South sat back happily as the others spoke about the mission, though she did blanch a little when Carolina asked for a hard mission. She turned to see North entering as Carolina continued, splitting them up into teams and a worried look came over the girl’s face. Having sat back slightly South was fairly sure it went mostly overlooked save for her brother, who came over quickly to comfort her, placing his hands on her shoulders and looking her straight in the eyes. “Don’t worry, it’s just a sim. Nothing in it can actually hurt you. Besides, I’ll be there and I won’t let anything happen to you okay?”

South nodded slightly, looking over to the others. “It’s just… what if they realise I’m awful at this?” She asked nervously. What if they didn’t want to be associated with her once they realised she’d never killed anyone before and was afraid to shoot people.

“Just remember; these aren’t real people. So you won’t be hurting or kill anyone. If anything this is the best way to get you used to the idea of shooting people, and I promised you’ll only have to do it to defend yourself okay? You’ve got amazing aim, you’ll be fine if you just hold your nerve.” South once again nodded and North smiled at her encouragingly before he turned his attention to Carolina. “Hey Cal, making your moves early; putting yourself on the girl’s team hu?” He laughed, using the nickname South had mentioned earlier. Personally he liked it.

“If you try to make any moves on my sister we’re gonna have a problem.” Despite the threatening words the tone in his voice and the smile on his face showed he was only joking. However there was this slight look in his eyes that hinted towards that fact that beyond the joke there was an element of seriousness to it, brotherly protective instincts. “Remember I’ll be watching you.” He then turned and began leading South over to the equipment table, helping her get geared up and checking to make sure everything was in working order. “We’re about ready when everyone else is.” He called out after a few minutes as he and South walked into the sim briefing.