asleep now. Pushing up from her desk. Walking out her office that she shared with her partner. The door closed behind her as she made her way to the room she had here at HQ. Each person that worked at THRIDS could use the many rooms to sleep. Selena had one that she called her own. Making her way to her room. Opening the door she stepped inside closing the door behind her. Stripping out of her clothes and getting into shorts and a THRIDS shirt. Crawling into bed, tossing and turning. She finally falls asleep.



It was to soon and her alarm was going off. Slapping the clock that sat on the bedside table. Growling as pushed her covers off. Getting out of bed she grabbed her bag heading to the shower/locker room to start her day. She was going to put her team through a lot today. She needed to be ready for all the groaning that she was going to hear this morning. Walking down and going into the locker room. Grabbing a towel, putting her clothes in the hamper to be cleaned later. She showers in less then ten minutes. Getting out and drying off she gets dressed in tight sweat pants and a THRIDS tank top. Pulling her hair back into a ponytail. Slipping on her sneakers she heads and to the training room.



The training room was large, you could fit a whole city inside of it. All the teams trained here. Different stations lined the walls. Any type of workout gear and equipment could be found here. THRIDS made sure that all their teams were at the top of their game. She warmed up her body on the treadmill. Waiting for her team to get there. They better not be late. She hated when they were. But they knew if they were late it wouldn’t be pretty.



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Maddie Maddox had a great time with her father and brother tonight. She enjoyed being with her family. They always had a good time. And she hadn’t seen her brother in a week. That was to long for her. They always talked to one another, kept up what was going on in each other’s lives. Her brother worked for the human police force. As much as she worried about her brother. She knew that he would be safe. That let her sleep at night. She understood to a point the way their father ways. He always worried about his kids. Even though he wasn’t their real father. He was their dad and he was protective of his kids. You never messed with his kids. If you did dear god help you. You would pay dearly for hurting.

Their night was cut short, when Maddie got a email about the training in the morning. Groaning she hated to leave. But her brother and father always understood. Selena trained them hard. But that is what made the best of the best. Her body wasn’t looking forward to the morning. Though she wouldn’t complain about it. If Selena heard it or it got back to her. It was worse for you in the end. Shivering just at the thought of it. That happened to her once. She couldn’t move after what Selena put her through. Not wanting to go through that all again. It was best to suck it up and do as you’re told.



Kissing and hugging her brother and dad goodnight she headed home. Upon getting home she fell into bed. After getting ready for the night and letting her dad and Dex know she made it home safe and sound. Falling asleep came easy to her. She was out like a light before she even knew it. Dex always teased her because she fell asleep so fast. Though she teased him how awesome she was. And her brother only wished that he was awesome as she was.



Getting up before her phone went off to get her up. She jumped out of bed. Showering and slipping into dark blue jeans, a red shirt and boots. She headed out to get to work. Jumping in her car. She drove into work. Getting out she heads into HQ. Saying hello and nodding her head to others that worked there. It was good day even if they were training. Rushing to the locker room. She changed into sweats and t-shirt. Putting on her sneakers, making her way down to the training hall. If she was right Selena was already there. She was always the first one there. But she was team leader. Maddie would never want to be team leader. She was happy with playing with her IT toys. That is where she had the most fun. And it showed in the work that she done. Working at THIRDS was the best thing that ever happened to her. She wouldn’t trade this life for anything in the world.



Pushing the door open to the training center. She spotted Selena, nodding her with a smile. She made her way to the mats. Laying down she started to stretch. Getting ready whatever training they would be doing today.



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Rosa Hobbs was just about to fall asleep when her phone went off. Grabbing her phone from the bedside table. Picking it up, “Hello?” Her older brother’s voice was gruff from the other side. “Rosa we need you to come..” She could hear her father screaming in the background. Jumping out of bed. “I’ll be right there Ruf.” They hung up. She raced to get ready. Pulling on sweats and a shirt. She needed to get to her father he needed her. Her family needed her. Her father had a disability. It was seen a lot in the first Therian’s. It was painful and her father couldn’t control the shift. She hated seeing her father like this. Her family would take care of their dad no matter what. They loved him so much. One day this would kill him. They all knew it but they would do everything in their power to help him.



Rushing out to her car with her bag in hand. It had to be a bad one if they were calling her. They only called when it was real bad. They didn’t want her to see their dad’s body twisted and in pain. His screams haunt her. Cut her deep each time that she hears them. But he needed her she would be there come hell or high water. Racing through the streets of New York City. Thank god there wasn’t a lot of traffic. Parking outside the house of her child home. Stepping out of the car. She could hear her dad’s scream. It broke her heart to hear him in such pain. Racing up the steps she burst through the door. Closing the door behind her. Not wasting any time at all. She raced up the stairs to her mom and dad’s room.



Opening the door, her brothers were holding him down. He was about to shift, and they couldn’t let him shift. It was good for him to. Their mom tried to help but she was crying. Their eyes met one another’s. “It’s ok mom will take care of dad.” Going over to her and taking the drugs from her hand. Kissing the top of her head. Seb looked at her, “Rosa we need you.” His voice gruff as his they held down their dad. Nodding and walking over. “Will make you feel better dad I promise.” Putting the needle to his neck. She put the drug into his body. Going to his back, he screamed out more pain. “Easy dad we’re just about there.” Her hand resting on his back. Putting the needle into his back. “Ok turn him over for me please.” They worked to turn him over. He was a big man. It was a lot work to him turned over. Going to his stomach she pushed the needle deep. Getting the rest of the drug into his body. His whole body relaxed on the bed. Pushing his hair from his sweat covered forehead kissing him softly. “Rest daddy.” Before he fell asleep, his voice deep and low. “I love you all.” Smiling with tears in her eyes. Her, her brothers and mom said together. “We love you too.” He fell asleep.



“Rosa would you stay here? In case we need you again.” Nodding her head. “Yes, I’ll stay mom.” Stepping out the room to let their mom be with their dad. Her and her brothers went to the kitchen. Grabbing a beer for each of them. She passed them out as they sat down. Not saying a word to one another. Each of them taking a deep drink from their beer’s. Without thinking they each reached across the table holding each other’s hands. That is what they needed right now. Supporting each other. They drank into the night. Rosa fell asleep and Ethan carried her up to her bed tucking her in bed. As her brothers stayed in her room with her.



The morning came to soon for her. Ethan was waking her up. Softly and deep he spoke. “Rosa come on you’ll be late if you don’t get up.” Groaning she nods and gets up. He nods knowing that once awake she couldn’t go back to sleep. Walking out of her room to let her get dressed. By the time she was dressed and ready to go. Her brothers were all ready to go and waiting on her. “And there is our sleeping beauty.” Smiling up at Seb. “Oh yeah some beauty.” She giggles. “Come on we’ll be late.” Ref said holding the door open. They all worked at THRIDS. It was nice that she would always have her brothers with her. They all left and piled into Ref’s truck and headed into work.



Packing in the parking underneath HQ. They all get out and head up to HQ. Upon getting there they hugged each other and heading off to work. “See you all later. Remember Seb owes us lunch.” They laugh and nod. “See you then sis.” Running off to the locker room. Getting into the yoga pants and a THRIDS t-shirt. Running to the training center. Stepping inside she sits and waits for the others to get there. She was tired and still needed to wake up. Watching Selena and Maddie getting ready for training.

 

[Good Hunter]

Amélie leaned forward, closer to the mirror, and bit her lip. She was concentrating hard on winging her eyeliner just so, avoiding using any methods other than her hand and her own deftness. She'd been on instagram, she'd seen the spoon "hacks", and she thought they were ridiculous.

With the benefit of the short proximity, her breath fogged up the glass and obscured her image.
"So I drew a new face and I la-a-a-aughed," she hummed quietly, dotting two eyes and scribbling a crescent moon smile with a squeak on the glass.

Content with this, she used the side of her hand to wipe away the rest of the condensation so she could complete her look. The finishing act was the iconic black lipstick. She had spent years of her life trying to find the right one that wouldn't come off no matter how many people you head-butted, and she had finally found it. Once it was applied she scrubbed a finger over the matte surface, grinning when the pigment refused to shift.

She finally turned her attention to her phone. It had been buzzing for the past ten minutes, her alarm titled "WORK". She wasn't running late - she set her alarm 20 minutes before she had to leave, which meant she had ten minutes to get her things together and get into her car.

She walked out of the bathroom, pulling her hair into a tight ponytail and heading to the door. She lived in a four apartment complex, two upstairs and two downstairs. This meant that the entrance hallway was occupied by the stuff of four people. Three, seeing as Amélie never left anything out here. It would be bad for her rep if someone were to open her duffel and find her various painful toys.

The black duffel was gripped in her left hand, her having picked it up from just inside the door. She had packed last night upon recieving the memo - filling the bag with workout gear, a water bottle, and a change of clothes. She locked the door behind her and headed out to her car, not bothering to lock the main door of the complex. Susan could have her old pram stolen for all Amélie cared. Susan didn't even have kids, she'd bought it for her cat.

Amélie threw the duffel in the passenger seat, then slid into the driver's side and shifted her car into gear. She was a fast and dangerous driver, but it meant that she was never late so it was a risk she was okay with taking.

She got to HQ in just over 20 minutes. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she made a beeline for the workout room. She got changed at her own pace, wanting to savour her muscles feeling free and relaxed before she filled them with the fire of God in training today.

 

[Whisker]

The air shimmered under the heat of flame and smoke. Crouched beneath his 8” thick reinforced barrier, Thirds Agent Erich Rieder recorded the results of his latest test, his green eyes glowing (quite literally as it turned out) in fervor as he checked off each category on his list. Beside him on the ground was a video camera set to record; it was a practice he had gotten into when operating as an E.O.D. in the Armed Forces.

Fewer mistakes, even fewer people pounding his door down for answers.

Dragging a hand through his blonde-streaked hair, he glanced down at the screen:

“This is Erich Rieder. Test Number thirty-two complete. ECM checks a go. No problems with the laser transmitter and everything looking good!”

He panned the screen out a bit to include a wide-angle view of his “Office”. At the very least, most in the know called it his “Office” as he spent the most time here. In truth, it was the THIRDS HQ’s unused basement out in the ass crack of nowhere. It was dull, gray, but spacious enough to support his work, and far enough away that his tinkering and the occasional BOOM of an IED going off wouldn’t alarm or distract his co-workers. It was divided into two parts. One he called the Blast Zone where he performed all his field tests. The other was more like a concrete shed that stored all the toys given to him by Maddie, their resident tech whiz.

Pulling off his eye-protection, he squinted at his checklist through the haze.

“Type of Bomb is C4 based as you can see evidenced in the dense smoke coloration. It had a blast radius of 18 ½ meters accompanied by a relatively small shockwave. Weak odor. Very weak odor. And – Ah, shit!”

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRINNNNNNNNG.

Sighing, he turned the video camera off and reached into his pocket for his phone. He’d been so busy with his experiment that he’d quite forgotten about Selena’s orders about mandatory training. Pushing himself up from behind the barrier, Erich unrolled the thickly padded duster from around his shoulders and proceeded nimbly towards the door, careful not to trip on any of the fragments his latest experiment left behind. He hit the button for the sprinkler system and waited around long enough to ensure all minute traces of smoke disappeared.

When he was certain everything was good to go, he stopped by his storage unit to grab his lukewarm coffee before scooting as fast as he could to the elevator.

He’d enter the training room ten minutes later dripping wet, exhausted, and still in his stained work clothes. It was far from orthodox, but anything was better than being considered late; Selena tended to punish tardiness with an iron-fist.

“Morning’” he’d call at the group while stifling a yawn. “Give me like five minutes while I clean up.”

Judging by the small soggy puddles he left in his wake, it was going to take a hell of a lot longer than five minutes – but no need to dig himself into that deep a hole, right?

 

[Good Hunter]

Johnno breathed deeply, rolling his shoulders and slowly opening his eyes. It took him a moment to figure out where he was - in a normal wooden chair, fully dressed in a THIRDS shirt and black combat trousers, smelling slightly like Stella. Oh, and his neck was in agony. He lifted a hand to rub the problem area, wincing as he did so.

Fully awake, he remembered he was in his brother's apartment, located extremely far away from his place of work. Last night he had arrived, apparently so tired from work and the long drive that he sat in a chair and didn't get up. Johnno rose to his feet and ran and hand through his hair, refreshing himself as he felt the blonde mop settle into a more reasonable position.
Shower, he thought.

The hot water ran over his face, waking him up and relaxing his aching body from the uncomfortable position he had slept in the night before. He ran his fingers through his soaking hair, lathering up the shampoo and getting it down to the roots. It was a process he thoroughly enjoyed - Johnno was a big fan of water, and seeing as going to the beach was a rare occurence for someone as busy as he, a hot shower was the next best thing.

His eyes snapped open when he heard a loud knocking at the door.
"Oi, save some water for me, Johnno!"
You can take the man out of Australia, but you can't take Australia out of the man. It was almost as if his brother Damien was perpetually in drought mode. Despite the lack of necessity to save water, John turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, towelling himself dry. His lenthy hair was still wet as he was getting changed into a plain black getup, his usual clothes in a haphazard pile on the bathroom floor.

Dressed and ready to go, John made sure that he had everything he needed in his pockets like his phone, his wallet, and his keys, then he grabbed a small backpack by the handle and carried it to the basement level. The basement level was really a garage, reserved for people who lived in the apartment block and those who realised that rule was never regulated.

Johnno's bike was objectively bad. She was bare bones and thin, mostly raw unpainted metal and rust. She resembled a junker's bike more than anything, and John probably spent more time fixing her up than actually riding her anywhere. But for reasons known to very few, this bike was possibly the light of Johnno's life. It could be assumed that he held her in greater regard than his own life.

On the back of the bike was a small container, which he stuffed the bag into then swiftly boarded the bike. He revved her up with a choking growl, then rode off to HQ, a low buzzing hum trailing behind him.

He didn't need to get changed, or put his hair up, or shower, or anything. He chucked his small backpack into the corner of the room then stepped into the training room, making a swift mental note of who was already here, and who was yet to come.