Sup, boys and girls, Apache attack helicopters of all ages... or people, people work to. I'm back, doing another one of these chapters of the XCom and RWBY thingy that I now love myself for making because I see so much potential in it. Regardless, nothing much in this chapter, I'll admit it is probably just filler. But filler is okay and we'll get back into the juicy stuff later.

Firaxis owns XCom, RT owns RWBY and the world goes ROUND!

Enough talk, Read. Now.


Alpha Squad's residences…

The Beacon dance. Apparently it was a popular thing and quite the spectacle. For Gabriel however, it was literal hell.

"God damn it this suit is to tight."

"You look amazing honey."

"Angela, I think I might get choked out by this tie."

"Oh shut up and deal with it."

Darren and Anne obviously had enough fun listening to Gabriel and Angela bicker like a couple who had been married for twenty years (Oh wait) and barged in to see Angela tying a tie around Gabriel's neck, and failing as Gabriel was trying his hardest to instruct her on how to tie a tie. The tie was golden yellow, contrasting it with the black suit that Gabriel wore, where Angela was wearing an azure dress.

"Let's face it, this is not the worst thing you two have caught us doing," Gabriel said, sighing and dreading the response.

"But of course!" Darren replied snarkily, "Nothing can top the Kama Sutra!"

"Hey, that was you guys, not us!" Angela yelled, "Besides, we don't need a book for fun times, right Gabriel?"

"True enough," Gabriel said, "Now, do you still want to tie this tie? Because you've been trying for half an hour and not once have you gotten it right."

"Ugh fine…" Angela sighed, "So, Anne. How do I look?"

"Is my opinion not good enough for you?" Gabriel asked, quite annoyed.

"No, your opinion is fine. I just want another," Angela replied.

Anne nodded, "Well, you look great. I say, the dress does match the eyes."

"Awe thanks," Angela replied, hugging Anne, "Remind me, when was the last time you saw me in a dress?"

"Probably way back," Darren said while fiddling with his own tie, "Probably back when we had that huge party memorial after the temple ship went down. Heck, even for our fucking weddings we didn't wear anything fancy. Just us four and the Commander."

"Fun times," Gabriel commented, "So, Angela. How do I look?"

"Dashing as always," Angela replied, only to then turn to Anne and ask, "Do you have a dress for tonight?"

"Do I need one?" She rhetorically replied. Angela nodded, confirming Anne's worst fears, "Shit… you know I look really bad in a dress."

"You do not!" Darren exclaimed, "You look amazing. And besides, if anyone should complain, it's me! I still think I look like an off brand magician in this getup. All I need is a top hat and some rabbits and I could be putting on a show."

"You know how to do sleight of hand tricks?"

"Some," Darren replied, "Nothing much. Just a few card tricks and such."

Gabriel's eyebrows raised, "What can you do? You know, of your card tricks."

"I can't believe you've never seen me do any of this before," Darren said, "I mean, come on. I used to practice this all the damn time back at the old base during breaks. It was my thing."

"Yeah but you were obviously pretty damn good at hiding it!" Gabriel countered, "Come on, dude. Show us what you got."

"Alright, alright, fine," Darren said, "Pass me some cards, I'll do a small trick."

Anne threw Darren a set of cards, who quickly opened the pack and shuffled the cards. He presented them flat on the table, "Pick a card, any card."

Anne was the first to move, grabbing one of the fifty two face down cards. She drew the king of spades and showed it to the other three. She then put the card back in the deck while everyone look, shuffling the cards and handing them to Darren.

"Now, for the trick," Darren said, sneakily, as he pulled out a dart and tossed the deck into the air, the cards fluttering around the group. Quickly, he drew back and threw the dart, pinning one of the cards to the wall. Walking over to the wall and pulling out the dart, he asked, "Is this your card?"

"Huh," Gabriel said, as the card was revealed to be indeed the king of spades, "Cool. But any of us can pin a card to a wall."

"True enough, I suppose," Darren replied, "But wait, Angela, did you check your shoe?"

"No, wh..at the fuck?" Angela exclaimed as she pulled an entire new box of cards from her shoe, even though it couldn't reasonably fit in there.

"Now, open it," Darren said. Angela complied, opening the box. Inside was a single card, with a hole through it. The king of spades, speared identically to its twin.

"C'est quoi ce bordel?" Anne whinged, "The fuck you do that?"

"Magic…" Darren replied, waving his hands mysteriously.

Gabriel rolled his eyes, "You copied them and then teleported 'em, didn't you?"

"Hey, hey," Darren said defensively, "No one needs to know that. For every who doesn't know, it is magic. But in all honesty, the first one was more sleight of hand focused."

"That's… actually pretty fucking cool," Anne said, "Now, since SOMEONE is insisting that I wear a dress to this fucking dance we have tonight, Angela, you are going to come with me to help me find a suitable dress today."

"You've gotta be kidding me, Anne," Angela moaned, "Really, why me?"

"C'est la vie, Angie," Anne replied, "Come on, I have a dress to go get and you're helping me."

Both Gabriel and Darren laughed as Angela was dragged out of the room by Anne to go to Vale to buy a dress. Specifically a red one, cause red was her favorite color.

"Did we not tell them that the dance thing is tonight?" Darren asked, still wheezing as to how under prepared his wife is for the school dance.

Gabriel cocked his eyebrow in confusion, "Isn't that why she just left? To go and buy a dress for the dance?"

"Doesn't it take longer than a day to get a dress?" Darren asked, "I mean, hell. Took me a week to get this suit made."

"That's just you magician man," Gabriel replied, "Now, I need to get out of this suit and rest. Cause FUCK, this thing tight!"

"Aye, that's what I said to Anne last night!" Darren joked, wheezing at his own joke.

"Please never say that again," Gabriel asked cringing on the inside, "Please, please, please never say that again… I don't need to know about your sex life any more that I already do…"


An hour or two later…

Anne and Angela had just come back from their outing of dress buying. Anne had indeed found a nicely made red pencil dress that fit her… reasonably well. But then again, reasonably dressing is only a byproduct of the battlefield. When not in perpetual danger (which they arguably were) Anne didn't like to be… burdened by large armours and such, opting to rather dress a bit more minimally.

"I still feel like you should've gone with something a bit less… revealing, Anne," Angela commented, "Just imagine what the students will think of you."

"Revealing is subjective, Angie," Anne replied snarkily, "Besides, it covers my ass and boobs, therefore I am in the clear. And if I catch anyone staring… well, Darren will deal with them."

"Always jumping back to Darren, I see?"

Anne just shrugged, "Well, he is my knight in shining armour, is he not?"

"I guess he is," Angela replied as the two walked by an open classroom door, "Huh. That's weird."

Upon further investigation, the two noticed Yang and Blake sitting together and talking, both their eyes red from crying, or in Blake's case, lack of sleep. Blake looked as though she… was going through hard times.

"Either Blake has some serious issues, simply from looking at the way she's acting…" Anne commented, "Or… this is gonna be the start of a bad lesiban porno."

"Does that have to be the first place your mind always go?" Angela asked, "Porn? I didn't know you were that horny. And honestly, I didn't want to know."

"Oh shut it," Anne replied, "I was making a fucking joke. Come on, let's go see what's up."

The two entered the room to see Blake and Yang shoot up with red plastering their faces. Anne laughed openly, "So… what were you to doing? Planning anything… feisty?"

"Anne-Marie!" Angela shouted, surprising the two members of team, "I am appalled! These are children! They need not be asked these questions!"

"Fine, fine, fine," Anne relented, "I give. Seriously though. What's up with you two?"

"Oh… Umm…" Yang began, "I'm trying to convince Blake to come to the dance and take a break."

"So from what I hear, you want her to take a… Blake?" Anne joked, causing Yang to burst out laughing while Blake and Angela groaned, "Oh come on. You were just asking for it."

Angela sighed, facepalming, "You are… you know what? Fuck it. Blake, why are you not going to the dance? Even we are."

"Well…" Blake said, "It's about… the Fang. I have to stop them. And I have to do it on my own."

Angela and Anne exchanged looks, "What? Why on your own? You have friends who I am sure are willing to help you."

"You don't get it!" Blake angrily retorted, "I am responsible for not stopping the Fang when I could! So I have to stop them now!"

"Okay Blake, we get it," Angela said, placing her hand on Blake's shoulder, "You feel responsible for not taking action when you could have but…"

"And I was part of the Fang…"

Angela's eyes popped open, "Umm what?"

"I was part of the Fang, OK?!" Blake screamed, "I was born into it, back when the Fang was for equality. I was at every protest, every boycott, everything. Then the old leader went and retired and a new leader came up in their stead. The new leader changed our tactics. We went from being peaceful and just waiting to actively attacking places that we saw inequality. And what was worse was that it worked. We became equal, but not out of respect, out of fear."

Angela stayed silent at Blake's word. Holding her head down in shame, Blake muttered, "And now you think I'm a horrible person for hiding it…"

"Horrible person?" Anne laughed, "Look Blake. Us criticizing you for being a part of a group that could have been considered terrorists would be very, very hypocritical of us."

"Wait, you guys were terrorists?" Yang shouted, surprised.

"In a sense, yes," Angela shrugged, "A terrorist is simply a group of people who the leading world deems a dissenting opinion. Now, I would like to say that terrorists can be truly evil, most of them are. Advent and our entire home thought all of us as terrorists when what we actually were was far from that."

"Look, what the Fang is doing is… not the best, I think we can agree on that," Anne said, "But you aren't the sole person responsible for that and you have to bloody well understand that. Just like Bradley takes responsibility for our defeat the first time around or how the Commander takes responsibility for every single one of the soldiers killed under her command, it's not your fault. And you should stop treating it as such."

Blake looked down sniffling back a tear, "But… But… I have to…"

"Nah ah ah. Not another word out of your mouth young lady," Anne interrupted, "What you need is to take a fucking break. The Fang can be dealt with later. So why not take tonight off and go to the dance? It's harmless! And trust me when I say that it'll be easier to deal with the Fang when you are well rested. Fighting tired is just going to get you hurt, Blake."

Blake stood in silence, unsure of what to say. She looked down in shame, muttering something, to quiet for anyone to make out what she said. Angela rolled her eyes, "What was that, Blake?"

"I'm sorry," Blake whispered again, just barely loud enough for anyone to hear.

"Blake, we can barely hear you," Anne said, "Speak up, kiddo."

"I'm sorry, OKAY!?" Blake practically shouted, "I'm sorry that I made you worried. I'm sorry I made you guys scared for my well being… I just want to bring the Fang to justice for what they've done…"

"And trust me, you will," Angela responded, "Eventually, you will get strong enough to face them down and eventually they will be brought to justice. But for now, just rest easy, ok girl?"

Blake sighed a response, causing Angela to roll her eyes, "That wasn't a yes, was it."

Blake sighed again, "Yes, it was a yes."

Anne smiled, "Alright. Now that you've agreed to come to the dance, let's all go and get you a dress for it."

"Arghhhhh!" Angela groaned, "WE WERE JUST OUT GETTING YOU A DRESS!"

"And we're going to go back out and get another one," Anne replied snarkely, "Come on girls, let's find Blake a dress."


Gabriel was walking around the halls of Beacon Academy, minding his own business. Angela and Anne had gone out to gather Blake up a dress for the dance, because apparently it was their job to get every single woman in Beacon a dress should they not have one.

"We didn't even have a fucking formal wedding," Gabriel sighed, "I was wearing jeans and a fucking t-shirt, for crying out loud."

He turned one of the corners into his classroom, intent on getting some stuff completed for tomorrow's class. Mainly just a bit of a lesson plan and such, team versus team. Stuff to keep the groups busy. After around twenty minutes of trying to figure out a decent lesson plan, he heard a knock on the door. Opening the door, he saw emerald green eyes staring back at him, looking right into his own.

"Oh, sorry professor," Pyrrha quickly said, "I didn't know you were here."

"Well, I am. What's up, Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha looked down, nervous, "Well… just one thing actually. Can we…"

"Talk about it in private?" Gabriel inquired, ushering her into the classroom, "Sooooo… what's up?"

"Well… I was looking for help."

Gabriel gave her a confused look, "Help? Help with what? You're already one of the best students in the school, what could you need help wit…"

It was around this time that he noticed that the Spartan was looking at the floor, blushing a furious atomic red, "Oh."

"That. You want help with…"

"Jaune," Pyrrha quickly spat out, "I need Jaune to notice me."

Gabriel looked dumbfounded, "And your first idea… was to come to me."

Pyrrha nodded and Gabriel continued, "Well then, Pyrrha. Still don't know why you came to me, but fuck it, here we go. One questions first. What have you already tried?"

"Umm…" Pyrrha began, "I… I've tried… well, helping him with just about everything he's had trouble on, tried to sit closer to him whenever I can. That's about it, so far."

Gabriel raised his eyebrows and face palmed, "Have you ever just flat out told him?"

"No…"

"Pyrrha, Pyrrha, Pyrrha," Gabriel sighed, "Look. According on my wife, men think with two things. Their eyes… and their… y'know."

"Oh," Pyrrha said, her eyes widening in surprise, causing Gabriel to chuckle.

Gabriel's chuckle turned into full force laughter as Pyrrha turned a bright red, "God, you're gullible. I was joking, kid, I was joking. But seriously though, you need to just tell him these things. Worked on me when Angela did it, so it'll work with Jaune when you do it."

"Are you…"

"Trust me, I'm sure," Gabriel put a comforting hand of the champion's shoulder. Pyrrha smiled and got up, moving to the door.

"Oh, and one more thing before you go, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha turned around to see Gabriel staring back at her intensely, "You are going to ask Jaune out to the dance, got it?"

Pyrrha nodded in response, leaving the classroom and shutting the door behind her. Gabriel sat there for a moment, smiling inwards to himself as he thought about how funny it was that someone like him was playing matchmaker. Considering how strange the beginning of his relationship was, at least.

"Best of luck to you, kid," he said, "Best of luck."


The dance came as it was foretold by the Beacon schedule. The grand hall of the academy had been decked in whatever party things the decorators could find. And honestly, Alpha team was having a good time. Then again, they hadn't been to a formal dance in years, their high school semi formal was the last one they actually remember, considering the… y'know… war. Looking over the assembled students, Gabriel began to smile, thinking about how lucky each and every single one of them are.

"Having fun?"

Angela's voice broke him out of his thoughts. He turned back and smiled kindly at his wife, still in her azure dress, "Yeah. It's just… well, been a damn long time since we actually did anything like this. Last time we had a dance like this was... "

"The semi formal. Yeah, I know," Angela replied, "Remember that? Back when neither of us were interested in dating. Look at us now."

"Didn't us four hang out by the punch bowl the entire night?" Gabriel inquired, "Didn't Justin, the Q.B. try to force you into a dance. After we danced a bit."

"And I said something like, 'Nope. Already taken.' And I pointed at you?" Angela continued, "Yeah, I remember that. That was funny."

"Right up until Justin smashed my head into a wall," Gabriel chuckled, "He was all like, 'Fuckin' bitch ass wimp stealing my girl!' And then I crotch-shot him and broke his nose and his arms. Wasn't that the first night you actually admitted you had a crush on me, as well? I seem to recall that."

"Yeah. Foyer on the second floor. Just you and me," Angela replied, I ran out in the middle of the dance, right after you kicked Justin and his goons collective asses and you followed me. I was all nervous and shit and you were trying to calm me down. Then I kissed you and… well…"

"Let's just reminisce about the stuff before that," Gabriel concluded, "Hey, notice Ironwood trying to get all friendly with Glynda over there?"

"Yup, I see it," Angela nodded, "Jaune and Pyrrha are still dancing over there with their team. How ever did that happen?"

"Apparently I'm the doctor of love," Gabriel replied, "Pyrrha came for advice and apparently it worked."

"You?" Angela scoffed, "Doctor of love? That's new."

"New for me to, let's be honest," Gabriel replied, "Though I do wanna see if I can work my… 'magic'(?) on Glynda and Ironwood. Could be… interesting to see how it plays out."

"Fucking with a half woman, half shark person is what you call interesting?" Angela asked, confused, "Whatever you say, just don't get us into any trouble with Glynda."

"Oh come on! She's not that scary!"

"Have you seen her glare?" Angela retorted, "If looks could kill, I'd probably have died at least a good forty times in the past few weeks!"

"OK, fine. Maybe she has the glare of a human-shark thing," Gabriel relented, sighing in defeat, "Still, you have to admit, it would be funny to see her dance. Try to dance, at least. Can she dance?"

"I don't doubt it," Angela replied, "But if she can't, she's hiding it well."

"She's just standing around. Not like she's actually dancing or anything."

"No, but the way she told off Ironwood is either her saying, 'I'm sorry, I wouldn't like to dance,' or, 'GTFO James, I don't want to fucking dance.' One of the two," Angela replied.

"Really?" Gabriel sarcastically commented, "You only gave me two options that are the exact opposite level of asshole. Of course it's one of the two. At least the first one was polite."

"Well I had to give her one polite option," Angela topped off, "She seems like the kind of person who would be all polite and stuff. Not one for 'crude language'."

"You sound like my grandmother," Gabriel joked, "She's all like, ' Oh Gabriel! Stop using that vile language!' or, 'Gabriel! Stop using the lord's name in vain!' It was so fucking annoying! I can say FUCK whenever I want!"

"Gabriel! Stop using that vile language!" Angela mocked, her voice almost exactly his own and earning a distasteful glare from her husband, "You were asking for that."

"Guess I was," Gabriel rolled his eyes complacently.

The two continued to look over the dance. The two observed Jaune and Ruby having a friendly conversation, only for Jaune to go outside after Pyrrha. The two began having a conversation with each other.

"Those two are hilarious," Angela said as they continued to watch over Jaune and Pyrrha with a keen eye, "I don't think she could be more obvious with her crush. Even if she wore a giant neon sign that said, 'Hey! Fucktard! I want the D! Gimme the D!' How'd ya thing that would go?"

"Knowing Beacon's dress code, I… don't think that well," Gabriel added, "I think the whole neon sign think would be a bit cumbersome, the message is just plain not Pyrrha…"

"Not Pyrrha? Please, do explain."

"She just doesn't seem like the type of person to wear anything that would even remotely be sexually suggestive," Gabriel replied, "She's to modest."

Angela rolled her eyes, resting her hand her chin and looking out at the ongoing dance. The two continued to observe the dance continuing, Darren and Anne doing the Charleston, Blake and Yang joining them, Weiss sitting around, and Ruby drinking copious amounts of punch. Honestly, she probably drank the whole bowl.

Or at least she would've, if Jaune hadn't walked back into the ballroom wearing a massive white dress. Stunned, Gabriel and Angela looked on.

"What."

"The."

"Actual."

"Fuck!"

"Why…" Angela began to ask, still stunned, "What is Jaune thinking?!"

"Hell if I know, but he looks hilarious!" Gabriel replied, laughing hysterically.

Apparently Pyrrha thought that as well, while she also laughed as Jaune approached her, bowing politely and outstretching his hand. Pyrrha gingerly took it, and Team JNPR moved out onto the dance floor. Once there, they started a group dance and they were soon joined by a large group of people, save the two watching and a few others.

A few minutes after the dance began, Gabriel and Angela noticed Emerald walking near them, nervous and trying to stay out of the dance.

"Hey Emerald," Gabriel called out, "Feeling better today?"

The green haired thief nodded and walked over to the pair. She felt… calmer with them, strangely enough.

"You having fun tonight, kid?" Gabriel asked as Emerald stood between him and Angela.

Emerald sighed, "Umm… Yeah I guess. I mean, I'm not one for dancing."

"Not one for dancing, eh?" Angela mimicked, "That was his line when we were your age. Not one for dancing."

"I feel like we remember the semi-formal a tad bit differently, Angie," Gabriel retorted playfully, "I was the one who was dancing. You were sitting in a corner trying not to get noticed until I asked you if you wanted to dance. Then we went and stood by the punch bowl for half an hour. Then I got my head smashed into a wall."

"You had your head smashed into a wall?" Emerald exclaimed, "Who did it?"

"A jock named Justin," Angela answered, "Justin thought I was his girl. Which is was and will forever be wrong. Gabe got him back though."

"Busted his arm as well," Gabriel continued, "It was fun while it lasted. So kid, you go to school before Haven?"

"Not really," Emerald replied, "I lived on the street for most of my life. Until Cinder… picked me up… at least."

Gabriel looked astonished, "Wait, so you didn't go to a combat school? But you're so good at… y'know. Fighting. You must've learned somewhere."

"Yeah, the streets," Emerald sighed, "When you lived like I did, it was fight or… y'know. Die."

Gabriel look down at the shorter girl, a petite five foot seven compared to his six foot three. She began to tear up a small bit, her visage saddening. Gabriel smiled a bit, patting her shoulder, "Sorry I brought it up, Emerald. I understand remembering those things can be hard."

"It's… it's OK, professor," Emerald replied as she moved slightly closer into Angela's arms. Angela then noticed the younger girl's eyes scanning the crowd.

"Got anyone special, Emerald?" Angela teased, the other girl's face burning a bright red, "I'll take that as a yes."

"So," Gabriel continued to tease, "Who's the lucky guy? Or girl, I don't judge."

"Well…" Emerald began, "I'm with Mercury, But it's… It's complicated, to say the least."

"How complicated?" Angela inquired, "You two see quite close, all things considered."

"More just an on again off again thing," Emerald lied, keeping her identity as an infiltrator safe. But that wasn't the response she wanted to give, her mind still fighting back, repulsed at her outward portrayal of her relationship with Mercury. At best, it was a relationship born out of convenience, with the ever so minute possibility of being anything.

"Well, go ask him to dance, Em," Gabriel encouraged the nervous girl, "What's the worst that could happen?"


"I'm dreaming, aren't I?" The commander thought to herself as she sat in the couched room of her old house.

A little girl rushed down the stairs to the living room of her house. The commander recognized the girl immediately, being that it was her. Just younger, maybe around eight. The commander smiled, happily recalling the memory. Until she saw what was in her younger counterpart's hand, until she remembered what this day actually was.

"Mama!" the young commander cried, rushing to her mom while holding a picture. She leapt into the waiting arms of her mother, who looked at the picture herself. The older woman, who looked like a literal copy of the Commander with more red hair, began to tear up when she saw the picture.

"Where did you find this?" her mother asked as she looked down at the waiting girl in her lap.

"In the attic, Mama," the girl replied, "Who is he? Who's the little boy?"

The younger commander pointed at the picture. The picture showed two children, maybe two and a half years old, both with similarly cut hair, both brunettes. She recognized the first as herself, but a baby, but the second child. The second child was one she had never seen before, one she didn't know. Not in any other picture, anywhere around the house.

"Oh…" her mother quietly mumbled, a single tear coming down her face, "He is… was… your brother… your twin brother…"

The girl looked up at her mother, who at this point was fully fledged in a crying fit, and asked, "Why is brother not anywhere else in the house? Where did brother go?"

"He… he…" her mother stuttered out, "I don't know… he… your brother just disappeared… just… just… gone…"

"Mommy, where did he go?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" her mother screamed, voice sounding like she was in agony, "I DON'T KNOW, OK!?"

"I don't know…" she broke down, tears streaming from her eyes.

The commander looked on her younger self as she tried to comfort her crying, spasming mother. The young girl looked her mother directly in the eyes, uttering a single question, "Why did you hide it away?"

"Because we didn't… didn't want you to be sad, or to feel responsible. A… afte… after your brother…" her mother continued to choke her words out, "Disappeared… we didn't want tha… that sort of pressure on your shoulders…"

Her mother pulled the young commander in close, continuing to stutter, "Oh my sweet little flower… please forgive me…"

The commander, the older version, teared up herself as her younger version continued hugging her mother back. The commander looked on as her past self and her mother fell onto their knees, holding each other close.

"Don't worry, mom," The commander softly muttered as she reminisce over the memory, "I do. I will find my brother. I promised you then, and I won't fail now."


Avenger, Commander's quarters…

The commander woke in a cold sweat, jolting forward in her bed. She has had that same dream for years, on again, off again, more vivid, less vivid. She still remembered that day when she found the picture of her and her brother sleeping together in a playpen for babies. On that day she promised herself that she would find her brother, whatever it would take, and she would bring him back to their family.

And she never fulfilled that promise.

"Fuck me…" she said to herself, "That was a doozy. I need a fucking drink"

She got out of her bed, throwing on some loose fitting track pants, her favorite "Early morning" t-shirt and her necklace. It was one her mother gave her the day after she found the picture of her and her brother, just as a sort of apology for hiding the truth. In a way, it made up for it, but in the same way, she was angry at them for hiding his existence from her.

She slowly and quietly exited her room, careful not to wake any of the sleeping crew members up. She stealthy slid down the hallways and corridors of the hulking flying fortress to the bar area. She opened the door only to find… Bradford and Lily having some late night/early morning booze.

Bradford smiled "Commander. Good to see you up. Whisky?"

"Nah, wine is fine," she replied, "I can't stand whisky. Tastes disgusting."

"Suit yourself," Bradford replied as he poured himself another shot glass, "So Commander, what brings you to my humble bar this early in the morn?"

"Couldn't sleep," she replied, slurring the words to emphasize her state of really fucking tired. Which apparently caught on.

Lily laughed as she took a shot of whiskey, "So… what kept you from sleeping, Commander? Monster under the bed?"

"Come on, Lily," the Commander retorted, "The shit we've fought and killed would make the monsters under the bed shit their pants and cry for mommy."

Lily shrugged, "True enough."

The Commander grabbed a bottle of wine, pouring herself a glass of probably the most expensive wine they had on board the avenger, "Nah, I had a nightmare."

"Our fearless commander had a nightmare, eh?" Lily teased, "What on this world could terrify you enough to wake you up?"

"An old promise I made to my mom," she replied.

"A promise to your mom?" Lily inquired, "About what?"

The Commander sighed, sipping her wine, "When I was eight, I learned I had a twin brother. I also learned that he disappeared when I was two and a half years old… and that my parents hid every memory of him away in our attic. When I found out, my mom practically broke down and almost went insane. So I promised her that I would find him and bring him home."

"Well then," Bradford replied, "Are you sure he didn't die and your parents covered it up?"

The Commander shrugged, tearing up, "Pretty sure. They even admitted he didn't die. The only way he could be dead is if he died in the past few decades. Which, knowing my luck, is exactly what happened."

Lily patted her superiors shoulder reassuringly, "Hey, hey, hey. Commander, don't cry. I'm sure you'll find him. I mean, you're you. One of the most dedicated and hard working people I know. It just might take some time."

"Well, obviously more time than I could ever offer," the Commander replied as she took another hearty gulp of wine, "It's been nearly thirty years since I made that promise and I've accomplished nothing."

The three sat there making small talk, simply enjoying the drinks and each other's company. The Commander eventually got up to walk to the memorial, a wall with plaques of the fallen men and women who bravely gave their lives to defeat Advent. Most of them she knew personally, she did get around a fair bit.

For example, Peggy "Seraph" Vears. She was a support officer, ranked as a captain who worked with arguably the second best squad that XCom managed to pull together, call-sign Striker. During their last mission, a raid on a heavily fortified Advent controlled area. Normally, Alpha would be the ones to do this level of mission, but the entire squad was on a covert ops mission which would be next to impossible to extract them from. So Striker went in their stead, and performed quite well. However, they were discovered, and Peggy was one of the casualties. She died to a Berserker when she was trying to save a group of civilians who wandered into the crossfire. Her body was recovered and cremated, stored in the vault of the Avenger.

And more recently, an official XCom cemetery had been established, commemorating those who had fought and died to ensure humanity's survival. And if fate had its way, she would have to regrettably add another to her list of casualties.

"GOD DAMN IT!" She screamed, punching the wall hard enough for it to crack, her psionic energies taking the brunt of the damage for her, "GOD DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!"

"Commander? Are you… good over there?" Bradford asked cautiously. He'd seen this side of her before… and it was neither pretty nor fun and not the least bit safe to be around.

"No Bradley, I am fine, I AM PERFECTLY FUCKING FINE!" She replied sarcastically, "OF COURSE I AM NOT FINE, YOU TWAT! I JUST LOST SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ON THE GOD FORSAKEN WORLD, SO NO, I MIGHT FEELING BE A TAD BIT LESS THAN FINE BECAUSE I SENT THEM OFF TO DIE!"

"Commander, you can't shoulder all this blame on yourself," Lily interjected in hopes of calming down the raging woman, "I was the one who found the signal and Bradford was the one who wanted to follow it."

"AND I AGREED WITH IT!" She yelled, crushing her glass, "I could've said 'No, we can't do that, it's to dangerous!' Or, 'No, that's stupid, we shouldn't risk your lives!' But no, fuck me I had to say go ahead! Look for your mysterious signal! I'm to blame! No one else but me!"

"You're insane," Bradford muttered under his breath, "Commander, we're all to blame. And for fuck sakes, we don't even know if they're dead! All we know is that they've disappeared! If they had died anywhere on the planet, Geist would be able to track down their Psionic signature. And if they can't, they aren't dead!"

"How do you know that!?" she retorted, "How do you know they're still alive!?" And when no response came from the other two people in the bar, she roared, "EXACTLY!"

"And now I'm going to go and wallow in my sorrows," the commander said, "With my bottle of fine wine…"

"And sappy Rom-Coms?"

"And sappy Rom-Coms."

As she turned to exit the room, the Commander smiled softly, a single tear falling from her watery eyes, "I'm… sorry about that, Brad, Lily. I really am. It's just… hard to lose them…"

"It was hard on all of us, Commander, trust me," Bradford replied, "Just… try to keep a bit of hope that they're alive. If not for me and Lily and Tygan, do it for the troops. Stay strong, Commander."

She smiled, grabbing the bottle of wine and a new glass and walking quickly back up to her room. If there was one thing she could take away from that argument of sorts, it was that she did need to stay strong for her troops. After all, if your leader was depressed, wouldn't you also be depressed?


Please R & R and guess who the Commander actually is!

See ya! Bye!