By the time Dimitri had managed to drag himself out of the shower and pull on clean clothes, the others had already invaded his kitchen, taking it over as if it were their own.
Lilith perched on the counter with a notebook balanced on her knees, jotting down half-sentences between indulgent sips of her second coffee that morning.
"If this place runs out of beans, don't blame me," she murmured, tapping her pen like the words would come faster with enough caffeine.
Melissa had laid claim to the toaster, lecturing the room about the science of carbs and the vital importance of breakfast as if the fate of humanity hinged on golden-brown bread.
"Honestly, caffeine isn't breakfast, you know."
Jaxon leaned lazily against the fridge, hands tucked in his pockets, looking every bit like a man morally opposed to manual labor.
"Tragic," he drawled. "All this knowledge wasted on toast."
Melissa shot him a glare. "You'll thank me when you don't faint dramatically at noon."
Hayden was the only one actually cooking, sleeves rolled neatly to his elbows as he handled the stove with the calm of a man resigned to his role as the group's stand-in parent. Judging by the small, unbothered smile tugging at his mouth, though, he didn't hate the job.
"If any of you are brave enough to cook," he said mildly, "I'll gladly hand over the spatula."
"Not a chance," Jaxon said at once. "You'd ruin the illusion that you enjoy spoiling us."
Melissa chimed in, triumphant. "Exactly. Don't take away the only dependable thing in this kitchen."
Lilith finally set her notebook aside and leaned back against the counter, her smile soft despite herself.
"Face it, Hayden, you're too good at this. We'd starve without you."
At the kitchen doorway, Dimitri stood unnoticed, his expression unreadable as he watched them, half in, half out of the light.
For a fleeting moment, he wasn't sure if he belonged in that kind of warmth. Then, with a dry lift of his brow, he broke the spell.
"Since when did my kitchen turn into a diner?"
"Since you forgot what food looks like," Lilith shot back.
Melissa raised a piece of toast like evidence.
"Exhibit A: your pantry is a wasteland. Three protein bars, a bag of stale pretzels, and a few pieces of bread. If that's not grounds for an intervention, I don't know what is."
Dimitri rolled his eyes but didn't bother stopping them. The smell of Hayden's eggs curled through the air, warm and comforting, and that was when he realized the last time he'd eaten was yesterday morning.
Hayden's eggs were good, better than good, but hardly enough to fill him, and the rest of his fridge was a barren wasteland.
His friends, of course, seized on this immediately. Melissa even went as far as to threaten to hide his coffee machine if he so much as muttered a refusal. Between her ultimatums and the others ganging up, Dimitri didn't stand a chance. They herded him out the door like restless teenagers, despite being professionals in their late twenties and early thirties.
"Professor Sunshine has been holed up with work for too long," Jaxon declared, "It's practically a crime letting him vanish into his cases all day."
"Professor Sunshine?" Dimitri raised a brow, tugging on his coat as summer's warmth gave way to the first crisp hints of autumn.
"Don't fight it," Lilith said sweetly, "You're starting to glow now, at least from when we came, or at least less corpse-adjacent than usual."
Melissa snorted behind her glasses. "Less corpse-adjacent? That, my friends, is as high a compliment as she'll ever give."
Everyone laughed, the sound bouncing softly off the metal walls of the elevator. The sound lingered as Melissa clapped her hands together with sudden resolve.
"Alright," she declared, adjusting her glasses, "I'm taking you all to one of my favorite places. Non-negotiable."
Lilith groaned dramatically. "Please tell me it's not another one of your hole-in-the-wall nerd caves."
Melissa rolled her eyes, "You'll survive."
Melissa shepherded them down the bustling sidewalks of New York, weaving through honking cars and food carts.
The café wasn't one of the glossy chains with polished marble counters and blinding lights.
No, this was the kind of place that felt like a secret, one of those tucked-away New York corners you only stumbled on if you were lost or if someone whispered directions.
The entrance was framed in ivy, its brick facade softened by creeping vines that half-hid the hand-painted sign. A flower shop spilled color onto the sidewalk beside it, buckets of blooms perfuming the air, while directly across the street a secondhand bookstore leaned into its age, its windows stacked with crooked spines and faded covers that seemed to watch the world from behind glass.
Inside, mismatched tables crowded the floor, some tucked into cozy alcoves where the shadows made you forget the noise of the city outside. The smell of cinnamon and espresso clung to the air, mingling with the faint strains of jazz from an old record player.
It was the sort of spot that made you feel like the city's chaos had paused for just a moment, offering a quiet little pocket that belonged only to you.
"See?" Melissa said, smug as she claimed the corner booth. "Perfect."
Lilith took in the ivy-framed windows, the low hum of conversation, and the scent of flowers drifting in from next door. She smoothed the sleeve of her blouse as she slid into the seat, her nose wrinkled at first, but then her lips curved into something softer, reluctant but genuine.
"It's not my usual glass and chrome scene," she admitted, brushing a hand over the worn wooden table as if testing its history. "But it does have a certain quiet charm like stepping into someone's well-kept secret."
"This feels illegal," Jaxon said, sliding into their booth with a lazy grin. "A place in New York that isn't screaming at you to buy something or move faster. What's the catch?"
"Catch is, you don't deserve it," Melissa said.
They moved through the tucked-away café. Melissa headed straight for the counter, selecting a perfectly layered acai bowl and a green smoothie. Lilith followed, choosing a delicate almond croissant and a cappuccino.
Jaxon grabbed a tiramisu slice and a black coffee. Hayden picked a bagel with cream cheese and a simple latte.
Dimitri paused at the dessert case, eyes lingering on the small chocolate tart glinting under the display lights. He already had a hot chocolate in hand, steam curling toward his face, rich and velvety. Unlike most things he denied himself, sweets were one indulgence he never skipped.
With a nod to the barista, he added the tart to his tray, letting himself also grab a chocolate croissant because if he was going to enjoy a rare moment of calm, he might as well do it properly.
Trays in hand, they returned to their corner booth, sunlight spilling over the table and illuminating the pastries.
Melissa immediately launched into a passionate argument about the ethics of a new law firm case, gesturing animatedly. Dimitri bit into the chocolate tart, letting the sweetness settle over him, grounding him in the moment. Hayden, sipping his latte, continued listening to Melissa, but his gaze occasionally flicked toward Dimitri, subtle and attentive.
"You'd think adults wouldn't need to be told not to lie under oath," Melissa muttered, jabbing her spoon into the acai bowl like it had personally wronged her before chasing it with a sip of her green smoothie.
"Hope for humanity dashes again," Dimitri said.
Lilith nudged him. "You're not off the hook. What about your students? Any tragic cases of plagiarism to report?"
He smiled, "One turned in a final paper with half the citations still saying, 'insert source here.' It was almost poetic in its laziness."
The table roared with laughter, Jaxon clutching his chest like he was personally offended by the lack of effort.
Amidst the chaos, Hayden excused himself to take a phone call outside. Standing by the glass windows, phone pressed to his ear, his voice lowered into that calm, measured tone he used when dealing with business. As he spoke, his eyes strayed, first idly, then with the faintest flicker of focus.
Across the street, by the cluttered window display of the bookstore, stood a man who didn't quite fit into the background. His platinum-blond hair caught the sunlight like threads of silver, too striking to miss. He adjusted the strap of a worn satchel on his shoulder, thumbing through a battered paperback as though oblivious to the world but then, as if he felt the weight of Hayden's gaze, the stranger looked up.
For a heartbeat, pale eyes locked with his. A faint curve tugged at the man's mouth, something between a smirk and a smile, and then, with infuriating ease, he winked.
Hayden's grip on the phone tightened, though his voice didn't waver. He finished his sentence smoothly, masking the small hitch of distraction, but his chest carried the echo of that quicksilver expression. By the time he glanced back, the man had disappeared into the flow of the street, as if he'd never been there at all.
When Hayden returned to the table, Dimitri gave him a quick look. "Everything alright?"
"Fine," he said, smiling faintly, though his gaze seemed to drift for a moment before he reached for his latte. The conversation around the table pulled him back in quickly enough, laughter weaving through the cafe.
They stayed there until the afternoon when the cafe closed. Dimitri's apartment was sad to look at, bare of food or anything remotely welcoming, so Melissa suggested they at least stock him up. They ended up at Key Food, weaving through aisles like old times, arguing over brands of pasta and debating which coffee to buy.
When they got back to Dimitri's place, the groceries were unpacked and shoved into cupboards and a fridge that had been empty for far too long. Afterwards, they all settled into their own rhythm.
The hours stretched, daylight bleeding out until dusk began to creep over the city. Outside, New York stirred the way it always did at that hour, the low hum of traffic swelling into a restless chorus, horns sharp against the background murmur of conversation and footsteps on the sidewalks below.
Somewhere down the block, music leaked from a bar just opening its doors, a bass line pulsing faintly through the walls. The city was shedding its skin, slipping from the workday into the electricity of night.
Inside, each of them drifted into their own world. Jaxon sprawled across the couch like he owned it, flipping through channels only to abandon the remote on the cushions. Melissa perched at the coffee table, a book open in her lap though her eyes hadn't moved past the same page in ages.
Hayden, steady as always, had sunk into the armchair as he dozed, his soft breathing almost lost beneath the distant noise outside. Lilith sat on the other end of the couch, absently worrying the sleeve of her sweater, her gaze darting every so often to Dimitri.
And Dimitri, he sat at the window, a cigarette unlit between his fingers, watching the glow of the city swallow the last trace of daylight. He didn't speak, didn't move much, only listened to the life outside his apartment, feeling the tension coil tighter with every passing hour.
They were all doing their own thing, yet together in their waiting.
A knock finally broke through the quiet.
Everyone startled, heads snapping toward the door. Dimitri was already rising, pulse quickening. Hayden's eyes opened instantly, focused and unblinking, in a way that made it seem as though he had never been sleeping at all as his head turned towards the door. Even Jaxon froze mid-stretch, the usual smirk gone from his face.
Axel Warren stood in the doorway. At his side was Agent Carver, tall, lean, with the kind of posture that made him seem carved from discipline itself. There was a presence around him that screamed combat training and high-stakes operations.
They didn't know who Agent Carver was, but the presence he carried made it clear he was someone important to this case. The fact that Axel had brought him over left no doubt, everyone, including Dimitri, understood that they must have uncovered something serious.
Dimitri turned to his friends, softening his tone. "Alright. Show's over."
Jaxon bristled. "You're kicking us out? Just like that?"
"Yes," Dimitri said firmly. Then, at the questions and unease flickering across their faces, he added, "Listen to me. If there's danger, real danger, to any of you, you'll know before anyone else. I'll make sure of it. But you can't be here for this."
Melissa shoved her glasses up her nose, visibly reluctant but rational enough to stand.
"Fine. Just don't think you're protecting us by lying later."
Lilith lingered, her eyes darting to Axel, then Carver, then Dimitri again. Her voice was quiet, "Is it that bad?"
Dimitri's chest tightened. He didn't answer. He only pressed a hand gently to her shoulder and guided her toward the door.
"Go home, Lilith. Please."
As she stepped forward, Jaxon, who had been watching her closely, reached out and gently took her hand. Lilith didn't pull away, instead, she let him hold it for a moment, leaning slightly into the small comfort it offered before finally stepping out with him.
The door closed, their footsteps fading, and the silence that remained was heavy.
Axel stepped fully inside, his presence filling the apartment. He exchanged a look with Carver, then met Dimitri's eyes.
"We found her," Axel said grimly.