A/N: aaaaaaaaaaaaand we're back. Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, had the chance to enjoy the latest volume of RWBY, and are ready for some REMCOM to kick off your hiatus. This chapter and the next will be "downtime" chapters, with this one focusing on some character interactions that are either for A) characters that I haven't focused on in a while, and/or B) relevant to the plot and it's about damn time that I get around to them. The next chapter will be more focused on some of the tech stuff going on in the labs as well as some of the geopoliticking that's taking place across Remnant. Expect one or several Lisa Lavender bits, is what I'm trying to get at.

One thing I do want to address comes in light of some things that were learned in RWBY V6. I planned out this story back when the latest season was V3, and while I've worked to incorporate new stuff as the new volumes come out, there are simply some things that I am unable to include. So, in order to avoid letting people down later on, I'm going to go ahead and announce now that the relics will not be playing a role in RU. Salem and Ozpin are still crucial to the lore of RU!Remnant, but not in the same way that they are in RWBY's canon.

Anyway, enjoy some words that are sometimes fluffy, sometimes emotional, and end on what I'm hoping is an "oh shit" moment for a lot of you. Cheers.

A knock sounded on the door. Van Doorn offered a "come in" and put down the datapad to greet his visitor. The summary report from XCOM's interim Chief Scientist on the latest application tests of the Hyperwave Relay was fascinating, but most of its contents were going over his head. It could wait until the Field Commander found himself alone once more, especially since his visitor turned out to be a familiar face.

"Good afternoon… Central Officer Van Doorn."

Oh. Right. Ex-Field Commander.

"Councilman Bailey." Van Doorn greeted, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. "Always good to see you, though I'm still getting used to the title. It feels…"

"… Wrong?" Bailey guessed as he took the proffered seat. "Even so, XCOM needs a… Central Officer. And until such a time that we are able to… re-establish contact with Bradford, there is no better candidate to take up the mantle than you."

Van Doorn sighed, taking comfort in the knowledge that Bailey's resolve to find both Bradford and Remnant was not even close to faltering. And he knew that Bailey was right about who should be Bradford's successor. While XCOM had many faces of heroism from the Long War, Van Doorn stood head and shoulders above the rest as the face of freedom. And the council's plan to help unify Earth in the wake of the extraterrestrial threat involved taking that fame amongst the general populace and cranking it up to eleven. Van Doorn had to be the new leader of XCOM because he had the trust of just about every country on Earth.

The Central Officer pushed those thoughts out of his mind with a small sigh and gazed evenly at Bailey. "How may I help you, sir?"

"The council is keen on receiving a… progress report regarding the Hyperwave Relay as soon as possible. I understand that such a… complex structure will take years to fully decode, but I am hoping you have… something to present for your efforts."

Van Doorn nudged the datapad he'd been reading before Bailey arrived. "The latest from Doctor Acharya. The raw report is a bit too technical for my liking if it's going to be presented to the council, but I've been spending my morning working through it. Lot of theoretical conjecture about extra dimensions, parallel universes…" Van Doorn grinned. "You know, the stuff that you would have expected to only find in science fiction and comic books up until three years ago."

Bailey took the datapad and curiously scrolled through it. As his guest skimmed the report, Van Doorn saw technical schematics and theoretical diagrams interspersed around a painfully large number of equations and proofs. "Is there anything that would help us locate our… wayward friends?"

"Probably. At the very least, we're getting a better understanding of how the relay works." The Central Officer paused for a moment to chuckle. "If Doctor Vahlen was here, I'm sure she'd have some fancy 3D holographic to pull up for dramatic effect while she explained the next part. From what Doctor Acharya has gathered, the relay's teleportation properties involve either moving through extra dimensions to get dumped somewhere else in our familiar 3D space almost instantaneously, or it literally jumps you into a different dimension."

Bailey stopped scrolling through the datapad's contents, put the tablet back on the table, and raised an eyebrow. "You'll have to… expand on that second one a little more than that."

"Yeah…" Van Doorn agreed. He grabbed the datapad and scanned it for the relevant section while he spoke. "Ran into that gem about half an hour ago, and I'm still wrapping my head around it. I wasn't kidding about the parallel universes shit. Again, the science team tasked with studying the relay hasn't confirmed whether it's the first theory or the second, but the readings they've analyzed from their tests make them very confident that there's some sort of extra-dimensional activity happening."

Once he found the desired section of the report, Van Doorn slid the datapad back to the councilman. Bailey picked it up and began reading. While his eyes scanned the document, he asked, "Have their tests involved using the device to… open a portal?"

"Not yet. The team has been exercising caution in how they proceed with their research. During the invasion, caution took a backseat to a need for results ASAP. Now, though? Time is on our side."

"Agreed." Bailey answered, his eyes still glued to the tablet. "And given the… impressive developments made with unlocking the more tangible secrets of the Temple Ship, it is safe to say that you have… exceeded the council's expectations."

"There's just a higher interest in the Hyperwave Relay due to its unique potential." Van Doorn added, "Believe me, I am just as anxious as the council to figure out what that thing is hiding."

Bailey put the datapad down and stood up from his seat. "I won't take up any more of your… valuable time. Out of curiosity, who is heading the research on the Hyperwave Relay?"

"Doctor Acharya is the supervising researcher, and his primary lead is a scientist, a miss Visser," Van Doorn answered. He'd spent enough time with Acharya's group in the recent days to be familiar with the Doctor's entire staff. "They have a full complement of support personnel assigned to help them in any way they require."

Bailey nodded. "In light of what you've told me here, I will… request that the council increases Doctor Acharya's discretionary funding to support his team's… progress in this endeavor."

It wasn't the first time that Van Doorn had seen Bailey's generosity and pragmatism intersect, and the Central Officer was sure it wouldn't be the last. Even so, Van Doorn promised himself that he would never get to a point where he took his friend's assistance for granted.

"Thank you, Councilman. I will give your regards to the Doctor when I next see him."

Bailey smiled before turning to walk out the door. "Vigilo Confido, Central."

"Vigilo Confido."

As he followed the armed guards down the hallway, Bradford took a deep breath and, as quietly as he could, let it out. The chuckle from one of his escorts told him that his stealth needed some work.

"Yeah, the Khan can be pretty intimidating," the guard commented. "But hey, you're the hero of the hour, right? It's not like she'll be going for the throat during your meeting."

"Well… at least not straight for the throat," the other soldier answered.

Bradford rolled his eyes and said nothing. They reached the ornate door at the end of the hallway a few moments later, and one of the guards rapped lightly on the wooden frame.

A feminine voice answered, almost bored, "Enter."

The guard opened the door, and Bradford filed into the room after his escorts. From a first glance, Bradford noticed that the room was well-furnished but didn't boast wasteful excess in an effort to impress visitors. It had maps, equipment, weapons, guards, a commanding view of Kuo Kuana… everything a military leader would need.

Including the military leader herself.

"Leave us," Sienna said, dismissively waving without bothering to look as the guards left. She stood in front of the window, gazing out upon Menagerie's capital, and Bradford decided his best option would be to stand at the window next to her at ease. They stood side-by-side in silence. Bradford wondered if Sienna was testing him, waiting to see if he'd break under pressure and say something to fill the silence. Well, Sienna had never been acquainted with XCOM's Director of Covert Ops, so Bradford almost felt bad for 'cheating.' Almost.

Sienna apparently didn't feel like waiting to see how long Bradford could hold out. "Your military is impressive. I am very proud of the combat prowess of my people, but I'd be a fool to believe that we would have defeated the Gigas without your help."

"I'm not sure I'd call us a military," Bradford answered, glancing at his host. "Specialists? Commandos? Scouts? Perhaps. We excel at maximizing the effectiveness of the resources we're given to achieve the goals we set for ourselves, but we are a far cry from an actual military." He resumed looking out the window. "The men and women of Kuo Kuana in general, and the White Fang in particular, were exemplars on the field of everything you fight for. I would be proud of them, too."

Sienna didn't respond right away, and while Bradford was tempted to look over to take note of her reaction, he resisted and continued to stare out the window. If this was some sort of test, some sort of battle of wills, he was determined to impress "The Khan."

"I won't lie to you," she started, and Bradford heard her step away from the window, "it feels strange to hear a human compliment faunus, let alone the White Fang. What's your angle in all of this?"

Bradford turned around to see Sienna leaned back against the main desk in the room, her arms folded as she stared at her guest.

"Did you know that Blake Belladonna worked with my unit for several weeks?" Bradford asked.

Sienna shook her head.

"She was easily one of the most valuable members XCOM has ever seen. Her prowess in combat, stealth, and battlefield awareness quickly earned her the respect of every operative and non-combatant that knew her. You won't find a man or woman at XCOM that would dare speak ill of Belladonna, not because they are afraid of her, but because they respect her." Bradford quirked an eyebrow and added, "Because they owe her their lives."

Silence followed Bradford's words, broken only by a quiet, "Hmmm…" as Sienna seemed to gauge the honesty in his words. Well, might as well keep going.

"I am well aware of the White Fang's opinion of humanity," Bradford started. He moved away from the window and instead busied himself with examining some of the weapons Sienna had on the wall while he chose his next words. He noticed that that the chain-dagger that the operatives reported her using in the fight was nowhere to be seen. "From the firsthand stories I've heard from Blake, I can sympathize with your perspective. My kind has done nothing to earn your good will, and everything to earn your wrath. But that won't stop me, nor will it stop XCOM, from doing what we believe is right. Not because we feel like we 'owe' it to the faunus as a means of making amends, but because innocents were at risk. Good people who have lives, families, who made the unfortunate mistake of not spending their entire lives training to protect themselves from the monsters at the gate."

He turned to face Sienna, her face impassive. "Those people deserve a sense of security, and XCOM has made it our business to ensure they have it."

"Lofty goals you have there," Sienna commented. "And where was this XCOM of yours when my kind was getting crushed under the heel of the Schnee Dust Corporation? When we were banished to Menagerie, an island full of its own personal flavor of monsters and horrors?" She stood up from her desk and approached Bradford, and the Central Officer got the sense that he was being sized up like some prey caught in a trap. "Where were you when I was forced to turn the Fang towards violence? To turn away from Ghira's path of peaceful protest because it yielded no results?"

The two of them stood face to face while Sienna finished with a slow, deliberate, "Where. Were. You? Do not lie to me, Bradford."

Stand your ground.

"Short answer? Not here. Not even close to a position where we could have helped. And believe me: we absolutely would have. I have had the honor to meet and work with faunus on multiple occasions during my career. Every single one has carried themselves with dignity and respect, and not a single one resented me because I am human. We had a job to do, we had each others' backs, and it didn't matter who had a tail and who didn't."

Sienna searched his eyes for a tell, for anything that would tell her Bradford was lying. He knew she'd find nothing.

"I don't understand you," she finally said. Her face didn't carry any anger, just annoyance. "But I know enough about leadership to understand that XCOM is an opportunity that I cannot afford to let slip by."

Not exactly what Bradford was hoping to hear, but not exactly unexpected either. Sienna was taking what she could get, so the Central Officer would have to content himself with doing the same. He nodded his head ever-so-slightly and answered, "Given your history with humanity, I am glad to hear that XCOM's work in the field made enough of an impression on you to even consider it. I'll reiterate that I don't expect anything from you. XCOM earns trust. We don't demand it."

Sienna stared at him, and Bradford idly wondered if that was her go-to intimidation tactic. He guessed that the following sigh, however, was not.

"Well according to Ghira, you've earned a Bullhead for your ship. What was it? The Avenger?"

"Are you noticing a pattern about XCOM yet?" he asked, cracking a grin.

Sienna snorted. "Uh huh."

"Well, the offer is both generous and appreciated," Bradford said. "If we're doing gifts, though, there is one thing I have for you. You are aware that some of my agents located and neutralized the thugs from the rogue cell that started this whole crisis, correct?"

"I am."

"They also captured the apparent ringleader. A capable young woman named Ilia. We are currently holding her on-board our ship, and-" Bradford cut himself off when he saw Sienna narrow her eyes dangerously.

"Amitola…" she hissed. Sienna reigned in her emotions just enough to return her attention back to Bradford and ask, "what of it?"

Bradford only had limited experience with cats, including a mascot that some operatives had 'adopted' at the Anthill, but he was pretty sure that the gutteral sound coming from Sienna's throat wasn't good.

"I… was going to ask if you would like to have her back…" Bradford said, wondering if he'd just condemned the young woman to death. "I know if it were an operative of mine, XCOM would want to deal with its own. Figured extending the same courtesy to you would be the proper thing to do."

Sienna grew quiet for a moment, likely to marshal her emotions back into line. "She's on your ship, you say?"

Bradford nodded.

"Then perhaps a visit is in order. You were more than willing to play the role of a guest in my house, after all. It's only fair that I accept the same from you."

"That works for me," Bradford agreed. "What sort of security escort will you require?"

A cat-like smirk crossed Sienna's face. "None at all. I can take care of myself."

Shit. "That's not what I meant to imply-"

Sienna was already walking out of the room as she called over her shoulder, "Unlike some commanders, I am not afraid to lead by example."

Alright, that one? That one hurt.

"I… don't think that's what happened, Lily," Jaune said with a laugh. He sat at the edge of the pool and carefully eased his way in while Pyrrha sat waiting on the steps. Gorgeous as ever, Jaune thought, especially with that smile.

Lily grunted in disapproval while she continued to stretch next to the pool. Unlike Jaune and Pyrrha, the younger Shen was not dressed for the water. "Says you! All I know is, Bradford goes to meet Sienna -who is super cool, by the way- he comes out alive, and the two of them immediately make their way back to the Avenger, where the first thing they do is go to Bradford's quarters to 'talk.' They're totally making out, and you can't convince me otherwise."

"You realize that what you've described is a normal diplomatic encounter, right?" Jaune asked. He waded his way over to his partner and gently helped her up. She was already light enough to be carried out of water (especially after three months of total paralysis, though Jaune would never dare mention that to Pyrrha's face), but in the pool? It was even easier to move her around. Jaune was grateful that, while Bradford had ordered the massive pool Ruby had built for the Avenger's Pool Party to be dismantled, he allowed a small rehabilitation pool to remain. Pyrrha still couldn't walk, but the water offered her the opportunity to practice moving her muscles without gravity making things so difficult.

"Ugh… you just don't get it, Jaune," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "Pyrrha, tell your boyfriend that he doesn't get it."

"Jaune, you don't get it," Pyrrha said. Her eyes were closed, and her limbs were floating lazily in the water as Jaune gently pulled her backwards around the pool.

Jaune sighed. "Pyrrha, you're not helping."

"She even has a team name for them, Jaune," Pyrrha countered.

"Ship name," Lily corrected. She stood up with a grunt and dropped into a lunge position to continue stretching her legs. "But yes. I want you to look me in the eye and tell me that 'Striped Sweater' is not the most perfect name for Bradford and Sienna."

"I think it's inspired!" Vanessa chirped, hovering in her Gremlin frame a few paces away from Lily. After her day of being Terry during the battle of Kuo Kuana, it seemed like XCOM's Penny had decided upon using periodic metals as an inspiration for new names to cycle through. "Friend Lily, are you ready to resume your time trials?"

Lily sprang to attention. "Pyrrha gave me a target of a 20-second wind sprint and a 10-minute mile. Let's do this!"

"Very well! I hope Jaune and Pyrrha will have a good time in the pool while we work on your endurance!"

"Oh, Jaune's having a good time," Pyrrha murmured as she let Jaune stretch her limbs out underwater. "Don't worry about that."

"Pyrrha!" Jaune hissed.

Fortunately, Vanessa had already started Lily's wind sprints, and so the young woman either didn't hear Pyrrha's comment or wasn't in a position to add anything to it. With the sound of Lily training in the background, Jaune returned his attention to Pyrrha. She was still weak from her paralysis, but she could now move her limbs of her own accord. Jaune heard about the 'contract' brokered between Pyrrha and Lily, and the two of them made sure to spend some time in XCOM's training and rehabilitation center every day so that they could both improve in parallel.

"How are you feeling, Pyr?" Jaune asked. Pyrrha cocked her head back to look at him, then hummed quietly while she continued to slowly move her limbs as Jaune pulled her across the pool.

"I could be better, I think," Pyrrha mused, wiggling her feet just below the water. "But at the same time…"

"It could be worse," Jaune finished.

Pyrrha nodded. In the background, they could hear Vanessa's cheerful, 'Ready, Go!' as Lily continued to push herself. "I had become resigned to my fate, but the Archon has given me a chance to work back towards my old life. And Lily has given me the motivation to get better not just for myself, but for someone who believes in me."

"What am I, then?" Jaune asked with a laugh. "Chopped liver?"

He knew that if Pyrrha had the strength to playfully smack him, she would have. "You know that's not true. Even during my darkest hours these past months, you never gave up on me. Nora and Ren never gave up on me. I would be a vastly different person talking to you now today if not for your efforts and your refusal to just leave me alone with my dark thoughts."

Jaune gave his partner a gentle kiss on the neck. "You never gave up when I was the one who needed help. What would it say about me if I couldn't do the same for you?"

They floated around in the pool while Lily's heavy panting and Vanessa's words of encouragement echoed through the room. Pyrrha did what she could to use her arms and legs to push the two of them across the water while Jaune picked up the rest of the slack. Despite how lazy it probably looked to an outside perspective, Jaune could hear Pyrrha breathing more heavily from the exertion.

The sound was music to his ears. Because even though Pyrrha was getting tired after merely paddling around in the water, it meant that she was trying. And the only reason she would feel the need to try, is if she had hope, if she had something to strive for. From across the room, he could see Lily standing up against the wall after her mile, struggling to remain upright. If Pyrrha's reason to try was a young, impressionable girl? Jaune owed Lily a hell of a lot more than he could ever possibly give her.

"It's good to have a workout buddy," Jaune mused, "so the two of you can keep each other motivated."

Pyrrha nodded. "Mm-hmm."

"Do you want to rest for a bit, and then take a walk around the room with me and Lily?" Jaune glanced over to see that Lily was now flat on the ground, gasping for breath. "Looks like she could use the break."

"That sounds like a lovely idea."

"From your last walk, you were able to take one-hundred steps before requiring a break." Vanessa commented as she floated towards the couple. "Would you like me to track your steps again to help you push yourself further this time?"

Pyrrha flashed a smile towards their hovering friend. "Yes. Thank you, Vanessa. I truly appreciate your efforts."

Vanessa did her trademark airflip as she followed them to the edge of the pool. "It's my pleasure, Friend Pyrrha! You are a valuable member of this team, and I will always do what I can to help."

Jaune managed to move Pyrrha up the steps and have her sitting on the edge of the pool, with just her feet resting in the water. With Jaune holding on to one arm and (a somewhat-recovered) Lily holding onto the other, Pyrrha was helped out of the pool and onto her wobbly legs. They patiently waited while the enfeebled huntress regained her balance, took a deep breath, and nodded that she was ready.

"Pedometer function is set! I am ready to begin counting whenever you wish to start."

One shaky step. Then another shaky step. Then a third. Jaune could feel Pyrrha leaning on him, but a quick side-glance allowed him to catch sight of the look of steely determination adorning his partner's face.

"You're doing great, Pyrrha!" Lily cheered. "I can tell that your balance is waaaaaay better now than it was last week."

Jaune nodded in agreement. "She's right."

"I will not let you down," Pyrrha answered through gritted teeth. As Pyrrha took step by shaky step, Jaune started to hear a strange, yet beautiful noise. At first he couldn't figure out what it was or where it came from, but as it grew louder, he realized it was Vanessa.

Playing music.

There were no words. Just a slow crescendo of… Jaune was pretty sure that was some kind of fiddle playing a Scottish tune. A quiet bass beat was accompanying the fiddle, and Jaune realized that it was matched perfectly with with Pyrrha's steps . Steps, Jaune realized, that had become less shaky.

"Fifty steps!" Vanessa chirped over the music while Jaune silently struggled with the growing lump in his throat. He couldn't help it. The combination of Pyrrha's resolve, Vanessa's encouragement, and the hauntingly beautiful music was doing a number on his soul. "You are moving wonderfully, Friend Pyrrha!"

"Thank you, Vanessa," Pyrrha answered. Her tone was no longer terse, but not tired, either. It was confident, a voice intent on fulfilling the promise she'd made. Face forward. One foot in front of the other. Pyrrha still had to rely on Jaune and Lily for support, but with each passing step she found the determination, the motivation to move forward.

"This is what makes you a huntress, Pyrrha," Lily whispered. "I know you've wondered why I look up to you above any of the other huntresses on this ship. They are all wonderful, but this? This is why."

"Eighty steps!"

The way Lily spoke, it sounded nothing like the awkward teenager Jaune had come to know. Her words were measured and practiced, as if this were something she'd been meaning to tell Pyrrha for a long time. The shaking in the legs began to show signs of returning, and Pyrrha furrowed her brow while Lily continued.

"You were thrown into the darkest pits of despair, and here you are: determined to claw your way out of it. It is my honor to be here with you. I am so grateful that you've allowed me to help, and I won't let you down either."

"Ninety-five steps!"

Pyrrha's breathing was starting to become labored at this point, and Jaune saw a few beads of sweat roll their way down her face. And yet, her speed did not slow down. She kept pace with the bass of the fiddle's song.

"One-hundred steps! Congratulations!"

But Pyrrha wasn't stopping.

"We are all here for you, Pyr," Jaune said, picking up where Lily left off. "Me. Nora. Ren. Team RWBY. Bradford. Hell, even Zhang himself is here, smiling as you refuse to give up in the face of adversity, With every step you take, you-" He cut himself short to fight off the lump in his throat before finishing "You are honoring his memory."

"One-hundred and fifteen steps!"

"A goal is merely a step," Jaune said, quoting one of the Zhangisms that he would never forget. "The true goal is a balanced, and focused, mind. Once you've found your center, you will never need another goal again. You will simply do."

"One-hundred and thirty steps!"

The shaking had grown worse by this point, and Pyrrha's ability to maintain her pace had begun to falter. One of the benches in the room lay up ahead, and Jaune directed the trio towards it, with no sound of protest coming from Pyrrha.

"One-hundred and forty-two steps!" Vanessa finished as Pyrrha sat down, her eyes closed and her breathing heavy. "That was amazing!"

"You…" Pyrrha breathed, "You were all amazing. I am so… lucky to be cherished by such wonderful friends."

Lily shook her head. "It isn't luck, Pyrrha. It's who you are."

"I'll… accept that answer." Pyrrha opened her eyes and looked at Vanessa. "What was that song you played? It was lovely."

Vanessa performed an airflip. "The Gael! It's one of Captain Beagle's favorites. I informed him that I was coming down to help you with your physical therapy, and he instructed me to play the song if I thought you needed a little push." She paused, then added, "I hope I was not wrong in assuming you needed a little push."

Through her breathing, Pyrrha laughed.

"No, Vanessa. That was perfect."

"Bonjour! you're awake."

Arslan quietly groaned. Even a day later, everything still hurt from her run-in with the sand shark. Her ribs… her muscles… her neck… her back…

Hang in there, Arslan. You've seen the face of Death, now tell him to fuck off.

Her pride.

"Hey, Annette," she sighed. Annette was out cold when Arslan had first awoken last night, and she didn't really know the other operatives who were stuck in the medical wing alongside them. So she had time to just stew in her own thoughts for a while. Was this how Pyrrha felt every day? That sounded horrible.

A grunt from Annette's bed pulled Arslan out of her thoughts. She watched her friend wriggle around to get more comfortable as the Major spoke. "How are you feeling? You looked rather banged up when the medics were looking you over earlier. Sounds like nothing serious was broken, though."

"Yeah…"

"Tell you what," Annette started, her enthusiasm not at all matching how Arslan felt, "I could probably pull some strings with Vahlen and get her to release us for a walk-"

"Annette."

"Hmm?"

"Can we just… not do this right now?" Arslan asked. She knew that Annette was only trying to help, and she knew that she shouldn't keep feeling sorry for herself. But Arslan couldn't shake how she felt after nearly getting killed by the sand shark.

Annette grew quiet, and Arslan was silently relieved that her friend agreed to drop the conversation.

"Alright, mon amie. Talk to me."

… Or not.

"Annette…"

"No. You forget that I lived through a war, and that I know all too well the look on your face." Annette got up from her bed with a quiet groan, and Arslan watched the young woman slowly totter over to her own bed and sit at the base, piercing eyes staring straight into Arslan's. "Ask Bradford how many of my friends suffered a tragedy and never mentally recovered. Ask Captain Rose. So many bright, young men and women who came out of the war alive, yet devastated nonetheless."

"I'm… sorry, Annette," Arslan started, "But what does this have to do-"

"I refuse to let the same happen to you," Annette finished. As she said it, Arslan felt her friend's voice uplift her in a way that words generally don't have the power to.

"You're using your Inspiration on me," Arslan said.

Annette smirked. "Can you blame me?"

Even though Arslan knew the positive emotion was artificial, it didn't stop her body and soul from embracing the change, like a kinked muscle slowly relaxing after an hour with an application of powdered Fire Dust. She closed her eyes, let out a shaky sigh, and looked back at Annette. The warmth and concern in her friend's face sent a twinge of guilt through Arslan's heart. Her carelessness almost got herself killed in the battle, almost got her team killed, and from some of the chatter she'd overheard while she pretended to sleep in the medbay, almost got XCOM's star Major killed. How could Annette, still battered and bruised, sit there and smile at her? How could it be that her first concern wasn't to focus on her own injuries, but to help a huntress (not even… a student huntress) snap out of her funk?

"I don't deserve this…" Arslan muttered.

"Of course you don't," Annette answered. "No one deserves a near-death experience."

Arslan shook her head. "That's not what I meant, and you know it." The lack of an immediate response told Arslan that she was right.

Still, it seemed that Annette refused to give up. With a tone much softer than before, Annette said, "That is where you are wrong."

"But I'm a liability!" Arslan shouted. "XCOM needed everyone to take down the Gigas, and you had to get evac'd back to the ship after collapsing from exhaustion because you were rescuing me!"

"… A liability, hmm?"

Was… was Annette smiling when she said that? The young woman stood up from Arslan's side and slowly made her way over to the desk next to her own bed.

"Did I ever tell you about my first experience with XCOM?" Annette asked as she pulled the drawer open. Arslan watched curiously as her friend rummaged around in the drawer for a moment before she pulled out something that looked like a small pelt attached to a keyring. Sitting down and rubbing it gently, Annette continued. "They almost executed me after I tried to murder Doctor Vahlen."

Arslan almost choked. "I'm sorry, what?!"

"That got your attention, didn't it?" Annette said, looking up from her tchotchke. "It is true, though. They… you know they rescued me from the aliens, yes?"

Arslan nodded. She'd asked Annette before about how she ended up with XCOM. All her friend would say is that she'd been a captive of the aliens, and that XCOM rescued her from her private hell. It sounded like a really sensitive subject, so Arslan never pressed further about it.

"They brought my mother on-base for a time during my recovery. To help make me more cooperative. It worked, except she… grew ill from the alien antigens floating around in XCOM. Occupational hazard when your soldiers are fighting the damned things day in and day out, I suppose. And I… I thought XCOM was intentionally poisoning her as leverage against me."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Of course it doesn't," Annette agreed, her smile turning bitter-sweet. "But I was still mentally damaged at the time. It didn't have to make sense for me to believe it. I… became destructive when I came to this conclusion. I hurt many people in my rage. And Bradford later confessed that XCOM was preparing to put me down if I couldn't be calmed."

"… Holy shit," Arslan said, barely above a whisper.

"I tried to clear a path to escape with my mother. One of the soldiers stood in my way. She had been assigned as my liaison, my companion, if you will. Like me, she was psionic, and devoted herself to helping me see I could enjoy life again, even with these powers forced on me. She refused to attack me, but she would not stand aside, even if I beat her to death. I… tried." Annette closed her eyes and grew quiet for a minute. Arslan knew better than to say anything while she waited for her friend to collect her thoughts. "And as she lay there, a bloody mess on the floor, the reality of what I'd done came crashing down on me. I had become just like the monsters that had imprisoned me. I had become what they had WANTED me to be.. I fled. I wept in a closet until somehow they managed to coax me out."

Arslan could hardly believe what she was hearing. Annette Durand. Major Annette Durand. A psychotic mess on her first month at XCOM. It's no wonder that Annette kept this story to herself.

Annette caught Arslan's eye, and it was clear she had more to say. "There was one other thing I destroyed that day: a little stuffed animal of a dog that had been given to me by one of the counselors - another victim of my rampage - as a small token of comfort to help deal with the trauma of my torture at the hands of the aliens."

Arslan couldn't help it. She wanted to be respectful, because this was very clearly an important chapter of her life that Annette was talking about. But apparently her willpower wasn't quite as strong as she'd believed it to be, and Arslan let out a snort. "You destroyed valuable equipment, almost killed people, and you worried about a toy?"

Rather than be offended by Arslan's tone, Annette simply nodded and looked down at the felt strip again. "It… meant a great deal to me. When I thought XCOM had betrayed my trust, I tore it to shreds. Of course, XCOM didn't poison my mother, and I was horrified by what I had done in my rage. And to me, the destroyed doll was a symbol of the bridge between myself and XCOM… the one that I annihilated in my unfounded fury." She looked up at Arslan, and the young huntress found herself the subject of Annette's familiar gaze. "How could I expect XCOM to respect me, to let me join their cause after all of that?"

Well, somehow she became not only a respected soldier of XCOM, but one of their highest ranking officers. Despite how down she still felt about her own inadequacies, Arslan found herself sitting up, curious about how Annette managed to get back into their good graces. Surely they made her jump through an insane number of hoops before they started trusting her again. Whatever she did to get on their good side must have been seriously impressive.

"And yet… after he spent a week in ICU?" The smile came back. "The counselor, he called me in, along with my mother, the soldier I'd almost killed, and a few other operatives. The stuffed animal lay in his hands, painstakingly repaired while his body worked to recover from the damage I'd done."

… What?

"A man who was at the epicenter of my wrath, who I threw not one, but two psionic lances at during my meltdown. He would have been well within his rights to order my execution. Instead, he sought to heal me in the best way he knew how." Annette's gaze turned serious as Arslan found herself at a total loss for words. "I cried that night, mon amie. Bawled like a baby as the gravity of everything slammed into my chest like a punch from one of those Beringels. I almost killed these people. Destroyed half of their intensive care unit. And yet, they have the humanity to not see the monster I thought myself to be, but the scared woman who could be helped, tempered and trained, to reach her true potential. Not only did the counselor forgive me, but one of XCOM's best, a soft-spoken and strong-willed officer, took it upon himself to help me check my emotions, to channel my rage and change my powers from a chaotic maelstrom into an art form."

Arslan looked down at the trinket still in Annette's hand. She had a guess as to what it was. "And that?"

"When Monsignor Summers patched up my stuffed animal, he couldn't find all of the stuffing. His options were either to let Snoopy be saggy and sad-looking, or to give him a little tuck. So instead of just folding the extra square of skin into the doll, he removed it and turned it into… this." Annette thumbed the patch of felt lovingly. "You can't exactly bring a stuffed animal into combat, but this? This goes everywhere with me. As a reminder of where I started. Of the soul of XCOM."

The pointed look from Annette could not have been made any more obvious. With what felt like the tenth sigh in an hour, Arslan fell back into her pillow.

"Alright, alright. I get your point."

She couldn't see Annette, but she just knew that the smile was back in place. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about. What point would that be…?"

"No matter how shitty I'm feeling right now, at least I didn't try to kill half of XCOM." Even as she said it, Arslan couldn't stop the tiny smile from creeping onto her own face.

"Splendid!" Annette answered, musical tones in her voice. "So how about I call Vahlen down here and release from these beds, hmmm?"

"If it means I get the chance to try and escape from you before you tell me any more of your ridiculous stories, then yes."

"That's my girl."

"Coco?"

The woman in question looked up from her work in the "Propaganda Room" to see Velvet poking her head in through the doorway.

"Oh hey," Coco said, putting down the jacket she'd been modifying and turning to give her full attention to her teammate. "What's up, Velvs?"

Velvet stepped into the room and looked around. It wasn't her first time in Coco's usual haunt aboard the Avenger - far from it - but projects moved so quickly in here that it usually looked fairly different every time CFVY's favorite bunny girl decided to pay a visit.

"Are… you busy? I could come back later if you're in the middle of somethi-"

"Oh hush. I've always got time for you, and you know it," Coco said, smirking as she walked over and pulled Velvet into the room. "Did you really miss me that much? It's only been… what? Three hours since I've last seen you?"

Coco's comment elicited a small sound of protest from her friend, and Velvet lightly punched Coco in the shoulder. "For your information, I've been hard at work learning from Talos and Gizmo how to pilot a MEC. Because of their size, I only get twelve seconds with a suit before my camera gives out, so I need to learn to make the most of it." Velvet pulled a pair of soft drinks out of her bag and handed one to Coco. "I just thought it would be nice to take some time to relax."

"Alright, alright," Coco conceded, taking the offered drink and popping the tab and taking a sip. Strawberry. Velvet sure knew her friend's preferences. "You know I can't resist teasing you. C'mon, I've got a bench in the corner. Take a seat, and you can tell me all about your MEC adventures."

And so Coco gave her undivided attention as Velvet talked about her training. About how both Talos and Gizmo worked with her in the ways of steely defense and hard-hitting offense. About how amazing it felt to be floating in the air while her hard-light suit of armor carried her in leaping bounds across the training room. About how effortless it felt to swing her arm and watch the MEC's fist slam into Talos. Velvet also talked about how some of the other operatives were keen on training her in their own weapon specializations. Ortega worked with her on scoped marksmanship, Beagle on explosives, Sokolov on covert hand-to-hand and improvisation…

It was incredibly endearing how excited Velvet became when she had these opportunities to play storyteller for Coco. And it would take a fool to not see how much the young woman valued the chance to share her hard work with her team leader, and so there was zero chance of Coco ever blowing her off whenever Velvet wanted to talk. She made that mistake once during their freshman year.

Once.

After finishing a small story about how Beagle was trying to teach her "things to say and how to say them while sniping," Velvet stopped talking and grew quiet. This would normally not be a cause for alarm, except a slight twitch in her ear gave away that Velvet was trying to steel herself up to ask something. It was usually something uncomfortable.

"C'mon, Velvs," Coco said with a quiet sigh, "we both know you're bad at hiding things from me. Might as well just say it, since I'm not letting you leave until you do."

Velvet nodded, looked down at her fidgeting hands, and then looked back at her friend. "How… how are you doing, Coco? I… know I talk about myself a lot, and I know that you like listening to that… but I want to hear about what you've been up to. I-If you don't mind," she added quickly.

Coco raised an eyebrow. This was certainly new. Coco Adel was always in the limelight, always the star model for CFVY, and so it was never really all that difficult for Velvet to know about the fashionista's latest escapades. Now that she thought about it, though, the situation on the Avenger was very different, and Coco spent most of her time either training or working in her propaganda office when she wasn't socializing with her friends.

"Been keeping myself busy, I guess," Coco answered with a slight shrug. "It's nice being able to take my talent for fashion and turn it into something helpful for XCOM. A bit stressful sometimes, but it's a good stress, I think."

It's funny. After spending two years together, was this really the first time Coco was talking to Velvet about her feelings? It felt… weird.

Velvet nodded. "Keeping busy is good. You always look really happy when you're working on a new project in here, and I know Bradford and the rest of them really appreciate your efforts."

"Yeah, well… nothing I'm doing in here can top the first photo shoot we did together," Coco said, smirking as she saw a tinge of red grow across Velvet's cheeks. "Aw, c'mon. That was fun, and you know it."

"It… was," Velvet admitted. "You looked amazing in the pictures we took."

Damn. Her ear was still twitching.

"Alright, spill it," Coco said. She enjoyed talking with (and teasing) Velvet, but whatever her friend was trying to ask was starting to eat at Coco too.

Velvet's face grew solemn. "Do you still talk with Tech Sergeant Price?"

A direct question. That was a good start. Though Coco wasn't really sure what Velvet was planning to get at. "Yeah. He tries to have a chat at least every other day. Why?"

"... What do you talk about?"

Coco shrugged. "Stuff. My training. How I'm adjusting to XCOM. How you guys are adjusting to XCOM. How I'm holding up-"

"How are you holding up?" Velvet asked, suspiciously.

"Seriously?" Coco asked with a slight laugh. "That's what's got you worried? I'm fine, Velvet. I'm not sure what-"

"No," Velvet said, staring at Coco. "You're not. What did you say to Mr. Price during your last talk?"

As much as Coco loved her friend, this was starting to get annoying. "A lot of things. You'll have to be more specific."

"I can't. Because I don't know what specifically I'm looking for." Velvet let out a sigh of frustration, then tried again. "Anything… anything about yourself?"

"How I'm unbeatable with my minigun?" Coco guessed, thinking back to her conversation with Apollo. "How I can appreciate XCOM's style when it comes to partying? How I wouldn't mind learning some of the covert ops stuff? I'm not sure what you need here, Velvet."

"Coco. He left his notes in the lounge. I meant to give them back to him without looking, I swear I did. But…" Were those tears?

"He made a note to recommend to Bradford to keep you on suicide watch," she whispered, half-choking.

Oh.

Fuck.

"I didn't even know you were on suicide watch," Velvet said, and Coco could see the hurt in her eyes that she had to find out from a piece of paper. "Coco… what did you tell him?"

Silence. Coco tried to wrack her brain for what she could have said that-

Oh yeah. There was that one thing.

"I meant it as a joke," Coco sighed. But the look on Velvet's face told Coco that her friend didn't really believe her. "We were talking about… about the ones who died during the desert fight. I joked that if I died, at least I wouldn't be gunning down any more stadiums full of people. And at least I'd get to say I'm sorr-"

Coco was cut off by a flurry of arms and ears crashing into her as Velvet wrapped her into a tight hug.

"Don't say you wish you would die," she whispered. "Do you have any idea what would happen to me if I lost you?"

"Velvet… we're huntresses. Dying isn't uncommon in our line of work." She knew it wasn't what her friend wanted to hear, but she'd be lying if she didn't raise the point.

From where it was buried in Coco's armpit, Velvet shook her head. "Dying because you gave it your all is one thing. Dying because you've just given up…?"

"What would it matter?" Coco said angrily. "I killed countless people at Amity. They didn't give up, and yet they're gone. Why do I get to live? Why does my life matter more than-"

"Because it matters to me!" Velvet answered, her face suddenly inches from her friend's. "Because for years I was scorned, along with my family, while my father worked tirelessly and thanklessly to put scraps on the table. For years nobody gave a shit about who I was or what I thought, unless it was to make a punchline out of me.

"Until I met you." Coco noticed Velvet's eyes soften at the memory. "For the first time in my life, somebody cared about what I thought, about how I felt. Somebody was proud of my accomplishments, motivated me to strive to become a better huntress, a better person. My family loved me, but they had so many mouths to feed, so much more to worry about. I don't blame them for it, but I was almost invisible most of the time. But you? You see me."

Coco knew that Velvet idolized her. For some reason, though, she never thought about it as much different than her fan club. Velvet was obviously more important than them, and of course Coco knew about her family. So why did she never make the connection?

"Velvet… I…" For once, she was lost for words.

"You matter," Velvet supplied. "You matter to me. To Fox and Yatsu, and now to XCOM."

Coco watched curiously as her friend sighed, closed her eyes, and recited, "Being loved deeply by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

"We love you, Coco. I love you." Velvet rested her head on Coco's shoulder. "Now find it in yourself to forgive that which was out of your control, and love us back."

Fingers gently ran themselves through Velvet's hair. "First of all, did you just Yatsuhashi me?"

"Yes."

Coco groaned. "Second of all… I'll try. But I want to at least say… thank you. For caring so much about me."

Velvet nodded, but said nothing.

Which was good enough for Coco.

Neo woke up to the familiar sound of Roman snoring unceremoniously in his sleep. She loved the man dearly, but she had accepted long ago that, despite the suave and classy visage he worked so hard to project in public, he was rather crass and undignified in private. Even though the lack of privacy afforded by their cell meant he tried to hide it, there wasn't really anything Roman could do about the noises he made while he slept. And so, it seemed, that it was up to Neo to help him maintain his dignity.

She rolled out of her own cot and silently padded her way over to Roman's on the other side of the room. Despite how much it sucked being a prisoner of war, Neo had to silently admit that this XCOM was… generous in their accommodations. She saw the state of the cell Roman had been left in when she rescued him from the Atlesian crew, and the one they were in now? Much nicer. More space, actual beds, even a bathroom with a door that she could use for privacy. Sure, the guards performed routine inspections of the bathroom to make sure their two prisoners weren't up to any "funny" business, but that didn't bother Neo too much. What were they expecting, anyway? That Bradford guy had them under constant surveill-

Neo stopped as she realized something. The hallway was dark and nobody was talking. Usually the night shift set themselves up a few cells down with a television so that they had something to do in between brief walks to check in on their captives. But tonight? There was no sound. No dim light cast by the TV.

Where were the guards?

Neo shook Roman, who snorted as he woke up.

"Hmm! Wha…?" He blinked a few times and saw Neo staring back at him before he sighed and asked, "What is it Neo? It's dark out, which tells me that it's waaaay too early to be waking up."

Neo gave him a pointed look, and she saw the cogs turning in his brain as he made the same connection she did. "It's… dark out."

She could always count on Roman to be perceptive. Now all she needed to do was see how he would find a way to capitalize on this new development.

"I wonder if they decided that we don't need twenty-four hour security," Roman mused, "Or maybe they simply can't afford the manpower on it."

"Or maybe I volunteered to pull a shift so the regulars could take a night off."

The sound of a voice outside the cell almost caused Neo to fall over in shock. Roman certainly did. How did she miss the guard? Even as she scanned now, there was nobody there!

That is… until a quiet click preceded a pair of dim green eyes winking into existence and revealing a face up against the back wall. Even though Neo's eyes were adjusted to the darkness, she still struggled to make out the rest of the figure.

"W-who's there?!" Roman demanded, his voice shaky. "I don't know i-if Bradford's trying to play more stupid games with my head, but you can tell him that it's fucking pointless!"

"This is not a game, I can assure you," the voice answered. From its modulated tone, Neo could only guess that whoever was speaking had a mask on. "This is simply how I operate."

Bullshit. They would have noticed someone watching them.

"Bullshit," Roman hissed. "We would've sensed someone watching us."

The voice chuckled. "Ah, yes. The little 'danger sense' you Aura wielders have. I was informed of that when we first started working with the huntsmen." The glowing eyes rose up, which probably meant that the woman they belonged to had stood up. "My brothers and sisters learned very quickly that you can't sense danger if there's no dangerous intent."

Ah. So she learned that particular trick. As much as Neo hated her right now, she had to respect professional work. The fact that she still couldn't make out the rest of the woman's body still infuriated Neo, though. Stealth was her wheelhouse. Who the fuck did this woman think she was?

"No offense, lady, but you're kinda creeping me out," Roman said. "I know it's a change of pace from the unending boredom of being stuck down here, but I'd honestly prefer to go back to that than to have you staring at me."

The eyes didn't move. "That's not really your choice to make, now is it?"

"Where the hell does this Bradford guy find these people?" Roman muttered, glancing at Neo. All she could do was shrug.

"Honestly, if you weren't about to start plotting your escape, you never would have known I was here. Did you really think that XCOM would leave you unguarded?"

"I mean, we were kinda hoping that was the case…"

Neo rolled her eyes, and then something clicked into place and she froze. What if the reason this woman could hide herself was because she was one of those psi operatives? What if this was just Bradford trying to intimidate Neo by reminding her that those creepy mind soldiers had different ways of getting into her head and making her scream? She shuddered at the memory of the firefight, the first -and only- time Roman had ever heard her cry out in pain.

Almost involuntarily, Neo wrapped herself in an illusion to try and hide from the woman.

"I may not be like those psi operatives XCOM has," the woman said, almost lazily, "but you cannot hide from me, little one."

"If you lay a hand on her-" Roman growled.

"Is your danger sense going off, Roman?" the woman asked. "No? Then what do you have to fear from me?"

Seriously, what was the whole point of this? Because there had to be a point to this. While… yeah… they were maybe-possibly-kinda trying to take advantage of what they thought was a gap in security, they didn't need Creepy McStalkerson coming out and making things weird.

Roman rolled his eyes. "So, uh… no offense, but could you bring the other guards back? I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually liked those assholes better."

The eyes sank back to the floor, and the green lights turned off with another click. "I suggest you go back to sleep. You won't even know that we're here."

"Yeah that's just great," Roman snorted. "Because it's not like- wait, what do you mean we?"

A low hiss reached Neo's ears, and she shivered at the sound. What the fuck was that, and how could Neo murder it?

"Vessira says that Reapers never fight alone. Sleep well, Roman and Neo."

Neo rolled back into bed and stared at the ceiling. She had a feeling that it would be a long time before she fell back asleep.

As she walked down the hallway of the Avenger, a familiar tingling in the back of Annette's head caused the Major to turn around and catch sight of a grinning Ruby standing at the other end of the corridor.

Annette! You're up!

A blur of red filled the hall before Ruby stopped short on Annette's left with the usual accompanying flurry of petals, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hi," she said.

"Hello to you, too." Annette laughed. "Something I can help you with?"

Ruby shrugged. "Well, I saw that you were up, and I was wondering if you were doing anything interesting, soooo…. Doing anything interesting?"

"I was on my way to one of the training rooms," Annette answered, resuming her walk. It'd been almost a day since Vahlen had cleared her from bedrest, but her legs still felt a little stiff. "Watched Tai and Port run their first CQC lesson with a batch of operatives, and I felt inspired to try and do a little physical activity myself."

Dangerous.

"Yeah, shut up." Annette snarked. Her heart froze when she saw Ruby stop and give her a surprised look. Was she really so tired that she'd said that out loud?

"I, uh… didn't say anything…" Ruby said, one eyebrow slowly rising into her hair, "You sure you're supposed to be moving around yet?"

Annette sighed. "Yeah, it's not from my injury, it's… something else."

The two of them started walking again, but Ruby never took her eyes off of Annette. So the question was… should she tell Ruby about her secret passenger? Annette knew that, at the very least, Bradford would need to know sooner or later, so maybe it would be good practice to break it to her friend now? Suddenly, physical training didn't seem so appealing anymore.

"Hey Rubes? Let's uh… duck into this room." Annette nodded at a door coming up on their right. She knew the room it lead to was larger than a closet, but not by much. Room for two friends to sit and have a private conversation.

Ruby held the door open for Annette and closed the door behind her while the Major turned on the lights. "Is this about the super-speedy thingy you did during the battle?" Ruby asked, "Because I've been meaning to ask you about that."

Oh right. That. With everything else she'd been dealing with, Annette had totally forgotten about that particular oddity. "It's… sorta-kinda related? Maybe?"

"Oh good," Ruby said as she slid a pair of chairs into the middle of the room, "because I'm, like, fifty percent certain that was your Semblance."

That certainly got Annette's attention.

"... I'm sorry what?"

Ruby dropped into her seat with a shrug. "It was certainly unique enough to be one. I've never seen it before. It's kinda like mine, but at the same time?" Ruby held her hands out, as if she were cupping something on her left. "You were over here... and then BAM!" She shifted her hands to cup something on her right. "You were over there! Just like that! I'm fast, but it was almost like you just… blinked across the distance between you and Arslan."

"And then body-checked a fucking sand shark," Annette added. But now Ruby had her thinking. What did happen when that went down? She remembered seeing Arslan in the Lamnidae's jaws. Her passenger was screaming at her to move faster. The shark took one more bite and shattered Arslan's Aura.

"Annette?" Ruby asked, her voice laced with concern. Which was all well and good, except Ruby didn't know - couldn't know - what was going through Annette's mind. She couldn't understand the panic of watching this young girl, who put her trust in Annette, almost like she was some kind of mentor, in the jaws of death itself. Annette could practically see Altan getting snapped in half-

Calm.

With a single word, Annette's passenger halted the flow of thoughts before they swept her away.

"I... got emotional when I saw Altan about to die…" the Major whispered.

A gentle hand came to rest on Annette's knee, and Ruby offered a warm smile to her friend. The two of them sat there while Annette regained control of her memories. Ruby didn't need to say anything that her warm silver eyes couldn't already convey.

"I… I know that pushing yourself to the limit," Annette started, "especially during a time of emotional stress… that's when the soul reveals its nature."

Ruby nodded.

"So maybe you're right. Perhaps that was my semblance. Which… holy shit, that's awesome. But… there's more to it than that."

"Oh?"

Well. Time to put up or shut up. "I… have a… ah… I suppose 'entity' would be the best descriptor. An entity coexisting with me." Now that Annette was explaining it out loud for the first time, it sounded ridiculous. "I don't know what it is, not exactly, but it's been helping me. That much… that much I'm certain of."

Ruby grew pensive as she leaned back in her chair. "Dad did mention he was surprised you were picking up on your lessons so quickly… is this part of it?"

Annette nodded. "It gives me a sort of sixth sense at times. More so than just the danger sense from my Aura that Ren taught me how to listen to. Until you pointed out that the teleport thingy might be my Semblance, I thought that was it. That I had a second… a second something living with me. Because it's definitely much more than a simple voice in my head. The longer I work with it, the more… in tune, I guess? Yeah, the more in tune we are with each other, it feels like."

Ruby closed her eyes and Annette could feel her friend's mind reaching out to touch Annette's own. She welcomed the contact, let her psyche intertwine with Ruby's, and waited until the young Captain's presence receded.

"I don't feel anything," Ruby said. "Either it's trying to hide-"

No.

"... or I'm not sure what I'm looking for?"

Annette nodded. "I've tried to figure it out myself a couple of times. Even asked some of our friends in the psi corps to try and help. All they can find are the scars and echoes of my psi war with the final Ethereal on the Temple Ship. Any other energy that might be hiding in my mind is hidden by an Ethereal footprint."

"I mean… could it be an Ethereal?" Ruby asked.

Annette raised an eyebrow. "You mean one that isn't trying to kill me or use me to destroy XCOM?"

Ruby shrugged.

"When we were fighting in the desert, he - it? - would give me commands. Not like mind control or anything," Annette quickly added when she saw Ruby raise an eyebrow. "It felt more like the voice was stating the obvious. 'Danger' when something was about to attack. 'Strike' when I was going in for the kill. 'Protect' when I needed to bring Arslan back to safety after she'd fallen. I was already planning on doing those things, but hearing the voice say it… it almost seemed like it was bolstering my body's ability to follow through on what I wanted it to do."

"... Interesting."

"While I was running towards Arslan to rescue her from the Lamnidae, the voice was telling me to 'move.' I was doing my best, I was already pushing myself to the limit trying to reach her in time, and so it kept telling me, each time more forceful and impassioned than the last. I could feel my body trying to obey, as it had done before, but it wasn't physically possible for me to move faster than I already was. When we saw Arslan's Aura shatter, the voice told me one last time. The amount of energy it poured into one, single word was incredible. And it was like my body just… snapped."

"The teleport?" Ruby asked.

Annette nodded. "If it's an Ethereal, then I don't know how to explain everything it's done to help me."

Ruby nodded and grew silent while she mulled over Annette's words. While she waited to hear what her friend had to say, Annette felt herself starting to grow nervous. Like she subconsciously felt as though Ruby was preparing to render judgment or something. It sounded stupid, but Annette couldn't help it. What was Ruby thinking? She could try to find out for herself, but Annette knew that pulling a stunt like that would be woefully inappropriate at a time like this.

"Is your friend listening to our conversation?" Ruby finally asked.

Yes.

Annette nodded.

"And how does it… he… feel about what you've said?"

Acceptable.

"He's fine with it, I guess?"

"Hmmm…" The silence this time didn't last as long as before. "Does he have a name?"

… Yes.

The hesitation caught Annette off-guard. She couldn't tell if it was because her passenger didn't want to divulge that information, or if it simply wasn't sure what the answer was. In fairness, Annette had never thought to ask a question like that, either. Still, she conveyed the response by nodding again.

"Is… he okay with sharing his name?"

Silence.

"I'm... not sure," Annette admitted. "He isn't answering like he usually does."

"Does he trust you?"

Yes.

Annette nodded.

"Does he trust me?"

Silence. Then…

Yes.

Annette nodded.

Ruby smiled. "I'm honored. And I would like to know his name so I can know who I'm talking with."

The uneasy feeling came back, and it occurred to Annette that perhaps it wasn't her nerves that she was feeling, but it might actually be her passenger's.

Even so, a word found its way into Annette's mind. It was a pretty, almost elegant one. She didn't recognize the word from anywhere in her past, but she knew that it was the name that her passenger wished to have passed on to Ruby.

And so she did

"His name is Asaru."

A/N: Right, an explanation for those of you who are out of the loop and asking yourselves "who the fuck is Asaru?"

He appears in The Bureau: XCOM Declassified. If you've never bothered playing the game, I really don't blame you. And if you plan on playing the game, I suggest you stop reading.

... Still with me? Alright.

It was an attempt at an old-timey XCOM-ified clone of Mass Effect, and the gameplay was... pretty mediocre. However, the game had ONE shining moment of ingenuity, in my opinion, and it was the reveal that you weren't actually playing the role of the main character, Agent Carter. You were playing the role of a nascent, not-yet-self-aware Ethereal who was controlling Agent Carter.

And your name is Asaru.

It was, in my opinion, an incredibly clever meta moment, as you realize that not only is Carter having his strings pulled in a gameplay sense (by you), he is also having his strings pulled in a narrative sense (indirectly by you). Towards the end of the game, when this plot twist is revealed, Asaru comes in contact with another Ethereal, who brings him up to speed about what's going on, who he is, etc. The other Ethereal also tells Asaru, "oh btw we gotta delete Earth to save the universe lol." Asaru's all, "nah, fam. These dudes are my homies. I can't let you do that."

Because Asaru is Casper the Friendly Ethereal.

So just like most XCOM things I've included in RU, Asaru is heavily modified from his 'canon.' He is still a "Good" Ethereal (or is he?), but his history with the Bureau is not necessarily canon. But either way, I'm excited for Annette's latest bro, and you should be to.

One more announcement on this already-long-winded-A/N
It was suggested that I start hosting QnA sessions on the Discord server at somewhat-regular intervals. I ran a trial session just before the new year. I was quite pleased with the results, and so I definitely plan to continue them. And in light of some of the... revelations in this chapter, I figured planning the next one soon (like in a week or so) would be a good idea. Swing by the Discord, say hi, and ask some questions when the QnA rolls around.