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( 16 一 FIRST DAYS. )
Walking through the dark, damp tunnel that led into HQ was about as pleasant as seven consecutive blows to the face. So not pleasant at all, in case you didn't get that. However, knowing what was on the other side of the tunnel Clara decided to try and savour it. It didn't work.
They reached the entrance to HQ far too fast for Clara's liking. During the walk Cate explained the League's origins, how they wanted to free the camps, protect the PSI. All Clara could think about was how ironic that name was. She hadn't forgotten what spurred them to ditch the League in the first place. She remembered what Rob had done.
Cate scanned an ID badge across an electronic screen which prompted the large cement door in front of them to unlock. Cate pushed it forwards until they were bathed in fluorescent lights and assaulted by the sight of cement. It was everywhere. The walls, the floor, the ceiling. It reminded Clara of Thurmond. She wondered how much truth the comparison would hold.
Cate had started explaining the others in their 'team'.
"We have Vida who's a Blue and Jude who's a Yellow. Now we have you two as well," Cate told them as she smiled at some passing agents. They gave the same polite smile back until their eyes caught on Ruby and Clara. Apparently their reputations preceded them because as soon as they were recognised the agents' smiles dropped. They stepped an extra few steps away when passing, making sure to give the girls a wide berth. Clara rolled her eyes at their theatrics.
"Great. We're the goddamn Rainbow Connection. All we need is a Red and a Green to complete the deck," Ruby muttered with more sarcasm than Clara had ever heard her use. Clara snorted quietly.
Cate had apparently heard Ruby's comet because she turned around with a knowing smile, "No, only a Red. We already have a Green, his name is Nico." Cate said.
Clara's heart stopped and her movements stilled. Nico, a Green. She rolled the thought over in her head until it all came to an abrupt stop. Because it couldn't be Nico. Nico was gone. Clancy had told her himself.
She pushed onwards, trying to catch up with Cate and Ruby. She pushed away the nagging thoughts in her head.
Clancy had lied before, hadn't he?
"Clancy likes to control people. He'd control you if you let him. Don't let him."
No. Clara couldn't let herself stray down that path. Wishful thinking, her aunt would call it. Nico was dead and it was Clara's fault, that's just the way it is. It was a coincidence, that's all it was.
So Clara mindlessly followed Cate down the winding hallways of the League to her quarters. Cate told them the rest of the 'team' was waiting there. Clara tried her hardest to ignore all the agents' dramatics. Their reactions to seeing the two girls in the flesh ranged from avoiding their eyes to gasps of shock. It was amusing at first but Clara's patience was quickly wearing thin.
