Necessity Dictates Rules

I'm just going to reuse this image, picturing Matt giving Nikki some tips on how to properly embrace his girl... *krhm*

***

The man in Nigel's kitchen was the last one he'd imagine to be giving him relationship advice. First, Matt Quill was notorious on not having a relationship himself. He got the ladies yes, but never stuck with them. Second, he had been quite audible in his protests on against Audrye going out with Nigel in the first place. He had been saying that they were doomed and it would all end up in tears, mostly for Audrye since he was convinced that Nigel was some kind of an evolved robot.

"Now look, hacker-boy. First, just because I choose not to date anyone doesn't mean I haven't ever done so or could do so at my will. Second, I was right, wasn't I? But I found out that I really can't stand Addy crying."



Matt paused and looked at Nigel like he was some piece of garbage he had to clean up. Unless he could teach the litter to move on its own.

"Unless you want to give up and just crawl back into whatever hole she found you from?"

Nigel glared at him, ice-blue eyes sparkling with unsaid hatred. But maybe the man was right. Maybe he should just let go of Audrye, go back to Wales and get on with his own work. Except Matt had said that Audrye hadn't let go of him yet. Would it be worth it to try to fix this? Yes, of course it was! If there was any chance of getting Audrye back and to have her smile at him again, it was definitely worth it.

"So what do you have in mind?" he asked with gritted teeth.

"We need to teach you how to manage a girl like Ads. She might seem like high-maintenance, but trust me, once you get the hang of it, it's pretty straight-forward."

"What... are you talking about?" Nigel asked, baffled. He had lost the trail on about the eighth word.

"You need to learn how to keep Ads happy", Matt summed it up. He got a frown in thanks.

"Really now? I thought being miserable was the way to go. Oh thank you, oh mighty sage, for pointing that out!"

"Don't get sarcastic on me", Matt cut in, "You want to keep her happy, but you don't know how."

"How then?" Nigel was defeated. Man was right, he hadn't done a good job on keeping her happy. He hadn't even noticed that she was unhappy, until it was too late.

"Compliments are elementary, but we also need to tackle thoughtful gestures and gifts."

This seemed like a lot of work, but she was worth it.

"And you need to tiptoe around Uniform, until you're in the green with Ads. Let her know beforehand that you're meeting Uni, get her approval and so forth. When she thinks she controls you, she can't say anything about you hanging out with her."

This sounded like a high-end game of poker. Or politics. Nigel shuddered.

"Well that's how it is with women", Matt shrugged, "Now you understand why I keep myself single?"

Audrye was worth it.

"I'll have to take your word for it."

"But it's not even me who calls Emma, unless it's business. She's the one who comes over and chats about unimportant things", Nigel tried to explain.

"If a woman's talking to you, it's never something unimportant", Matt advised.

"But what Emma does with the snob is not important. And I certainly am not interested in it regardless", he replied.

"Irrelevant", Matt stated bluntly, "If you even give hint that you're not interested in the topic, they'll think that you're not interested in them and will get upset. Maybe you could rehearse this with Uniform? Hear her out about her and Danny. And then you'll report it to me and I'll give you pointers on how to better engage yourself in a conversation."

Nigel might have been a n00b when it came to dating but it didn't mean he was stupid.

"You're not still trying to hook up with Emma, are you? It's not going to work, you can't pry her off the snob", he said.

"Yeah, it's getting bad... Why is everyone around me pairing up, huh? Am I really the only one to see that it's not the only option?"

"Says the man trying to fix me and Audrye."

"Touché. Now where were we? Oh, yes, concentration and interest. I'm serious though, talking with Uniform might help you here, since for whatever reason she doesn't seem to be pissed off by you. If you can show interest in her things, you might find it easier to sail smoothly through Addy's never-ending storm of nail polish, fashion and cupcakes", he grimaced. In the end, the thief only played this game with females for one goal.

"And how do I fake interest in something?" Nigel asked.

"You should probably start taking notes", Matt suggested. Meekly, Nigel walked over to the couch, and restarted Rei.

"The very basic thing is to smile and nod. Not too obviously though, since if you're bobbing your head this way and that, it's bound to look suspicious. And for you, maybe not that big of a smile. Compared to your default expression it would set alarms off on anyone. And-"

His voice trailed off in Nigel's ears. Yes, Nuu had been trying to alert him that he had incoming mail. It was marked top-priority, from New York. It was a message from lord Zaphikel. He had been reassigned, to London. Lord Michael had approved the transfer of his guardianship to the other archangel last night. That had went smoothly, way smoother than he had anticipated. A small part of him wanted to say it was suspicious, but he had gotten what he wanted. Right?

He would be working with Audrye now, in the same team. Message said that he was expected to make an appearance so that the new lord could introduce him to the rest of the team once he had himself arrived to London HQ. Now he really had to work things out with her. They couldn't be lashing out at each other, or Zaphikel might just expel him, maybe to Rome.

"-You should always - always! - compliment her hair. Keep track of her hairdo and colour and if anything changes, be sure to mention it!" Matt was ranting on. Mention hair, check.

Lord Zaphikel also expected him to give a full report on his findings on the elemental artefacts. He wanted to secure the rest of them as soon as possible. Dammit, this would take time. Luckily most of them could just be written off as "lost to a rival cult, 99% probability to Mysterium" but he actually had one lead.

London unit had only lost one half of the fire amulet, the half that had belonged to Emma's late brother. The other half, according to the soldier, used to be in the possession of that brother's old fling, Alexander's mother. Who, of course, was none other that one of the highest ranking assassins known: Elea Darkmort. Well, they never said that acquiring massively powerful artefacts was supposed to be easy. Nigel had a feeling that the remaining earth artefact would also be in the possession of another cult leader, he just didn't know which one yet.

"Are you even listening?"

"Hmm? No, something just came up. This is important", Nigel replied, never taking his eyes off the screen. This is why he missed the dark expression on the thief's face.

"More important that this?"

"It's more important that hair, yes."

"Sure, whatever. Go on with your pitiful work and just let your relationship crumble around you. I don't care, not that much. I'll just give Ads a rebound and we'll all be better off."

Nigel finally looked up to the thief. What could he say? He couldn't reveal anything about Zaphikel, not yet.

"This is something that could affect your work, as well as mine", he tried to be cryptic enough, "And the future of the world, if I'm correct."

"You place way too much value on your work, kid", Matt replied unimpressed, "And way too little on anything else."

He was about to continue, but was intercepted when his phone alarmed.

"An urgent meeting at HQ? Do you know something about this?"

Nigel couldn't come up with anything unclassified to say, so he kept his mouth shut. The thief made his own conclusions from that.

"I need to go. And I'm not going to come around any more, if you can't pay attention. You can call me when you get your priorities straight." With that, the man left.

***

Nigel had been up all night, gathering every bit of intel he could find and labelling them according to their credibility. When the Knights had crashed the Pyro lair – their current own HQ – they had found some paperwork suggesting that the Pyro cultists had also been after the other half of the fire amulet. Made sense, since the halves only worked properly together, from what Nigel had gathered.

The Pyro cultists had also found out that the other half was still with Darkmort and that her last known whereabouts were in Liverpool. Considering that it was her hometown, Nigel thought it to be a bad move on her side. He didn't think a knife-wielder of her calibre would show such sentimentality. Unless there was something else there that forced her.

After some datamining, Nigel had confirmed that the assassins had moved their training camp to Liverpool after the Knights had nearly annihilated all of their recruits in Dublin. The Liverpool Knights were already on their trail, but they couldn't do much more than observe with their current resources. There was no lead on Elea from them, but luckily it was not the only source Nigel was using. In fact he had a good hunch that the blade-hand was cooped up somewhere in Anfield. It was grade C intel though, but maybe he could slip it to the team sent there.

The day before, Boss had announced his retirement. He had been quite liked among his subordinates and Nigel was actually surprised that his departure had not raised more questions or protests. Maybe it was indifference mixed with ambitions? The Scott and the thief didn't seem to care who gave the orders. The secretary and the snob would probably fight it out over who was going to be the next leader. Little did they know who they were going against... Even Nigel couldn't make an educated guess what lord Zaphikel would do, although when pressed, his money would have been on the snob, if only because it was the least undesirable choice from his perspective.

Today, the archangel was arriving. Nigel was going through last minute check-ups on his report and suggestions on action. He really didn't need to, he had been thorough, but it helped to keep his nerves at bay. He didn't really know what agitated him more: meeting his new boss or seeing Audrye in person after so many days.

The knock on the door was a nervous one as well. His ride had arrived. Packing up his laptop, he went to open the door, where he found the captain, pursing her lips and glancing nervously over his shoulder, ready to run at the first sight of Audrye.

"She's not here. I was told she's been staying with Roho."

The woman relaxed significantly.

"What's going on, V?" she asked as he closed the door behind him and started to lead her towards the elevator. He assumed she had left her vehicle in the garage. He hoped she had thought of coming by car, but wasn't counting on it. He was embracing himself for his first ride on a motorcycle.

"I need you to specify", he answered truthfully. There was too much going on.

"Byron leaves, we're told that a new brass is coming in today and then I'm told to come pick you up and bring you to the HQ?"

"Well, you're going to hear it soon enough. Try to act surprised though, when it's announced, but I was transferred to your unit a few days ago. So I'm going to work more closely to you – all of you – from now on. The new 'brass' wants a more personal touch, otherwise I would've just done this online", he explained. She seemed even more confused.

"You... know the new boss?" she finally asked.

"Not personally, no. But I've been given instructions."

They reached the parking level and yes, she had rode her bike. He was handed a helmet which he turned around in his hands, like he was expecting it to blow up on him. Perhaps he should give her a heads-up. It was most likely going to play out so she'd be put in a difficult position, of conflicting wants and needs. Some of which she wouldn't know beforehand.

"Listen, Emma, this officer coming over today, he's most likely just a temporary solution, someone who's in charge until they figure out who to put in charge of London. And what to do about London."

"I need you to specify", she said suspiciously, leaning on her bike and crossing her arms.

"You didn't hear this from me, but the higher-ups are not too impressed with you. They want a competent leader who can kick you guys into action. I believe 'proactive' is a word you'll be hearing a lot of in days to come. Someone who'll use all your available resources for a better and more efficient war against death. Most likely they want to see that you step up, so that they can promote someone from your own ranks."

"That would be D, no?" she asked with confidence. Her faith in the man was overwhelming. If only Nigel could share her belief on his qualities.

"Maybe", he eventually replied, "And if that's something you want, you could help him."

"Why wouldn't I want that? He'd be good at it and he likes to be in charge", her quite foreseeable grin after this remark made Nigel roll his eyes. He could predict what she would add, but let her say it anyway: "Although so do I, but not as a squad leader. But what do you mean, help him? I'm sure he can do it on his own."

"Well, better to help him than undermine him, no? Just... If Weston-Pryce is put in any kind of a leadership position, go with what ever he orders. You can live with the consequences, but if you refuse, it might be seen as a fault on his part. Not having enough leadership points or whatever", he tried to say as nonchalantly as possible. She didn't buy it.

"What are you hinting at? What is he going to be ordered to do?" she demanded to know, "I'm not going to be dressed up again, am I?"

"Who knows", he had to say, the slightest smile curling his lips. Seeing her squirming on the thought of a skirt was just so amusing.

***

Meeting Audrye was just as awkward as he had anticipated. The girl would barely look at him and only snorted as a hello. The Mexican had tried to encourage him to break the ice but it hadn't gone well at all. And now Nigel was even more confused about what she was mad about.

Luckily now her attention was drawn to the new acquaintance, who stood at the foot of the conference table. What looked like a man clad in casual black clothing was eyeing everyone calmly with his pitch black eyes. Those eyes like two black holes had been the most nerve-wrecking feature of his old lord as well. Feather wings Nigel could cope with, but eyes like that looked straight into your soul. Of course, no wings protruded from lord Zaphikel's shoulder-blades at the moment. He didn't ride on his archangel status, he didn't even give his true name to his new subordinates.

"You can call me Zack. I am going to be in charge of this unit for the time being", the angel introduced himself with a perfect American accent, "I will be evaluating your performances and then reassign this unit as I see best. There might come changes in hierarchy, but I assume everyone can stay professional."

He wasn't just assuming, he was ordering it. Lord Zaphikel continued his speech in a calm, monotone voice that left no choice but to obey. Celestial charisma, Nigel called it. Lord Michael had the same effect, only with a lot more temper. And Michael acted on his own assumptions. When Michael decided you were something, you were just that, nothing more, nothing less. Zaphikel wanted to see for himself, what became of them. It must be an improvement.

Zaphikel had gone through each of the Knights, greeting them personally, saying a few words on their records. Everyone seemed a bit tense, not knowing what to expect. Nigel knew exactly what to expect as it came to be his turn. All eyes were turned to the hacker, who hadn't ever before been present on any of their meetings. He felt like an intruder. Maybe he was.

"Mr. Willoby is joining our forces as a Grigor. I am sure his skills will prove to be a very valuable asset to us. A demonstration of which follows, as he will brief you on your first new assignment shortly. It is on information provided by Mr. Willoby that we are able to make a strike against the assassins.

"We have located a high-ranking assassin in Liverpool and I will dispatch a team to dispose of this threat. I have also been informed of a great probability that she might be carrying a powerful artefact that we should try to acquire.

"Mr. Weston-Pryce? As your former position as London's first liutenant, I am putting you in charge of this operation."

The snob had taken his demotion with grace which Nigel counted in his favour. Maybe the man had been smart enough to see that lord Zaphikel was only levelling them in order to reinstate their ranks on fresh merits. Or maybe he wasn't as keen to lead as Emma had thought.

"I want you to gather a strike team of four and you will head for Liverpool first thing tomorrow. I have informed the local unit of your arrival. Mr. Willoby will give further instructions", Zaphikel concluded, "Ms. Heartfelt, if you would accompany me, I would have a word with you."

With that he left with the secretary and all eyes were back on Nigel, who wanted to shrink into oblivion.

"I... Krhm, I have confirmed that Darkmort is in Liverpool. She has the other half of the fire amulet. The Liverpool Knights have someone in the inside, they can provide more information of their confirmed position."

"Anything else?" the team leader asked. Should he mention Anfield? And that he had found someone who could easily get them in? Maybe not, it would just freak Emma out. So he said no.

Weston-Pryce quickly eliminated Matt and Audrye from his chosen team, the former because he didn't expect stealth and the latter because Liverpool had a healer of their own. This got a relieved reception from the thief who didn't want to charge against deadly enemies but Audrye got upset as usual. Only this time she openly questioned the snob, being that she was upset to begin with. She was quickly silenced though, which awarded more points from Nigel to Weston-Pryce. From the remaining team members, Emma seemed the most reluctant. This hadn't surprised him, but he hoped she'd keep his previous advice in mind.

"Emma? Is there something I should know?" Weston-Pryce asked her, noticing her sour face on being chosen on this mission. She was about to answer him, but in the last minute she glanced at Nigel who stared back at her.

"Nothing", she finally said, "Nothing that would affect this mission."

She was wrong about that though, but just didn't know it yet. Maybe another heads-up would be necessary. So as the Knights started to leave the conference room, Nigel asked Weston-Pryce to stay behind. As the doors closed, leaving them alone in the room, he asked for his phone. It was a standard-issue smart phone for a Knight, the snob had trashed the more sophisticated version he had had when he had gone AWOL. Nevertheless, it could be reprogrammed to hold the spy-program linked to Emma's wrist computer.

"Captain Ernsthart is unstable", he started to explain, "She has suicidal tendencies, which you might be aware of."

"She's big girl. She can take care of herself", the man replied. Defensive, aren't we? Maybe faith went both ways.

"I don't want to take that risk", he blurted. The program was installing smoothly. He looked up to the man standing before him. He might have Emma's heart, but he wasn't the only one who cared about her.

"Emma... She's my only friend. And I don't want anything to happen to her. So I want you to look after her on your mission."

"Does this have something to do with Liverpool?"

Clever boy. But Nigel had to be the smarter one here. He couldn't anticipate what Emma would tell them and he wouldn't tattle.

"Only in that I can't be there to look after her myself. So I have to trust you instead."

He offered the phone back.

"Write 'hummingbird' in it, all non-caps, and it'll let you see where she is and what she's doing. So keep her safe."

It was done. The soldier was much better suited to be her guardian than he. It would be up to him now, to decide when she didn't need it any more.