Author's Note: Apparently this site got hungry and ate a few of my words, how rude, so I had to re-upload this chapter. Thanks to Hoshirabu for catching it and pointig it out, I totally missed it ^^;

Makoto and Ami just had a few seconds to be stunned, moments during which Haruka at first realized that the bullet wound which had taken her down during the fight against the Crimson Lance was gone – followed by the realization that Michiru laid lifeless on the floor, two strangers standing next to her, the fact that one of them was wearing a lab coat and thus probably was the doctor they had come here for in the first place not registering for the blonde as concern pushed all other emotions aside.

"Get away from her!" she snapped with more bravery than she felt when she saw the taller of the two bend over her companion; her weapon was nowhere in sight, and the tall one looked as if she could break her in two like a twig, but still the thought of these strangers harming Michiru was more than she could bear, both women flinching at the unexpected and sharp sound of her voice.

"It's okay", the taller one then said, straightening up again and raising both hands to show she was unarmed and meant no harm, "jeez, you two are protective of each other."

Not quite sure what to reply to this, Haruka just held her gaze for a few moments, trying to figure out if she just tried to lull her into a false sense of security before she would attack – only to remember that Michiru was out cold on the floor, tensing up again as she gestured at the sniper, demanding to know what had happened.

"Apparently, your friend is a Siren", Ami was the one to answer that, smiling slightly at the gobsmacked look Haruka gave her in reply, "she healed your wound and then passed out. I imagine she wasn't aware of it until five minutes ago. I'm Dr Ami Mizuno, by the way, you came here to see me, so you need not worry, we won't try to harm or rob you."

"If what you're telling me is true", the blonde argued back, torn between the need to glance around for something she could use as a weapon, just in case the tall one would try to attack her, and the dismay she felt about leaving her out of her sight for even a second; then, Michiru let out a low groan, her eyelids fluttering, and all possible danger was forgotten as Haruka practically jumped off the weird table she had woken up on and rushed to her sight.

"Michiru", she said as she knelt down next to her, part of her realizing that, if the two wanted to attack her, they now had the perfect chance, with her back turned and her focus on the sniper; still she couldn't bring herself to look away though, grasping Michiru's hand when the smaller woman let out another groan in response to her voice.

"Come on", she urged her own, squeezing her hand tenderly, her heart jumping when she felt Michiru's fingers tighten around hers in response, "wake up, please? Come on, open your eyes…"

She squeezed Michiru's hand again, and to her relief, this, in combination with her voice, was enough to bring the sniper back fully; her eyes opened, appearing dazed for a moment, then met hers, clarity returning to her gaze the blink of an eye later.

"Haruka", she stated, sounding alarmed, surprising the blonde with how quickly she had gone from dazed to fully aware, "why are you up, you…"

She trailed off as the memories came back, of the strange and somewhat frightening power she had felt when she had joined the two pieces of the vault key, of the elation it had given her when she had placed her hand over the wound and had healed it, and she sat up hurriedly, ignoring how it momentarily made her dizzy, disbelief all over her face as she pulled her hand from Haruka's grasp and looked at it, frowning when it looked perfectly ordinary, the blue symbols she was sure she had seen gone.

"Makoto", Ami spoke up behind her, making the brunette look at her, "go get some water, and one of the chocolate bars. She might need some sugar."

"I'm fine", Michiru told her, eager to demonstrate this by coming to her feet, only for her own body to betray her, her knees trembling for a dreadful second before they gave in beneath her; she hadn't been aware of it when Makoto had caught her the previous time she had gone down, but this time, she was conscious enough to realize what was happening when Haruka shot forward this time and caught her, the feeling of the blonde's arms around her not helping with making the tremble of her legs stop.

"Water and chocolate, check", was all Makoto had to say to this, and when she hurried off right afterwards, Michiru didn't try to protest, instead letting it happen that Haruka lowered her into a sitting position again, feeling a pang of regret when the taller woman let go of her again afterwards.

"I imagine you wonder what exactly happened to you", Ami stated while she brought a chair over, the sniper thankful that at least this time, she didn't end up falling again when she climbed into it, feeling absurdly exhausted once she sat comfortably, "I don't know much about Sirens, but what I do know is that not all of them are aware of what they are until later in life."

"I wasn't aware of it, no", Michiru had to admit, not quite sure what to think about this; moving closer to her, Haruka placed one hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, earning a brief grateful look from the sniper, both of them thus missing the way Makoto briefly raised an eyebrow as she joined them again, her facial expression perfectly neutral again when she handed the water bottle and a wrapped up chocolate bar to the smaller woman.

"As far as I know, only six Sirens can exist in the universe at any given time", Ami explained, not telling Michiru anything new – just like the doctor, she didn't know much, but she was quite aware of this fact, "which is why not all Sirens might have their powers from birth. Perhaps, somewhere else, one of them perished and the vault key subsequently woke your hidden powers. The key is said to be capable of more than opening the vault."

Even though she still wasn't sure what to think of this, Michiru had to admit to herself that this made sense; and all at once, she found herself wondering how much of these strange powers had been there from the very beginning, thinking of how easily she had mastered rifle and pistol, and how she always seemed capable of knowing when people would fire back at her, something she had thought to be intuition or instinct so far, only realizing now that she never had met anyone else who had been able to do this.

"I think I need some fresh air", she murmured, somewhat distractedly pushing the chocolate and the water into Haruka's hands, not even noticing the look of surprise on her companion's face when she got up from the chair; at least this time, her legs did her the favour of carrying her, and she hurried outside without looking back, Haruka looking down on the water and chocolate in her hands as if wondering how they had gotten there while the lab door slid close behind the sniper.

"…go after her", Makoto advised the blonde after a few seconds had ticked by in silence, prompting Haruka to look at her in surprise, the brunette giving a brief shrug before she added an explanation for her advice.

"While you were out cold, I tried to cheer her up", she let the blonde know, "and touched her shoulder, and the look she gave me? I was surprised I didn't burst into flames right on the spot. When you touched her though… Well, you saw how she reacted. And she just learned something which probably put her whole self-perception upside down. She needs a friend right now."

Even though Haruka wasn't quite as sure of this as the brunette, she nodded after a moment, figuring that it couldn't hurt to check on Michiru; she took a second to put the chocolate and the water on the nearest flat surface, then followed the sniper outside, her mind racing as she already tried to figure out how to make the smaller woman feel better.


At least, she thought to herself as she stepped outside, Michiru hadn't moved far away; she was sitting on a rock a few paces away from the lab, with her back to Haruka, not even turning around when she approached her, and speaking up the second the blonde was within hearing distance.

"I can tell it's you from your footsteps, Haruka", she let the taller woman know, not turning around, but glancing at her when she moved to sit next to her, "half an hour ago, I would have thought this is something I learned through all my training. Now I'm not so sure anymore."

"Does it matter?" Haruka wanted to know in surprise, smiling slightly when Michiru looked at her again, "maybe it's your training. Maybe it's the Siren thing. Either way, it'll help you to find the other two vault key pieces, and the vault."

"And it makes me even more of a target than I am already", Michiru pointed out, "apparently, being a vault hunter isn't dangerous enough, no, I also have to be a Siren. One of six in the whole universe. Are you aware of how many companies and scientists with questionable intent are willing to treat Sirens as less than human so they can experiment on them?"

"I know", Haruka gave back, earning a sigh from the sniper, but not letting this deter her, "but they won't get their hands on you. I won't let them. You healed me, maybe you saved my life, I owe you. They want to come after you, they have to get past me first."

"I might have to up your pay", Michiru dryly replied, "because while I do not think that Ami and Makoto will blab about this to anyone, word about this might get out sooner or later. Perhaps if I use these powers in front of someone who lives to tell the tale, or in case I lose control. And if that happens… Haruka, I don't have the slightest idea what I can do. I might put you in danger…"

"Nah", Haruka told her at once, her conviction about this prompting Michiru to raise an eyebrow, "you'd never hurt me. I know that."

It was the first time that someone displayed such trust in her, and it made her swallow heavily; not sure what she could reply to this, all she could do was hold Haruka's gaze, her heart jumping up to her throat with excitement and a bit of alarm when, after a few moments of just looking back at her, the blonde's gaze dropped to her lips yet again, reminding her of how close they had been to kissing back in Fyrestone, before Commander Steele had interrupted them so rudely.

"No", she said out loud before she even realized that she was about to talk, hurriedly getting up, when it looked as if Haruka wanted to lean closer to her, "I… Haruka, I can't. It wouldn't be fair to you, you know I'm not here to stay, and I can't even tell you how long I will be here..."

"I don't know if you noticed", Haruka shot back, coming to her feet as well, Michiru suddenly finding it hard to tell if she was angry or just resolved to not let anything come between them anymore, "but Pandora is a dangerous place. We could be dead tomorrow, and I am not going to my grave regretting I never did this."

With those words, she closed the distance between them with one long step, one arm snaking around Michiru's waist before she could try to move away; and then, she pressed her lips to Michiru's, once more making her feel decidedly weak in the knees while the always alert part of her mind took note of how surprisingly soft the taller woman's lips were.

For a second, she told herself that she shouldn't let this happen, that she had to break this kiss before it went any further, made her feel even deeper for the blonde; she told herself that this wasn't fair to Haruka, and that any relationship other than friends might endanger their mission, might distract her in a critical moment… before she kissed Haruka back, simultaneously wrapping both arms around her, not even trying to hold back a content sigh when their kiss deepened, a pleasant shudder running down her spine when the blonde's other hand ran up her back to entangle in her hair.

The kiss went on and on, until Michiru felt decidedly light-headed; and thus, she pulled back at last, regretfully, her arms still around the taller woman, and Haruka still holding her, as well, so close that she could feel how excitedly the blonde's heart was hammering in her chest.

"Perhaps this is a mistake", she murmured, hurriedly speaking on when Haruka's face fell, the happy smile she had displayed gone within the blink of an eye, "but one I will make gladly. Just promise you won't abandon me in the middle of nowhere in case things don't… turn out well."

"I have your back", Haruka reassured her in reply, sounding even lower and huskier than usual, and sending shivers up and down her spine again, "no matter what. Now and always."

This seemed like quite the commitment to Michiru, after just one kiss; instead of pondering this though, she allowed herself to simply let it warm her heart, giving Haruka another smile before she was the one to initiate their next kiss, her worries about her newfound strange powers for the moment forgotten.