I Got Your Back

Joker flicked his tailcoats back with his right hand and signaled "Let's go, everyone!" with a wave of his left. Queen landed softly and shook out her right wrist before following him. Fox jutted his chin out in acknowledgement.

Noir saluted her teammates with her feathered cavalier hat. "Great work, everyone."

"Okay, let's keep going." said Navi as she scanned the area.

The Phantom Thieves maneuvered around stacked crates and industrial shelves. Glaring fluorescent lights provided ample lighting for the spacious yet austere facility. Their shoes clacked on the monochrome tiles amidst the cacophony of whirring and clanking machinery. Around them holograms flashed "WORK! WORK! WORK!" in bright, bold font. The words rotated between English, hiragana, katakana, and furigana like a clock, reflecting the factory's neverending work cycle.

Joker vaulted onto an elevated platform and surveyed the sterile environment, keeping a wary eye out for security drones. He sprinted across a catwalk and crouched behind a monitor. He held up his right hand and motioned for his party to fall back. A robot rolled up and down the passageway, completely oblivious to any impending security threats. He grinned like a cheshire cat as he saw it approach his hiding spot. Quicker than sight, he backflipped into the air, landed on the flat of its dome top and pried off its mask.

"Three enemies. Don't let your guard down!" called Navi.

Fox swiped off his mask. "Take this! Goemon!" Goemon froze the group of Girimehkala guarding the entrance. One stumbled onto its knees, crushed beneath its own weight and vaporized.

"One enemy crushed! Keep that up, Fox!"

The grotesque one-eyed elephant viciously stamped its foot on the concrete floor, unleashing a wave of dark aura, immobilizing Joker. He grunted and sank to his knees, breathing heavily. Need to heal fast. The other Shadow sprang towards Joker and swung its blade down.

"I WON'T LET YOU!"

Queen darted in front of Joker and shoved him out of the way. There was a sickening crunch followed by a cry of pain and Queen crumpled on the ground.

"Queen's down! Someone heal her!" cried Navi.

"Why you-! Captain Kidd!" Lightning bolts rained down on the Rebellious Elephant causing it to stagger.

Joker rolled over to his side. He gritted his teeth and pulled himself up. "Queen..."

"Take Queen!" shouted Panther as she switched in. "We'll handle this! Carmen!"

"I owe you guys one." Joker gathered her in his arms and hobbled over to a nearby barrier, ignoring the pain shooting up his leg. "Queen, hold on..."

"Joker..." She reached up and touched his face.

He grimaced. "Hey, just stay here and rest. I'll have Mona heal you after-"

"Diarahan." The last of her SP drained away. Darkness was starting to eat away at the corners of her eyes. She smiled faintly. "You better win..."

Her hand fell. Joker caught it in his own and pressed his forehead against hers. "I'll be back. This won't take long." He set her down carefully then turned towards the battle with renewed vigor.

"Ravage them!"

Queen opened her eyes. Joker smiled down at her. His mask was up, his hair was mussy, and there was grime on his face. She smirked and put a hand on his cheek. Her thumb brushed away some of the grime. "Didn't I just heal you?"

He smirked back. "Yeah, but we weren't expecting a Slime invasion. You should've seen Skull. He was having the time of his life making them 'go splodey'. Actually, that's probably why we're covered in crap. Panther's probably chewing him out right now."

She laughed. Joker embraced her tightly. It was good to hear her voice again.

"You're so reckless." he whispered. There was more relief in his voice than anger. Queen pressed her cheek against his collarbone and gripped his waistcoat. His hand came up and cradled her head.

"I wasn't about to let our leader go down." she murmured.

He drew back, gripping her upper arms and looked at her with a level gaze. "Still." He paused, letting the word hang in the air before resuming. "I don't want that to happen again."

It frightened him. It was the first time anyone put themselves in harm's way to protect him.

Queen saw consternation cross his face, she heard the worry in his voice. She felt his hands tremble very slightly against her arms. She was about to justify saving him the way she did, but when she saw the vulnerability in his eyes, she yielded. "Agreed. As team strategist, I'll construct a plan that minimizes shielding you from fatal attacks if we're ever in a situation like that again. We can discuss that during our next meeting."

The corner of his mouth pulled. It was a good start that they could elaborate on later. Queen's recovery came first. "Whoops, got some crud on you." He plucked his white kerchief from his coat pocket and wiped her face. She stared at the kerchief.

"What is it?" he asked amused by Queen's bemused expression.

"Well, it's just, I've always wondered offhand whether or not your handkerchief was decorative or not."

"And now we both know."

"You mean you didn't try to use it before?"

"There never exactly was an situation that called for a hankie in the Metaverse." he said dangling it between their faces.

She smiled wryly. "I suppose."

It then occurred to her that they were no longer taking refuge behind the steel barrier but were in some kind of storage closet. She saw rows of heavy duty shelves bearing several wooden crates that required a crowbar to open and boxes covered in tarp. There were a couple exhaust vents mounted on the walls, keeping the room well ventilated.

"Where are we by the way?" she asked.

"In a safe room."

"And the others?"

"They're in the outer part of the safe room. I...I asked them to give us some space." Joker stood up with his back to her, and ran a hand through his hair, slipping his mask on at the same time. His mask hid his face but Queen could see the tips of his ears tinged with red.

"Oh. How...considerate. Of them. You. Both." She was also turning red. She looked down and folded her hands into her lap.

From outside the room, angry squawks (and yowling) could be heard followed by placating pleas followed by a soft voice diplomatically pleading them to stop. Apparently Panther was still angry with Skull and Noir was attempting to remedy the situation. Mona was probably backing up Panther and insulting him at every chance he got. They didn't hear Fox or Navi but more than likely he was drawing inspiration from the passionate fight while Navi probably rolled her eyes and occupied herself with her laptop.

Queen laughed softly to herself. Sounds like everyone's brimming with energy. Thank goodness.

Joker cleared his throat. "I wanted you to have a quiet place to recover and I didn't want you to wake up in an unfamiliar place with no one around." he continued to explain.

Queen couldn't help but smile. She thought of the safe house she and Sae were temporarily accommodated with under witness protection shortly after their father was murdered. She remembered being scared and confused but Sae would lay next to her and stroke her head till she fell asleep. 'Go to sleep, Makoto,' she said. 'I'll see you in the morning.' But she would wake up bleary-eyed, seeing Sae either rising early or already gone to speak to the officers handling the situation. How long ago it all seemed now...

She crossed over to where Joker stood and kissed his cheek.

"I'm sorry for making you worry. And thank you."

Joker's face became as red as his gloves. He stumbled over his words. "I, uh, well. Ahem. I'm just glad you're okay."

She tiptoed two fingers up his chest as her eyes trailed up his face sensually. "How many times have I woken up to being held by you like this?"

Joker gave a confident smile, linked his hands over the small of her back, and pulled her in.

His teeth glinted. "Too few." His voice dropped a few octaves. "I could hold you like this forever."

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "I wouldn't mind that."

They leaned closer. Joker slid his hands around her upper back. Queen's lips parted and she was about to reach up to stroke his face when - a yowl pierced through the air jolting them out of their moment. They simultaneously jerked their heads towards the door.

Queen rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. "I think it's time to intervene."

Joker sighed. "We'll continue this later." He ruffled his coat and straightened his gloves.

He inclined his head towards the door. "After you."

Joker opened the door.

"Alright guys, break it up..."