Wooh! That prologue left a ton of questions, didn't it? I'm sad to say that I don't think this chapter gave you any answers. But look on the bright side: we're on our way to finding them!

This chapter was actually coming along really freaking fast until my mom literally started shoving a "before college to-do list" down my throat. So instead of writing each time I turned on my laptop, I was registering for classes and trying to figure out what I want to major in. Ugh. I'll be happy when all of that junk is taken care of!

Nothing keeps me going better than all of you wonderful, faithful, outstanding reviewers :) As always, thanks for all the beautiful responses!

Happy reading!

Chapter Ten: Here We Go (We're Going Down)

Melanie

Water. We were soaring over nothing but water.

I felt like a child gazing over the side of the Raven, trying to catch a glimpse of the unknown. But then again, these days, the more of the world I saw, the more and more I felt like a child.

I'd never seen such a limitless amount of water. The site of the ocean baffled me; I was speechless. I found myself imagining how it would feel to leap from the Raven and sink into the middle of its vastness, to lose myself in its cold embrace.

Then another thought ran through my head, chasing the previous one away: I didn't even know how to swim.

Hell I wasn't in the Navy, and this was the first time I'd ever seen enough water to actually swim in. I thought of my father how he'd laugh if I admitted this to him. But then he'd also get this sad look in his eye when he realized that he had once again failed to give me the entire world.

Didn't he realize yet that he was my entire world?

I was shocked and taken aback by my sudden confession, not only by the concept itself, but by how effortlessly the thought flowed. How could I have changed so much in such a short amount of time without realizing it?

It had been two days since I'd seen my father. Where in the hell were we flying? It sure was taking a long time to get there. We'd had a temporary landfall late last night in some sketchy looking camp located on top of a fuel line. The two men guarding the Stranded post had been negotiable, offering us fuel if we didn't "throw our COG weight around and attract grub attention." Sometimes, Stranded really ticked me off.

And now the sun was setting again, a brilliant, red ball of fire sinking gradually under the horizon of water with each passing minute. We had traveled so far. Where in the hell could we be going? Did civilization even still exist in this dark corner of the planet?

I sighed heavily and closed my eyes. I had so many questions, and no one with answers. If this was how the COG usually operated, I sure as hell hadn't had to deal with it before. A few weeks back, I'd gotten into an argument with Mark Jefferson about a similar situation, insisting that ignorance wasn't always bliss. Despite my efforts, Jefferson always had been one of those "I don't know, and I don't care that I don't know" kind of guys. That's probably why he'd been promoted and dragged out of our squad to begin his training as a future bureaucrat. He'd make the perfect pencil pusher one day.

Justin, sitting to my right, could sense my stress, and he gave me a comforting look. Ah, Justin. Even though he most likely felt more nervous than I did, it didn't stop him from trying to make me feel better. I offered up a smile, and then turned back to continue my water gazing.

Sure, I was pretty tense about our upcoming mission. Scared, even. But even though I'd never say the words out loud, Justin made it all a hell of a lot more bearable. Gently, making it seem as though I were doing it unconsciously, I leaned into him, our arms and thighs pressing together. Soon after, my heart rate slowed, and my worry-filled thoughts subsided.

Justin, staring straight ahead, said nothing even though I knew he'd noticed my small shift of movement. Acting as the loyal friend he was, he tensed for only a moment before leaning right back.

Dom

Freaking hell. How many times did we have to tell these idiots? You go through the grubs, not around them. It's simple, affective, and gets the job done in the shortest amount of time. Yeah, sure, every once in a while you gotta slip in through the back door. But why tiptoe around when it wasn't necessary?

I nudged a grub corpse with the tip of my boot, scowling. Now stay dead, I thought angrily. Do us all a favor and just die.

So what if I had anger issues? Most of the time I held them in, and I was way better than Baird. More handsome, too.

He knows it.

I jogged forward to keep up with the others. They crept ahead slowly, ears strained and eyes open. This place was crawling with Locusts, and more than once we'd been stopped by the vibrations under our feet. Marcus seemed especially tense today. I'd watched him strain the muscles in his neck more than once, and those eyes narrow at nothing.

He was deep in thought about something, alright. I just needed to find out what.

"Man," Cole said, running a hand across his forehead. "If I see one more grub pop up outta the ground, I might just try reasoning with it."

Baird snorted, and for a rare moment he slipped his goggled off of his head and started trying to wipe the grit from them with his gloved hands. "Ah shit," he muttered. "Think I scratched them. Fuck reasoning, those bastards are gonna pay for this." Grumbling under his breath, he placed them back on his head and huffed. I was surprised at how quick his whining came to an end. Hell, even Baird got tired hearing his own voice every once in a while.

"Where to next?" I asked, forcing Marcus to crawl out of his deep thinking for a minute. Despite his seemingly serious mood, he gave a tiny, knowing smirk.

"The sewer," he answered, staring straight ahead.

Me, Baird and Cole all gave a dramatic and stretched out groan. Cole even swerved in his walking and propped an elbow on Baird's shoulder in exasperation.

"Nooooooo," Baird moaned, slapping a palm to his face. And just like that, the whining returns. "Not the sewer. Anything but the sewer. Last time we were down there, I smelt like shit for months."

"You always smell like shit," I remarked.

"Fuck you, Santiago. You and Fenix always get to take the fucking high road. And where do Cole and I end up? Knee deep in excretions."

"Well then if it makes you feel any better, we'll take the low road this time." Marcus pulled at the chain on his Lancer, checking the blade for kinks or catches. "Whatever keeps your mouth shut."

I snorted. Not likely, I thought. But Marcus had slipped back into his dark mood, and it didn't seem like all that great of an idea to get Baird riled up. I kept my mouth shut, and made a mental note to confront Marcus as soon as I could get him alone. 'Cause there was no way he would spill his guts in front of Baird and Cole. Not something that was eating at him this much.

"I say they make some of those kids patrol undergrounds for once." Cole had one of those five star grins on his face. "Show them what the real COG's all about."

Baird barked a laugh. "Yeah. Could you picture little miss Santiago wading through that crap? Now that would be fun to watch." Cole gave a heavy laugh. He agreed.

I scowled down at my Lancer in my hands, trying to find something wrong so I could fix it and have an excuse to hang my head. "No daughter of mine will be walking through shit, that's for sure." I released an ammunition cartridge and then smacked it back in. "Hell, I'll carry her if I have to."

Cole laughed another round before grabbing my right shoulder and shaking me. "D'awe, now that's great parenting. But what about us? You got enough room on your back for me, too?"

I smirked. "Yeah right. Get Baird to carry you. He needs the exercise anyways."

"Oh that's it-"

"Guys," Marcus cut in, giving us all the shut the fuck up please look. Then he gestured towards the ground with his Lancer and gave a nod of his head. Sitting at our feet was a sewer grate. Baird gave it an evil, nasty look.

Marcus sent a glance my way and then we both bent down to wedge our fingers through the grate holes and lift it from the opening. After setting the heavy circle of metal on the concrete, I gazed down the black hole and forced myself to breathe through my mouth.

"Nope," Baird said. "Not happening. Not again in this lifetime."

"Come on, Damon. It ain't all that bad." Cole walked up to the edge of the hole and peaked over the edge. "Think of it as an old, Delta tradition."

"Fuck tradition."

"Get in the hole, Baird," Marcus ordered, giving him a level glare. Mumbling, Baird made a show of dragging his feet as he reluctantly started climbing down into the sewer entrance, whining all the way down. Then Marcus went, I followed, and Cole sealed the hole with the grate once again before climbing down after us.

"You know, Baird," Cole mused as he reached the bottom of the steel ladder. "Even though she's way more mature than you, you huffing and puffing like a teenager makes me kinda miss lil Santiago. It's a shame she ain't here to shut you up." Cole chuckled, and Baird growled.

"Glad I can amuse you," he grumbled. "Now can we get the fuck moving, please? Before the shit seeps through my boots." Baird started sloshing forward into the poorly lit tunnel, taking careful steps. Personally I'd never slipped while trudging through the underground passageways of the planet, but I hear it sucks. Terribly.

Trying to keep my mind off of Cole's comment (I knew I missed Melanie), I started walking after Baird. I really hoped the sludge stayed ankle deep, because I knew much worse existed. "What's the plan, Marcus?" I asked, scrunching my nose against the awful smell.

"Same as always," he said. "Find 'em, kill 'em."

"Sounds good to me, boss man!" Cole marched along with us as graceful as ever, not a single worry on his face. "Here we go!"

Melanie

"Set us down when you find a clearing," Decarlo shouted towards the front of the Raven. "We'll travel on foot the rest of the way."

The rest of the way? We had more traveling to do?

"Where exactly are we heading, sarge?" Hunter asked, and for once I was thankful for his constant curiosity. Justin, Finn and I all stared at Decarlo in anticipation, ready for his answer.

Decarlo blew air out through his nose and looked away, angry and as stoic as ever. "Control," he muttered in his radio. "We're making landfall soon. Is our radio signal still coming through?" He paused for a moment and then nodded. "Good. We'll keep you posted."

Left in the dark again, I thought begrudgingly, resting my chin in my hand. Where was Baird's incessant nagging when you needed it?

An alarming beeping rang out from the front of the Raven, and I watched as the pilot began checking her instruments. She was a spunky woman about five years older than me and had a lot of red hair. She checked a couple of screens and pressed some buttons before sitting back in her chair again.

"Decarlo!" she called out, cautiously eyeing the data readings in front of her. Sergeant Decarlo was out of his seat in an instant, hunching over so he could keep his balance as he walked to the front of the chopper.

"What is it?" he asked, looking serious.

She pointed at something in front of her. "Hostiles. Six klicks north of our position."

Decarlo tensed. "Six? You were only just now able to pick them up on the radar?"

The woman furrowed her eyebrows, creating a deep 'V' on her forehead. "We're off the grid, sir. My tools just aren't at full potential. We may also lose radio contact soon. Do you still want me to set down?"

Decarlo turned away from the pilot, looking torn. Something was eating away at him enough to make him sweat. "Drop us as quickly as you can," he said. "We'll have a better chance on the ground then up here. We've got one Raven and we need to save it." The woman nodded, and Decarlo moved to go and sit back down.

"Uuummm…sarge?" Hunter called nervously, and we all looked up at the right opening of the Raven to find him cautiously leaning over the edge, gripping the door gun with both hands. "We've, uh…we've got some company."

In a second, every one was scattering to either the right side or left side of the Raven to check outside. I was the first at the left, and grabbing hold of a handle overhead, I leaned out as far as I dared, the wind of flight and the chopper blades whipping my loose hairs wildly around my face.

Squinting my wind burned eyes, I searched the air for any signs of life, but I couldn't see anything. And then after a moment, I spotted a dark spot in the air. It was something flying towards us, and it was flying fast. "He's right!" I shouted, turning around to look at Justin and Finn behind me. Then I stuck my head back into the wind to watch as the object grew closer and closer. After a moment I could make out its shape, and it certainly didn't look like anything that belonged to the COG.

I squinted my eyes again, taken aback. What in the world?

"Reaver!" Decarlo shouted. "Carter, we've got a Reaver on our ass!"

Justin grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the door. I caught his glance for only a moment, seeing real fear there. And then Decarlo began shouting orders, demanding that we get to our battle stations.

Justin and Hunter each manned the door guns, while Finn and I kneeled at the ready with our Lancers raised. Decarlo was screaming into his radio again, but this time, I don't think anyone answered back.

"Control! This is Unit Twelve! We're being pursued by a Reaver, and have reports of hostiles on the ground! What action should we take?" Decarlo's eyes were wild as he waited for a reply. "Control, this is Unit Twelve!" he tried again. "Can you hear me?" He was quiet for another moment before jerking his hand away from his ear and exclaiming "Fuck!" before punching one of the seats. Then he joined Justin and I on the left side of the Raven.

"Shoot that fucker down as soon as it's in range," he ordered, grabbing his own Lancer and standing close behind me. Then he looked over his shoulder and glanced at the pilot. "Forget setting down and get us out of here!"

The Reaver looked monstrous and almost as big as the Raven itself. It was like some sort of massive, flying spider, with a huge, round body and long, tentacle-like legs that flew behind it as it soared. It flew along side the Raven instead of heading straight forward like I expected it to. Then the Reaver suddenly veered towards us, only meters away.

"Fire!" Decarlo shouted, and everyone on the left side of the Raven began emptying ammo clips into the flying beast. The Reaver suddenly slowed its pace, distancing itself from the Raven and then fired back, littering the tail of the chopper with bullet holes. I instinctively jerked away from the opening of the Raven and covered my neck with my arms. Bits of metal from the side of the chopper bit at my exposed skin.

"Keep going!" Decarlo demanded. "Get it away from the Raven before it-"

His order was suddenly cut short when an explosion from the tail rocked the Raven and knocked everyone on their sides. I screamed and caught myself with my hands before face-planting.

"Shit!" the pilot cursed. "Get rid of that thing before it gets rid of us!"

Shakily getting to my feet, I wavered a bit before completely gaining my balance and picking my Lancer back up. The others did the same, and Decarlo seemed to be favoring a bump on his head that was already swelling.

"Sir!" I grabbed a handle and made my way over towards Decarlo, gripping his arm and helping him stand. "Sarge, are you okay?" He was grinding his teeth and covering the wound with a hand.

"I'm fine!" he barked, squeezing his eyes shut. "Just get on the gun! The Raven won't stand much more of this!" Finn and Hunter had already stumbled to their feet, and Justin was reloading his Lancer. I leapt onto the door gun, aimed at the Reaver and opened fire once again. The gun was powerful and rattled my teeth. By the time I had gotten a hang of the aiming, it was already needing to cool down.

"Keep it steady," Finn murmured in my ear, startling me. Even in a crisis he moved quietly and unnoticed. Hunter had also joined us on the left side, bracing his right side against the chopper's frame to help him shoot better. Justin did the same to my left. We all fired at the Reaver together, filling the beast with bullets.

And then two things happened nearly simultaneously. The Reaver let out a strange sound, a combination of a screech and a hiss. Its flight pattern abruptly took a turn for the ground. We had finally killed it.

But not before it suddenly stopped firing its machine guns and instead answered back with a single missile, launching it straight at our tail.

Decarlo stopped firing. "BRACE!"

As the Reaver began its dive towards the surface, its missile struck us. And in that moment, I nearly choked on my own fear.

One second I was standing, and then the next I was on my back, my body aching and my ears ringing. The sound of the explosion was absolutely deafening, leaving my frame rattling. It was hard to believe the Raven still flew in one piece. But warning sounds were going off, and our tail coughed up flames. We wouldn't be flying for long.

"Mayday, mayday, mayday!" Decarlo screamed into his radio. "We're going down, control! We're going down!"

I sat up and simply watched the chaos in silence, my frantic senses slowing everything down before my eyes. Decarlo and Finn had miraculously managed to stay on their feet. But Justin, Hunter and I all sat on our asses, and now had to make the decision to either stay down, or risk the trouble of trying to stand. Our pilot was furious, and she was firing off a thousand words a minute into her radio.

So what if we did reach control? There wasn't a damn thing they could do for us now.

The Raven shook as though it may instantly break apart at any moment. I felt my stomach become weightless when the chopper took a sharp turn for the ground, and I squeezed my eyes shut against a sudden wave of nausea.

Please, I thought indirectly, desperate. Please, please, not now. This can't be happening. Not after I've gotten a taste of how true life feels.

We suddenly tilted sideways, and I began sliding towards an opening of the Raven. I would have slipped straight out if Justin hadn't snatched my arm and yanked me towards him. He and Hunter were huddled against the bench seats that Decarlo and Finn had a grasp on. I realized that they were all preparing.

This was it. We were going to crash, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.

I scrambled on my hands and knees the best I could until I was hunched into Justin's side. Pride be damned, I clutched onto him and held my breath. It would only be a couple seconds now.

Justin pressed his forehead to mine. The world around us quaked.

And then I felt nothing.

Dom

Never again would I take the sunlight for granted.

No really, I swear.

And it's not because of what you think; yeah, sure, wading through mid-shin high shit wasn't anywhere near the top of my "favorite things to do" list. But damn. I knew Baird was a whiner on the surface.

Who knew he could actually get worse?

I was just waiting, wishing, for the moment when Marcus would finally snap and turn on his I'm-Sergeant-And-You're-Not-So-Shut-The-Fuck-Up voice and silence Baird for good. Or, at least keep him quiet until we reached the surface again.

But no. He was still brooding. And I was edging closer and closer to the moment when I finally threw my hands in the air and turned on my We're-Not-Going-Anywhere-Until-You-Tell-Me-What-The-Fuck-Is-Up voice.

So yeah, being underground for extended periods of time really got me wound up. The smell definitely wasn't helping, either. Plus, I had a daughter hundreds of miles away doing who knows what and getting shot at by who knows what.

I had a daughter. Yep. I still wasn't used to it.

I mean, what kind of dad lets his little girl fight in the same war that he was? It drove me insane just thinking about all the terrible things that could happen to her. Hell, it drove me crazy just thinking about what trouble Bennie and Sylvie could have gotten into when they simply opened up a box of magic markers. But Melanie? She was an official, enlisted COG soldier who shot at, and was shot at by Locusts. I never would have let Sylvia join the army. She was my little girl, and the thought of her getting tossed into battle nearly gave me a heart attack.

But when Melanie was brought to me, she wasn't my little girl. And she hadn't been little for long time.

She was grown. Still growing, but much faster than I ever would have wanted. And it was all because of this crazy ass, upside down world.

I'll give you the world one day, sweetheart. I just have to make it one worth giving first.

There had been very little activity today underground, mainly wretches and tickers. I certainly wasn't complaining about that. Who wanted to risk getting shit on your face while you were busy dodging bullets? This was a messy job, and apparently Delta was the only one willing to do it.

Does throw you into some crazy situations though.

"I think my sinuses have permanently shut themselves down for their own protection," Baird mumbled when a surprisingly large rat scurried over a pipe connected to the concrete wall.

"Well, at least we've got instinct on our side," Cole commented. "When in doubt, do as the rats do."

Baird visually shuddered. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just saying we've gotta be going the right way. Plus, if I were a rat, I wouldn't be stickin' around when Locusts are near by, ya know?"

"'If I were a rat?' I will never trust a method requiring me to ask the question 'if I were a rat.'"

"Hey Marcus," I popped in, hoping to put an end to Baird and Cole's antics before they turned into another argument based on made up facts and past experiences only they knew about. "How much further? This is supposed to be one of the shorter lines, right?"

Marcus made a noise in the back of his throat and blinked. I'd caught him thinking again. "Control," he murmured into his radio. "This is Delta. What's our exact position?"

There was a crackling in everyone's ear. "Hold on, I'll check." Anya paused for a sec. "You've just passed the midway point. Your next exit point is about two klicks ahead. Keep moving straight, and you'll be fine."

"Thanks, Anya. We'll keep you posted. Delta out."

"Wait!" The word was out of my mouth before I could stop it. Marcus gave me a glance, but I just couldn't help myself; I had to ask at least once. "Hey Anya, can you check on something for me?"

"Sure. What do you need, Dom?" she asked, always ready to help even though I'd already asked far too much of her over the years. And here I was, asking for more favors, putting more work on her shoulders.

I hesitated, unsure of what I should actually say. "There's a squad out," I began. "Unit Twelve. Can you keep me updated on their status?"

There was a moment of silence. "Well they haven't been placed under my watch, but let me look them up in the system. Any official check-ins will be listed there. But for recent news, I'll have to ask around."

"That's fine," I answered quickly, thankful that she could give me anything at all.

Another minute of quiet passed while we continued to slosh forward. "Okay," Anya started. "I've pulled up the squad on my computer. Four privates under the command of sergeant Anthony Decarlo, correct?"

"Right."

"Wait a second…" Anya mused in shock. "Abel, Valentine, and…Santiago? Dom, is this who I think it is?" In that moment she slipped from Lieutenant Stroud to just plain Anya; a long time friend, the woman who spent almost as much time searching for my wife as I did, and now, a woman about to gush about how she'd heard through the grape vine about my new daughter, but hadn't had the chance to ask me about her yet.

I current didn't have the patience for any of that.

"Yep, that's her," I cut in, a bit of urgency in my voice. "If anything eventful happens during their mission, keep me in the loop, okay? If it's not too much to ask."

"Of course, Dom. I'll let you know." I could literally hear Anya smiling. The next time I saw her, she'd bombard me with the conversation of a lifetime. "Control out."

When the line went quiet, I felt a heavy weight lift off my shoulders, and then quickly be replaced with another one. Sure, because I've got friends in high places, I'd be able to keep tabs on my daughter as she shot her way through far away places. Now I only had to worry half as much. But then again, Marcus was giving me this sideways glance that I was doing my best to ignore. It was that glance he used to give me every once in a while before I found Maria.

Secretly, he had his own way of checking on me, whether I wanted it or not. And now that I actually had other things in the world to worry about besides saving his ass, Marcus thought it necessary to spend a little extra time looking out for my ass. I don't even think he knew he did it.

But those cold, steel glances put me under more pressure than he could have imagined. Because when someone watched your back as much as Marcus did, you felt like you had a special duty to fulfill. Like you had expectations. Expectations nearly impossible to live up to. The thought of letting him down tore away at me, and so each time I caught him and his sideways glance, I did everything I could to school my expression and make it seem as though the only worry I had was right there in front of me.

The pressure got to me sometimes. I usually took it out on Baird. It was easy to be angry with him because everyone had a reason to be angry at Baird. Plus, it was way easier to be mad at him then Marcus. Hell, I couldn't even come up with a good reason to be mad at Marcus.

Which brings up a point that I sometimes wonder about: does Baird hide behind his anger like I do? Or is he really just that big of an asshole?

I was more than happy when we reached the end of the line and began climbing back to the surface. The darkness was getting to me. It was too damn quiet, and I was going overboard with all the life contemplation.

It wasn't until my boots were firmly planted on dry concrete that our ears were crackling again, and Anya's voice was dragging my mind back into the sunlight.

"Delta, this is control, do you copy?"

Everyone's eyes went straight to me. God damn it, was I really that bad? Grinding my teeth, I put a finger to my ear.

"Go ahead, Anya."

"Dom? I've got some information regarding your daughter's squad."

I hung my head, almost like I was trying to have a private phone call. "Okay, great. Lay it on me," I said eagerly.

She paused for a long moment. For a second I thought she hadn't heard me, or I'd lost the signal.

"Dom, their chopper went down almost half an hour ago. We can't get a hold of any of them, and there aren't any nearby units in the area."

The silence that followed was one I'd always remember. My finger stayed locked at my ear, but I didn't say anything. Couldn't say anything. Couldn't even think. All I could do was picture Melanie, alone and dead because I couldn't protect her.

My daughter was halfway around the world, in trouble, and I couldn't do anything.

Fuck. I straightened and looked at everyone, my eyes pausing at Marcus. He looked angry as hell. And maybe even a little regretful.

"Anya," he said. "Send a Raven to our position for transport."

My mind still numb, I furrowed my eyebrows at him. Transport? To where?

"Right, Marcus," Anya answered, her voice filled with business. "I can get one to you in fifteen minutes. Where will it be taking you?"

Marcus took a breath and squared his shoulders. Now, he was in absolute "Sergeant Fenix" mode. And Sergeant Fenix got shit done, and never left a man behind.

"To wherever the fuck Santiago and her idiot sergeant got shipped out to," Marcus growled, scowling. "There's a chance they're still alive, or at least some of them. We're going to find their squad, and bring them home."

For the second time that day, I felt like someone had lifted a weight off my chest. She's a tough girl, I had to tell myself. She could still be alive. Don't lose hope.

And even though I already knew how badly it could hurt, I wouldn't stop hoping. Not until I found my girl, and she was safe in my arms. Hold on, Mel, I thought, balling my hand into a fist. I'm coming for you.

Oh snap. Stuff's going down, yo!...Ugh, sorry about that, I'm just a bit excited.

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