Opal was fairly certain her current level of stress was the same amount that killed her father.

Nothing made her head hurt like working for the government. Especially not when they needlessly made decisions she considered asinine.

She begins to wonder to herself if she had been foolish for refusing to go on that sabbatical after all.

Hindsight was 20/20, but Opal’s regrets were not settling quietly with just that expression alone.

’This is such a clusterfuck...’

Opal exhaled through her nose as she stepped outside, followed by four of her subordinates.

These individuals were new and eager. Something Opal was originally hoping to temper with a bit of field work. The plan was for her new recruits not to necessarily lose their fire, but also to recognize the value of cool heads and investigation.

For the first time, she had brought individuals into the Dark Angels who were not former military special operations or former gate hunters.

Two used to be city policemen; the others were firefighters.

Opal knew it was a long shot, but she was hoping that if she could prove the success of broadening their admittance requirements, then maybe she could get approved for additional funding, increasing their numbers and shrinking their workload.

However, she notices that after touring the prison, her men are noticeably quieter than before. Not that she could blame them.

At the same time, Opal begins to wonder if she has become too used to things like this. Nothing that she learned this morning had even phased her.

That was perhaps the first time she thought about what this career might have been doing to her soul.

’I’m getting so sentimental in my old age...’

Opal was only 30.

"Ms. O... Are they really going to cover this up?" One of her men asks.

Opal patted her pockets for something to smoke. "That’s the name of the game, unfortunately... Tensions are already high enough in the country as it is. This is simple harm reduction at this point."

"But a high-level prisoner has been freed!"

"Control your tone, Boid. I know Arias is the main concern on everyone’s mind right now, but the security feed showed he didn’t exactly leave willingly. I’m not worried about him."

Opal’s brow furrowed as she placed a cigarette between her lips.

’If they don’t know what was happening there... Kincaid is eventually going to start wondering why we didn’t make the jailbreak public knowledge. No way a revolutionary-type like him would have left all those other prisoners behind if he knew.’

Opal’s lighter sparked to life and lit the cigarette between her lips.

"Back to the jet. We’re wheels up in te-"

"T-Ten o’clock!"

Opal casually lifted her gaze to the sky, and her cigarette instantly fell out of her mouth.

Flying toward the prison at breakneck speed was a bird large enough to be considered a plane.

It dropped out of the early morning clouds and covered the world below in it’s shadow.

The entire base naturally panicked.

Turrets began firing at the creature before it could even get within five-hundred yards.

The deep roars of gunfire rang out as the sky was filled with sparks.

Opal reaches for the weapon on her hip and prepares for a heated collision when the bullets finally connect with the creature.

She and everyone outside the base nearly fell over when the creature suddenly turned to mist and disappeared.

"...Really should have taken that fucking sabbatical..."

Opal shakily pulls another cigarette from her carton and places it between her lips.

However, an unfamiliar tattooed hand reached to grab it out of her mouth.

"Rowan get you on these things..? This is his brand after all."

"S-Shit!!"

Opal nearly jumps out of her skin like a startled cat.

Before she knows what she is doing, she pulls her weapon from her holster and inserts it into the mouth of the man beside her.

Malachi slowly smiles, his gold fangs shining in the rising starlight.

"B-Boy! Don’t sneak up on me like that!" Opal punches him hard in the chest before putting her weapon away.

Malachi rubs his sternum. "Man, I can’t win for losing today... Try to fly in politely, get shot at, try to be subtle, get hit. I’m about to stop leaving my house at this rate."

Opal’s jaw drops as she points to the sky, where the large bird had disappeared. "That was YOU!?"

"Fun, right?"

"No! Not cool!" Opal thought it was a little cool. She just wouldn’t tell him that. "And give me that back, I need it for my nerves.."

"If Joanne and I can quit, so can you."

"I’m not fucking either of you!"

"Course not, but you’re our friend, so you have to share in our misery."

Opal frowns at him as she attempts to snatch her cigarette back. All of her swipes for it are frustratingly made in vain.

"What. Are. You. Even. Doing. Here!?"

Malachi crushes the cigarette in his hand before dropping it to the ground. "Call me a concerned citizen?"

Gritting her teeth, Opal digs inside her carton for another cigarette.

She blinks, and the box is suddenly empty.

It takes all of the mental strength she can muster not to put her gun in Malachi’s mouth again.

"...You know that bit about you not leaving your house again? Is that a promise you are willing to keep?"

"I dunno." Malachi shrugs, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Really depends on what I’m about to learn when I walk in there."

Opal sighs, and her lips form a straight line. "Theres nothing for a simple government advisor to be concerned about. It was a prison break. A small number of escapees amidst the chaos, but we’ve got parties out searching for them now."

"Okay..." Malachi raises his brow. "Now what’s the part you ain’t telling me?"

Opal’s lips quiver for a moment as if she wants to say something. In the end, she shakes her head before walking past him.

"Go home, Malachi. Leave this clusterfuck to those who are actually getting paid to clean it up."

"...It’s that bad?"

Momentarily, Opal pauses.

She starts to look back at him, but decides against it for reasons only known to herself.

"...Yeah. It’s that bad."

As she begins walking away again, Malachi says something to make her freeze completely.

"They nabbed Morgan yesterday."

Slowly, Opal turns around and she finds Malachi already walking towards the enterprise. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"I’m going in here whether you’re with me or not... Least you can do is stick around so I don’t get in trouble."

Opal grits her teeth as she watches Malachi’s back shrink.

She very briefly considers pulling out her hair to compensate for her new lack of smokes.

"Fuck... Hold the jet. I need to watch this walking nuke so he doesn’t go off."