IV

The smell of greasy food and Demons hit them as they step into the bar. It was Sauda’s home, away from home. A Demon run bar her dad gifted her with. Sauda’s proud that she can say that she owns a business with the best burgers in town, and the largest paintball arena. When it’s Demons and other preternatural things, you have to make the playing field bigger and better. Not that Maddox knew that a lot of the patrons were “other”, but she was sure those “others” knew that half of them were human. Sauda sets Shaw into the booth next to the rest of their team.

“I believe you,” she smiles, “That they won’t let it mess up a mission.”

“What about them,” Maddox asks, nodding towards the rest of the team, ordering food from a server.

Sauda looks over to her men and Maddox’s mixed in together, either suffering or laughing. Dix and Jordan are both covered in paint, with Dix looking completely at ease as Jordan was stuffing his mouth with his second round of appetizers. Maybe too drunk to worry about sitting between a demon and a shapeshifter. But Malik was sober, stiff, and sitting at the end of the circle booth.

“You can’t always tell with family, but it seems like Wright and Mendoza are related. Cousins or something? Is Castors demon-related or... I’m sorry, I don’t know exactly how it works.”

Sauda laughs at Maddox and sits on the other side of a still knocked out Shaw, facing the door but back to a room full of people. Maddox hesitates, looking down at the seat and the door he’d have his back to.

“I got your six,” Sauda says, trying not to smile at him again. “They’re not related and Castors aren’t Demons. Anyone can learn magic, but it helps if you have the natural ability as Ashleigh does. That kind of strong energy runs in families, but not because of Demon offspring.” Sauda keeps talking without waiting to see if Maddox was keeping up. “You’d think being... ‘demonly gifted’ allows you to wield the arts, but it’s not the case. Some have the ability and can go about casting with ease, but most are, like me, magically challenged. You can bargain with a demon for magic, but the cost is usually too high, and magick eats away at you. Ashleigh is pure human, she’s just different. They’re bonded, Ashleigh and Adorna.”

“Close friends who have seen battle before, I can understand that.”

Sauda looks over to Ashleigh sitting right next to Adorna practically glued to her side, and wonders if this is a story she can tell Maddox or if the two should be the one to tell their Major.

“Something like that and more. You can probably get them as drunk as Shaw and get them to tell you the details. They’re bonded. When you summon a Demon, you can bond them to you—to your will. It will wreak havoc and go on murderous rampages if you don’t. Some choose chaos.”

“And Ashleigh volunteered to do that?” Maddox sits back in the booth, looking across the room. “A lot of your personnel files are redacted, and I didn’t know that any of this existed until last night. You all look so normal. But none of you are even human--”

“Don’t.”

Sauda sits up and puts her elbows on the table. Maddox leans back against the seat and Sauda can easily see the face she’s giving him. That ‘fear me’ face that makes enemies piss themselves, but since she doesn’t want the Major as an enemy, she relaxes.

“We don’t like to be called ‘not human’,” Sauda explains, relaxing back and sighing, “I was born this way, I didn’t ask for it. Jordan and Ashleigh either. Kettlewell is a shapeshifter, an Alpha who is exiled for wanting to divert from shifters' social norms. Ashleigh can’t control who she is or what she can do, but it helps us stay alive. We’re human, we’re just other. I’m half-human.”

Maddox nods his head repeatedly and holds his hands in surrender, an apology without saying it.

“It’s not exactly something that’s tested on the ASVAB, how d’you guys get into this assignment?” Maddox asks, leaning back towards her.

“We did something bad, and there is nothing the government does better than extortion,” Sauda says, dreading where the conversation was heading. “Our choices were enlistment or a dissection.”

“And what did you do that was so bad, Captain?”

“I’m a murderer.”

Maddox stares at Sauda and she stares back into his dark brown eyes until reality sets in that she’s not lying.

“You think we can all work together?” The Major asks.

“It’ll take more than just getting drunk and playing paintball for that. We need to get into an actual situation, save each other’s lives, and then we’ll all be a family. But until then we can drink together, play together, and try to get closer without having sex.” 

“We wouldn’t have sex.”

Maddox looks at her seriously, and Sauda smiles back.

“Sugar and Dragon can be pretty persuasive.”

Maddox looks back at them, and Sauda can only imagine what he's seeing. He nods and looks back at her.

“Wright is ‘Fingers’ because she uses her hands to… cast. So her fingers are always moving.” Sauda nods. “Kettlewell is ‘Brown Sugar’ or ‘Sugar’ because of the color of his skin and because he’s sweet like sugar?” Maddox asks.

“He flirts a lot… with everyone. Even targets if we’re undercover.”

“Oh.” He tilts his head again, eyes getting small. “And Mendoza is ‘Dragon’ because she hoards jewelry like a Dragon. Should we have aliases too?”

“Other than Dixie Cup. No, it’s okay,” Sauda grins.

There’s loud laughter behind them and they turn to see Malik stuffing his mouth full with the bar’s infamous “Munster Burger”. Dix and Jordan are yelling and placing bets. The server stands by with a camera and a shirt in case Malik wins the challenge.

Maddox’s phone rings and gets up and walks away. He answers it. Sauda could still hear him, though. Supernatural hearing.

“Maddox Here. Yes, sir… Yes, sir... Yes, sir.”

Maddox walks back to her. “Well, it’s time to become family. We’ve got an assignment.”

“Already?” Sauda asks. “We haven’t even gotten used to each other yet. We’ll need at least three more drunken paintball sessions.”

“I don’t make the idiotic orders. I just do as I’m told. This one comes from up high—higher than the Colonel,” Maddox sighs and shakes his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Do you mind using your ‘demonly gifts’ to put Shaw in my car?”

Sauda whistles to the team and makes a sober Kettlewell haul Shaw with a stone-faced Watson in tow.

“I didn’t get to eat all my food,” Jordan mumbles.

“At least you didn’t eat a huge ass burger,” Malik mumbles back. “I’ll be shittin’ all night.”

Sauda climbs into her jeep as the Major shouts out to her. “I’ll send the order specs to you. Meet at the TOC at 0500.”

“Always so fucking early.”