CHAPTER 4

"I don't know how much luck we'll have. These scientists probably weren't the same size as most of the Gears." Sam was following Anya to the first of the empty suites with a few empty boxes in hand. "But it will be damn nice to have a supply of proper toothpaste and shampoo."

"Yeah. I was worried about that myself. I can't imagine trying to find anything that would fit Marcus..." Anya's voice trailed off, but she smiled involuntarily like she did any time anyone mentioned Marcus.

"How is he, Anya? I mean...really."

"He's..." she sighed heavily as she entered the first room and flipped the light on. "He's Marcus. He won't talk, really. And I know he hasn't been sleeping, but by that it could mean nothing was wrong." She set her own boxes by the doorway and went to the closet, sliding the doors open to reveal a considerable wardrobe. The room was obviously meant for a couple, as there were dresses and men's clothing hanging inside. "Some nights I wake up and he's just sitting there, staring out the window. When he does sleep, he may as well be awake. It's restless, and he talks a lot."

"Bloody shame. Have you tried to talk to him?" Sam headed into the bathroom, pulling open the cabinets and separating the bottles into boxes.

"Yeah, that always goes well... 'Hey, if you want to talk, I'm here.' 'Mhmm.'" Anya laughed softly and shook her head. "One day, I'm going to create a Marcus to Tyran dictionary."

Sam chuckled. "Yeah, you could use it as barter for the rest of us."

The hours passed, slowly. They made steady progress, and had made it through at least ten rooms. Sam had lost count. Most had been inhabited, but the Gears staying in them hadn't bothered going through most of the things left behind by the researchers that had lived there. They were too busy catching up on what they missed since E-day. Drinking, sleeping, and talking to their friends without having to keep their eyes on everything else.

"So, can I ask about that elephant that was in your room this morning?" Anya sat back on her heels, taking a break from the tedious sorting.

Sam dropped the bottle of perfume in her hand and it shattered on the tile floor of the bathroom. "Oh, fuck me..." grabbing a towel from the shelf she knelt down to wipe the spill, wrinkling her nose at the overpowering smell. "Whoever this belonged to must have really hated being around people. This shit is terrible."

"Is that a no?"

Sam dropped the towel on the floor and went out to join Anya. Sitting on the couch, she grabbed her, now 5th, cup of coffee and stared down into it thoughtfully. "It really wasn't what you're thinking. Hell, it wasn't even what I thought it would be."

"Sounds steamy." Anya came to join her on the couch, sipping her drink and trying to hold back her questions.

"No! It was nothing like that. I was having a dream and, well, apparently I was shouting or something, because he said he came in to check on me."

Raising an eyebrow, Anya set her cup on the end table and crossed her legs in front of her as she turned to face Sam full on. "Baird?"

"Yup."

"Damon Baird? Blonde? Kind of an asshole? Never misses a chance to piss someone off? That Baird?"

"That's the one." Sam looked over to Anya and shrugged. "Anyhow, I nearly blew his bloody brains out when he woke me. Old habits die hard, I guess. And we ended up talking for a while, and somehow managed to fall asleep...in my bed."

Anya's eyes went wide. This certainly didn't sound like the Baird she knew.

"And he stayed a few minutes after you left, too. I never thought I would say this, believe me, but...He was actually really sweet." Sam sounded as surprised as Anya looked.

"Wow..." nearly rendered speechless, Anya stood and returned to the box of clothes she had been filling. "Well, never thought I'd see the day. Are you going to...?" Leaving the question unfinished, Anya glanced over at Sam who was on her way back to the bathroom.

"Call him? Ask him to the dance?" Sam laughed. "I don't know. It's weird. He can be a wanker, but last night I saw a different Baird. I almost...I almost enjoyed being with him." Shaking her head, she emptied the last of the medicine cabinet into the box of toiletries and carried it over to the door. "Maybe I'll go bring him some flowers and chocolates."

Anya was sealing her last box as well. She stood and wiped her hands on her knees, smiling warmly at Sam. "That sounds like a good idea, but he'd probably like a bag of metal scraps and some wires more."

As they pulled the door shut and made their way down the hall, Anya put her arm around Sam's shoulders and laughed. "Hey, maybe if things go well we can find you a nice lacy nightie in one of these rooms and you can really make his day."

Sam shoved Anya and did her best to glare at her, but as much as she hated to admit it to herself, that idea didn't sound entirely terrible.

There was so much work to be done. It seemed like the Stalks had ripped through nearly a third of the hotel. Luckily there were enough rooms to accommodate the Gears, and Jacinto's remnant. The Gorasni mostly slept on-board their largest ship, despite the invitation to move onto the island. It seemed that instincts were just as hard for them to overcome as anyone else. There was always the lingering thought that you may have to pick up and move at any time, and it would be much easier to do that with everyone together. Sleeping separately certainly hadn't dampened the camaraderie, though. And the Gorasni men, refusing to be shown up, had insisted on helping rebuild Azura. After all, it seemed that Azura was the best place on Sera to settle right now. They had seen the mainland since leaving Vectes, and were no more interested in heading back just yet than the gears were. With the fuel shortage, the most logical choice was for everyone to stay put as much as possible. Sure, there would need to be recon missions, and scouting, but that could wait a while. After a lifetime of war, it seemed everyone had a moment to breathe, and they wanted to enjoy it as much as they could.

Like any other man who'd spent nearly their entire life fighting, it seemed impossible to just come to a halt. The war was over, and it seemed that, though they all had the chance to sit still, no one had the ability. Everyone was restless. Not the worried, stressful restlessness they'd become accustomed to, but a relieved, adrenaline fueled restlessness that demanded some sort of action, if for no other reason to satisfy the need to expel energy. So with no real break, the work began.

It had been tedious, at first. But the relaxation that came with actually being able to chat while working, and not being covered in blood and searching for possible snipers, all the while waiting to feel the ground start to tremble under you, was a welcome change. To most people, anyway.

Marcus Fenix had never been the chatty type. So when it came time to work, most of the other gears and the Gorasni men had learned to avoid him. By now, everyone had heard what happened to Dom, and to his father. They knew better than to bring it up and the forced small talk could only go so far. It seemed the only person willing to get near him was Cole. Cole had thrown himself into the work with enthusiasm, like every other thing he did. He would work, clearing the debris and repairing what they could during the day, and running thrashball games with the kids in the evening. The less down time, the better. He still wrote letters to his mother every night, and that was as close to down time as he wanted.

It wasn't until the end of the day that Cole finally approached Marcus. As he was ripping apart a broken table to use for scrap, Cole poked his head into the room.

"Hey man, it's quittin' time." Cole never failed to treat every situation as if it was perfectly normal. Here they were trying to slowly repair a world destroyed by war, and he treated it like any other job.

"Mhmm. Almost done." The last bit of the table gave way, leaving a solid flat piece of wood.

"When you're ready to knock off, a bunch of us are meeting down in the dining room. They've got a full stocked bar, baby! Well, full until tomorrow, I'm sure." His laugh boomed through the small room they were in, which must have been a storage area at some point.

"I'm not in a drinking mood."

"Oh, come on man. The guys are all asking about you. Besides, it'd be good for you. If you go much longer without spending time with other people, you're gonna start scaring folks. You're gonna be like that old guy who sits on his porch and yells at kids when they walk by. "

Marcus raised an eyebrow at him before turning to nail the board up over the gaping hole in the wall, presumably from a frag grenade.

"If I could, I'd make it an order. But seein' as I'm not in the position to do that, I guess all I can do is ask nicely."

"Alright, Gus. I'll stop by."

Cole smiled his beaming, contagious smile and nodded approvingly. "Alright, baby. I'll save you a drink."

"Sam! Sam, you'll never believe it!" Carmine nearly sprinted across the dining room when he saw her. Shoving a piece of food into her mouth, he held the other half in his hand, waving it in front of her face like a child with a new toy. "There's bacon. Fucking BACON. Real, delicious, from-a-pig, bacon!" And damned if he wasn't right.

"Well, I bet that made your day, Carmine." Sam said, patting him on the shoulder firmly. Finishing the piece he nearly force fed her, she walked with him back towards the kitchen. "Got anymore?"

"Yeah, you wouldn't believe how much shit they stock-piled here. It's like they started this place before E-day or something. I bet there's enough food to keep us fed for years. It looks like they had a small farm area, but the locust probably killed all the livestock. We found some corpses, but so far nothing left alive. But we've got dry rations and canned shit to last a while. Maybe we can finally figure out a way to get some fuel into the ravens and start scoping out the mainland again."

Carmine had been working in the kitchen a lot, it seemed. He probably just enjoyed being around food again, and not wondering if a grub was going to interrupt his dinner. It was fine with the gears, though, as he was a damn good cook. Even some of the less appealing menu items just seemed to taste better when someone actually took the time to prepare them.

Grabbing a plate, Sam started piecing together a meal. She snatched a few strips of bacon, a biscuit, and scooped some eggs out of the pan Carmine was using. They may have been powdered, but they smelled amazing. "Yeah, I think Baird has been working on some ideas. Plus, we've got the Gorasni boys hanging around. They're a little hesitant to use the rest of their fuel to head back just yet. I don't know if Trescu will admit it, but I think he missed us. Too bad Hoffman isn't here to see him..." Sam sighed sadly. Hoffman and Bernie were still at Anvil Gate, and there was no way of knowing if she'd ever get to see them again. With the fuel supply pretty much non-existent, getting a Raven to Anvegad wasn't going to happen, especially not for a social visit. Of course, she assumed Baird had been working on the radios, too. But he was only one man after all. "Thanks, Carmine. Hey, stash some of the extra away for me, ok?" she winked at him and carried her plate to the dining room.

The dining room was nothing like the mess hall back on Vectes. The mess hall was all military. It was dark, and grey. There was no warmth, like a home. Only the warmth of the bodies piled it. Sure, it was comfortable enough, but once you've spent years waging war against monsters, anything they can't get into is comfortable enough. But here on Azura, everything had been designed to please the rich and intelligent groups that were smuggled in over the years. There were chandeliers, and plush chairs. There was carpet, and even a fireplace. This was nothing like Vectes.

Sam made her way across the room searching for a seat, and her eyes fell upon Baird, sitting alone by the window with his table covered in papers and open books. He had half a biscuit in his mouth as he frantically scribbled something on a piece of paper. Any other day, she never would have even considered joining him, but today she found herself heading that way. Sitting across from him, she felt like a teenager, trying to get the attention of a boy.

"Still working on the fuel problem?"

Baird snorted, not even looking up. "Yeah. Can't do much without it." He mumbled through the biscuit.

She reached over and took the biscuit from him and dropped it onto her plate. "You're going to drive yourself crazier, you know. You'll fall asleep and see numbers and schematics running around in your room."

He glared at her for a moment before burying his face back in his books. "Well, no one else around here seems to be doing a damn thing about it, and I sure as shit won't live in a world where we can't even fuel a damn raven."

Sam chewed thoughtfully on her eggs before waving a piece of bacon in front of Baird's Nose. "Look what Carmine found. Bacon. Real bacon."

Baird sighed heavily and flipped a few pages before responding. "We would have had bacon if they had let me trade you to the Stranded for it. And then you wouldn't be here running your mouth while I'm trying to solve a real problem, not scavenging clothes from the closets of dead scientists."

Sam dropped the slice back on the plate and stared at him. Her rage was building slowly, and she could feel it taking her over. She stood and dumped her plate of food on the table and into his lap.

"There. Maybe now you can take your fucking work and choke on it!" She stormed off, leaving the gears in the dining room staring after her as Baird tried to clean the mess, cursing at her under his breath.

Making it back to her room, she slammed the door behind her. She peeled her armor off and tossed it onto the floor by the bed, still fuming. He was so infuriating. It was impossible to figure him out. She had just started to think that maybe he did deserve a chance. Maybe he did care. After all, he did seem concerned for her when he first landed on Azura with Cole, and since then he had been his normal, sarcastic self. But it was as if the one act of kindness had used up his supply for the rest of his life. Sam sat on the edge of the bed rubbing her temples, trying to figure out just what had her so angry. Baird had been an ass, but hadn't he always been? Was she actually developing feelings for him? That thought alone scared her more than any locust ever had. She certainly wasn't going to let anyone speak to her that way, especially someone who she thought cared about her. She suddenly envied Bernie for having the chance, and the foresight, to punch him square in the jaw. Wondering if it would still have as much of an impact, she started for the front door. Weighing the pros and cons of making a scene, she had all but convinced herself it was entirely worth it to return for another round with him when she heard a light knock on her door. Opening it, she saw Cole standing in front of her. She gasped slightly, caught off guard by not only who it was, but as always, the sheer size of him.

"Hey, Sam. Got a sec?"

She motioned for him to come in and closed the door behind him, noticing how he practically had to turn sideways to fit through the door. She hoped whatever room he had was big enough for him. He'd probably have to put two beds together just to be able to stretch out. "Yeah, Cole. What's up?"

He sat down on the couch, taking up nearly half as he stretched his arms out along the back and arm. "It's about Baird."

Sam narrowed her eyes at him, sitting on the opposite side of the sofa. "Whatever he sent you up to tell me-"

"Whoa, come on. It's nothing like that. I just saw what happened and figured it'd be a good idea to make sure you weren't coming up here after your lancer." In typical Cole fashion, he managed to make her smile a little. No one could ever stay angry with Cole around.

"Maybe I bloody well should be."

"Sam, baby, I know Damon's a lot to take. BELIEVE that. But you know he's just being Damon."

"That's the problem, Cole." Sighing, exasperated, she figured there was no harm in telling Cole everything. She explained what had happened the night before, and how he spent the night with his arms around her. How kind he had been that morning before she left, not even putting on a show for Anya.

Cole listened intently, and when she finished the story with the conversation he had seen but not heard, he started nodding his head slowly. "So, basically, he did something nice, you gave him a nice friendly kiss, and then when you tried to be nice to him, when other people were watching, he was an asshole?"

"That about sums it up, I guess."

"I don't know what part of that you find surprising." He laughed a little and patted her on the leg. "Baby, you know Damon ain't gonna let anybody else see him being a nice guy."

"But if he really cared, then why would he be SUCH an asshole?"

"Do you ever hear him being all sweet and cuddly with me? And you can't tell me there ain't a little piece of a heart in there somewhere, Sam. It might be tiny, and cold, and struggling to keep beating, but it's there." Cole smiled warmly at her, trying so hard to comfort her.

"I guess you're right...But does he have to make it so bloody hard for people to care back?" Sam stared at Cole, hoping for some insight into how he managed to put up with Baird all these years.

"Well, if he made it easy, too many people would be fighting over him, since he's such a genius." Cole flashed his giant, goofy grin before continuing. "Besides, nearest I can figure he just thinks it's easier this way. If people hate him, they won't miss him, and he won't miss them. It's just about all he knows, all any of us know; people dying all around them. It's much harder on everyone when you care about those folks, instead of just getting pissed at them all the time. And you know, if it wasn't such a challenge to care about him, I don't think you'd even want to try."

Sam had always figured Baird was being an ass as a defense mechanism, but she truly sometimes forgot he even had the ability to care about a person. But, here was Cole, and there was no denying they were friends. Best friends, even. And you certainly can't have a best friend if you don't care about anyone. And she certainly did love a challenge. She chewed her lip thoughtfully before finally looking back at Cole.

"Never really looked at it that way, Cole. Thanks."

He stood up and headed for the door, laughing as he went. "No problem, baby. You know you can count on the Cole Train to play match maker for you lovebirds. Now I just gotta head down to the garage and pull Damon's head out of his ass."

"Maybe I'll go do that for you." she said, following him out into the hall and closing the door behind them.