The Eyes of Fate (Currently in Rewrite)

Chapter 41

"Is this really a good idea, Captain?" Vyper asked, shooting a sidelong glance at Fang.

"Probably not, but since when is anything we do?" Fang gave him a genuine look, but Vyper could tell he was nervous. They had known each other for a long time, and Vyper had picked up on most of the his nervous habits. He had been chewing on the inside of his lip, cracking his knuckles, and bouncing his leg ever since they got word of the plans for today. Honestly, the sight of how nervous he was looking made Vyper nervous.

They had been living with the Diamonds for several days now, letting all of them heal up from their last outing. They had also been helping out with cooking and cleaning, whatever they could do for Fang's parents. 

"What if one of them knows who we are, wouldn't that end with us on the run again?" Sentinel spoke this time. Vyper was a little impressed that the newbie was willing to voice his concerns.

Then, yesterday, Mrs. Diamond had sprung what was going to happen today on all of them. While most of them had been shocked, Fang just had a look of resignation on his face. Apparently this was something he had been expecting.

"It's just a gathering of my family and their significant others." Fang ran a hand down his face. "None of them have any about what I did before I left, or any connection to what we do. So we're good there, but we need to use our actual names, okay?" 

They were all sat around in Fang's old room, listening to more and more people enter the other house. Fang had said he wanted to wait until they were all there to step out, so they only had to explain once. So they had spent their morning taking their bandages off and trying to look like they hadn't been in a firefight just a few days ago. Watching the ease that everyone put on long sleeves and bits of makeup made a small part of him ache. This wasn't something they had learned just from their time as mercenaries.

"Okay, everyone ready?" Fang asked, standing up with a groan. Vyper nodded first, followed by everyone else. They all lined up at the door. "Then let's go."

Fang led them out to the living room. Vyper could hear what sounded like a massive amount of people in there, and as they rounded the corner he realized just how right he was. There were a couple dozen people crammed into the room, gathered around one end for the most part. Mr. and Mrs. Diamond were sat in their loveseat, as per usual, and everyone else in the room was sat looking at them. The chairs at the far end, as well as the fireplace, were all empty.

"Ain't it a bit rude to have a family get together without inviting everybody?" Fang called as he walked in. Every eye in the room turned to look at him, then the rest of them. Vyper felt himself shudder a bit under the scrutiny, and wondered briefly how the others were dealing with it. HE was definitely glad for the feeling of his knife in his pocket. "What, nothing to say?"

"Tyler?" Said an older woman who Vyper would guess was one of Fang's grandmothers. Her hair was brightly colored, and she was sat on the couch turning to face the rest of them. 

"The one and only." He said, walking past his frozen family to the other end of the room. 

After another moment of heavy scrutiny, Vyper and the others followed Fang across the room. Fang took one chair while Oracle took the other, and Vyper noticed that she was in business mode. Her smile was as wide as her eyes, and she looked every bit the airhead she was pretending to be. An easy tactic to get people to underestimate her, and it worked consistently. 

Sentinel sat on the fireplace closest to the wall, like he was trying to hide. Vyper couldn't blame him, in all honesty. Chesyr must have picked up on what he was doing too, because she sat close to him and pretty much placed herself as in front of him as possible. Vyper himself sat on the edge of the fireplace closest to Fang's family, and sat facing all of them. Ranger decided to lean against the wall behind Fang's chair, and stood with his arms crossed. He was trying to look intimidating, and between his stance, his physique, and his glare, it usually worked. Crossing his arms also gave him a bit better access to the gun tucked in his waistband.