“Quinn won’t come back in tonight,” Elijah growled out softly, leaning back in his office chair. “He’s going to sit out there and brood because of her.”

“She wanted to help.” Vincent sighed. “And you are getting overly-defensive over a friend who doesn’t need that from you anymore. You should apologize to her.”

Elijah knew that. He knew it the moment Sawyer shoved the pictures at him, the ones sitting on his desk now. He’d known it when she walked out of the woods alive. Quinn brought out something possessive and protective in Elijah. And whatever set Quinn off, set Elijah off.

Not because they sometimes had sex or slept in the same bed on occasion. No, Elijah just wanted to protect Quinn because he was Quinn. He was unique and completely untouched by so much of the harsher aspects of humanity. The cruelty of humanity, the rigid ideals of it. The things that had marked Elijah’s upbringing.

Elijah didn’t like that the job they did slowly spoiled that in Quinn. None of them did, but Quinn refused to stop, too. He had found a purpose in the modern world, and he wasn’t going to let them stop him from trying to fulfill it.

“Elijah?” Vincent called to him. Elijah shook his head.

“I should apologize to her,” he divulged. “I said some things I shouldn’t have.”

He should have never stabbed a knife into her education level. She was probably smarter than the entire team in some ways.

“Yes, you did,” Vincent whispered, looking back down to his book.

They sat in silence for a long time. Vincent read his book on… something, Elijah couldn’t read Italian, while Elijah just stared at four children in photos. All of them had to be younger than seven or eight. Henry was an obvious face. The kid might as well have been a clone of Vincent or Axel at that age.

“Zander, what the fuck was she talking about?” Jasper snapped.

“Elijah yelled at her for sticking her nose in Quinn’s business,” Zander hissed. “Do you blame him? She went out there and nearly got killed. She definitely pissed off and hurt Quinn.”

Elijah stood up and stomped over to the door. He swung it open and looked at the arguing duo in the hallway. Jasper turned a glare on him. The air swirled around them, kicking up dust from dark corners of the house.

Well, this was a shocker. He’d expected Zander to be furious earlier, and he hadn’t been. Instead, Jasper was.

“She’s trying to help,” Jasper snapped, jabbing a crutch in Elijah’s direction. Elijah had to stop it from hitting him in the balls. “She’s trying to do something good, you fucking prick. For all she’s ever been, she’s trying to do something genuinely nice for someone here, and you fucking chastised her for it.”

“Jasper,” Zander groaned, “are you really—”

“Shut the fuck up, Zander. You don’t get to stand here and say that you want her back in your bed while letting someone tear her down,” Jasper growled.

Elijah kept his mouth shut. Secrets were coming out now. Back in his bed? Why would Jasper imply that about Zander?

“And you, Cowboy,” Jasper turned back on him. “She’s alive, which means you need to chill the fuck out. Not only do you undermine her with that shit, you undermine Quinn’s progress. He needs to learn what an acceptable human response to something is, and you need to stop enabling him to lash out with his power. He could get innocent people killed, and we all know this, including him.”

Elijah winced again. Golden Boy wasn’t playing around this time.

“Vincent, are you going to back me up here?” Jasper snapped, looking around Elijah to their CO.

“I’ve been telling him to go apologize to her,” Vincent called back softly, keeping his semi-distracted air about him.

“Get that done,” Jasper hissed. “You all stand there and say I’m not giving her enough of a chance, then you pull this shit. Fucking hypocrites.” Jasper crutched away quickly, and like Sawyer earlier in the day, just phased straight through the door without a thought.

Elijah looked at Zander let out a deep breath.

“I thought you would be pissed off at me,” Elijah mumbled.

“I am, asshole,” Zander growled softly, turning to glare at him.

“You should have said something earlier.” Elijah groaned, heaving a sigh after it.

“Yeah, but I wanted Jasper to get mad.” Zander’s glare turned into a devilish smirk. “At all of us, in defense of her.”

Elijah frowned at him, unsure what he meant.

“He needed to recognize that she’s trying,” Zander whispered. “Not just hear stories of her trying, but actually see it. See that she’s not just an assassin or thief. See that her helping isn’t always violence and midnight runs to the hospital with broken people. And I needed him mad enough to say something about it.”

“You sneaky shit.” Elijah gasped. “What’s your game? Also… back in your bed? What was that about?”

“Ah.” Zander winced this time. His neck grew a bit red.

“Sawyer and Zander slept together once as teenagers,” Vincent called out from behind Elijah. Elijah’s eyes went wide. “Apparently, she lost her virginity to him.”

“I’m leaving,” Zander announced, moving to his office.

“We’re talking about this later,” Elijah told his back. “We are revisiting that entire topic.”

“No,” Zander growled, closing the door and locking it.

“When did you find out?” Elijah turned to Vincent, who released a small sigh.

“When I visited Axel, while she was asleep,” Vincent whispered. “He knew about Jasper and Zander. Didn’t refer to either by name, but she must have told him stories of them. That was one of them.”

“No fucking way,” Elijah said. They were all a mess, it seemed.

“Go apologize to her,” Vincent snapped. Elijah jerked back a little. The hard look in Vincent’s eyes was something he hadn’t gotten seriously in a long time. What had gotten Vincent suddenly riled up? He’d been so chill about it all day. “And take those fucking pictures with you.”

Elijah nodded mutely and grabbed them off his desk. He quietly shut Vincent in the office.

All the recent changes had them on edge for different reasons. Elijah just wanted them to be like they were. He enjoyed the easy-going companionship of Sawyer. They teased and flirted, and it was innocent and the hottest shit he had ever experienced. He also enjoyed that she and Quinn had started getting along, whether she realized it or not.

He probably fucked all of that up today. It was just hard to see Quinn hurt, in any way. Quinn had gone through a lot. Elijah was the only person on the team who knew just how much. Quinn’s scars were obvious, but the stories behind them were nightmarish.

Like Sawyer’s.

Elijah cursed softly to himself. She and Quinn were more alike than he’d realized. He should have trusted her not to hurt Quinn. She never brought up his scars, never teased him maliciously. She lacked tact, but most of them did.

Yeah, Elijah knew he’d fucked up getting riled over her trying to help Quinn. The fact that she was alive meant Quinn at least cared for her in some pack way. He kept the books, which was just interesting. And it was progress for Quinn. Sawyer must have challenged him, even if unintentionally.

Elijah moved quietly up to Sawyer’s bedroom. He didn’t bother knocking as he entered the chill surrounding her space. She was in the shower, he’d heard her as he passed. He slipped into her room and moved quietly to her desk. He sat down at it and put the pictures down.

Then he got nosy. He shouldn’t have, but he did.

He pulled the small box they all knew was here toward himself. He opened it, and his breath caught. His heart jumped into his throat.

Pictures. Pictures of so many people he didn’t know. Pictures of kids, teenagers, Charlie, that young man named Liam. Pictures of Jasper, Zander, and her growing up. Pictures of a cat, pictures of different places all over the world.

This was her life. One photo at a time, this was her life.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Sawyer snarled as she entered the room. He looked up at her and choked on something. His own tongue, probably.

She was wrapped in a towel that was obviously too small. It was like the smallest red cotton dress he’d ever seen. Also, red was his towel color, so she must have been the one stealing the towels and getting them mixed up. It was something he noticed doing laundry recently.

He went hard immediately and gave her a lazy look over. Holy hell, those legs went on forever. That rich, caramel skin was still wet. He could see water running down them.

He had a serious problem with how much he loved her legs. And the rest of her. She just had a killer body.

“Elijah,” she snarled louder. That reminded him why he was here and how their last encounter had ended.

“Sorry, I wanted to bring your pictures back and talk—” Elijah stood up, closing the box neatly. He was hot. His fire manipulation often led to him just being a bit warmer, and he was feeling hot in her glare.

He was here for a serious conversation, not to pet her and make her scream. Fuck, he needed to remind his dick of that. It vehemently disagreed with him.

“I’m not in a talking mood,” she hissed in reply. “Thank you for my pictures. You can go.”

She stalked out of her doorway, and he shuffled closer to the door. Her weapons were in the room. He hoped she wasn’t mad enough to stab him. He didn’t particularly think the team needed any more injuries than they already had.

He stopped in the door, though, not leaving yet.

“Sawyer, I’m sorry,” he whispered. She didn’t respond, her back to him. She dropped her towel and he purred to himself. Well.

“Get out, Elijah,” she whispered back, not turning to him. “Also, you’re welcome.”

“For what?” Elijah frowned at her. Well, the back of her. The firm ass, the toned legs, the defined back. The curve of her hips. Smooth, delicious-looking caramel skin.

He wasn’t sleeping tonight, that was for sure. The sight of her was going to leave him raging for days.

“Letting you see me naked,” she growled. “We’ll talk tomorrow, I’m not in the mood right now. Thank you for the apology.”

He left after that, a grin breaking out on his face. He could wait until tomorrow to have a more serious talk with her.

“Oh, Elijah?” She called. He hadn’t made it down the stairs yet, so he turned around to see her at the top of them. A tank and sweats now covered her.

“Yeah, little lady?” He asked, leaning against the wall.

“If I catch you looking through my pictures again without my permission, you will leave my room with fewer fingers than I have,” she whispered with a smile.

Well, that cooled him right down.

“Alright,” he agreed, nodding. Then he practically ran, because if she wanted body parts, she had the skill and magic to take them from him.