Chapter Nineteen - Loose Cannon

Tyler stood at the gates again, with Roxy by his side, as they waited for Thomas to turn up.

"So, you don't want to be a part of this one?" Tyler questions.

"I know this is all new to you, but under too much stress or pressure, I could have a miscarriage. So I'm more than happy working on coms for you both. Besides, I've sorted a team for you to work with."

"A team? Wait, you don't mean?"

"Yep. The old team are coming out of training for one-night folks!" Roxy cried, forgetting how to be subtle.

"We don't even know if Thomas will be happy with more people involved."

"Well, you can ask him now." She snorted with a chuckle, waving towards Thomas, signalling his attention. Thomas was walking with Robert and William, who pretended not to notice Tyler and Roxy, turning his attention to Robert.

"Hey, I'll see you in the next lesson," Thomas called, walking over to the pair.

"We aren't supposed to be talking to them, Thomas!" William shouted in a desperate attempt to get Thomas back.

"Those were Danni's words, not mine."

Tyler couldn't help but laugh at Thomas's brutal response, as it was unexpected in his "daytime persona" per se.

"What's up?" He asked.

"I'm taking up your deal. Roxy isn't, though." Tyler told.

"Walk and talk. Why not?" The three began walking to the tutor, discussing their plans and keeping a distance from everyone.

"Roxy's got some personal issue that means she can't be in the field now."

"But!" She began, "I have the next best thing than me!"

"Well, don't take this the wrong way, but I was hoping you'd stay out of it. No offence, but you come across as a loose cannon."

"Wha- How?!" She retaliated.

"For starters, smacking Jack in the face, which in its own right was funny, but that mixed with the outburst in the cafeteria a couple of days ago; I mean, it speaks for itself." Roxy crossed her arms, pouted like a child who didn't get the sweets they wanted, and listened to the two talks.

"Well, Roxy asked the old team to come along to give us some backup."

"Backup? Do you mean the Hunter team? Not a chance."

"Well, hold on a minute, tough guy. From the file, the dealer is a student. I doubt there will be a high chance he'll recognise us, but having outsiders we trust will help cover our identity."

Thomas took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"Fine. We meet at this address tonight." Thomas handed Tyler a folded piece of paper and walked faster, making a room of distance between them. Tyler turned to Roxy,

"You okay, Debbie Downer?" He laughed as the words left his mouth.

"You don't think I'm a loose cannon, do you?" She asked softly, hurt in her voice.

"No! Just a bit scary!" He mocked, kissing her, then mercilessly tickling her until she screamed.

The pair entered their tutor room and took the only seats once again next to each other.

"I wonder if people are leaving these seats for us?" She joked, nudging Tyler's arm.

"Maybe! Oh! Don't look now, but we've got watchers." Tyler whispered. Roxy knew precisely where to look, making direct eye contact with William and Robert. Then, without thinking, she stood up from her seat, sending it flying back into another table like a torpedo.

"You two got a problem? If you take a picture, it'll last a lot longer!" She called out, causing the two to turn red, before returning to her seat.

Tyler, who was gobsmacked by the absurdity of the reaction, his face to stop laughing. Roxy noticed and began to giggle too.

"What's so funny?" She asked.

"Definitely not a loose cannon!" He mocked.

"This is just my cover." She said childishly, "No one would expect I beat the shit out of bad guys daily, and if they did, I doubt they'd ask about it." She whispered.

"If we are finished, Miss Smith!" The tutor called, "Just a friendly reminder, today is a half-day, at the request of many students for Mental Health Awareness month, as you all believe that will improve your morale. So classes will be finishing at the third period instead of fifth today." The class cheered at the great news and ran off to their following lessons when the bell rang.

Roxy and Tyler, however, stayed behind and attempted to skip the day.

"It's only a half-day!" Tyler began, "I doubt they'll even notice that we are gone! They didn't care when I was off for a few days with no reason, so?"

"Maybe. Where would we even go?" She asked.

"I have the perfect place in mind!" Tyler took Roxy by the hand and dragged her alongside him as they avoided the cameras and made their way under the fence, leaving their school day behind.

The two disappeared into the town, funny looks being shot their way.

"Ahh, shit! Our uniforms!" Roxy exclaimed, looking herself up and down. "Quick! In here!" Roxy dragged Tyler into a nearby store, filled to the brim with men's and women's clothes.

"Perfect thinking Rox! Shopping trip?" He asked. Roxy nodded and began to browse the shelves for her new outfit.

"You choose your get-up, and we will meet in the changing rooms!"

Tyler did as he was told and walked hastily to the men's section.

'What am I feeling today?' He wondered, scanning the jeans on the shelf in front of him. 'Ooo! I like these!' He thought, picking up a pair of ripped skinny jeans, dark in colour but would look perfect with a lovely white t-shirt and an overshirt to match.

Tyler ran over to the shirts, looking through the rack at each one:

'No. Too yellow. Definitely not! Ha yeah, right!' He thought to himself, until he found the right one, 'Ahhh! That'll be perfect!' He pulled the white shirt and black overshirt off the rack and headed to the changing rooms. He removed his shirt and looked at his muscular body, following the shapes and sizes of the scars that littered his body.

Snapping back into reality, he threw the new clothes on and met Roxy outside the room. She stood before him, posing and showing off her new outfit of choice. She wore skinny black jeans, like Tyler's, with a tea-coloured top and a black leather jacket to make her stand out. Tyler stared at her, looking at the beauty before him. He took in every curve of her body and every detail on her face.

"Wow." He struggled to find any words to describe her.

"Wow? Just wow?" She joked, knowing full well how good she looked, and was adamant he knew it too.

"Right, I'll go change out of these and then we will pay."

"Pay?" She questioned, looking at the exit door behind them.

"Roxy, no!" He cried shortly before Roxy bolted out the exit, followed by Tyler.

The two finally stopped on the bay, where they began bursting with uncontrollable laughter. "So, what's next on your list?" She asked cockily.

"I don't know. Ice cream?"