Hello, readers!

Here's some more edited chapters. I can't believe how many of these I had to split up . . . they were so long! This is the first time in my history of editing that I REMOVED more than I added and I STILL had to split chapters! Crazy business, guys. After this batch, there's only a few more chapters left to edit and then I'll be able to work on Insomnia! GET HYPED.

These next two chapters were originally one chapter, and I have like, three or four more chapters I had to edit and split. This update is going to be a big one because I split so many chapters that I couldn't actually get to a point where one of the chapters ended in the same place as the others. I didn't want to interrupt how the story flowed here on fanfiction. It wouldn't have mattered for AO3, but I was worried about this site so I just kept editing and revising until I finally got to a good place to post lmao.

This chapter has been updated as of 11/8/2018

Chapter Twenty-Five

Back in the Saddle

Each steady drip of the damp tunnels hit me like a slap to the face. My fingers flexed in and out of a fist, ready at a moment's notice to draw my weapon against unforeseen enemies. I focused on Wolf's back and Devon's heavy footsteps but kept my eyes peeled for an ambush. Every breath I took echoed in my ears, but it wasn't enough to drown out that awful dripping.

An ambush didn't come. No matter how long I waited or anticipated the onslaught of screeches, they never happened. Wherever those monsters were hiding, it was somewhere deeper within the sewers.

Cold water sloshed at my knees—we'd run out of maintenance platforms—and the darkness in the tunnels closed in. I tried to prevent my heartbeat from skyrocketing and managed to keep it barely above resting rate with help from my breathing exercises. I wasn't going to fall apart here. I could keep it together as long as I needed to.

So long as I had Wolf walking in front of me and Devon at my side.

After all, it was just the sewers. It was muggy like the nest I'd had to navigate, but there was no immediate danger. The threat hung over us, for sure, but so long as Wolf didn't seem bothered, then I had nothing to worry about.

All I was doing was worrying myself sick.

It was hard to tell without any source of sunlight how long we were in those tunnels for. It could have been hours or minutes. My bet was on hours if the aching in my legs was any indication. Every few minutes, I had to rub my eyes to force them to focus; my vision kept blurring due to the fatigue weighing me down.

At various intervals, Wolf would pause to pull flat, angular devices from his person. After arming them, he'd toss them out with a flick of his wrist, attaching one to a wall of the sewer.

"Something coming?" I had asked the first time he threw one out.

Though he had told me—in his own way—that it wasn't the case, he also didn't offer up any sort of explanation for his actions. Completely typical of him, but at least we weren't in immediate danger.

Just a matter of time.

Devon tapped me on the shoulder after the third or fourth one. When I gave him my attention, he asked, "What's he doing?"

"I dunno. He didn't tell me."

"He hasn't done anything like this before?"

I shook my head. "No. He didn't have much of his gear at the time because of the crash."

"Ah . . . right."

We had taken up whispering to each other, as Wolf didn't seem to mind that so much. He still minded, clearly, because he'd stop sometimes and just stare at us until we quieted. In short bursts, though, he tolerated our idle chatter. It seemed strange considering how much I ran my mouth back in the day, but maybe I hadn't been as bad I remembered.

Since Devon had nothing else to say and Wolf wasn't objecting to our conversation yet, I added, "Though if I have any new info that I feel I can share without making Wolf mad, I'll let you know. Okay?"

"Works for me," he shrugged.

My attention returned to watching Wolf, to see if he had any objections. However, he was pretending not to pay us any heed. Instead, he was casting the small wall-disk-things onto every new tunnel opening we passed.

"You think it's so we don't get lost?" Devon guessed.

"Could be. Who knows. Probably gonna explode," I guessed, half-joking. "Their shit always seems to explode. Wouldn't be the first time today, either."

"Wait," Devon said after thinking about that for a few minutes, "is that what that sound was? Before . . . we came here? Before I found you guys?"

I pursed my lips. "What do you mean?"

"Ray and I heard, or felt, something before we happened upon you guys. Like a rumbling. Afterward, we had the hardest time finding the plane again, and there was this big crater . . . did he . . . ?"

Errantly, I waved a hand in Wolf's direction. "Well, y'know, I guess he had to get rid of the evidence and stuff. So he kind of blew it all up."

"Oh man . . . if we'd . . . ."

He groaned and tilted his head back in exasperation. I grimaced and put a hand on his shoulder, saying, "I know. I was so worried you were caught up in the explosion."

"That explains why you were so happy to see me," he remarked with a smirk.

Wolf cut off any further conversation with a sharp sound that made me wince. Devon and I shared a short glance, then returned to a quiet stroll through the storm drain. My gait was becoming less even, but I forced myself to keep going. Forced myself to ignore my exhaustion and hunger. If Devon's small noises of distress and heavy breathing was any indication, he wasn't feeling so hot anymore, either.

"Nichole," he whined after several more minutes.

"What?" I huffed.

"Tell the Terminator over there to stop, just for a little bit. Would ya? I've been awake longer than I have since high school," he muttered.

Glancing at Wolf, I caught him with his head tilted in our direction. I scratched my eyebrow and hesitated. A break would be nice, but we had important work. "I'd like to, but we gotta find these assholes before the whole city does."

"The town's not going to combust in the time it takes us to catch our breath," he retorted.

Rolling my eyes, I whirled on him and kept walking backward. "You're acting like a grumpy six-year-old, Devon. Rub some dirt in it and keep going."

"Are we there yet?" he whimpered with a cheeky grin.

"Ugh," I grunted, turning back around. My tired and sore legs tripped over one another in the process. I flailed around to brace my fall into the disgusting water, but strong arms propped me back up before I could go down.

Wolf set me on my feet and snorted an admonishment.

"Oh yeah, it's my fault my legs never healed right," I muttered, rubbing my thigh.

He gestured toward a thin ledge following the wall and grumbled in his way before disappearing with his cloaking device. I glowered but seated myself all the same. Devon hovered behind me a moment, then went ahead and sat down next to me.

"Guy sure is attentive when it comes to you."

"He is not, Devon."

Devon rolled his eyes. "Don't sit there and pretend like he's not. He carried you down that hill, he's always looking back here, and just now—"

"You're just imagining it, Devon," I huffed, looking away from him.

"I'm just saying," he mumbled. "Where'd he run off to, anyway?"

I leaned until I was resting my head against the wall and I closed my eyes. "He does that. He'll be back, I'm sure. Probably scouting ahead or something."

"Left us in here alone . . . probably gonna detonate those weird things he's been planting around. Bury us in here."

"And why would he do that?" I asked.

Devon shuffled next to me. "I dunno, crush us under the debris."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"You said it yourself, you don't know the guy."

Groaning, I covered my face with my hands. "He's not going to bury us alive in the sewers, Devon. Not while I'm here. He might try that shit with you, but not me."

"Thanks, Nichole. Real reassuring. I thought you said he doesn't pay you any attention."

Ignoring him, I tried to make the most of our reprieve. Somewhere in the back of my head, a voice reminded me to be wary, that I shouldn't become too comfortable. Not when the kiande amedha were still missing. They could come screaming around the corner at any minute and attack us.

But, I couldn't spend the entire time thinking about such things. I needed to rest my mind, too, so it would be sharp and ready. As soon as Wolf returned from whatever he was doing, it would be right back to the grind. A quick catnap wouldn't be out of place, and it was nice to get off my legs for a few minutes. Devon didn't move next to me, content to sit.

The sword and backpack against my back weren't very comfortable, but I didn't need it to be. I didn't need to fall asleep, just close my eyes for a little bit and recharge some energy. Devon was flicking pebbles into the murky waters—each one made a small plip as they broke the surface.

It seemed like only seconds later I was opening my eyes, startled. I'd dozed off a bit, but wasn't sure for how long. Devon had fallen still next to me, and when I looked at him he was leaning against the wall as well, his eyes closed. I sighed, sat up, and tried to do some stretches while we waited. There wasn't much room on that ledge, though. It barely fit my ass. Devon stirred next to me and caught my attention; he was looking at me as if he wanted to say something.

"What's wrong?" I asked, standing up to stretch that way.

"Nothing."

"Something's wrong." I worked through all the stretches I knew by heart that didn't require touching the awful water with my hands.

He shook his head and drew his handgun to check how much ammo he had. Though I wasn't sure what good it would do, at least he wasn't without some kind of protection. "Nothing. I'm just thinking about how crazy all this is."

I smirked. "What do you mean? This is literally our job."

"Yeah but we've never worked with the job before."

"He's not so bad," I insisted, sitting back down to rub my legs. "A little rough around the edges, but he pulls through where he's needed."

"So you say."

After another bout of silence that spanned a few minutes, I stood once more, bracing myself against the wall to do more exercises. Already they had helped loosen the muscles and relieved some pressure around the metal pins.

Both of us were standing now, as rested as we were going to be. There were two tunnels Wolf could have gone down, and I hadn't the slightest idea which one it was. Devon huffed and put his hands on his hips. "Alright, it's been forever. Where'd your boyfriend go?"

He flinched when I punched his arm and I said, "I don't know. Guy's real good at disappearing."

"I'd say let's split up, but that's a terrible idea. You're the one with a sword, and he hates me."

"So you are somewhat intelligent," I sneered, jabbing him in the ribs. "We'll head this way. I can see the light from one of his exploding wall decorations."

We followed Wolf's high-tech breadcrumbs. I was miffed he'd left us and not returned, but for all I knew he was on his way back and we'd meet up with him halfway. The thought that he might be injured perished as soon as it came; Wolf was never injured. He'd always seemed like the lone ranger type, so traveling with some shadows was probably just a new thing for him. It seemed to me he was treating Devon worse than he had me when I was on that ship, though.

Maybe some sort of alpha male thing.

However, I was convinced that it would be better for Devon if he could just prove himself as I had. If he could kill an adult drone, he'd have at least an ounce of Wolf's respect. He wasn't going to do that with a handgun, but Wolf would never give him a weapon like mine.

I'd have to find a creative way to help Devon earn his place. It was a nice thought, having a human friend with me. He'd come, of course, if I asked him to. I think.

I watched him, trying to decide if I was lying to myself.

"Damn, he sure went far," Devon observed several minutes later, pulling me from my thoughts.

"He does move fast."

"So crazy." He shook his head. "He's so big. How does he move like that?"

"Probably decades of training and hard work."

Again he started grumbling, and I tuned him out. Without Wolf nearby I was nervous; the drones could be hiding anywhere in the darkness and our human eyes would never know until it was too late. Our only hope was hearing them before that, but Devon was set on talking throughout the whole trip to find Wolf.

"Shh, quiet," I hissed after he'd complained for the tenth time about something inane. I wasn't paying attention, but I think it was about a blister on his foot.

"What?" he said.

"Shh!"

He crossed his arms and pouted, but kept his mouth shut while I channeled all my attention into the tunnels. I knew I'd heard it. I would recognize the sound on any planet, in any lifetime. It sent chills chasing up and down my spine and stuck my breath in my throat.

Wolf's words reverberated in my mind. Kiande amedha.

Xenomorphs.

"C'mon let's go," I quipped, grabbing Devon by the lapels and dragging him after me toward the sound of their horrendous screeches.

Their cries were faint. They were on the hunt. I sprinted down the length of the tunnel with Devon in tow. He pulled himself free of my grip and ran alongside me, keeping stride with my limping pace. Something buzzed to life behind us and I glanced back just long enough to see a grid of red laser death fill the tunnel. We had passed the latest wall device Wolf had placed, but it seemed my prediction had been off. Clearly, not all of their shit exploded.

"We gotta hurry up," I yelled, taking up the sprint again, glad that I'd done those stretches.

"Then let's go, gimpy!" Devon said, grabbing and pulling me at a faster speed. I had to adjust my paces to keep from being yanked off my feet.

Plasma cannon fire echoed toward us and we spun around a corner, skidding through the water. My weapon was in my hands, itching to taste xeno blood again. Devon slid into position next to me, his own handgun sighted.

Drainage tunnels were set in various positions around the chamber, allowing dim light from outside to filter through, likely from streetlamps above. The hike down the mountain had taken ages without a car, agonizing hours. We'd arrived at the sewers with some daylight left to spare, but the sun would have set by now, casting the city in darkness.

Wolf was locked in battle with a few drones, and a handful yet scaled the walls, already having slipped in before Wolf had activated his tech. We were outnumbered, but only by a few.

This is doable! We'll be fine. Wolf and I can kill these no problem.

"Stay close, Devon!" I shouted, chopping at a drone that dared move too close. It squealed and retreated, now missing a chunk from one of the pillars on its back.

His answer was the piercing sound of his gun firing into the claustrophobic chamber. I flinched but didn't let down my guard. Wolf was shooting off his own projectile weapons, and the majority of the drones were going after him, leaving me and Devon—or really just me—to pick off curious stragglers.

I couldn't lock on. My swings were wide and they dodged any lethal blow, but at least I was staving them off. Keeping them at bay. I almost had to relearn how to swing the damn thing right, and my footing was off thanks to the water and ache in my legs.

Despite all of that, I was thrilled.

Adrenaline blazed through my veins, and with it came an exhilaration I hadn't felt in years. I was alive, every nerve alight with electricity. Falling back into the posture he'd taught me was foreign and cumbersome, but it started to feel right. Another drone tried to slip past us, more interested in Wolf, but it was distracted by Devon's attack and turned on him.

"Why! Why do bullets do nothing!" Devon hissed, backing into me when the snarling creature advanced. Though the drone had plenty of bullet holes, each dribbling acid blood, it was unperturbed—angrier, even.

I shouldered Devon out of the way and swung my weapon in a vicious arc, driving it back.

"Don't worry, I got it," I grunted, squaring off with the drone. It looked around me, and I used the momentary lapse in attention to cleave a deep gouge in its chest. Staggered, it fell back, and I pounced on the weakness. Three rapid slashes were enough to end its miserable existence once and for all. Panting, I stepped back. My hands were shaking and I forced them to go still.

Got one. I got one!

"God damn you're good with that thing," Devon commented while reloading. It would be his last clip, but I still had mine. I would give it to him later if I remembered.

Then, a new sound interrupted my thoughts. I swung blindly at a drone that flitted into my field of view, but it dodged around and leaped at Wolf, who grabbed it by the throat. He already had one in his other hand and aimed the two shoulder-mounted cannons at each enemy.

However, another drone landed with a heavy sound behind him, splashing up a halo of dirty water around it. Before I could call out a warning or react, it slammed into Wolf with a powerful shunt, throwing him against the farthest wall. The drones he'd been holding were sent sprawling and the cannon charges fired off course, one blasting the wall harmlessly and the other sent the ceiling above tumbling over Wolf, burying him beneath debris.