The world began to slow down again and ES.W.A.T. began to regain its balance of routine missions after the hype of the sting on the congressional house had slowed down. The training continued and Talina was reinstated as a member of Squad Six. Occasionally as they were rotated back into the routine of going on missions they would borrow other members of other squads to partner with her to keep the numbers even, but none of the combat numbers ever added up to the way they did when she and Tereus worked together.

Lance was in his office puzzling out this very problem when Deunan came to see him one afternoon during a break in the training day. "Captain, I think there's a problem in Squad Two."

Hearing that there was yet another problem that was about to be dumped into his lap he turned to give her his full attention, and was surprised to see a slight smile on Deunan's face. "Well? What's this problem?"

"It looks like Tereus's combat numbers have dropped some in the last couple of weeks. Even working with me and Briarios his mind's been on something else. I think that he's seriously considering asking for a transfer to Squad Six." To anyone else it was obvious that Tereus had become quite fond of the computer specialist. Yet like with her and Briarios, it didn't interfere with his work as a member of ES.W.A.T. but had instead, pushed his combat numbers higher when he was partnered with her. Deunan was ready to push the issue and get the man the transfer so he wouldn't have to ask if it meant that she'd stop having to look at his confusion all day.

"Tereus huh? You think he'd be a good partner for Talina out in the field?" While Lance was asking from a purely professional standpoint, he knew that Deunan was just nosy enough to put in from a personal perspective as well.

"Absolutely. We've all trained with her while the hacking incident was going on and their combat data speaks for itself. No one else comes even close to their level of efficiency out in the field except Briarios and myself." Deunan shrugged with a smile. "And if I may say so sir. Transferring Tereus over would balance out the teams combat wise, as well as emotionally."

That brought Lance up short. "Emotionally?"

Deunan chuckled, "He may not look it, but Tereus is going to worry himself into gray hairs about Talina if he's not the one watching her six while she's out on assignments. He knows she's as good as he is and that she's got the same training. But that's not going to stop him from worrying about her. Same with her. Talina's not as worried about him, but something happened while she was under house arrest, and I think they've come to an understanding of sorts about their relationship within the boundaries of work and play." Deunan had been observing the two and had seen the little gestures between the two.

Tereus was not a very physical person, taking after Briarios in that fact unless it was someone he cared about deeply. There were small gestures of affection between the two, the light touch on the arm when they'd part ways, a glance when no one else should have been looking, and the occasional flower that had been left on Talina's desk. Talina had been getting questions about a secret admirer but only gave a secretive smile when she was asked, stating that there was no secret admirer to ask about. Yes, Deunan was certain that an understanding had been reached between the two and Tereus had finally found his own girl to protect.

Lance had to agree that on paper Talina and Tereus were two of a kind working out on the field. They had proven that they could effectively work with others, but the numbers just supported that they worked best with each other. It was almost as if they had an extra set of senses when it came to the other person. Now he was starting to get an understanding of why. If they were indeed another Deunan and Briarios pairing, then it would be to the benefit of ES.W.A.T. that he paired them up. The only thing he'd have to do is get this past Nike.

Six months later...

"Talina hurry up we got company!" Tereus yelled from just outside the door to the mainframe room where Talina was hacking the stand alone network leaving her squad free to take out their targets. Tereus was watching her back and it looked like they had been discovered by the wandering security drones who were now calling in backup.

Talina grinned and pulled herself out of the network, but not before leaving a little surprise. Grabbing her weapon she called out over the tacnet. "OK boys and girls, lets blow this popsicle stand!" Grinning at her partner who could only shake his head in amusement at her vivacious personality he followed her down the hall, mowing down the security drones and whatever else happened to get in their way to make it back to the drop point. Sure, life hadn't been boring in the least with Deunan and Briarios, but Talina brought a whole new definition to the word interesting. It was different, but now, he wouldn't have it any other way.