Transformers: Partners

by CDrake

After the death of the Fallen at the hand of the last Prime, a human spy is caught breaking into NEST and interrogated, his captors suspecting sinister motives. Through a series of events, however, they find this young man fighting with them, finding new purpose among their ranks—and an unexpected partner. Above all, he proves to all that true family is more than blood and energon.

10. Downtime

Caden looked up at him drowsily and nodded. "Home. You drive."

Hawk nodded and set the human down, transforming into his Lamborghini form, the Autobot symbol emblazoned in bright chrome on his hood and sides, wherever the Lamborghini symbol usually resided. The wheels had new chrome rims, a stark but appreciated contrast with the dominant steel-gray color of his body, with chrome grills on the front and back, and a new chrome spoiler on the rear. Caden smiled as he drowsily slumped into the passenger seat, closing the door weakly and pulling on his seatbelt as Hawk gently accelerated, driving them out of the hangar and back home, where Drake slept like a rock in his own bed.

…

1 month later

Sudley, VA

10 months after the death of the Fallen

"What?!"

Caden grinned at the indignant and shocked expression on his guardian's holoform's face as he stared at the TV screen.

"It's not true," the TV said. "That's impossible!"

"I'll say," Hawk grumbled, crossing his arms in disappointment.

"Noooo!"

Caden broke out in uproarious laughter at Hawk's flushed and extreme reaction to the revelation that Darth Vader is Luke's father, and the Bot's holoform gave him a glare that only made him laugh louder. As they finished the Empire Strikes Back, Caden could still see the Bot fuming silently on the couch, resolutely refusing to move after that shock.

"Oh come on," Caden said with a smile, interrupting his thoughts, "you can't possibly still be sulking over it."

Hawk glared at him again. "I hate you."

Caden just cracked up again and shook his head at the Bot's antics, returning to the kitchen to pour himself another glass of vodka. When he returned to the living room and the rolling credits of the Star Wars movie, Hawk was staring in his direction not with anger, but with concern.

"You know, that stuff's bad for you in the long run," he said, motioning to Caden's alcohol-filled glass.

"Correction, smoking is bad for humans in the long run. Alcohol's just bad for you in the short run." He downed a long swig, much more than is normal for drinking such a strong liquor. "Only so, in my case. Comes from having an enhanced liver," he explained, taking a seat and another sip. "Immune to cirrhosis, anemia, etc. In fact, I'm either immune or heavily resistant to most forms of disease, alcohol-related or otherwise." Tilting the glass back, he downed the last of the vodka before laughing in reminiscence. "Not immune to hangovers, though."

Hawk tilted his head sideways to look that up and widened his eyes, staring at his partner when he found the definition. "Exactly how much do you have to drink to get to that point?"

Caden grinned. "A lot. And I mean a lot, more than anyone else could possibly handle. The sheer cost of getting that drunk actually pained me the next morning." He shook his head, still smiling. "Though not as much as my head did." They were both silent for a long time, Caden remembering the limited debauchery he'd committed over the course of his comparatively short lifetime, Hawk deep in thought about something else.

"So," the Bot said finally, turning to his human friend, "from what you tell me, this...Achilles, it's genetic, right?" Caden nodded. "And from what limited knowledge I've gleaned about your species, genetics can be passed on to offspring." The human nodded again, eyebrows furrowing as he started to track Hawk's line of thought. "So, you could potentially pass on your immunity to diseases to others."

Drake shrugged. "Well, yeah, if I had kids at some point, but...it would just be a few. And they would have to marry and reproduce, and their children, and so forth." The kid crossed his arms and leaned against a nearby wall. "It would take several thousand years at least to mass-produce my genetics naturally, and I'm not sure I even want them to be."

Hawk raised an eyebrow. "Because you apparently don't care about the rest of humanity?"

Caden's face fell as he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his left hand, right arm tucked underneath. "It...it's not like that." He could see Hawk staring at him, eyebrows raised as if to say, "Yeah right." "Look, it's not, okay? When I said that to Optimus...I was hurt, and scared. I didn't like seeing you hurt because of me."

"Thought we already went over who was to blame that day."

"Yeah, you're missing the point." Drake sighed again. "I care about the rest of my kind, I do, I'm just realistic enough to accept that I can't save everyone." Another sigh. "Though it was a tough lesson to learn." Another long silence passed between them before Caden spoke again. "Look, I see the benefits of having a lot more people like me in the world, but I also see the monumental danger. You know what Raden and the Drakon did to my family and hundreds others. You know what they almost did to the world. That was two. Two! Can you imagine the kind of damage more could do? Say, five, or a dozen, or a hundred?"

"Can you imagine the kind of good they'd do if they had you there to guide them?"

That stopped Caden in his tracks, mouth hanging open as he considered that point. I...I could raise them. Teach them the right way to go, like my parents did. His eyes widened. I could start a line of protectors, guardians. Peak humans trained and raised to defend others from the kind of injustice that made me an orphan. Sighing again, he shook his head. Fool. I'm not equipped for that, at the very least not ready, at worst… Caden shook his head resolutely. "I'm not the right role model," he said finally, voicing his mental conclusion. His eyes looked over to see Hawk's slightly disappointed expression. "Not yet, anyway. Too absorbed in my work to properly raise children, and besides…" He shrugged. "Who would I marry?" The answer came to him instantly, but he shoved it aside as quickly. She's not mine anymore. She has Trevor, and she's happy. She was practically gushing over him the last time we spoke over the phone.

When Caden looked over at Hawk, he could see that the same thought had occurred to him, and rushed to keep him from saying it aloud. "Don't," he warned gently. "Just...don't. There may come a day when our pursuits, our duties, don't keep us apart, but…" Drake shook his head again. "I'm not gonna hold my breath, and I'm sure as hell not gonna make her wait for me." Even if it breaks my heart, he thought as he turned away toward the stairs.

"I know," Hawk said to his back. "You're far too noble to do that."

Drake could almost swear he heard mocking in the Bot's voice, but he ignored it and started walking up toward his room. "Good night, Hawk."

"Good night, Caden."

…

1 week later

Late afternoon

"Come on, man, you got this, you got it!"

"On your left!"

"Saw him!"

"Well, your shields are gone, so little good that did you."

"Really? Who has the best kill-death spread between the two of us?"

Hawk scowled. "Can't argue with that logic." Much as he wanted to, the Bot couldn't argue against Caden's assertion. It was a cold hard fact that his nineteen-year-old partner was summarily thrashing his score in Halo: Reach's firefight mode. Well, the Bot thought with a scowl, you can't blame me for being a little behind. This controller is tiny, and deploying my holoform diverts crucial processing power. Hawk was making lame excuses for himself, and he knew it.

Drake laughed as his partner succumbed to yet another Elite sword charge. "You know," the boy mocked, "for an Autobot close quarters specialist, you kinda suck at close quarters."

Hawk mock glared at him. "I wouldn't if this game's close combat system weren't so…" He performed a few Google searches at lightning speed to find the appropriate term. "Broken."

Caden cracked up at the million-year Bot's usage of slang, distracted long enough for his Spartan to be blasted to bits by a faraway Wraith. "Dang," he complained gently with a grin, picking a heavy weapon loadout as he waited for respawn. Looking over at his guardian, Drake could tell that despite his griping, Hawk was actually having a good time, and seemed to be enjoying himself more than usual. It wasn't the first time that they'd stayed up late playing videogames until the small hours, but it seemed like something had happened to make the infiltrator much...looser. Much more relaxed. Shifting his attention back to the game at hand, he focused on the battle and, with a few more deaths from Hawk, claimed victory from the jaws of defeat.

…

5 minutes later

"Hello?"

Hawk looked up at Caden, returning his thoughts to the deep discussion they were having over the Bot's Star Wars upset. "Oh, sorry. Got a lot on my processor."

"Like what," Caden asked, crossing his arms. The Bot looked pensive, unusually so, and Drake was about to drop it, fearing the subject was personal, when Hawk spoke up.

"It's...Cybertron. Before the war, and during it. My participation, on both sides."

Caden nodded his understanding. He had seen Hawk just...space out on multiple occasions, though never on a mission. When the chips were down, he was perhaps the most focused of them all, but in private...his private life was another matter entirely. There were days that he would drop his charge off at home, then drive off throughout the area within a certain radius, maintaining his distance and getting time to think while staying close enough to help should anyone try to bother his friend. And then there were rare moments like this, where he would just drop out in the middle of a conversation, and those were the times that Caden paid special attention, as the only thing that could make him do something so against his sense of courtesy was his past life.

"I see," Caden said after a few moments passed. "Anything in particular?"

The holoform fidgeted for a few moments before responding. "I had friends, before the war. Some of them died as collateral damage, some joined either side. Most stayed neutral even after I didn't. One in particular…" Hawk let out a long sigh. "She was special."

A small smile crept to Caden's lips at the thought of this particular Bot having a sweetheart, and he immediately produced several theories on what she was like before actually asking. "How do you mean?"

Hawk's expression turned distant, reminiscent, almost dreamy, the holoform fizzling once or twice as his focus drifted away from maintaining the projection. It resolidified as he answered. "She and I were...close." He rolled his optics at Caden's knowing smirk. "Not like that. Not...yet, anyway." He sighed. "She was a gentle spark, didn't believe in fighting, no matter the cause or faction, so...when I joined the Decepticons…"

"She flipped out," Caden finished.

Hawk looked down and away mournfully. "Yeah." They were silent a long time.

"Did you ever speak to her again after that?"

"Once," the Bot said, his expression growing more pained. "When the war had finally gone global, covered every corner of Cybertron, the last of the Rogues were offered safe haven among the Autobots, with no pressure to join the fight. Optimus' idea, I'm told." He shook his head. "Anyway, she was in Iacon when the tide turned after my defection, and when it turned back against us."

"Why didn't you ever talk to her?"

Hawk shook his head. "I know I should have, but...I'd done so many terrible things in Megatron's name that I...I just couldn't face her. I knew there would be no accusation in her optics, only pity, but...that alone would have dealt me a much heavier blow than accusation." He looked at Caden. "I believe you humans have a saying about such situations. Something about heaping burning coals?" Caden nodded his acknowledgement, getting the reference easily, and Hawk turned away again. "Well, anyway." He sighed, knowing his next words would hurt. "Megatron turned the tables on us using a dangerous-and once believed nonexistent-weapon: dark energon." Caden raised his eyebrows in question, but stayed silent.

"The substance is a corrupt form of our life-giving energon, said to be the 'Blood of Unicron.' No matter what it is in actuality, dark energon gave Megatron immense power, allowing him to equip his bombers with extremely destructive warheads, increase his own strength and regeneration, and even—" the Bot shuddered with the memory, "—even raise the dead."

At this, Caden stared at him in shock. "Wait, you mean he had a supply of stuff whose power could resurrect Transformers? Like the Matrix?"

Hawk shook his head slowly, his expression growing even more grim. "No. Not like the Matrix. Dark energon is the anti-spark, anti-energon. When used on living Cybertronians, it gives increased strength, durability, regeneration. It even enhanced the weapons you already have. When used on the dead, though." He shook his head again, scowling. "When used on the dead, it raises them as a shadow of what they once were. Worse, a perversion. A mindless, undead Terrorcon raised for only one purpose: to serve the twisted will of whoever brought it back."

"Megatron."

Hawk nodded. "Not even the dead were safe from his warmongering." His eyes turned red as his holoform simulated tears. "Her dwelling was one of the first to be hit by the bombers. She never stood a chance, but…" Caden's eyes widened in horror at where he knew this story was going. "Megatron brought them all back when he entered the city. The first ones hit, anyway. He had to conserve his supply of dark energon, after all." Hawk chuckled derisively, bitterly, hatred laced through the sound. "Always was about efficiency. When I was separated from my unit and it became very clear I wouldn't be any help on the front lines, I went to find her. What I found was...it wasn't right." He shook his head, taking a ragged breath as the red in his eyes intensified and pseudo-tears gathered. "It was an atrocity, a corruption of everything Cybertronian...of everything that made that femme...her.

"You know what she said to me through that corrupted shell, after all the time we'd been apart and estranged? 'Please.' That's it." The Bot's fists clenched tightly in his lap. "So I killed them. I killed them all. Every one I found, I took apart, piece by piece. Dissection was the only way to put them down, you see. Whatever wasn't cut off from the main body, from the spark, would just keep going, no matter how much damage you did." Hawk took a few more shuddering breaths, his scowl deepening, and he looked at his open hands. "My blades tasted more death that day than I ever wanted in a lifetime, and it was all out of...mercy. To put them out of the misery that Megatron had raised them to." He looked back up at an understandably perturbed Caden. "That's why, in a way, I'm glad we didn't reconnect." His optics drifted back toward his hands. "It would've been that much harder to kill her if we had."

"You would think so," Caden said finally, still chewing the story over, "but you being close to her again would have given you a greater sense of relief when you had." Hawk stared at him, confused and unbelieving. "Think about it. You two would've had a life together, however brief, and when it came down to it…" Drake sighed and looked away from his partner's intense gaze. "Let me put it this way, when you faced her, would you have wanted anyone else to give her peace?"

At this, the Bot looked away, bitter, melancholy realization settling into his spark. "No."

"Exactly. In a way, that was the greatest act of love you could give her. To keep her from Megatron, from an undeath that went against everything everything she stood for in life. You saved her, Hawk, and...if she is still alive, somewhere in the Allspark, I know she understands why you had to do it. And I know she forgives you. For everything."

Hawk's spark throbbed painfully, and he clutched his chest. "How—how could you possibly know?"

"I know you, and I know the kind of person you'd 'fall in love' with."

"And how is that?"

"Because," Caden sighed, "it's the kind of person I'd fall in love with. The kind of person I did fall in love with." They were both silent for a long minute. "I'm sorry," Drake said sympathetically, laying a hand on the holoform's shoulder comfortingly. It was a long time before either of them moved apart from breathing.

"I-thank you, Caden." Hawk sighed. "I've never spoken of this to anyone."

Caden blinked and felt his heart wrench a bit. "Bad move, my friend. I know better than anyone how much that hurts you in the long run."

The Bot nodded. "I know." He stood slowly, breathing deeply and striding toward the garage, pausing at the doorway to turn his head toward Caden. "Thank you for listening...and for understanding. You have no idea how much peace you've given me."

Caden nodded to him slowly, his expression all grim understanding. "I have some idea, actually. Get some rest."

"You know," Hawk said, turning his "body" toward him, "I don't actually need to recharge for several days. Cybertron's daily cycles were a lot longer than that of Earth, so..." He shrugged.

Drake shrugged back as he turned toward the stairs. "Just an expression, I guess."

Hawk nodded. "Well, you too, then." The partners turned away from each other to settle into their respective resting places, only one of them sleeping, the other wide awake, contemplating everything Caden had told him.

…

1 month later

10:35 PM

Buffalo Billiards, Washington, DC

"Aw, come on!"

Caden grinned at Lennox's exasperated interjection, seeing as how the nineteen-year-old spy had almost cleaned the deck of their pool table in one long turn...again.

"Can't touch that," Epps said, grinning stupidly behind Will, earning him a glare from the major.

"Well, you're right about that," Lennox responded with a roll of the eyes. "In fact, I've hardly touched a pole since he let me go first our first game."

Drake smiled even wider as he launched the cue ball at the final 8-ball, knocking it into a crazy zigzag around the table before it gently scooted into one of the side holes. Hearing Epps crack up again, clearly tipsy at the least, Caden straightened up and gave an almost mocking bow with a regal expression.

"Screw you," Will chuckled out as he forked over another five bucks.

"Who's putting the screws to my friend?"

Every eye at that table turned toward the source of the voice, but only one pair looked at it with some measure of dread.

"Hawk," Caden said, addressing said Bot's holoform with a cross of the arms, "fancy seeing you here."

"Yeah," his partner responded with an evil grin, "fancy that."

Drake bit his cheek and shook his head slowly, turning to the proprietor to give him the five-dollar fare for another game. "You do know how to play this, right?"

Hawk nodded and kept smiling. "Of course. I looked it up."

Lennox looked between the two of them, understanding the reason for their sudden staredown after a few moments. "I propose a new rule," he spoke up, stepping between them, "since neither of you is likely to miss. Two shots a turn, max, no matter how many right you hit in." They both nodded agreement. "So, what's the bet?" Hawk smirked wryly, as if he was about to make a joke at Caden's expense, but the human spoke first.

"Not money. He doesn't need any, and I feel like this is going to be the last game. So…"

"Humiliation," Hawk finished immediately, the same evil grin plastered on his face, growing wider at the suddenly fearful look in his partner's eyes. "You get a dayjob for a month, working for Lennox and Epps."

"Doing what exactly?"

"Oh, you know, cooking, cleaning...base chores. Oh, and car washes for Sideswipe."

Every human there visibly winced at the last demand. "Ouch. That hurts, partner. That hurts real bad."

The holoform shrugged and crossed his arms. "If you're too scared to take on a job, that's okay. I know how much you hate working for anyone else." It was a dare he couldn't refuse, and Hawk knew it. Caden's professional pride was on the line.

"And what humiliation do you have to suffer if you lose?"

"Hmm...how about…"

"Posting the recording I made of your last Firefight session to the NEST secure server." Oh, I'm good, was the only thought on Caden's mind as he saw Hawk's holoform pale slightly. "The last...eight of them, actually."

"Including the—?"

"Including the Gruntpocalypse that you failed at so miserably." Caden smirked slightly at the way their places were now switched. A moment later, Hawk mirrored his expression.

"Challenge accepted."

Five minutes and several nerve-racking shots later, it had come down to the last three balls, and Caden was losing. All Hawk needed was a good swing at the 8-ball, and he was done. The spy grit his teeth and tried hard not to look at the smug way his partner was smiling at him. I can do this. I can do this. He took a deep breath, trying to find a way to make his two-shot turn work. There's only one way. Breathing deeply again, he leaned over the table and closed his eyes, his eidetic memory and supercomputer-speed brain going at a thousand miles a minute to run trajectory simulations. After a few moments, he smiled, not too widely or shallowly, a confident smile that sent a distinct shiver through his opponent's spark as Caden lowered his pole, aligned it with the cue ball, and hit it as hard as possible.

The white orb ricocheted off the far wall, then another at a 45-degree angle to it, its speed faltering only slightly as it streaked toward the two remaining striped balls and slammed them sideways, sending them in opposite directions and two corner holes. One turn down, one to go, but one is all I need. Caden belatedly glanced at the shocked expressions of Epps and Lennox, and took a good, second-long look at the wide-eyed, terrified mask on Hawk's holoform. The Bot clearly wished he could just vanish on the spot, but he couldn't for fear of causing a riot in the bar. You'll just have to sit here and watch your ego's death certificate as it's signed. Drake grinned confidently and hit the cue ball gently, just enough to send it scooting into its final resting place.

"You...slagger."

"Don't be a sore sport," Caden scolded with a grin. "I won fair and square, even by the amended rules," he added with a mock glare at Will, who he turned to and walked past toward the door, patting him on the shoulder. "Look for a few video attachments in your e-mails the next few days, gentlemen. I promise you won't be disappointed."

…

Ten minutes later

Caden laid his head against the car window, more than willing to let his partner drive the rest of the way home, as he knew the moping Bot would never let him take the controls. His thoughts drifted across a thousand different subjects, from the amusement he felt at beating Hawk at the one game he thought he could win to his slightly-suppressed feelings of loss toward Kara. He knew the girl would always be there for him, as a friend, and when he left Ukraine, he thought that would be enough. As he pondered it over the two-month stretch between then and now, however, he had realized that a "friend" was never enough where she was concerned. Kara was the love of his life, and he didn't make that distinction, that acknowledgement, lightly. He had three-plus years of blood, sweat, tears, and affection to make that decision.

Out of all the elements of his past, she was the one, by far, that he would never, ever let go of. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his encrypted phone and flipped through his contacts, alighting on the number he'd called just over a month ago after giving Ratchet Sam's body-scans and dialing it again. It rang for just over five seconds before the person on the other line picked up.

"Hey," she said drowsily.

"Hey," he responded wearily, "did I wake you up?"

"No...maybe. I haven't been asleep long."

Caden nodded, despite the fact she couldn't see him. "Sorry I called so late. I just...needed someone to talk to other than my car." The vehicle rumbled in annoyance, but Drake ignored him as a familiar laugh came over the call.

"Well well, talking to inanimate objects, are we?"

Caden smiled at the slight mocking humor in her voice. "Yeah, you know me. Always the strange one in our family." A long pause ensued.

"Yeah...family." Aria Bensen chuckled softly on the other end. "Still can't get used to you calling me that."

"Why not? I called your father that." An even longer pause came. "Sorry."

"Caden, how many times do I have to tell you that it's not your fault. No one could've seen that shot coming, not even you. And besides, you avenged him, and kept me safe. You did everything you could have to make it right."

"I know," Drake breathed out tiredly, his already melancholy mindset drifting easily to that night. That cursed night. The night that all hell had broken loose in New York City, when he took the fight to the Keystone in all-out war and he and his charges, all three of them, paid the price. Kara, then Janet, was kidnapped and whisked away to her father in Russia. Caden thought she was dead, an impression that broke his already fragile heart. Carl and Aria, though, they were the ones hit the hardest.

The girl had lost her sister and mother to the Keystone years before, and after all that hiding, all that time in Witness Protection, her father succumbed to their attacks on the night that his family's killer was annihilated with a single punch. In keeping with his record, Drakon had personally killed Carl, leaving a fifteen-year-old Aria well and truly orphaned. Caden and Janet had been her only family, and by the end of the night, it was just Caden. Caden, who had lost his entire blood family long before her. Caden, who lost all but one of his new family in one fell swoop. Caden, whose heart was broken and turned to burning stone, its one desire to punish and annihilate its tormentors. When she looked at her situation four months later, the girl realized that she was well and truly alone.

"Drake," she asked, concerned at the long silence.

"Yeah," he choked out distractedly, "I'm here."

"You have to let go of that night. I know you still have nightmares about it. You have to let go."

"That's what everyone keeps telling me."

"Ever think there's good reason why?"

Caden breathed out heavily. "Yeah. Ari...I miss her. I know she's just one phone call away, but...I miss her more than I can even explain."

"I know. She's a part of you."

He nodded. "She is. A part that I need, and not as just a friend…"

"But?"

"But the distance is too much. Not just physically-emotionally, professionally. She and I are worlds apart right now, and if we're to have any chance of being together in the future, I need to rectify that."

"Drake, stop it. Stop right there. You don't have to rectify anything. You have to do your part, and no more. It's not your job to bridge every gap, to mend every fence. If she feels the same way about you that you do about her, she'll come back to you, meet you halfway, and, hopefully, find herself pleasantly surprised to find you already waiting at that halfpoint."

Warm relief coursed through him at her words, and an inexplicable measure of peace settled on him. "You...you're right." He exhaled sharply, a small smile coming to his lips. "I'll be ready when she is, I'll make sure of it. Thank you, Aria. You have no idea how much I needed to hear this."

"Yeah yeah," she said, mock annoyed, her grin apparent over the connection, "so when are you coming to Florida?"

Caden rolled his eyes and smiled wider at her sudden and welcome change of topic. "Never. I told you, I don't like humidity."

"Pansy," she spat out humorously after a long silence.

"Brat."

"Elephant."

"I resent that. Bitch."

"Jerk."

Drake smiled at the sudden appearance and horrified expression of his guardian's holoform in the driver's seat, breaking into laughter along with Aria. "See, that's what you get when you eavesdrop on me. I wasn't kidding about being the strange one in my family."

Hawk arched an eyebrow, tapping into the call so Aria could hear him as well. "Ever think that maybe you just have a strange family?"

"Only every day…" Caden's laughter petered off to a wide smile as he leaned back in his seat and put the phone to his ear again. "Thanks for talking, Ari. I better get off before my guardian here has a spark attack." He smiled wider at Hawk's scoff.

"All right, Cade," she responded, her smile still audible. "Sleep well, you."

"You too," the human responded gently, thumbing the call off and leaning back in his seat, enjoying the silence and darkness of the last few minutes before getting home. Family...is more than blood. He looked over at the Autobot symbol on Hawk's steering wheel, the holoform having vanished. And more than energon. He loved that femme, whoever she was, and though he never got as close as he wanted, he knew how much she meant to him, and she knew it too. His last act was to separate her from the cruel world he and the rest of his was stuck in. Is stuck in. As Arthur Holmwood saved his wife from eternal servitude under Dracula, he saved the one person he loved most from eternal torment under Megatron.

Caden patted the seat next to him lightly, affectionately. "I'm glad we met, partner." The engine rumbled, but otherwise, Hawk made no response, clearly understanding and appreciating the solemn quality of the moment.

---

AN: And that's all for the filler chapters, people. Next entry will have another original character introduced, a couple of them, actually, and another story arc begun. There will be multiple story arcs over the next few chapters, some of them seemingly unrelated, but everything will come together in the end.

A few pop culture/movie/show references in this chapter. Caden, like me, is a big-time Hollywood and videogame buff.

First scene features the iconic "father reveal" from Star Wars: the Empire Strikes Back, owned by George Lucas and *sigh* Disney. Halo: Reach and its awesome Firefight mode are owned by Bungie and Microsoft Games, I believe, and whoever else worked on the project, though they aren't coming to mind at the moment. Finally, near the end, the last two insults being traded back and forth between Aria and Caden are the trademark snarky "bitch," "jerk" exchanges between Sam and Dean Winchester in Supernatural.

Hope you enjoy this last calm, and look forward to the next entry. As always, please review and recommend.

Musical Inspirations:

None