Splintered [Complete | GB+SB]

Sixteen: Birds, Dogs, & Vikings

Owen had Victor drive the four of us to the diner. Sean was still working, and he didn't look pleased about leaving me after the weird mask dude freaked me out — even with the other three perfectly capable of taking care of me, each other, and the entire hospital if necessary — but he was needed elsewhere. Honestly, I'm not sure Sean would have even fit in the car, given how much stuff I'd accumulated unknowingly. I was beginning to worry about what I'd find at home, since their "taking care of everything" seemed to involve a lot of shopping.

It was late morning, between the early breakfast rush and the start of the lunch rush, and the diner was empty. Owen led us to a table and held my chair for me — much to Victor's annoyance — before stripping off his suitcoat and hanging it on the back of his chair. I toyed with my silverware while I waited. It was obvious this wasn't just about eating a meal; I mean, there were even representatives from each team at our little summit meeting, so this was a formal proceeding.

The three of them were making small talk, and I was trying to listen but every sound and movement behind me was making me twitch. I don't ever sit with my back to a room or a door like this, and I was very uncomfortable. I think Victor was too because he had his back to the entry. I felt the air stir, caught a whiff of coffee, and knew someone was approaching. I leaned slightly to the side as a man came up behind me and reached over my shoulder to deposit a water glass in front of me.

"How did you know?" A strange voice asked. It was a nice voice, but still not one I recognized. I tried craning my head around, but short of moving my entire body with it, I wasn't going to get that kind of angle without getting dizzy and sick.

"Pardon?" I looked around at my guys and they were all silent, studying the two of us intently.

"You knew I was coming over here. How?"

"I could smell coffee."

"This whole building smells like coffee and I'm only carrying water."

"Not the diner coffee, the special blend from the coffee shop over on Gadsden by the college." Gabe snorted and punched something into his phone. I glared at him.

"Okay, fair enough."

"Plus you scraped your foot on the edge of the counter..."

"I did?"

"...And you stirred up a lot of air."

"Come again?"

"Sorry, but you're no Luke," I said. Gabe began to choke. Owen covered his mouth with his napkin, and Victor outright laughed. "That's how I knew which side you were delivering the water on. Which, by the way, is not the proper side."

"I know," he said, sounding slightly irritated. He stepped forward, between me and Gabe but he was too close to me and I wasn't comfortable with how'd I'd have to angle myself to look up at him, so I didn't. He could meet me at my level, or he could step back so I wouldn't be forced to crane my neck, but until then, he could look at the top of my head. He held out his hand. "Marc Weiland. Toma team. I'm surprised I haven't seen you before, what team are you on?"

"Not Zac?" I asked, eyeing his name tag pointedly and ignoring the rest.

"No, not Zac," he said. "And your name?"

"Zelda," I said sweetly. I saw the motion of his head bobbing he looked between me and Owen, and then at Victor and Gabe, but I continued to focus on his nametag.

"Zelda?" he laughed. "What are the odds?"

My eyes shot over to Owen first, who was staring at Marc intensely. Victor had given up and had his head down on the table, shaking, while Gabe was now furiously typing into his phone with a massive grin. I scooted my chair back, then I looked up at the man's face. Damn. He was... damn.