AN: - Last chapter of the interlude. This one's a bit shorter but that's okay because we've got a sequel coming up soon!

- This one is less dark and more emotional I suppose. I'll let you be the judge.
- quantum_reality posted a super fun OoC-based fic on AO3 that is a prequel to the main story. Please check it out if you like this series! It's good.

This takes place a few weeks after Chapter 1 but before the Epilogue of Out of Cryo.


"It's just down this hillside."

"I know. I see it right there."

Aloy side-eyed me for a moment before she shook her head and offered me her arm. "Do you need help?"

"I want to try it on my own first if that's okay." The hill didn't look that steep and the river was right at the bottom. From our position, I could already see the various creatures that roamed in the small valley below – boars, raccoons, foxes, and yes, even a turkey or two (seriously, why were they everywhere?). Taking a tentative step forward, I began the slow and arduous process of keeping my balance while walking down the hill. Aloy followed closely behind, her hands ready to catch me in case I fell.

"You good?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I said. On one hand, having to invest so much effort and concentration into something as simple as walking down a hill was exhausting. On the other, I was carrying a pack and my spear. I had also been walking mostly on my own all day and had held the spear in my hand on and off as we walked through the Embrace.

"Becks…"

"I've got it," I announced. One foot in front of the other. Easy, right?

No. Not at all.

I tripped over an overgrown root and fell forward – arms flailing in the most ungraceful way possible. My face probably would have been a dirty, bloody mess had Aloy not reached out and grabbed the back of my shirt, holding me up.

"And now?" I could hear that stupid smirk in her voice.

I growled. "Fucking perfect." I felt her pull me back and I regained my balance while turning around, facing her instead of the river.

No doubt Aloy could see my frustration at the situation and myself because she put her hands on my arms and spoke softly. "What is it?"

"I'm fine," I insisted as I tried to free myself of her grip. But she held me still, a few of her fingers involuntarily resting where my implants were exposed.

She wasn't convinced. "Becks…"

Shit. I sighed. "This is hard. I feel like we've been trying this for weeks and I'm not getting any better."

"It takes time. You just have to wait-,"

I pushed her away. My frustration had evolved into anger, a rage that boiled within me and sent me past my breaking point. "No. I'm tired of things taking time, Aloy! I'm tired of waiting. I waited for a thousand fucking years in that tank! I had to wait to find out what happened to my family and then I had to wait some more to leave the damn house because half of my fucking leg got blown off!"

A flock of nearby geese took off into the sky, no doubt startled by my outburst. Aloy was quiet – she didn't bother to conceal the wounded expression on her face. Guilt set in. I didn't want to deal with it so I pushed it away. "I'm going down there."

"Becks, please-,"

Ignoring her, I began making my way down the hill again. I found myself concentrating less, worrying less, only focused on getting to the bottom as quickly as I could so that I could try to hunt something and be fucking useful for once. I heard Aloy scrabbling down after me, calling my name.

Ground. Finally. I stopped and looked back while waiting for Aloy. She skipped the last few steps by leaping forward, landing next to me and kicking up dirt and crushed flowers. I cringed as she turned to me. I figured she'd yell at me for being reckless, how I could have compromised my recovery.

But she didn't. Even after all this time, she managed to surprise me. "You did it." Her eyes were wide and she sounded…impressed?

"Um…I guess I did?" I mean, it was true. "I just stopped thinking about it so much."

Aloy beamed at me, her bright smile waking the butterflies in my stomach. It had been too long since I'd seen her this happy. I forgot about my anger. The frustration and self-loathing dissipated. Shit, I'll walk down a dozen hills if this is what I get in return.

She closed the distance between us and kissed me hard. I barely had enough time to grasp her shoulders before she pulled away, the grin never leaving her face. "I would tell you to stop thinking, but I'm not sure that's a valid plan."

Breathless and a little dizzy, I laughed at my own giddiness. "Thanks."

She bit her lip. Her voice, although calm, seemed broken. As though she'd wanted to say this to me for a while. "Becks, I'm so sorry. I…I know this has been really hard and I can't-can't imagine what it's been like for you." She took my hands and sighed. "I'm just-I'm here for you, okay?"

I had to push back tears again. Fuck. I knew she was trying to help – shit, that's all she had been doing ever since I'd woken up, no before that. Since I'd come out of cryo sleep. I swallowed and met her eyes. "I know. I know you have. I-," My vision grew blurry. So much for not crying. "I'm sorry if I've pushed you away. It's been…" My voice cracked. "It's been really hard and I'm trying and this," I moved my left arm to demonstrate – my tone rising in pitch as I felt myself beginning to break down, "has been nothing but a fucking nightmare and…and every time I look at it or even think about it I can hear…"

Aloy released my hands and wrapped her arms around me, her hold unwavering as I continued – my head resting on her chest as I struggled to get the words out between sobs.

"I can still hear her, Aloy. The last thing she said to me – she thought…she thought it would have been better if she'd died with her parents. What kind of person says that?!"

I heard her breath hitch. "A broken one, Becks," she whispered. "Not you."

She continued to hold me, with only the sounds of the forest around us filling the void as we stood in silence. I eventually calmed down enough to pull away and turned to face the valley we had entered.

"Not you." Aloy's words gave me a new, quiet confidence I never knew I had. Never knew I could have. Maybe she was right. Maybe I wasn't broken. Maybe I had a chance at this. So what if my progress wasn't as fast I wanted it to be? Where was I going? Not away from her, that's for damn sure. I gave the ground a gentle kick with my leg. Reached for my spear that I'd strapped to my back.

"Becks?"

I turned my head. "I want to try." Maybe I'd fail. Maybe the nightmares would never fade. But I wouldn't know unless I kept trying.

Her expression grew focused and intense – she stared past me and straight ahead. "There."

I followed her gaze. Near the water, a boar trotted by, taking a drink of water before moving on. It would feed us for a while…if we caught it. I'd been on hunts with Aloy several times now and had seen her kill, watched as she walked me through the steps of taking care of the kill after the deed had been done, but I'd never taken one down myself. I'd tried for weeks to hold a spear, even threw it a few times. I didn't do too bad with my right arm – I'd never done throwing in track – but the engineer in me was curious as to what I could do with my left arm. It had been a quiet curiosity, a whisper drowned out by the overwhelming wave of memories that would come with every consideration, but right now…

I wonder…

I moved the spear from my right hand to my left. The grip felt odd, but still good strangely enough. It wasn't my hand…would never be mine…but it would do – it had to. My fingers closed around the weapon – built for me by one of the best hunters this world had seen. I eyed the boar. Maybe.

Something clicked. I can't describe it, only that it just…was. Whether it was something I always had, or had been taught or maybe even something that Heph or GAIA had given me when they were messing around in there – I just know it felt right.

I exhaled. Accurate.

I threw the spear, relishing the strength coming from the hybrid of organic and synthetic muscles that propelled the weapon at a velocity so great that it might have beat out anything any normal human could throw.

We both watched as the spear soared through the air and hit…the ground. The weapon sunk into the grass just to the left of where the boar had been. Frightened, the animal scampered off into the thick trees beyond the stream.

I began to breathe again. My arm felt numb, stretched - but also good at the same time. I turned to face Aloy, well aware that I had a big grin plastered to my face. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was hanging open as she stared back at me. It was hilarious and adorable all at once.

When she finally found her voice, she spoke. "I-that was great, Becks! You were so close!"

I laughed at her excitement, the giddiness returning.

She continued. "We'll work on your aim, but that was amazing."

"We could if you wanted but…I missed on purpose," I admitted.

Aloy did a double take. I laughed again – had I known messing with her like this would be so much fun I would have tried it sooner. "Y-you missed on purpose? Why?"

I shrugged. "It was cute. I didn't want to kill it. Plus, I think I want my first kill to be one of those goddamned turkeys. Just seems fitting."

"But how…how did you-,"

"GAIA. My arm…my leg. The implants – I can't describe it, Aloy, but I think…I think the more I adjust, the better…I might be able to-to do things better than I could…you know, before."

She gave my arm a hesitant glance before looking back at me. "Let's um…let's get your spear and maybe…try it again?"

I nodded. Maybe it was Aloy's words of encouragement or maybe it was the rush of really putting myself out there physically and beginning to get comfortable with my implants, but I felt stronger than I had in weeks. There was something else, something I couldn't explain either, but I knew things would be different – that maybe things would start to get better.

Another day, another step.


More AN: Thanks for reading! Out of Cryo - Season 2 will be up soon!