A/N: Alright! We're back with the next piece (after I totally didn't need to be reminded by the people on Discord that it was time for another chapter), and this one was written by...

Me.

My writing fingers were getting a little itchy when this thing started, especially because I really liked the post-Warsaw/Gatecrasher prompt. So I wrote a couple of entries, including this one. I think it turned out pretty well.

Title: Speaker for the Dead

Author: DrAmishMD

Another day on the Avenger, another punch list of things that needed doing. Not that MacAuley minded the work. Quite the opposite. He took pride in his craft as an engineer, and right now? It was one of the best ways for him to keep his mind focused on things that were productive. Otherwise, well…

"Alright, let's see what we've got here," he muttered, glancing at the list that Shen had pushed to his datapad. Baby Shen, that is. Kid had a sharp mind and a big heart, and Mac appreciated her effort to help him prioritize work that mattered. Some of the 'bonus objectives she put on lower down on the daily list were related to her personal projects, but Mac couldn't deny that the 'hot' items were things that needed doing. Kid probably got input from the Docs to figure out what to bring to Mac's attention each day, but the lists were undeniably from Lily.

Unless her old man had a habit of starting messages with, "Good morning Mac! You ready to kick some ass and take names today?"

The list presently in hand seemed like it was going to be a little harder to kick in the ass, unfortunately.

"Engines are knocking, huh? I'll have to get with Poncho and see if that's an issue with the power plant. And it looks like Sam's noticing some oddities with the comms? That one might be easier to tackle, but the engines are more important. And what else…? Aw, fuck, maintenance on the hull is due. Need to figure out which crew can tackle that. And thengyaaaaahhh!"

Mac suddenly found his world turned sideways, and the corridor he'd been walking down raced by him as he was pulled by a familiar rope wrapped around his waist.

A fleshy rope.

The (absurdly prehensile) tongue released him, and Mac slid along the smooth, metal floor until the hooded face of a particular Viper came into his upside-down field of view.

"... Hey, Sserana," Mac said. "You, uh… you grab me for a reason? Or do you have a prankster's streak that I didn't know about?"

He could have sworn that the viper rolled her eyes before helping him to his feet. Mac got along with most of the Vipers pretty well (as well as one could get along with the mysterious bunch, anyway), but Sserana in particular was more friendly with him than the others. Mac suspected she felt guilty about their first 'meeting' during XCOM's initial encounter with the Reapers, and that her friendliness was a way of making amends.

Sserana hissed at Mac in a way that the engineer recognized to be communicative rather than aggressive. Regardless, she had to know that the human she was speaking to knew nothing about speaking in Hiss.

"I'm guessing if I hiss back at you, that's going to earn me a backhand across the face," he mused. The look Sserana gave him confirmed his suspicion.

Mac sighed. "Look, I enjoy playing guessing games as much as the next guy. Code-breaking is, like, our thing as engineers." He waved his tablet and added, "But I've got a lot of stuff to do today. If you've got something important, couldn't you have brought your Reaper buddy along to translate for you?"

The hurt look on the Viper's face confused Mac for a couple of seconds before he remembered who Sserana's Reaper partner was.

"Oh…" he said quietly. "Fuck."

Mac was relieved to see that the Viper didn't look angry at him for his thoughtless mistake. Instead, she hissed at him again, a little quieter than before.

"No way you came here to ask me a question," Mac said.

Sserana shook her head.

"Or to just say hello."

She shook her head again, then hissed.

"Did you want to show me something?"

She smiled, nodded, and hissed a third time. Was he imagining things, or did that hiss sound the same as the last one? Like, they all sounded kinda the same, but those two sounded even more like they were the same. Maybe even all three of them.

"I swear I'm going to have to learn what you guys are saying one of these days," Mac muttered, "if only to make sure you're not talking shit behind my back."

He glanced down at his list once more. There was a lot to get done today, and it wasn't going to be easy. But… perhaps that could wait.

"C'mon, then. Lead the way."

Sserana hissed again. Now that Mac was trying to pay attention, it definitely sounded a little different. He didn't have time to ponder this new revelation, though, since his guide had already turned around and started to slither off. Mac dutifully followed. While he was originally annoyed by the interruption to his day, the engineer had to admit that he was starting to grow curious about what Sserana could possibly want with him. The Reapers generally kept to themselves on the ship, usually sending out a human representative to make requests of XCOM leadership for things that they might need.

To be asked directly like this was definitely out of the ordinary.

It didn't take long for Mac to figure out that the Viper was leading him down to the lower decks. The Reapers had set up over by the Skunkworks when they'd first joined XCOM on the Avenger, which gave them easy access to Engineering's equipment so that they could more easily work on their own projects. He'd see a few of them every now and then come out, use a machine or grab a toolbox, and then vanish. The tools always came back in perfect condition, and the machines were always left cleaner than before. All in all, the Reapers were excellent tenants

But what was down there now? Was something broken? No, they would have informed Bradford or Shen about that, not drag an engineer down to take a look at it.

As expected, Mac found himself following Sserana into the Skunkworks, though not through the usual main entrance. Not surprising, given how rarely he'd seen any of the Reapers or Vipers come and go while he was down here. Mac had always chalked that up to their supernatural sneakiness, but maybe they just had a bunch of mundane methods for not being seen when their shadow fuckery wasn't actually necessary.

Like using the side door.

"Need my help with a project down here or something?" MacAuley asked.

Sserana shook her head, leading him around the periphery of the cavernous room towards the section where he knew the Reapers camped out. He stepped through the entryway into their little enclave, and was surprised to find that it was smaller than he'd previously thought. Even with how lightly the Reapers packed, there definitely wasn't enough room in here for all of them. Speaking of…

"Where is everyone?"

Sserana said nothing, beckoning Mac to continue following her. She pulled aside a curtain leading into a small shack, and MacAuley quickly noticed the maintenance hatch in the middle of the room.

Ah.

Down the hatch they went and into a sub-level that Mac had never seen. There must have been a different maintenance crew that was tasked with sweeping this floor. Or maybe it was Gidjit who kept it running?

The extremely dim lighting made the Irishman hesitate. He wasn't scared of the dark, just concerned that he might trip over something that he couldn't see. It didn't help that his guide had already gone ahead. Sserana must have noticed his hesitation, because he saw the vague silhouette of her shadow reappear in front of him. A scaly hand grabbed Mac by the wrist and gently pulled him along.

A small part of him was tempted to make some snarky comment about how absurd this whole thing was getting, but he remained silent. As far as Mac knew, nobody from XCOM had been down here. Hell, it was probable that nobody from XCOM even knew about 'down here.' And yet here he was because Sserana had asked him to come. For whatever reason, this was important. That alone was enough for Mac to shut off the asshole part of his brain, if only for a little while.

They rounded a corner (or at least, MacAuley assumed they did), and suddenly the lighting started to improve. There must have been some kind of light source up ahead, because Mac could now see his hands in front of his face. Sserana still said nothing, and so MacAuley did the same.

A few steps later, however, and Sserana paused. At first Mac assumed that she was just waiting for something, but even the dim lighting couldn't hide the apprehension in the Viper's posture once Mac started to pay attention. Sserana had grown rigid, her tongue flicked nervously, and (most amusingly) she had started to subconsciously wrap her tail around Mac's leg.

The Irishman coughed, and Sserana jumped slightly, quickly unraveling her tail.

"It's not like I'm walking you down the aisle for your wedding," Mac quipped. He paused, then added, "... Right?"

The glare that Sserana shot him was a sharp reminder that this was a serious moment. Still, sometimes a little bit of levity was needed to stop "serious" from turning to "suffocating," and Mac's comment seemed to do the trick. The Viper set off again towards the dim glow, and Mac followed after her.

A few moments later, and he was able to see that a low fire was the source of the light. Standing around it, almost as though they were statues, was a ring of figures that had to be the rest of the Reapers aboard the Avenger. As the light of the fire flickered, he could make out the solemn faces of Elena, Vessira, Nieve, and Rossal among the others in the circle.

Were they all just waiting for Sserana to arrive with him?

Several of the figures parted to make room for the two newcomers, and Mac did his best to try and blend in tonally with the rest of the group. It was a safe guess that he'd been invited to a private Reaper memorial for Alonso. But why?

All of the Reapers dropped to one knee while the Vipers bowed down low. Mac followed suit. Out of the corner of his eye, Mac could see that everyone had been waiting for one more guest after he and Sserana arrived.

The Big Cheese was here.

A deep, commanding hiss echoed in the hall, and all of its occupants rose back up. The Archon stood before them, next to the fire. Mac could have sworn that the big guy's gaze paused on him for a few seconds (and why wouldn't? Mac definitely stuck out in this gathering), but he didn't do anything before moving on and launching into some long speech in Hiss. The Archon slowly circled the fire while he spoke, and everyone else remained deathly silent. This, unfortunately, meant that Mac had no idea what was going on. The sombre posture and the deliberate movements around the fire allowed him to imagine that it was some sort of touching eulogy for Alonso, but that was about it.

Still, though, the tone of the Archon felt almost comforting to listen to. He was quiet, yet confident, projecting his voice in a way that respected the dead while providing reassurances to those who were left behind that the fallen did not die in vain.

… Or maybe that was just Mac projecting his own feelings onto the Archon. Regardless, the way that the Archon crafted and delivered his speech, both with his motions and with the pitch of his voice, made this a lot less boring than the Irishman had expected. The fact that he had no way of translating the Archon's speech didn't stop Mac from getting wrapped up in the charisma of the Reaper King.

It became even less boring when the Archon drew out a dagger, cut his forearm, and let some of the blood fall into the fire. The words 'Holy shit' almost escaped Mac's lips before he reminded himself that this was a serious moment.

A sinking feeling grew in his gut, however, when he saw that the other members of the circle stepped up, one by one, to take the dagger from the Archon and let some of their own blood fall into the flame. MacAuley had no idea what the point of this was, but everyone else looked like this was a perfectly normal thing to do in a situation like this. They just walked up, sliced their arm, shook out some blood, and then went back to their place like nothing had happened.

Why couldn't they just toss flowers onto the fire or something?

Sserana was the last of the Reapers to go. She slithered up to the Archon, took the dagger, and paused. Nobody said a word, nobody looked annoyed at her hesitation, and it made Mac wonder if she was taking a moment to honor her partner. He'd have to ask Elena about all of this later. Eventually, she did cut herself to continue the ceremony. Mac noticed that she held her arm out over the fire for much longer than the others before returning the dagger to the Archon and taking her place in the circle once more.

The Archon looked at MacAuley, and the Irishman swore that the leader gave the Viper equivalent of a raised eyebrow to him.

For the first time, someone spoke. Elena.

"You are not expected to partake in this," She said. "You are not one of us, so we would understand-"

"No," Mac answered, letting his feet carry him forward towards the Archon. "I don't know why I was asked to be here, but I'll be damned if I don't honor Alonso like I should."

He'd been through worse before. A little knife cut wouldn't hurt too bad, right?

Mac took the dagger from the Archon and held it against his arm. He paused for half a moment to steady his breath, then yanked the dagger across his skin.

Ow…. fuck.

Whatever, it was done. He could ask Vahlen to patch it up later or something. But first thing's first.

He held the arm over the fire, watched as some of his blood fell into the burning pit, and stepped away once he was satisfied. Was the Archon smiling as he took the knife back? No time to think about it. Just walk back to the waiting circle.

Mac was starting to figure out why Sserana had asked him to be here. She had lost her partner in Merlot's lab, just as Mac had lost his. And both Alonso and Beagle were together in their final moments. Even if Mac wasn't a Reaper, maybe she thought that he would want to be present for the send-off of the man that allowed Beags to carry out his mission?

The Archon spoke some more, gave a bow (to which all of the Reapers bowed in kind), and left. That must have marked the end of the ceremony, since the circle broke shortly thereafter. Mac wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to do now. Did he wait for Sserana to take him back up, or did he just leave on his own? He was trying to figure out how he'd be able to navigate back through the darkness on his own when a hand touched him on the shoulder.

"Thank you," Elena said as Mac turned to face her. "From the sound of it, you were able to guess what this was about. And if you are as clever as you seem, you've figured out why you were asked to be here."

"Beagle," Mac answered.

Elena nodded. "It is always hard when one of a Reaper pair is lost to us. We become very close with our partners. It is not often amorous, but a bond between hunting mates is to be expected. Our lives become so intertwined that it's almost impossible to not form a connection like that."

Made sense.

"Sserana saw your… performance at the Captain's Wake," Elena continued. "It was then that she realized that you and Beagle shared a similar thread. Both of your bondmates made the choice to sacrifice themselves for a noble cause. You are kindred spirits, suffering as you walk the same path."

Elena looked to her right. Mac followed her gaze to see Sserana standing by the fire, watching as the two of them talked.

"She is hoping that you could help her carry her burden, and she yours."

Sserana, Mac realized, needed a friend. Every other Reaper and Viper had a buddy. Sure, they all could offer their sympathies for Sserana, and the Reapers as a whole were close-knit, but still… if what Elena said just now was true? The Viper was alone.

And couldn't the same be said of Mac now? He had Jaune, but Jaune had Pyrrha. Kelly was deployed to the Downside until further notice. Strike Five's camaraderie helped fill the hole, but part of Mac still felt hollow despite their efforts. He was currently keeping the gap patched up by throwing himself into his work, but how long would that last?

"Of course," he answered.

Elena smiled. "That is what I had hoped to hear. The Archon as well."

Wow. Okay. So this was a bigger deal than Mac realized, apparently.

"I know you are a busy man, Master Sergeant MacAuley," Elena said, waving at Sserana to come over, "but I suggest you take some time out of your schedule to try and get in sync with Sserana. You will not regret it."

"I should also try to learn how to translate Hiss," Mac muttered.

He caught a well-deserved smack upside the head from Elena for that one.

"I can help you with that," she answered, rolling her eyes. "Just as long as you promise to never call it that again."

Sserana arrived, looking curiously from Elena to Mac.

Mac sighed. "Don't worry about it. Is there anything else that we need to do, or should we head out?"

The Viper hissed. Mac turned to Elena expectantly.

"She said that she is very grateful to you for coming down here at her request, and she will let you get back to your duties now," Elena said. "She also wants to schedule a hunt with you sometime so that you can practice fighting together."

Mac stared at her.

"Please," Elena added.

"You got all of that," Mac said slowly, "from one hiss?"

The two women exchanged looks, and then Sserana nodded.

"You're fucking with me."

Sserana hesitated, then nodded again.

Mac grinned. "My kinda gal."