"What was that, Mist?" Paris snapped as soon as they'd made their way back to the hideout.
"What was what?" she asked flatly, not even looking his way.
"You interrupted our attack and undermined my leadership! Who told you you could - "
"Enough." Jase's voice cut Paris off before he could continue on. Mist floated over to him and hugged him from behind, almost as if she were hiding.
"You put me in charge," Paris said firmly.
"You screwed up," Jase replied. It was the first time he'd glared at Paris, and his cold eyes made Paris' blood run cold.
"How?" Paris asked, doing his best to maintain his bravado. Jase sighed heavily.
"He asks me how. How did he screw up? I dunno, Juney, how did he screw up?"
"How'd he not screw up?" she responded, still hiding behind Jase.
"I got it, Boss," Scattershot sighed. "Sorry. I'll do better next time."
"Thanks, Meadow," Jase said. "Ryder?"
"Yeah, I guess we got caught up in it. Sorry. Eye on the prize and all that. But, like, Aubrey, couldn't you have poked your nose in and told us you got the money?"
"And get in the middle of the Legion's mess?" Itera responded. "No thank you. Unlike the rest of you, I'm completely useless in a fight. There's a reason I stuck to eavesdropping and online research."
Why were they all acting so remorseful? They were doing what he told them to! Just like minions were supposed to.
"You were following my orders," Paris said emphatically. "You did nothing wrong." The others looked at him, slightly surprised.
"So you accept all responsibility for everything that went wrong here?" Jase asked.
"Nothing went wrong until Mist showed up and started calling the shots! Seriously, who trained that girl? She's useless."
"Useless?" Jase's eyes narrowed. "For your information, I trained Juney personally. I've trained her since she was a kid. When she came back to report to me, I was already watching the coverage from five different sources. I told her to go back and clean up your mess. If she hadn't acted, all of you may very well have ended up in prison. Meadow certainly would have."
"Sorry," Scattershot mumbled. "I didn't realize how tough Lightning was."
"And I couldn't cover for her while keeping the cage up," Manifest added.
"You at least took out one of theirs," Jase said softly. "Lightning seems like a well-trained fighter. From what I've seen, Prime is the second-most well-trained. Occupying both of them let Paris act as he liked. I just wish he'd spent that time more wisely."
"Oh yeah?" Paris spat. "And what would you have done in my position? Dance with Achilles and sing about how wonderful friendship is?"
"No." Jase's expression hardened again. "I would have kept an eye on Aubrey and checked for her to signal that she had the money before ordering a retreat and prisoner release."
"How was I supposed to manage that?"
"I saw it," Mist said.
"If you couldn't manage it yourself, you could delegate. But if you're insisting on being the sole leader, all the successes and all the failures fall squarely on you. And this time was a royal failure."
Paris glared back, barely containing the anger in his chest. Jase wasn't there. He didn't know the pressure that came with fighting the Legion. He could sit back in his luxury chair and call the shots because he had no skin in the game.
He spun on a heel and left, his fists shaking. If he stayed here much longer, he was sure to attack Jase and that would definitely not go over well.
After a short debrief with the rest of the Phalanx, Jase headed back to his room and sank onto his bed with a sigh. June floated in after him and sat at the foot of the bed.
"You okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine. Just tired and frustrated. Do you think it was a miscalculation to take him in?"
"Dunno. What's the benefit to cost ratio at this point?"
Jase chuckled. She was good at putting things in perspective. He'd have to check over everything later. This latest attack had definitely given a good window for his other team to upload a scam virus without being noticed. The virus probably wouldn't last for long, but while it did, they could hope for some good money.
"Anytime you wanna cut Paris loose, I'll help you," June said. He glanced at her. Her expressions were hard to read, and her voice was pretty monotone, but after so many years with her he could tell she was just as annoyed with Paris as he was. Normally she didn't make any direct suggestions like that, letting Jase take the lead and doing whatever he asked.
"Thanks, Juney. I think we'll hang onto him a little while longer and see if he smartens up. If he doesn't, we cut him off."
"What about Meadow and Aubrey and Ryder?"
"They can make their own decisions when the time comes."
June nodded and glanced at the door.
"I hated it today. All the screaming kids. Why did you let them decide to do something like that?"
Pain gripped Jase's heart as he looked at her, so forlorn. He should have seen this coming, should have protected her from it.
"Sorry, Juney. I didn't think they'd be stupid enough to actually hurt anyone seriously." He paused, fighting with his next question. "Do you want to quit the Phalanx?"
"Do you want me to quit?" she asked, looking at him.
"I'm saying it's your choice." June blinked at him, seriously considering the question. Silly girl. She was so quick to respond about superficial things or objective values, but when it came to what she truly wanted, she had to think so hard about it. Then again, how often had she been given her own choices? Even if Jase tried to give her them, more often than not, she'd just go with whatever made things easier on him.
A truly selfless kid.
"I'll stay," June finally replied. "Someone's gotta keep an eye on the royal purple dumbass. And if he acts out again I can yell at him again maybe. Y'know, Boing-Boing on the Legion seemed decent when I talked to him today. Scared. But decent."
"Which one's that?"
"Grey suit. Goes boing."
"Jumper?"
"Sure?"
Jase laughed. His Juney was good at observing things, but didn't worry too much about names. She made an effort to remember those who worked for him, but anyone else was usually below her notice.
"Thanks, Juney," Jase said, smiling. She tilted her head.
"For the intel on Boing - er...Jump?"
"No. Just for being you."
"I don't get it." She leaned down and put her head on his chest and he ruffled her hair. "But if you're happy with me being me I'll keep being me."
"You do that," Jase replied. "No matter who you end up becoming, I'll never throw you away. I'll always be here."
June mumbled and curled up, falling asleep within a few minutes. He didn't know how she did it. When he was her age, he was so jumpy he could hardly sleep even when he thought he was safe.
Maybe that was a testament to how safe she felt around him. If that was true, he'd be honoured.
Jase looked up at the ceiling. His June had grown up so fast. It seemed like just yesterday he'd been a small-time crook and she a filthy kid with no one to take care of her. Now he was steadily gaining power and she was acting more and more like an adult. Taking on more and more responsibility. The June of two years ago would have never suggested keeping an eye on anyone, much less someone she disliked.
She was growing up, and he was both happy to see it and a little lonely at the thought that she'd grow more independent. Maybe one day she'd leave, go somewhere that was better for her. If that happened, he'd have to let her go, no matter how sad he was to see it.
Damn, he was getting old if he was acting like an empty-nest parent. He couldn't help but chuckle self-deprecatingly. June fidgeted at the movement, then settled back down as he stroked her hair. It was too precious for words.
He'd appreciate every moment he had with her. Life had taught him that someone could be ripped from you at any moment. Whether that would be her ripped from him or him from her, Jase wanted to make the most of what they had.
With those thoughts in his mind, Jase slowly drifted off to sleep.
