Hunter nodded to a soldier and the man brought out another black ops outfit. After Zephyr’s clothes had been turned to copper he had decided to bring a spare set. Once the soldier had handed the outfit to him Hunter asked, “Why did you remove the night vision goggles?”

While he hadn’t seen what had gone on between Zephyr and Zelek it was clear that it was something other than killing the boy. The diamond log was a fair indication of what Zephyr had been after. Wealth. Hunter guessed that the mercenary wished to increase his fortune by use of Zelek’s abilities.

Simon nodded his thanks to Hunter briefly as an extra set of attire was produced from somewhere among the mass of men the vampire had managed to bring with him. Although the black ops apparel was a little confining for his tastes it was certainly preferable to nothing at all. So without a word the merc cut through the remanence of his elaborate coffin, leaving him bare to his element for a few moments before he donned special ops suit which had been granted to him, only once he was properly clothed once more did he turn to face his employer and consider the immortals query. It was a pointless question really considering the man already likely knew the answer, why else does one remove a device which watches them? Because they do not wish to be watched, it was not a difficult concept to grasp. As for why he was disinclined to have his actions observed well, one only needed to glance around the clearing.

However Zephyr doubted that the vampire would react well to any tone of sarcasm or mockery and considering that he wished to preserve as much of his paycheck as possible the merc opted for simple honesty, “To put it plainly, I did not wish to be observed.” The young mans tone was respectful but there was a clear indication of boredom about his features and as he continued to with his response he gestured with one arm towards the small fortune decorating the forest floor, “It should take no great leap of imagination to deduce the motivation behind my actions.”

Done speaking the elemental brought his arm back to his side and watched his employer idly for some type of response, the bad mood he had been experiencing towards the beginning of this assignment was gradually starting to resurface. If Hunter chose to make an issue out of this he would find out exactly how unprofessional the merc could be when he chose.

Now Zephyr was being flippant, but at least he was being honest as well. At this point the matter was moot as the boy was dead and bagged. As Zephyr had been nothing but professional up until this point he would let this incident slide, but he would not tolerate such a blatant disregard of orders again.

“Next time we go on a mission you will be given a personal set of night vision goggles without a camera,” Hunter understood the desire for privacy. The goggles weren’t given cameras just for this mission, they came with them as standard. If Zephyr didn’t want a set with a camera then Hunter would give him his own pair. Should he happen to break that pair he’d get the ones with a camera again.

With his piece said, and knowing that Zephyr could find his own way home Hunter turned and disappeared into the night along with the soldiers. Another helicopter was waiting for them. It had been on stand by and the moment Hunter leapt out of the helicopter it was called in, along with the half dozen soldiers making a rapid rope drop from the helicopter to follow Hunter. He boarded the helicopter and set off towards the lab.

Zephyr remained silent as the vampire said his piece and actually raised an eyebrow skeptically when the immortal failed to reprimand him for his actions. The man was just going to let the incident slide? Somehow Simon hadn’t pictured the blood sucker as being a very forgiving person, especially after what he’d read in some of the archived files at the lab. Still he wasn’t going to complain about the situation; the mission had been accomplished, Hunter had mentioned nothing about reducing his pay and despite the fact he had lost a potential source of revenue there was a very tidy consolation prize sitting at his feet. All events considered, things had turned out rather well and the merc allowed himself a subtle smirk as he raised his hands over his head and began stretching his limbs, he had been in a rather uncomfortable position for the last ten minutes or so.

‘I suppose this cloud does have a silver lining’ he mused silently as he finished his light exercise and stood straight once more with his cobalt orbs fixed upon Zeleks final parting gifts. The synthetic stones would fetch quite a sum if he found the buyer, however for the next few months the jewels would sit peacefully within the elementals apartment and accumulate age while he sought out said buyer and revised what he knew about appraising gems.

A small sliver of light abruptly pierced the heavy wood and roused the young man from his current thoughts. Darting his eyes up towards this new source of luminescence he noted that the sun was just beginning it daily journey through the sky and was gradually crawling over the horizon. ‘It seems my time is running short.’ If the merc wanted to transport his new acquisitions with minimal hassle he would have to do so while there was still a hint of darkness in the air, he couldn’t really afford to have some tourist catch him on their camera and become a new feature on the tabloids. So after taking a moment to gather the various gems the elemental conjured a funnel of wind within the palm of his hand. This was then directed at the accumulated jewelry and had much the same affect as a vacuum; pulling the diamonds away from the earth and holding them captive within the swirling torrent of air. With his latest goods secure Zephyr had no hesitation in abandoning the earth and soaring back towards the city which now served as his home.