Old Bones

Muse slowly came to as the sedative wore off. She managed to open her eyes, and blinked languidly to clear the blurriness. For a moment she experienced the disconcerting lurch of panic and disorientation of finding herself half blind and not knowing where she was, but then relaxed as her memory bled through the darkness of drugged sleep and she remembered what had happened.

The left side of her face had been bandaged with clean white gauze, and her eye was covered by a soft pad. She remembered the Locust that had given her the injuries, that had broken her gun and hissed horrible revelations to her.

She remembered sticking the barrel of her Longshot into its eye, impaling its brain…

And she remembered Dom. Dom, who hadn't left her behind.

With great effort, Muse rolled her head to one side, to see the Latino sitting in the chair beside her bed, evidently waiting for her to wake up. He grinned in relief and leaned forward in his seat as soon as her eyes flickered.

"Hey, kid…"

"Hi…" her voice was weak and whispery and took an astonishing amount of energy to use at all. "You came back for me." She grinned at him drowsily. Dom chuckled.

"Of course I came for you… I promised, didn't I?" his tone took on a hint of teasing, "Besides, every time I leave you anywhere, you always get into trouble." His grin abruptly faded and he fell silent, as though that had reminded him of something and he wondered if he should say what was on his mind. Then, quietly; "I heard about your camp…"

Muse looked at him sharply as surprise and pain flickered briefly across her features, erasing any lingering effects of the sedative.

"How did you…?" Dom looked stricken as he realised that Muse didn't actually know where they were.

"Muse… we're in Vidandear… the new COG base… the salvaging teams found the remains…"

"We're…?" Muse let her eyes close and sighed defeatedly. "Yeah… why am I not surprised…" she glanced at him to ask; "Did you see…?"

"No," Dom shook his head, "But I heard enough to feel lucky I didn't… I'm so sorry Muse…"

The girl didn't look at him, instead suddenly finding her stained combats endlessly interesting. Dom knew her well enough to see that she was struggling to master her emotions, and when she shrugged off his condolences with would-be nonchalance, he knew her indifference was feigned. Unable to stop himself, Dom reached over and closed his fingers around her forearm. She looked up at him in something akin to surprise.

"Don't do that." He said, "Don't shut me out… tell me what happened…"

He watched as Muse looked away again, and thought for a moment that she wasn't going to tell him anything, then she released a deep breath.

"The Locust…" she murmured, "They used a Stray Dog distress call as a decoy to lure most of us away from camp…" she paused and swallowed thickly, suddenly fighting off the burning prickle at the back of her eyes that heralded on-coming tears. "They attacked the camp…and…and massacred everyone inside…"

The images that had been burned into her memory rose up again in her mind's eye; the blood, the defiled corpses, her dead friends… Muse squeezed her eyes shut as a hot, solitary tear managed to escape and slid down her cheek. Once again Dominic Santiago had caused cracks to spread through her carefully erected mask, and she both loved and hated him for it.

The mattress sagged a little as Dom moved to sit beside the girl. He put his arms around her, and Muse clung to him, just as she had when she'd been a little girl and he'd been nineteen.

In some ways, Dom realised, Muse still was that little twelve-year-old girl he'd met almost fifteen years ago. Where he had matured and grown and become a man, she was essentially still the same. Mentally and emotionally she hadn't developed into a grown woman. Of course she was intelligent, and she knew how to fight and kill and think like a soldier, how to organise and strategise, and everything else that a child or teenager would learn as necessity to survive in a warzone. But it was in a child's way that she knew it.

What about the things she should know as an adult? Things she would have learned as she grew up; at school, from chats with giggly friends, from her parents. She knew friendship and family, but what about adult relationships? Had she learnt that amidst fighting to keep herself and the Stranded with her alive?

The thoughts worried him as he realised how emotionally vulnerable Muse really was, and unconsciously Dom tightened his grip on her, as though he could shield her from the world.

Muse meanwhile was immersed in her own thoughts. Her camp was gone, almost everyone she'd ever known was dead, all she had left that even remotely resembled a family were Clay and Delta Squad, and now she found herself with the COG whether she liked it or not. She realised with chagrin that no matter how much she hated the Coalition, she was stuck with them.

More importantly, it was the COG that would provide for her needs from now on; food, medication, protection… The idea of relying on an organisation she hated for anything, was not a welcome one, but even Muse understood that it was unavoidable. She could not survive on her own.

And she didn't intend to be a leech…

"You managed to save the tags."

Dom's voice brought her from her musings and she looked up at him, he was still holding her. It took her a moment to realise what he was talking about.

"Oh, from the memorial… it didn't seem right to leave them behind… How did you know?" Dom looked a little sheepish and rubbed the back of his neck.

"While you were unconscious… they confiscated your kit…" Muse abruptly scowled and pulled away from him.

"They did what?"

"I was too worried about you." Dom said helplessly, "I didn't realise until Marcus brought it back…" the Latino paused as he recalled the thunderous expression on his friend's face - he hadn't been happy about the invasion of privacy either - then leaned down to pick something up off the floor beside his chair. He handed Muse her hip-packs, the Snub in its holster, and her cap and goggles.

Of the two larger pouches that strapped to her hips and the four smaller ones that would have gone around her back, all but one of the small packs were empty. The spare gun parts and ammunition had gone, probably taken by the COG for their own dwindling supplies. Her old radio had finally given up the ghost; smashed to pieces by the Locust on the rooftop. What rations and medical supplies she'd had, had been used up a couple of days prior, and the tags and ledger she'd saved from her camp had been taken. Only the long-handled torch in its belt-loop and the tools she'd scavenged to keep her guns in working order, remained.

"So what happened to the tags and book?" Of all the missing items, they were the only things that were irreplaceable.

"They'll be given to surviving relatives or put in a memorial of their own." Dom told her, "They'll be remembered…"

Muse nodded, content with that at least, even if she was still irritated over the COG's apparent disregard for her privacy. She stewed over it for a while, but found that even her annoyance couldn't change the decision she'd made. Absently she drew a thick roll of leather from her hip-packs and undid the tether. The leather unrolled to reveal a selection of small tools, including the screwdriver she'd used to pry open the slat of the sensory deprivation chamber she'd been kept in.

Dom watched as she ran her fingers over the various pieces of kit. It seemed to be an absent-minded activity to occupy her hands while her mind was elsewhere. He recognised some of the tools for weapons' maintenance; Baird had a similar kit that he used to do small repairs on Delta's Squad's guns and cannibalise any parts he could salvage to keep them working.

It reminded him of something else he had to tell her, and he inwardly recoiled at the prospect, but he forced himself to do it anyway.

"I couldn't save the rifle." He murmured apologetically. Muse shook her head and smiled reassuringly.

"The Longshot was a goner as soon as that Locust got hold of it…" she faded off as she remembered what else the Locust had done, what it had told her.

"It… the 'Kantus'? It told me…about Maria… what happened to her…"

She didn't need to tell Dom how sorry she was, he could see it in her eyes. The single blue-green iris reflected his misery with a depth that he hadn't expected. But then, hadn't she suffered almost as much as he had trying to find his wife? Maybe she understood his pain better then most.

"Carmine told us how hard you fought for her…" he smiled, pained, "Thanks…"

A miserable silence hung between them for a long moment; Muse worming her cold fingers around Dom's warm ones and squeezing slightly. She didn't need words to tell him she grieved with him, and Dom felt the burden lift a little, knowing it was shared.

"So, what's the deal with…" Muse gestured her face in an attempt to change the subject and lift the depressive mood that had descended. "'Cept I'll be ugly as sin from now on." Dom smiled a little at that, and keenly grasped the new topic.

"The Doc said the lacerations were pretty serious, but superficial, so it'll heal, and he's confident your eye wasn't damaged too badly either."

"Oh that's good, I least I'll be able to see." A pause. "How're…the others? Are they okay?"

"They're fine," Dom nodded, "Marcus won't admit it, but even he was worried for a second back there."

"I bet he's glad Anya's okay." Dom's smile widened to a grin.

"So you noticed that, did'ja?" Muse mirrored the grin, thankful that even now they were both able to still smile.

"I noticed Anya was pretty interested in him. All she needs to do is crack his stoic exterior to find the soft and squishy Marcus we all know is in there." Dom actually laughed at that and warned her not to repeat that to Marcus himself if she valued her life. "And Clay?" Muse asked after the laughter had subsided. "I mean, with his squad all dead… what'll happen to him?"

For a second Dom looked uncomfortable, as if the question brought up issues he wasn't up to dealing with.

"I'm not sure," he said at last, "He'll probably be assigned to a new squad."

A silence fell between them, for some reason inexplicably awkward. Muse found herself suddenly desperate to fill it and the question she'd been harbouring tumbled from her lips before she could stop herself.

"Why d'you do it? Why d'you stay with a government that treats you like crap?"

Dom looked at her with astonishment in his eyes. Muse thought it was because of the bluntness of her question, little did she know that it was more her open tone. Whereas before Muse would have stuck stubbornly and unyieldingly to her own sense of morality and integrity, now she sounded as though she were willing to see things from another perspective.

"Because if we don't stand together, we're dead." He said quietly, "The Locust'll win."

"…They're already winning." Muse muttered, sounding hopelessly dismal, "It's only a matter of time before we lose really…"

"That's not the Muse I know talking." Dom rebuked gently, "My Muse wouldn't admit defeat even if it was staring her in the face. My Muse wouldn't quit fighting, not for anything." Muse looked at him, a wry smile twisting her mouth.

"Your Muse?" she teased, "Very presumptuous of you, mister Dominic Santiago." Even though it was rather odd to hear her use his full name, the smile was what Dom had wanted and he returned it for a moment before levering himself up off the bed.

"You need to sleep. I'll come and see you later."

As if it were completely natural for him to do so, Dom leaned down, wrapping his brawny arms around Muse in a brief hug. She welcomed the contact and put her arms around his neck in return. Feeling the sudden urge to speak, she said to him;

"Am I really your Muse?" He squeezed her gently, careful not to hurt her.

"You better believe it, sweetheart."

He let her go and stood up, smiling faintly as he turned to leave. Just as he reached the door of the makeshift hospital room though, Muse called his name.

"Dom?"

He turned back to see that Muse had folded her arms behind her head and wore an intent expression, as though she'd come to a decision after much thought.

"Yeah?"

"I've decided… I won't leech off the COG without pulling my weight and contributing… so… sign me up." Dom blinked, scarcely able to believe what he was hearing. Did she mean what he thought she did?

"What?" Muse looked at him and one side of her mouth twitched in a lop-sided smile.

"I'm enlisting."

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Anonymous Reviewers

Gowfann: Thanks for the review, here's the next chapter. ^_^

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