Jayla Rin cursed and tea-bagged her opponent's ghost furiously.
"Sore loser!" Someone yelled at her, and she flipped them off.
Her team had just lost a Crucible match, 97-100.
She stopped quickly as Lord Shaxx approached her team.
"Not this time, guardians. Fight again." He reminded them as they dispersed; some to orbit and some to the next lineup.
"Jayla Rin?" He asked, looking thru the team until he caught her eye. "Commander Zavala needs to speak with you, and then your team has an assignment to Nessus. Make me proud."
"Yes, sir, thankyou sir." Jayla deactivated her helmet. I thought we weren't allowed any team ops until i chose a third fireteam member…
"Titan," Shaxx stopped her as she was returning to orbit.
"Sir?" Jayla stopped.
"Try to be open to what the Commander has to say. You're one of my best, but you can't stay in the Crucible forever."
Jayla wasn't quite sure what he meant, but she nodded. "Yes sir."
Shaxx clapped her shoulder firmly. "You have heart, Titan. It's not often I see a guardian who's soul thrives on competition like yours. I trust I'll see you soon."
"Yes sir. I look forward to it." Jayla smiled a bit. "Let's go, Orrin."
She reported to Zavala as soon as they landed in the tower.
"Rin; thankyou for being prompt. I've scheduled a visit to Nessus for your fireteam." The Commander started.
"Excuse me sir, but have you adjusted your stance on incomplete fireteams doing co-ops?" Even as she said it, a cold, foreboding thought entered her mind.
He didn't...
"It'll just be a routine check-in and to clear out some Fallen in the area." Zavala went on, ignoring her question.
"But sir-"
"Your fireteam will be waiting for you, i expect."
Jayla squinted at him. He better not have…
She gave a haphazard salute, turned and ran down to the hanger where their ships were docked.
Darren Vol was there waiting for her.
"Jayla!" He called. "Come here; i want you to meet-"
Jayla's heart pounded in her skull as she froze where she stood.
That blue bastard.
Standing next to Darren was a Human Hunter.
Jayla was seeing red. She couldn't believe this.
She didn't hear the Hunter's name. She didn't care.
She turned and stalked out of the hanger, up the steps and back into the hallway. She leaned on the railing, looking out over the city. She thought her brain was going to explode.
Darren excused himself and followed her out.
"Jayla, do be reasonable...Zavala gave you a chance to handpick someone and you refused, so he made a choice for you. He told you he would; he gave you over a month...I'm personally excited to run co-ops again-"
"Are you OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" Jayla screamed. "They want to replace...RENO-13...with this SCRUB?!"
"You don't know anything about him…" Darren said, his voice unwavering.
"For all you know, his k/d could be far better than yours."
"I HATE HIM!" Jayla spat.
"Jayla." Darren's voice got firmer and quieter. "I know you don't mean to, but you're acting like you're the only one who's hurting here. You know I miss him too."
Jayla was still breathing fire, but as she paced the hallway, she calmed slightly.
She paused in front of Darren and dejectedly rested her head against his shoulder. Awkwardly, he patted her back. "Look," he went on. "It's not fair for you to take out your hurt and anger about Reno's death on our new fireteam member. He didn't ask to be here. Hell, anyone who valued their lives would solo a raid before voluntarily joining a team with a wounded titan...no offense." He added quickly, as he saw her glaring up at him. "You'll get used to him; just give it time. This is only going to be bad if you make it that way."
Jayla sighed and lifted her head. "I guess i can try...not to talk to him."
"That's the spirit." Darren said sarcastically. "Come on now; lets try that introduction again."
They walked back into the hanger together, where their Hunter was leaning against his ship, talking to his ghost.
He had dark, wavy hair, warm tanned skin, and when he looked up, Jayla almost gasped. He had the wildest blue eyes she had ever seen. They looked like they were made of pure arc energy; they didn't look human. She couldn't take her eyes off them.
"Jayla," Darren started. "This is Liam James."
"You can call me L.J." He smiled, shaking her hand warmly.
Jayla knew her handshake felt like a cold, dead fish, but those eyes…! She didn't think she had seen him blink yet.
"L.J," Darren went on "This is Jayla Rin. Fireteam lead, Striker Titan and…" he smiled a bit. "Queen of the Headbutt."
L.J raised his eyebrows. "I'm glad i'm on your side."
He looked at the two of them.
"Look, i'm gonna be frank with you both. The vanguard warned me i'm not here under the best of circumstances. Hell-" He looked at Jayla. "I know you especially wish i wasn't here at all. I don't plan on taking anything you say personally and...and i know it's going to be a rough go for a while. But i'm willing to try if you are."
Darren nodded. "We appreciate your sensitivity...don't we, Jayla?"
Jayla hadn't really been paying attention until Darren nudged her and was waiting for her response.
"Uuh, yeah. Yep." She said haltingly.
L.J nodded and clapped his hands together. "Good! Now that that's out of the way, lets go visit our favorite bipolar AI. Maybe we'll have time to poke around a bit; those Golden Age ships were cutting edge. Who knows what's still out there?" He climbed into his ship. "Let's roll!"
Darren waved to him, and guided Jayla to her ship.
"Not bad...could have been worse, i suppose…"
"He's got crazy eyes." Jayla said flatly.
"They definitely stand out…" Darren started.
"Yeah, like a mental patient." Jayla finished.
Darren rolled his eyes. "You're just determined to make this difficult on me, aren't you?"