She didn’t buy it. She never did. But instead of pressing, she just held my gaze for a beat longer, then went back to her notes. Like she trusted that if it mattered, I’d say it.
That was the difference.
Not protection. Partnership.
I moved toward the coffee pot, refilling my mug while Brutus and Ranger argued quietly over something involving ammo counts and whether Brutus had “borrowed” more than his share. Doc passed through with a scowl, muttering about hydration like it was a personal moral failing to forget water existed.
Normal.
Cap stood near the wall map, arms crossed, eyes sharp. Ghost was at the far end of the table, half in shadow, fingers tapping once against the surface in a slow, deliberate rhythm.
He hadn’t slept.
I could tell by the way his shoulders were locked, by the faint twitch in his jaw every time someone raised their voice. He looked like a man who’d been holding a breath for too long and didn’t intend to let it out.
Cap cleared his throat. “Church in five.”
Amanda stiffened automatically, then caught herself. Her shoulders rolled back. She exhaled. Met my eyes again.
“You good?” I asked quietly.
She nodded. “Yeah. I want to be there.”
That mattered too.
The table filled quickly. Cap took his place at the head, Scout settling into the chair to his right. Scout looked better than he had two days ago. The color was back in his face, his eyes were clearer, but the damage was still there. Wrapped knuckles. A faint tremor he couldn’t quite hide when he reached for his coffee.
Alive didn’t mean unmarked.
Ghost stayed standing.
Cap waited until the room settled. “We’re not here to relive what happened,” he said. “We’re here to talk about what comes next.”
No one argued.
“The ring took a hit,” Cap continued. “We disrupted a supply route. Lost them manpower. Pulled two victims out of rotation and put pressure on their logistics.”
“Pressure doesn’t mean collapse,” Ranger said.
Cap nodded. “Exactly.”
Amanda spoke up, voice steady. “They adapt.”
All eyes flicked to her.
She didn’t shrink. Didn’t apologize for speaking. Just held the room like she belonged there.
“I’ve been going over the patterns from what Ghost pulled,” she continued. “The timing, the locations, the way they moved people. They don’t scramble. They redirect.”
Ghost’s fingers stopped tapping.
Cap gestured for her to continue.
“They plan in layers,” Amanda said. “If one path fails, another is already in motion. Which means what we stopped was never the end goal.”
A low murmur moved through the room.
Scout swore under his breath. “So we didn’t shut them down. We just knocked on the door.”
