The Hub Ch. 08

There was a lot of information that needed to be absorbed. Luckily Scraps' Government training had given him the memory skills needed to retain all the required knowledge. Along with his own experience of Government policies and procedures he found most of the material easily palatable. He presumed that all his prior knowledge was the exact reason why he was the most suitable for the mission, even despite his lack of experience in covert operations, his time as a Government operative gave him invaluable skills to call upon.

By the time they called for a break, he was well and truly ready for one. Flit threw herself at him as soon as they were out of the training room and he relished her excitement.

"Now don't go getting yourself hurt, okay? I don't want another partner now that I have you," Flit warned with a grin.

"Don't worry, now that I've been reassigned I'm sure they won't ask me to do patrols anymore. That should lower the odds nicely. We should probably go and tell Hawkeye, I think he will be pleased that I am the one going up with you," Scraps suggested.

"Hmm, we probably should," Flit agreed with a grim smile, as though she wasn't looking forward to having that conversation. "We'll go there on the way to the Mess."

A few minutes later Flit and Scraps pushed open the door to the ward. Hawkeye was playing a game of some form on the hand held, but he put it down and smiled at them when they came in.

"How are ya's going?" He asked sitting a little straighter in his bed.

"Good thanks. But we're not the ones in the ward," Flit replied, looking at him seriously. Scraps could see the genuine concern in her expression, but Hawkeye merely rolled his eyes.

"It still hurts like a bitch, but other than that I'm doing fine," Hawkeye said with a shrug. "Scraps man, I reached level fourteen on Speeder Escape!"

Now it was Flit's turn to roll her eyes.

"We just stopped by on our way to the Mess for lunch. We have some news..." Flit said when they closed in on his bed. Scraps stood beside her so that their sides were just touching and tried to keep the smile from his face.

"Yes?"

"Scraps has been assigned to accompany me on our mission," She told him, her head dipping apologetically as she spoke. Scraps wasn't quite sure why she was acting so seriously about something that had previously made her entire body hum with excitement.

A strange emotion flashed on Hawk's face before he forced a smile looked at them as brightly as possible.

"That's great," He said, voice far too enthusiastic. "It is good to know they are sending you up with someone who will take good care of you."

"I don't need to be-" Flit began to protest.

"Taken care of?" Hawkeye laughed dryly. "Of course not. Congrats Scraps man," Hawkeye's emerald gaze turned to Scraps. "Shadow came by last night and I put in a good word for ya. Glad to see you were the one they picked."

Scraps was getting much better at judging other's emotional state and right now he could tell that Hawkeye wasn't entirely happy about him getting the assignment.

"Thanks. I agree Flit does need some looking after every now and again," Scraps pointed out, knowing that Hawkeye would enjoy teasing Flit a bit.

"You have no idea how much trouble I've pulled her out of. When we were younger she certainly had a reputation," Hawkeye added in a tone of mock wisdom.

"If you want, I can come back here after dinner and we can try some co-op," Scraps suggested. Hawkeye paused for a moment as if trying to decide something.

"Nah, it's okay, I think I need to take a break from this anyway. My vision is getting blurry, maybe next time." He replied. Scraps tried not to take the rebuff to heart; it must be a difficult time for Hawekeye.

"Sure no problem. I suppose we better get to lunch" Scraps offered and turned to Flit for confirmation.

~*~

"I'll catch you later Hawk," Flit said before she and Scraps left the room. She knew that Hawkeye wanted them to go together, but it was clear that the reality was even harder to acknowledge than the thought. The way he had shut down after their conversation concerned Flit, but she knew that he needed some time alone to work through his emotions; she would talk to him later

As Flit and Scraps were eating their meal Tinker came over with the offer of a family dinner. Flit nodded, eager to talk to her parents and tell them the news (though she knew they would not be as pleased as she was). After lunch Flit and Scraps made their way back to the meeting room and were ten minutes early. Their quick chat with Hawkeye seemed to put them in a sombre mood, but Newton and Sway (if they picked up on it) didn't mention anything.

By the end of the afternoon Flit's curiosity was finally sated. She and Scraps would be able to access a lot of highly secretive information from every department of The Government. For most departments they would be given a Level Two Clearance, and for the Intelligence Department they would receive Level Three. There were ten possible levels of clearance in The Government, and Level One was the highest. Scraps appeared to be quite impressed with this; the best he'd ever managed was Level Nine, which was one level above what the Citizens were privy to.

Sway and Newton sent volume after volume of Government Policies to Flit and Scraps to familiarise themselves with. They both admitted eagerly that neither of them knew the manuals from cover to cover, but knowledge of the indexes at the least would help them greatly in their new positions. They were told to study the manuals over the next couple of days, and at the end of the week they would be given several exercises to try out their new found knowledge. Their mornings were to be dedicated to study of the policies, and at least three hours each afternoon was to be allotted to acquiring the skills that would be required to make the assessments of need that would make up the bulk of their work in their new positions.

"Looks like we've got a fair bit of reading to do," Flit sighed heavily as she and Scraps left the meeting room and made for The Residence. "Look, I might head back to my room and do a bit of tidying up before dinner. I want to try and get my room pretty much emptied before we leave for The Hub," Flit stopped walking and put her hand on Scraps's shoulder.

"As you heard at lunch, I'm supposed to be having dinner with my parents tonight," Flit said. In the rare snatches of silence during their meeting with Sway and Newton she had given the situation some thought. "I was thinking that you should join us. Mum and Dad should get to know you a little before we go, and you should have a chance to get to know them better too... Well, outside of the

"As long as your parents don't mind me coming over I'd be happy to join you for dinner," Scraps returned; Flit could see that he was pleased by her invitation/

"I'm sure they won't mind too much," Flit said with a nonchalant shrug. In all honesty she wasn't actually sure that they would want him to come along, but the two of them were together now and it was time her parents came to terms with that. The last thing that she wanted was to leave for her mission knowing that her parents were still uncomfortable with their relationship.

Flit got to her toes and planted a quick kiss on Scraps's lips before she teleported towards her room. As soon as she opened the door she groaned to herself. She couldn't help but think that she'd rather be cleaning Scraps's room than her own. Not that it needed it of course, but for some reason he seemed to think it did. It made her pleased that he hadn't wanted to come back to her room with her; this mess was embarrassing enough without having someone else actually witness it.

~*~

Two hours later Flit gave up her seemingly pointless cleaning and made her way to the Mess. She spotted her parents, deep in conversation, at a table in the corner of the large room. As soon as she sat down they stopped talking and smiled up at her in a way that told her that she had been the topic of discussion.

"Flit my girl, how are you?" Her father asked, his brown eyes twinkling as they met hers.

"Good thanks Dad. You?"

"Could be worse," Her father said with an indifferent shrug. That was his usual response.

"Mum, Dad, I've asked Scraps to join us tonight. I'm sure he'll be here any minute., She gave them a meaningful look and sincerely hoped that she wouldn't have to have the talk with them.

"Really?" Her father asked, an eyebrow raised curiously. "After all this talk about the young man I still haven't met him."

"I know. That's why I thought it was good that you two get a chance to know him. He has been selected to replace Hawkeye on the Intelligence mission, so he's the one I'll be going under cover with. I want you both to be comfortable with that."

Flit's mother and father gave each other furtive looks before returning their attention to her.

"I gave him some Masquerade this morning," Her mother confirmed with a sullen nod, "I figured that was the reason. See Stride? I told you so."

Tinker looked at her husband and his shoulders fell in resignation.

That was news to Flit. She wondered why Scraps hadn't mentioned that her mother had been the one to give him the Masquerade? It didn't matter really, but she wished that she had been able to tell her before she figured it out like that.

"It could have been for anything," Stride mumbled giving her mother an impatient look before he turned back to Flit. "Who made this decision?" He asked Flit, his voice clipped.

"Shadow told him this morning. It seems as though he talked to others about it first. He went to Hawkeye to ask for his two credit's worth, and I know that there were others at our initial meeting who probably had their say in it as well," Flit shrugged. "Regardless of who made the decision, Scraps has accepted and our training has begun."

"But he only got down here a couple of months ago," Her father grumbled, a discontented scowl playing at his lips beneath his bushy black moustache. His tone had changed from petulant to angry and Flit didn't like it. "Is it wise to send him back up so soon? What if his old allegiances arch up?"

That comment made Flit roll her eyes. She was about to respond when she heard the door open. She turned to see Scraps standing in the door way, looking around eagerly.

"You can ask him for yourself," Flit hissed, before getting out of her seat and waving her arm above her head to catch his attention. When their eyes met she gave him a large smile and beckoned him over eagerly.

~*~

Scraps spent a short amount of time cleaning and organising what little belongings he had. Newton and Sway had informed them that they were unable to bring any of their own personal belongings to the surface in the possible event of their house being checked. Almost everything Scraps owned was given to him by the Underground and so he had no sentimental value attached to anything.

He spent the rest of his time studying the paper work he'd been assigned. Like he had already surmised; the policies and procedures were easy to remember. He hoped that Flit wasn't having too much difficulty with them. After a couple of hours Scraps realised it was time to have dinner.

He stood at the doorway of the mess hall searching for Flit and her parents. They were situated at a small table in the corner away from the rest of the rabble he was used to sitting with. With a quick nod and smile in their direction he made his way over.

"I hope you don't mind me joining you for dinner," Scraps stated politely, standing behind the chair and waiting to be invited before taking a seat.

"Not at all Scraps. Please, sit," Tinker said with a wide smile as she gestured at the chair. "This is my husband Stride," Tinker added when her husband reached over the table and offered Scraps a hand. Scraps took it and shook Stride's hand firmly before sinking into his seat. "Nice to meet you Son. I've heard a bit about you, especially how you saved my daughter and Hawkeye. Not many surface folks would be willing to do that," Stride commented, his eyebrow was raised and his tone was gruff in a way that reminded Scraps of Flit. It was the expression she used when she was being cautious.

"Thank you Stride. I will endeavour to continue that support for Flit on the surface as well," Scraps replied humbly, nodding as he spoke. He hoped that the words would reassure Flit's father, but a somewhat exasperated hmph from the older man proved otherwise.

~*~

Flit had to bite her tongue at her father's comments. He wasn't being overtly hostile, but nor was he being friendly. Her father had lost an arm and a leg after being chased by Officers, and even though he was generally friendly, he had always harboured a special distrust and dislike for anyone willing to hunt down their own kind. Stride, like Flit, had once been a quite powerful teleporter. After the loss of his limbs, even though he had the most realistic prosthetics available, they were still not good enough to allow him to continue his role in Security. Instead, he had been assigned to supply. He never openly grumbled about his job, but Flit knew that he wasn't happy there.

"Let's go get something to eat," Flit said, getting out of her seat and hooking her arm through Scraps's, pulling him up with her. The spread was the usual fare, and it took little time for them to get what they wanted. "My Father can be a little.... hostile at times. Please don't worry about it too much. I know that, once he gets to know you a little, he'll get over his prejudice."

When they got back to the table they settled in for their meals.

"How are you feeling after the Masquerade?" Tinker asked Scraps, looking up from her plate.

"Mum!" Flit groaned, rolling her eyes.

"You eat your dinner young lady, I wasn't talking to you," Her Mother said flippantly before focusing on Scraps again. "You'll be sure to let me or one of the others know if you have any side effects, won't you?"

"It's okay Flit. I feel fine and I'll be certain to let the appropriate person know if I incur any side effects," Scraps responded calmly.

~*~

They continued to eat their meal mostly in silence, Scraps noted that one of Stride's hands seemed to be a lot stiffer than the other. He wondered if Flit's father had suffered some kind of debilitating injury in the past. Stride noticed him staring and opened reopened their conversation.

"So Scraps. How many unsuspecting un-registered Derivate's did you catch when you were on the surface?" Stride piped up. The question threw Scraps off slightly, oddly enough nobody had ever asked him the question since he'd been down there.

"Uh, I never kept count. I was just following orders," He replied, uncertain of the correct response.

"Just following orders, eh?" Stride mimicked.

"Stop that! He's not a Government officer anymore," Tinker interrupted.

"Right..that's what they said about Long shot and look what happened with him," Stride grumbled under his breath. Scraps became very curious as to the mention of another possible ex-registered Derivate.

"What happened?" Scraps inquired. Stride sat up straighter and furrowed his brows at Scraps.

"Well, Long shot was an ex-registered like yourself. We caught him about fifteen years ago. Flit was only little then so she probably doesn't remember. We gave him the usual song and dance; told him about how he could be free of The Government, how he could live like us. Well he had us all fooled didn't he, even Divvy couldn't see it coming.

"The sneaky bastard managed to subtly coerce the other few ex-registered Derivates into staging a little rebellion down here. We lost a lot of good people during the fight and if I had my way I would have fought alongside them. As fate would have it I had to help evacuate the less combat experienced residents, including Flit and her mother. In the end, a group of the security team managed to take him down, lucky too, after he was done down here he was going to return to the surface and take out all of our other operatives.

"That was a terrible day for us, we very nearly lost the war against The Government right then and there. So you'll have to forgive me if I'm a little bit sceptical as to your allegiance."

Scrap's heart sunk as he listened intently to Stride's recollection. He knew that they all took risks allowing people like him to survive, it would be difficult to convey his commitment to their cause.

"I'm so sorry Stride. I understand why you don't want to trust me but I can assure you, I have no ties to The Government. I've found life down here to be much more affable," Scraps replied sincerely, his hand squeezing Flit's underneath the table.

"Just know this, if anything happens to Flit while she's up there with you. I will make sure that even The Government processing facilities will seem like a dream," Stride warned.

"Dad that's enough," Flit snapped, Scraps could feel her body tense beside his. "Scraps came here to meet my parents and to get to know them a little bit, not get interrogated, threatened and talked down to because of the actions of someone he most likely never met." Both of her parents looked at her, her mother's expression was wary but her father's was still angry. Scraps was embarrassed by all of the attention, but couldn't help being pleased that Flit was willing to defend him.

"If you can't stay civil and ask normal questions, like what Scraps's favourite food is, or how he enjoys spending his free time, then this dinner is over," Flit added, resting her fork on the table for good measure.

"Stride?" Tinker said, looking at her husband questioningly. When the gruff man remained silent Tinker took a deep breath, smiled, and then looked back at Scraps. "So Scraps," Tinker said brightly, ignoring her husband's petulance "what have you been doing in your off time?"

It was hard for Scraps to revive his joyous mood from before, the negative tone from the story had darkened the atmosphere significantly. He could tell that Tinker was trying to alleviate the tension so he sat up straighter and gathered his emotions.

"Oh..Well recently Hawkeye introduced me to digital gaming. I especially enjoy the co-operative scenarios we play," He replied quickly.

"Oh, Flit went through a stage where we couldn't get her away from those games." Tinker said, popping a piece of steak into her mouth. "We used to have to disconnect the mains to get her to go to bed. She and Hawkeye used to be quite competitive... So, you and Hawkeye get along, do you?"

"Too well."

Scraps heard Flit's mumbled comment and smiled.

"I know that we had a confrontation recently but we settled our differences and now we really do enjoy spending time together. I am a little bit worried about him though, being cooped up in the hospital wing all day long can't be good for him."

"You're right it's no good for anyone, I should know," Tinker responded with an exasperated look. Scraps just realised that she probably spent a great deal of time there also which meant he likely insulted her with his comment.

"Oh sorry I only meant-" Scraps began to apologise.

"It's okay, I know you mean well. Hawkeye hasn't been in the best of moods lately. It really is hard to say if he'll ever walk again; even with my abilities to aid him. The damage to his legs was so extensive and there's only so much resetting we can do without causing more problems. Unfortunately, only time will tell. It's good to know that he has you two though."

"Well, do our best." Scraps replied. Now that he and Flit were going to be spending a lot more time together he wanted to make sure that he gave Hawkeye more of his attention.

"Just don't get into any trouble like he and Flit did when they were young. Oh the messes they used to make," Tinker warned.