Nathan Price was ecstatic as he walked down the halls of the Post, seeing a werewolf on his left walking towards him in full kit ready for battle; they nodded at each other as they passed one another. The long hallways of Shadow Fox PMC was one of the things he would miss here, the off gray walls, constant sounds of gunfire, and shouts of sergeants being a staple he’d known almost his entire life.
Finally making it to the commander's office he reached the secretary’s desk where Stacy Cooper sat, a 27 year old woman who had been treating him like a little brother since she got hired around six years ago. Her light blonde hair and slim body with a cute face, she was very popular though he’d never seen a guy around her, most being scared of her boss Commander Frey.
He gave her a teasing smile asking. “Soo.. Guess what came in today?” “The admission came in?! Well, what does it say?.” She asked, leaning over her desk eager to know if he was accepted. “Well if you really must know!” he teased. “ I was accepted!” Stacy squealed, running around her desk and throwing her arms around him. She had a bit of trouble with her being 5 '5 at best and rail thin and him being around 6' 3 and 210 pounds of pure muscle her arms barely fit around him but the sentiment was there.
Laughing Nathan put his arms around her and squeezed her back, making her squeak from the pressure of it which made him laugh even harder. Letting her go he asked. “ Is Commander Frey in?” “You know he would be hurt to hear you call him that right? The man sees you as the son he never had, for how long you two have been together it's not much of a surprise either.” she shot back her question. “ I know but you know how I feel about separating work and private life and I still need to report to him about the job last night.” he answered. “Fine, but you better tell him the good news too! For one he’s the only family you have and two you’ll need to start up your separation paperwork.”
He grimaced thinking about the paperwork he would need to go through, knowing it was necessary or it would show he was still available for jobs. He didn’t want to start any new work when he got to school, not wanting to be too overwhelmed. The last thing he wanted was to waste all the time he had already spent. He had been working through his business degree for the last few years online. Deciding that he would go into school full time in the last six months or so, so he could finish it off, to experience a somewhat normal life for the first time in ten years.
Walking up to Commander Darron Frey’s door Nathan straightened his clothes and knocked on the door. “ Come in!” a deep voice bellowed through the door. Nathan opened the door to see the Commander at his desk, Darron Frey had been in the merc business for many years and it showed, with the small scars on his arms you could see from his rolled up sleeves on his uniform. The cut on the side of his chin where a bullet had nicked him that showed with a bald spot on his salt and peppered small beard, and the hair on his head that matched his face with its own set of white and black, his short military cut hair that was all topped off with his forest green eyes.
Nathan walked in the office standing at rest as he waited for Commander Frey to finish typing on his computer before the Commander turned to face him, his eyes lighting up in recognition. “Nathan! How are you? I heard you had a mission last night. Did everything go okay?” Commander Frey asked. “Sir, the mission went as expected. There were 30 shifters in total, most being werewolves. I was able to neutralize 26 of them before the rest caught on. Three tried to attack me together and were dispatched. The problem came with the last one that ran off and broke the quarantine. I was able to chase him down and kill him but not before he broke into a house and attacked a family luckily there was no dead but there were injured and they will need to be briefed on the paranormal.”
Commander Frey waved off Nathan’s words and pointed to a seat in front of the desk after he finished his report, saying. “Nate please relax and just Darron is fine you know that, besides I've already heard from the recovery team and the police on scene. They were very impressed with your work but then again I don't think they were expecting the ‘Wraith’ to show up. After seeing the work you did inside that warehouse and how you chased down that last werewolf, let's just say there were more than a few good words to say about you.”
Nathan relaxed his posture, went around and sat in the leather office chair in front of Darron’s desk before Darron continued. “Now as you know the payment for the job will be sent into your account. There are a few other jobs that are open if you want me to send them to you to look at?” Nathan took a deep breath knowing he needed to let Darron know his plans. “Actually… I got an email today from Halton University… they have accepted me into this coming semester, so I'm planning to stop taking jobs for now.”
Darron was stunned for a second listening to Nathan speak before a huge grin split his face and he reached into his desk and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and started pouring while speaking. “Congratulations! I’m so proud of you! I know your mother and father would be proud of you too. They told me so many times of how much they hoped to see you thrive and live a life you could be happy with, if this is what you want you have all of my support. Here we need to drink to this good news. I know you’ve been hoping to get accepted there so you could finally go home.”
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Nathan accepted the drink that was handed to him and taking a sip and feeling the smooth burn exhaling he laughed and spoke. “I can’t thank you enough for all the help you've given me over the years, you pretty much raised me after my parents murder and helped me get the teaching and strength I would need to fight back. I know you were against it at first but I honestly am happy with how my life has gone. I know there have been many losses and we’ve both felt that, but I've also made a lot of friends here that I'll miss.”
Darron smiled sadly as he looked into his drink remembering the night he found Nathan after his parents had been killed. Giving a small shake of his head he replied. “Nate you’ve been like a son to me and you know that if you ever need anything, that I will always be there for you, blood or not. Speaking of blood though, my daughter will be going to Halton this year too though as a freshman.”
Surprised Nathan’s drink went down the wrong pipe causing him to choke, coughing he cleared his throat before asking. “Cass will be heading to college?! The last time I saw her she was so small it’s crazy to think she will be heading to college already!” Darron laughed at Nathan as he replied. “Nate you’re not much older than her you know, she was about nine when yall last saw each other with you just turning twelve.”
“Huh it feels like it’s been a lifetime since I last saw her, maybe that's why it’s so shocking.” Nathan said. “Probably a life of combat does that to a person over time, you’ll blink your eyes and years will have passed and you’ll feel double that in age.” Nathan nodded at Darron’s words having felt it himself ten years had flown by between the training, fighting, killing, and repeating it all over again he could easily feel the strain over time it had caused on him.
Nathan shot his drink back, finishing it off before standing up he spoke. “Well Sir, I wanted to let you know so the separation packet can be started, I plan to use my remaining time here finding a place close to the college to live in.” Darron scratched his chin along his scar before asking. “Do you have any preferences on where you want to live? Would you care if it's just a room?” Nathan thought about it before replying. “I mean I only really need a room I don't own much and what I do I plan on driving down there. Why do you have an idea of where I can live?”
Darron gave a shit eating grin as he answered. “Wellll as you know I live about fifteen minutes from the college, and we happen to have a room open. I'm sure that Shannon would love to have you stay with us. She's asked about you a lot since it happened.” Nathan was a little leery of the offer. Not that he didn’t trust him but it was a lot different from when he was a kid, he was a man now and didn’t want to make their family uncomfortable.
“I don’t know… that would be a lot to ask plus like i said i plan to bring down my collection and i would want that in a secure room or vault in a house with others. Also how much do they know?” Darron grimaced knowing he needed to come clean on some things. “Okay here's the deal. Someone may have sent me information about a possible threat to me. I’m not worried about myself, but Cassie and Shannon don’t know about the paranormal. They know that I work as Shadow Fox’s Commander but they don’t know all we do.”
Nathan wasn't super happy about having to change his plans but this was for Darron, his commander, his teacher, and one of the few he would call family. “Alright i’ll do it but if there is a valid threat then I'm gonna need to see layouts of the house and I'll for sure need a room for my collection. If we can make that happen then I'll feel confident in being able to help as long as you understand I still plan to go college. So we’ll need to set up guards around the property for when I'm not there.” Nathan laid out as he sat back down in his chair, his face taking on a hard edge as his eyes gave off a slight blue glow to them.
The two spent the next hour going over plans from setting up cameras where to station other mercs from Shadow Fox that would be under Nathan while the mission was on going. They then went through different people who they thought would be best to take the mission with both throwing out names until they had a full team set up. The team would meet Nathan later around the town next to the college, the hardest part of the mission being keeping Cassie and Shannon not knowing about the others hiding out in the woods around the property.
Nathan stood up again stretching his back and letting out a groan before starting to talk. “Well I think this is the best we’re gonna get for now. Will you let the others know or should I?” “I will, it's my problem and I'm gonna be the one paying them, you just let me know if you have any problems with them.” Darron answered. Nathan gave a brief nod before reaching his hand across the desk, Darron taking it in his own hand giving Nathan a smile as they shook. “I know you’ll protect them, just try to stay safe yourself too. And enjoy your time in college, you deserve the break and the fun that it can be.” After their hands split apart Nathan did an about face and left the office thinking about what his soon to be future would entail.