"Christ, Tasha, do you know what time it is?" Zachariah demanded as he finally opened the door on her insistent hammering.

She didn't even have the heart to tease him about light blasphemy. "It's not that late," she retorted gesturing at him to ask if he was going to let her in.

Zachariah sighed and stepped aside to let her in and she didn't hesitate to make a beeline to his room, waving a greeting at his housemates. He followed obediently enough, recognising the state she was in. Whatever it was was important now that she'd finally made a decision about what to do about it. "What's going on?" He asked as he pulled the door closed behind her.

"Did you keep digging?" She asked.

"Why?"

"Because I did," she admitted.

Zachariah couldn't even hide his curiosity. Not when it sounded like she'd had far more success than him. "What've you found?"

Natasha swallowed, briefly reconsidering, before shaking her head at herself. "I found out what Allerton was sent," Natasha explained. "It was on the shared drive and it was a bloody link anyway -"

"Tasha," Zachariah said, trying to cajole her back on track.

"Right," she realised. "Olivia never even accessed the file. Why would she send Allerton a link to a file she'd never even looked at?"

"Because she didn't need to to know what was in it?"

Natasha shrugged. "If it were a file I'd read over someone's shoulder I'd want to make sure I got the right one," she said as if it were obvious. "But Joe did, and not half an hour before that email went out."

"And you know that how?" Zachariah asked shrewdly.

"You sure you want me to answer that?"

Zachariah sighed. She was probably right about that. "So - what? - you think Joe set Olivia up for some reason?" He asked, and Natasha nodded. "Why?"

"Does that matter?"

"People don't do things without a motive -" He stopped abruptly halfway through as something occurred to him. "Allerton spent all afternoon in a meeting with HR… Joe and Sofia are probably the least safe seeing as their PhDs are coming to an end this year…"

"How does getting Olivia into Allerton's good books help with that?"

"But is she?" Zachariah asked. "Her info made the demo blow up in all our faces, but especially Allerton's. And it also makes us all distrust her. That means she's already a problem, before her probationary period is up."

"Do students even have probie periods?"

Zachariah glared at her, that was so not his main point. "Shit, are we really that screwed that we're losing a team member?"

Natasha shrugged hopelessly. "It's starting to seem that way, and it explains a lot."

"But why would he do that? It's not like he would've known. I mean, I know Allerton has been refusing to confirm if she's keeping him or Sofia on after this year… even before the demo. But… I don't see what he thinks he'd gain by doing this."

Natasha shook her head as if she couldn't provide any answers. Zachariah turned to his desk and rummaged until he wrapped his hands around the e-cigarette, only because he knew Natasha would actually start a fight with him if he went for the more easily accessible box of real ones he'd never got around to throwing out. He was at his window in moments to breath out into the night sky.

"Shit, Zach, what do I do? If I'm right he's broken IT policy but I've little proof and it's a pretty minor thing. But can I just let it slide after what it caused?"

Zachariah couldn't remember the last time he'd heard Natasha sound so unsure about anything. In all the time they'd known each other, she'd always known her own mind even when it led her to make mistakes. She owned them too. "It seems petty to report him for that, at least until we've got more to go on. Like you said, you've no proof and it'll only cause more disruption."

Natasha nodded to herself, that made sense. She just wished it felt like it was the right decision.

~-x-~

When Joseph and Sofia arrived at the lab the following morning, Sofia was starting to think Zachariah giving up smoking was a bad idea. He barely noticed them greet him, and he was fidgeting even more than usual. She made a note to talk to either Natasha or Antonis about him later, there was no point talking to him if someone else already had.

She hadn't even finished making their coffee when the door opened. Sofia was halfway through turning to ask Olivia if she wanted a coffee when she recognised Allerton had walked through the door instead and came to an abrupt stop.

"Ah, Sofia, you're already here," Allerton started. Sofia turned wide eyes to Joseph and Zachariah, the former looked as baffled as she did, the latter was all but glaring at their boss. "Please can I have a word with you in my office."

Sofia simply put the kettle down and followed her boss from the room, not really trusting her voice to work to ask the question she wanted to. And not sure if she wanted to in front of the others. Then again, Natasha always said there was a benefit to having backup. Or was that Antonis about certain video games?

Sofia turned to slowly close the door behind her once they arrived in the office, hoping to buy a few seconds to compose herself before facing Allerton.

"There's no easy way to have this conversation," Allerton started, barely waiting for the door to click closed. "But I have had to make the difficult decision that we won't be offering you a place after your PhD is complete."

If Sofia's gut hadn't been churning before, it definitely was now. She swallowed and turned to her boss. "Is there anything I can do to change your mind?"

Allerton shook her head. "No, we don't have the funding available to retain six staff members. I wish it weren't true, you have been a valuable asset to the team, and I am sorry to have to let you go in the summer."

Sofia nodded, trying to set her jaw. "Then, I guess there is nothing else I need to say right now?"

"No, I guess not," Allerton agreed airily.

Sofia bit the inside of her cheek to prevent herself reacting from the tone. "If I may, I do not know if you can tell me, but how many staff are you keeping?"

"Why? Do you wish to argue your case against another member of staff?" Allerton asked, and if Sofia didn't know any better she'd say that her boss sounded almost gleeful at the prospect.

"No," Sofia decided, looking at her feet.

"That's what I thought," Allerton said, and turned back to her computer.

Sofia didn't say anything else but waited a heartbeat to see if Allerton was going to say anything else, then promptly left. Naturally both Joseph and Zachariah asked her what had happened, but she put them off by asking if the coffee was ready now. Olivia was the only one who dared offer the Italian a mug of coffee, which Sofia found oddly funny.

She promised them she was fine and just ignored any other attempts by them to talk about it, and they'd taken the hint before Natasha arrived. Other than Zachariah's agitation, things had almost settled back down to normal by the time Antonis arrived. That seemed to prompt Zachariah into action, telling everyone to stay where they were whilst he went to retrieve everyone from the lab.

"What is he up to?" Antonis asked. "What can we need a meeting about today?"

"Allerton already pulled Sofia into her office, maybe -" Joseph said, causing Sofia to turn sharply with wide, worried eyes.

"Sofia, answer honestly, do you want to talk about it?" Natasha interrupted, and based on Antonis' reaction she hadn't been the only one to clock Sofia's reaction. Sofia shook her head, she really didn't want to talk about it. "Then we don't," Natasha promised, standing and marching straight into the lab, practically colliding with Zachariah as he returned with Olivia.

"Where are you going?" Zachariah asked.

"Lab, now," Natasha stated in a way that brooked no room for argument, though Zachariah looked to be considering it. Olivia scurried to her desk and out of the way. Finally Zachariah set his jaw and turned around. Natasha glanced over her shoulder to share a look with Antonis before she followed him.

Stolen story; please report.

"We're listening, right?" Joseph asked.

"Ochi," Antonis replied firmly, moving between everyone and the lab door. He hadn't needed Natasha's look to know to keep everyone separate right now.

Meanwhile, in the lab, Zachariah was furious. "What are you doing?" He demanded.

"What am I doing?" Natasha asked. "What are you up to?"

"Oh, come on! After our discussion last night and now Allerton has an impromptu meeting with Sofia you can't believe we don't need a team meeting to get to the bottom of this so that we can mount a response!"

"Zach!" Natasha snapped. "This isn't a game! Yes, of course I want to know what Allerton said to Sofia, but you cannot just assume that Sofia wants to talk about it! Especially if our worst fears have been confirmed. That's entirely too personal to demand her to explain."

Zachariah set his jaw, because deep down he knew Natasha was right. He just didn't want to admit to it. He wanted to be able to fight for their team. "We can't just give up."

"I'm not suggesting we do," Natasha retorted. "Maybe one of us would storm back into the office ready to rant and rave, but if she's not ready to talk about it…" She trailed off, unsure how to explain how she thought Sofia would feel betrayed by them if they forced her to reveal something she wasn't ready to.

Zachariah deflated at that. "Okay," he sighed, rubbing at his face. "We'll play it your way for now."

~-x-~

"Sofia? Are you okay?" Joseph asked unsurely.

"Sì," she replied, with a too bright smile for the way she'd been staring despondently at her dinner.

Joseph didn't say anything for a moment, before the silence got to him again and he asked, "this is about what happened with Allerton this morning, isn't it?"

"Giù," Sofia started tiredly.

"No, whatever it is has sent you into a spin all day," Joseph interrupted whatever she was about to say. She narrowed her eyes at him briefly before turning back to her food with a sigh. "Please, just tell me what's bothering you?"

Sofia scoffed but said nothing.

"Fine, stay moody, why would I care?"

Sofia glared at him for that, and simply grabbed her plate and stood up. Joseph then realised his mistake. "Sofia, wait -"

She didn't let him try and apologise, simply left the room and shut herself in their room and pushed an end table against the door in the hope that if Joseph tried the door, it would provide enough resistance to make him rethink it.

She sat on the edge of their bed as she finished eating. She wanted to scream at him. She wanted to hug him. It wasn't his fault, yet she also knew that Allerton hadn't had a discussion with anyone else. That meant she was the only one. That made her sad, yet guilty that she wasn't happier for Joseph that he would get a job when they finished their projects.

Once her plate was empty all she could do was stare at it, and gave a bitter laugh as she realised an empty plate was a perfect metaphor to how empty she now felt; drained and guilty.

She looked up at the door. She didn't want to open it and find out what was waiting for her on the other side, but she also couldn't hide forever.

Joseph looked up from his laptop as she reappeared, walking through the to the kitchen to wash her plate up. Sofia didn't know if she felt better or worse that he didn't say anything but just let her do her thing.

"I am sorry," she said when she returned to the living room.

Joseph looked up at her softly spoken apology, and moved his computer to the coffee table. "Sofia, you know you can tell me anything, right?"

She nodded, and flopped down onto the other side of the sofa. "I will not be given a job at the end of my project," she explained quietly.

"What?" Joseph demanded, causing her to look up sharply, before he reigned himself in with a visible effort. "Sorry, I just… I assumed it was bad but not… Why?"

"Allerton said she did not have enough money to keep all of us."

"So why you and not Olivia?" He asked, and she shrugged. "Did you even ask?"

"Allerton said it was finalised," Sofia explained.

"But it doesn't have to be you," Joseph said. "You have so many skills to bring to the table, you've been here longer than her… We can definitely make a case for you to stay instead -"

"I know!" Sofia suddenly snapped. Joseph stopped dead as he gaped at her. "Toni has all the same chemical knowledge as you, and whilst Tasha shares some of my computing skills, my abilities are far greater than hers. Olivia will be cheaper to keep than either of us once we are staff rather than students. Zach, Toni and Tasha have all been there long enough for it to be more expensive to get rid of them than either of us. If someone is going to go it is down to one of us."

"But -"

"No," Sofia put her foot down. "I might bring more skills to the table than you, but I do not have your connections."

"You think I pulled some strings to stay over you?"

"I do not know anymore!" Sofia shouted. "All I know is that I do not want to go, but I do not want to be the reason that you have to go either."

Joseph had no response to that. He knew exactly how that felt.

~-x-~

"Toni," Natasha started after Sofia got up to go for her lunch.

"Naí?" Antonis asked, looking up from his desk.

"Those doughnuts you use to bribe us, where do you get them from?"

If Antonis hadn't been suspicious from the way she'd called his name to start the conversation, he certainly was now. "Why?"

"Because I think Joe pissed in Sofia's coffee and I want to fix things before they get worse."

Antonis chuckled to himself. "I never thought I would see you play cupid."

Natasha rolled her eyes at him. "It's not about them, it's about the team," she explained.

Antonis locked his computer and Natasha quirked an eyebrow at him. "They do good sandwiches too," he offered as an explanation. She shook her head hopelessly at him but followed suit and grabbed her coat.

They were the last ones back from lunch, not entirely surprised to find the mood in the office the same sombre it had been all morning. Sofia and Joseph kept giving each other the side eye, each of them alternating between stern and regretful. None of them knew what had happened between them, but were growing more and more concerned as neither felt the need to explain and also worried that it had something to do with Allerton's meeting with Sofia the previous day.

"What did you do this time, Tasha?" Zachariah teased as they returned laden with a tray of sweet treats.

"Why assume it's my fault?"

"Actually, it was your idea."

"Grass!" Natasha teased as she pretended to be grumpy with Antonis for outing her concern.

Antonis and Sofia shared a confused look. "A tattle-tale," Zachariah explained, knowing where the confusion arose. "Someone who didn't keep a secret," he added when his initial synonym didn't provide the clarification he hoped for.

"Why?" Joseph asked.

"Because something's wrong today, and the only solution I have right now is pudding," Natasha shrugged.

"I'd say it's usually the answer," Zachariah agreed.

"Why do you think I used it to make Nat like me?" Antonis chuckled.

"These are up for grabs then, right?" Zachariah checked, and both Natasha and Antonis nodded, and everyone dived in. "So, am I allowed to ask the question on everyone's mind?"

"Almost certainly not," Natasha retorted.

"You have no room to talk, your other plan was to lock them in the lab together until they made up," Antonis said as he also plucked a pastry from the tray.

"That obvious, huh?" Joseph asked, casting a glance at Sofia who was staring at her feet.

"Oh, yeah," Zachariah confirmed.

"I will not be here when I have finished my thesis," Sofia finally admitted.

The office fell into stunned silence as the rest of the team - apart from Joseph - turned to each other as if to ask if they knew this was coming. "What?" Natasha finally managed to ask.

"She said we do not have the funds to keep all of us," Sofia said. "So she is letting me go."

Everyone else - apart from Joseph - shared a look. "Screw this," Natasha muttered to herself as she stood up. "Stay put," she added before stalking out of the office.

"Why do I get the feeling this is something we should stop her doing?" Zachariah asked worriedly.

Natasha didn't even bother knocking but just stormed straight into Allerton's office, only to kick the door shut behind her. "I take it Sofia finally told you then?" Allerton asked as if this was an expected occurrence.

"When were you going to tell us about the funding?" Natasha asked.

Allerton finally looked up. "When it became your business."

"Let me guess, that's never?" Natasha asked sarcastically. Allerton simply gave an innocent half shrug. "Okay, next question, why Sofia?"

"We did an assessment, and we decided she had the least use to the department," Allerton explained far too sweetly. "And frankly, Natasha, this isn't anything to do with you."

"Sofia had the least use?" Natasha quoted sardonically. "What assessment did you even do?"

"Plenty, now -"

"Assuming that Olivia is the cheapest to keep, and therefore is safe," Natasha interrupted, putting her hands onto the desk to lean towards Allerton. "Then I assume you did a financial assessment of what it would cost to get rid of Zach, Toni or I against the skills we have, it came down to it being either Joe or Sofia?" Natasha paused only long enough to gauge Allerton's reaction to see how close she was. "Sure, makes sense, it sucks but there's a logic that makes sense. So then it comes down to what they bring to the table. Joe brings a chemistry background, one that Toni shares, whereas Sofia brings computing skills none of us match."

"As you say, it comes down to what they bring to the table," Allerton agreed.

"Then why lose Sofia?" Natasha asked. "It doesn't -" she started, only to stop dead when she realised something based on the smug look on Allerton's face. "They don't just bring skills… and Joe has more connections."

"Not that he ever uses them, the fool," Allerton agreed casually. Holding up her hand as Natasha looked set to berate her for that comment. "His family is a resource we can leverage, whether he wants to or not. His family has connections to wider industry."

"They have little to do with our area," Natasha scoffed.

"Sometimes, Natasha, you are just as naive as the rest of them," Allerton said with a sigh and a shake of her head. "Once you get high enough in business you rub shoulders and mingle with the same in other industries, it's a closed network."

"And what if you're wrong?" Natasha asked, straightening up and folding her arms. "What if Joe refuses to give you your in? Then we've lost a valuable asset for no reason."

"Everyone is replaceable."

"Even you?"

Allerton frowned but otherwise let the question go unanswered. "I would advise you to keep this discussion between us," she finally said, turning back to the paperwork on her desk. "Otherwise, I will be forced to add a third written warning to the one I now need to write."

Natasha set her jaw, before spinning on her heel and stalking out of the office in a very similar manner to the one she'd entered in. Returning to the team office in a similar state.

"Please tell me there's some more coffee on the go?" Natasha half demanded when she returned to the office and flopped into her chair disheartenedly.

"So you still have a job then?" Zachariah asked as Antonis turned to make some coffees.

"Just about," Natasha admitted. "On the bright side, one more outburst from me and you'll be safe, Sofia."

"Nat," Antonis started.

"Don't, Toni, there's nothing I can do but joke about it now," Natasha said as if it were obvious.

"Thank you, for trying," Sofia said sincerely, but feeling incredibly small that right now Natasha was on her second written warning because of her and Joseph.

"No worries," Natasha assured her, as Antonis handed her a mug. "We're not going down without a fight."

Everyone else shared a look, Joseph, Olivia and Sofia were rather stunned, whereas Antonis and Zachariah's shared glance was rather more knowing. "What's the plan?" Zachariah asked.

Natasha chewed her lip for a moment as she thought, before turning to Antonis, who nodded once. "If money is the only issue, we look to secure more. Screw Allerton, she only complicates things, we'll do what we can to save the team."