Anne paced the hallway outside of the operating room where Viral was being worked on by most of the ship's medical staff. Her hands were behind her back to keep herself from gnawing away at her nails. Given the chance, she'd end up with blood in her mouth, as anxious as she was feeling right now. She shifted her attention to the pattern on the floor, the sounds of celebrating down the hall, the hum of the engines, the clicking of shoes...anything other than the worst outcome. She refused to let her mind drift to a future where she had to face the Anti-Spiral without Viral at her side. A few unfamiliar voices drew her attention enough for her to lift up her eyes, and when her eyes met with the owner of that voice, the other eyes immediately dropped to the ground and their gait became noticeably faster. Not that she blamed them at all, considering what had happened today...

She'd done it again. The rest of the team confirmed that she'd gone into that black sphere once more, and by the time the order had been given to fall back, it was already over. What was left of the mech imposter of her father was in ruin, and the few smaller mechs had been easily dealt with by the experienced fighters on their side. But that was all hearsay because there was very little she actually remembered….

One moment, she'd been trying to locate the anomaly that she knew Viral had found, and the next she'd felt like a vice had been put on her energy, limiting it somehow. It'd been so severe that it felt almost like losing the ability to breath, if only for a moment. But she'd known exactly who had done it, the phantom hand feeling exactly like the one she was already so familiar with. And when she'd looked down at the image to confront him, all she saw was red.

Anne had almost crashed into several mechs in her rush to downgrade Gurren Lagann and get to Viral. She at least had the presence of mind to notify Simon and Leeron of the situation, and by the time she dismounted and pried open the door to Viral, the latter was there with a stretcher and several members of his staff.

Viral had been covered in blood from several wounds that seemed to have just appeared. Leeron had to pull her out of the way so that they could load the Beastman onto the stretcher and take him away. Had he even been breathing? Simon came in just as they left the room, and when he asked what had happened, Anne just burst into tears, sinking to the floor in that engine room, sobbing uncontrollably.

It was her fault. If she'd had more self-control, Viral wouldn't have had to pull her out of the dark state the Emissary seemed to throw her into so easily. She felt herself get lightheaded and finally sat down, leaning forward to place her head near her knees, knowing she needed to calm down. But how could she. There'd been so much blood…

The woosh of doors opening made her snap her head up so quickly, she felt a twinge in her neck. Anne winced as Leeron made his way over to her, and for once, there was nothing close to a smile on his face. Tears came unbidden as he sighed and beckoned towards her.

"Come here, Anne." The tone left no room for discussion. She stood up slowly and followed him into the room, barely making it past the door before halting.

Some of the staff were carrying away swathes of bloody fabric. Too much blood for one being, it seemed. One or two were checking the equipment he was hooked up to, but the steady beeping let her know he was at least alive. Anne let a few tears of relief slide down her cheeks, and she made her way towards Viral's side. Or tried to. Leeron grabbed her by the upper arm firmly, letting go as soon as she stopped.

"He almost died today," he said matter of factly. "Whatever he did during your fight almost destroyed his immortal body. In that moment, it was tearing itself apart faster than it could put itself back together. It cannot happen again."

Leeron pulled out a digital chart, tapped a few times, and showed her an image of Gurren Lagann. A meter sat at the bottom, and he pointed to it, where it sat half full. "If this is your normal Spiral energy output for when you're piloting Gurren Lagann, then this…" He hit another button, and the meter filled up entirely and extended to the edge of the screen. "This is a fraction of your energy when you do whatever it is you do when you go into that black sphere. And while I am very much interested in studying that phenomenon in a controlled environment, I am also very much interested in keeping your feral boyfriend alive."

He powered down the chart and looked Anne in the eye for a moment before he spoke again. "You two are forbidden from piloting together again. Until I either find a solution to his deterioration or you learn to control your energy, he will only be allowed to use his own mech. If he even can…"

Emotion finally flared back into his face, and she'd never seen the scientist look so exhausted. "If I had more time and resources, I'm sure I could come across the perfect solution for Viral. But we have neither out here. Some of his wounds were already closing back up as we started to operate. Others had to be repeatedly closed, and I suspect a few of these bandages will have to stay on for some time. And that's not to even speak of his internal damage. What I can test anyway. For all I know, he may wake up blind, deaf, or mute."

Anne struggled to swallow, struggled to find the words to say. "Sorry" was beyond inadequate right now. It'd been a while since she'd felt so helpless. Leeron let out a deep sigh and rubbed his eyebrows.

"Go get some sleep. Or at least some food," he told her. "I'm going to do the same, and I promise to notify you when he wakes up if he doesn't need any more tending to."

All she did was nod and glance one more time at Viral's bandage-covered body. She stood there long enough to make sure she saw his chest rise and fall one time, and then she went straight to her room, took a long hot shower, and then passed out before she could even get out another tear.

The next morning, Anne woke up realizing that she'd slept through the night and no one had bothered her. She quickly sorted through her priorities, and after a moment, contacted Simon, requesting a status report.

"Honestly, it's almost too quiet for my taste, knowing what happened yesterday," his audio came through. "Most of the crew is in high spirits, but I won't lie. A lot of people are more than a little worried about what happened with you yesterday. Some are talking about returning to their home planets or seeking...alternatives."

"To me or to dealing with me?" she asked bluntly.

"Both." Simon responded in similar fashion.

She tried not to be ashamed at the relief she felt, knowing that at least some people were prudent enough to see things as they were. If her power could be used against her allies as much as it could be wielded for them, then Anne knew she deserved to be under scrutiny. It'd be in all of their best interests if someone had a plan B for her. Silence came from his end as he waited for a response.

"Make sure they have whatever resources we can offer regarding the matter," she finally said. "Share my personal stats, especially my Spiral energy ratings over the years. However, I do not want anything about Viral to be made public at this time. Leeron is pulling people in as he needs for that matter, but I'm more than a little concerned about what might happen if people found out about his ability."

"Understood, Captain," Simon replied respectfully. "Any other orders, or should we remain on standby?"

"Have parties already tried to track where those mechs came from?"

"Yes, and we have at least two distinct trails we can follow. We can split the forces in half…"

"I'd rather not risk it," Anne interrupted, suspecting that was exactly what they wanted. "The worst thing that could happen if we focus on one trail is being caught in a pincer attack, and while that wouldn't be favorable, at least the entire armada would be together. They knew we still have Gurren Lagann, and I don't want them picking off anyone they might consider easy prey. "

"Can I suggest leaving a few scouting parties some distance away, in case we need to message for backup or reinforcements?"

"Exactly why you're in charge when I'm being less than captain-y."

"Not a thing, trust me," Simon chuckled. "I'll check in if anything comes up and we haven't seen you. Take all the time you need."

There was such a subtle amount of sympathy in his words that she had to take a moment and steady her voice before she softly thanked him and closed the channel. A massive yawn escaped her mouth before she could do much else, and she got up to make her way to the bathroom when her communicator chirruped.

"Anne speaking," she replied as she grabbed her toothbrush.

"He's awake."

By the Spiral, he hadn't been in this much pain since Lordgenome had remade him. But pain was good since it meant he was still alive. He focused on breathing, reaching with his various senses to try to take stock of the damage he'd done. At least his plan had worked, but he'd be damned if he'd do anything like that again unless Anne herself was at risk. He'd gambled and lost big this time around. He lifted up one hand, gingerly moving and flexing before testing the next one out. Feet and toes seemed fine, although he could tell his legs were a little worse for wear. But he could still feel them, so that was something. A nurse from some local planet walked into the room with a steaming cup of something, and as he opened his mouth to ask about Anne, he felt how ragged his throat was.

"No talking just yet. We had a breathing tube down your throat for a while until we were sure you were up for the task," he said, slowly handing him the cup as his bed shifted, pushing him into an upright position so he could drink without making a mess.

He grimaced slightly as he realized his sense of smell was off, not having noticed the lemon and honey until it had been quite a bit closer to him. At least his hearing didn't seem any worse. The tea was soothing and already doing its magic when the door opened and Leeron entered, Anne a step behind him.

She wouldn't look at him, and the guilt in her expression damn near broke his heart.

"It's not your fault," he said, almost regretting talking as Anne winced at the raspiness of his voice.

"Isn't it, though?" she replied softly, finally looking up at him with tear-filled eyes.

"You're both to blame, as far as I'm concerned," Leeron muttered as he came closer to him. Oh, Doc was not happy at all. Had he been that bad off?

"I've already told Anne, and now I'm telling you. You're not to fly together again until we can figure all of this out."

Every instinct in Viral rebelled against the very thought, but a deep growl rumbled through him as he considered the state of affairs between himself and Anne. The truth was, he just didn't want anyone else to pilot with her. He wanted to be the one to protect her, and being her second in Gurren Lagann had felt the most natural thing in the world. But he couldn't protect her if he kept having setbacks like this one. Viral let the growl die and huffed a long sigh of resignation. He didn't realize it would be this hard to go back to watching her back from a distance.

"Fine," Viral ground out, his throat growing irritated. "But if she's out there, I'm out there."

Anne...his Anne...she bit her lip slightly before nodding, dabbing at her eyes and standing up a little straighter.

"I think I can live with that," she answered, a hint of that mischievousness back in her voice.

"I know you can," he smirked.

She glanced at Leeron, as if asking for permission before finally coming over to his side. Viral reached out and took her hand, grateful to feel her, even through the bandages. He gave a soft yank, pulling her closer until he could run his fingers through her hair, caress her cheek. She was ok, clearly unscathed from the battle. At least…

"Have you run any tests on Anne yet?" Viral asked.

Leeron looked up from his tablet, confusion and then shock crossing his face. "That would be a rather good idea, wouldn't it? Heavens knows we didn't get a chance to run comprehensive scans on you the first time this happened. And we have lost some time, but they could still present any relevant information…"

Anne gave Viral a glare before her lips twitched in the hint of a smile. She leaned forward, giving him a soft kiss on his forehead.

"Take all the time you need to rest," she told him. "I'll talk to Simon about piloting with me. Maybe Yoko, if she's up to it."

"Either choice would be a great one," Viral replied. At least he knew he could trust them to watch her back.

"Well, enough of the reunion," Leeron chittered, back in full science mode. "Time to get some tests started while we seem to have some downtime."

"Have fun," Viral taunted.

The glare that Anne threw back at him had him in a coughing fit that lasted way too long for his own good.

It'd been a solid week since the incident, and Viral had only gotten off of bed rest a couple of days ago. Anne barely had time to see him since he spent most of his time in simulators training, repairing whatever wounds may have reopened, and getting some much needed rest. He wouldn't go into more detail than that, but Anne knew he was working to recover whatever it was he might has lost in this latest outburst of hers.

Leeron had spent a full ten hours testing Anne in various capacities, from her energy right down to a standard physical. They'd both been shocked to learn that her Spiral energy levels had only increased since coming back to Earth after the summit. He had a few theories, all with Viral at the center, although he couldn't dismiss the re-emergence of the Anti-Spiral as a factor as well. Leeron had been more than happy to get to work, analyzing the data she'd left him with, and it seemed that all was forgiven for the moment. She swore, he was too much a mother hen at times, and too much the scientist at others.

Making her way to the mess hall, Anne had no illusions that he would reach an easy answer for either of them. Under normal circumstances, waiting would've felt like it was taking ages. With the need to battle, it felt more like a race against some sort of clock. And while she'd been upset about the declaration that they would no longer be piloting with each other, Anne knew it was for the best. It wasn't like she wouldn't see him around the ship, and Anne was in no rush to test her self-control with Viral being the one to pay the price for whatever she might be lacking.

She helped herself to some soup, not sure she could keep anything else down as her eyes took in the room and those in it. More than a handful of people had immediately found somewhere else to look as she tried to find a seat available. Anne couldn't help but notice a few eyes only held challenge within them. Well, she'd be waiting if they wanted to do more than stare. She'd gladly yield up the mantle of Gurren Lagann and the weight of the drill core around her neck if anyone else could use it to its full potential. She knew she was the strongest on Earth, but he galaxy was a vast place. While it may have been hers by happenstance, she was starting to wonder if she could claim it still by merit.

"Nope."

The single word had Anne looking to her left and seeing Yoko standing there, a bowl on her own tray as the older woman looked right into her eyes.

"Don't you start down that path of pity and 'what ifs.' It won't help anyone. Not Viral, not you, and most certainly not anyone else in this armada," she continued.

Anne huffed out a noise, feeling both frustrated and pleased that Yoko had been able to hit the nail on the head so quickly with her. They made their way to a small table that was mostly unoccupied, Anne grateful to have some company that wasn't of the unhelpful critiquing sort.

"I know, but knowing the wrong path and finding the right one are two very different things," Anne replied, picking up her spoon and idly stirring her soup.

"Want to know something?" Yoko said after slurping down half the bowl in one gulp. "Sometimes, there isn't a right one. Sometimes, all you get to choose from are between bad, worse, and apocalyptic. You end up with this careful balancing act of the benefits against the consequences, and you learn to live with the fallout of it all."

Anne felt her stomach tighten with the obvious truth of Yoko's words. In the back of her mind, panic started to form, and she had to take a deep breath, releasing it so slowly, she started to feel a little lightheaded. It had all seemed so easy when the Emissary had first thrown the gauntlet, but she was so young. Others had so much more experience than she did in these matters. Why her?

"None of this is going to be easy," Yoko went on, reaching over and placing her hand over Anne's empty one. "Your father probably won't be the only one we lose who was close to you. In battles like this one, all you can ever do is hope that you make a difference. That you continue to make a difference, and make sure that the lives lost meant something. Don't let the fear of loss be the thing that drives you, Anne. That kind of thinking is what sent the humans underground in the first place all those centuries ago. I'd rather lose something so that the future can have something better. That is the Gurren Lagann way. Please don't forget that."

Yoko picked up her bowl and drank the rest of it down, wiping her mouth with one of the small paper napkins at each table before getting up and leaving the cafeteria.

"For the future…" Anne murmured to herself, the phrase both a question and an affirmation rolled into one. She finally lifted a spoonful of soup to her mouth and realized that she was beyond famished. The bowl was quickly emptied out, and she went out to go and decide what the next course of action would be, for the crew as well as herself.