Author's Note: Well, we've reached the end. Hope some of you enjoyed this, please let me know if you did, and why, if you didn't.

I WILL NOT BE CONTINUING THIS. My attention is drawn elsewhere and this got little enough traction. Still, it felt good and I'm happy to wrap it up. Hope you enjoyed.

Anita feels warm sunlight on her foot. It's nice at first, but it's getting warmer. She pulls it under the sheet. She lays there for another minute before she decides she's not getting any more sleep. Fuck it, may as well get the day started.

She yawns and stretches big. The air is cool, shafts of morning light get in through the cracked shutters. Then last night comes back to her.

She tenses up and her eyes go wide. She looks to her right, and there Renee is, on her side facing away from her, apparently still asleep.

Heartrate accelerating, Anita climbs swiftly but carefully out of the bed. Renee's hair is down. She breathes in and out easily. Half covered in sheets, her panties are in a disheveled half-wedgie from sleep.

Anita runs fingers through her hair. What the fuck had she been thinking?

She walks quietly out into the living area, thinking it over.

It hasn't even been a month since she talked to Renee about Elliot hitting on her. When Renee said she'd never consider it because she didn't want to lose him as a friend. But then she, she made a move on Anita last night. What the fuck was she supposed to think of that?

An old anxiety is crashing back. Because it's not like it's the first time.

Now and then, Anita will see Renee get truly drunk. A lot of times, this results in them getting in a fight with some assholes on the street. Which honestly Anita doesn't mind, as long as there's no weapons involved. Other times, Renee has sex on her mind, in which case Anita might play a different kind of wingman.

But one time…

They'd been walking down some dark, narrow streets to Anita's apartment. It was late, and quiet. Renee kept egging Anita on, daring her to do stuff. Anita was just rolling her eyes over it, then Renee dared her to kiss her. Anita had given her a look, but she persisted, and finally got in Anita's way.

"I'll kiss you," she said.

For some stupid reason, instead of telling her she was being an idiot, Anita had said "No, you won't."

That's all Renee needed to hear. She leaned in and pressed their lips together. It wasn't drunk and sloppy, either. It was soft, and sensuous. It felt really, really, really good.

Renee pulled back and looked her in the eyes. Anita doesn't know what her face looked like, but she didn't say anything. Renee leaned back in, and just like that they were making out, and it didn't stop when they got back to the apartment.

Anita is leaning against her kitchen counter, grabbing her hair. Just like today, she'd freaked out the next morning. She was in the living room, basically pacing and thinking about what to do, when Renee had walked out of the bed room, eyes cracked open and hair messed up from sleep.

"Where's my breakfast?" she had said.

They never talked about it. Anita had always hoped Renee just didn't remember, that it didn't have to make things weird.

But Anita remembered. Anita definitely remembered.

The way her lips felt. Her pale body in the moonlight. They way she had seemed to know what to do, even though Anita had only ever seen her go after men.

"Fuck," says Anita under her breath.

There's movement out of the corner of her eye, and there's Renee, almost exactly like last time.

She brought the bedsheet with her, loosely wrapped around her. She's just wearing an undershirt and panties, her pale legs showing under the sheet. Her eyes are half closed, and she makes smacking sounds with her mouth.

"Water?"

"Purified is in the fridge," Anita says as if everything was normal.

She's also half-naked in an undershirt and her box shorts. She wouldn't be embarrassed like that in front of Renee, if they hadn't been all the way naked last night.

Renee trudges over to the fridge and pours two glasses. She walks over and gives one to Anita.

Anita takes a few gulps.

"After everything that's happened the last few weeks, I really needed last night," says Renee.

Anita hesitates. "Was it the ramen? Or Pathfinder's new dance moves?"

Renee laughs. "I really like that one he did, where he's like dipping and swinging his arms."

"He showed you up."

"He showed me up? Oh, I doubt it."

"I don't know, you couldn't see yourself. That sake really loosened you up."

"Psh. Same for you!"

"Mm, maybe, but I can handle my sake."

"That may be," says Renee, taking another gulp. She's more awake, now. She looks meaningfully at Anita. "And apparently, you can handle me, too."

Anita tenses up. With nothing to say, she looks back at her.

Renee's still tired, but lucid. There's a little smile on her lips.

"Renee…" Anita starts. She puts the glass on the counter and drags her thumb across her lips. "Renee, I'm sorry—"

"You don't have to be sorry," says Renee. She puts her glass down and walks over to Anita. "I kinda started it, right?"

Anita winces. "Renee, I appreciate that you're acting like this isn't a big deal, but—"

"Does it have to be a big deal?"

"Renee, to me, something like that is not, is never gonna be casual…"

"It wasn't casual."

Anita sets her jaw. What is this new Renee? What is she playing at? "It's not very long ago now that we had a conversation about this. About Elliot?"

Renee actually laughs quietly. "You're not Elliot."

"Okay, yeah, well now that that's established—"

"I remember last time, too," says Renee. Anita stops. "I think… I don't know what you thought, but I thought I screwed up. I was probably thinking the same thing you were thinking. I didn't understand my feelings, and I didn't want to lose you."

Anita stares soberly at Renee. So she does know, that this isn't a game. She decides to cut to the point. "Renee, I've only ever seen you go after guys."

Renee considers that. She nods.

"So how could something like this work?"

Renee considers. Her eyes move around for a bit. They end up on Anita's lips. She looks into her eyes again, and then begins to lean in.

Anita pulls back. Her heart is pounding, now. Feelings she's held at bay for a long time are welling up.

Renee pauses, looking back into her eyes. When Anita doesn't say anything, Renee leans all the way in and they kiss again.

It's slow, and real. They kiss more than once. Anita grabs Renee's waist, she can't help it. Then they pull apart.

Renee's eyes are heady. She looks half-drunk again. "I'm not really sure… but I think it could work."

Anita is scared, but she really, really wants that.

"And now that that's established," says Renee, leaning back in until her mouth is next to Anita's ear, "where's my breakfast?"

Wraith butts her back into the wall, Flatline in her hands. The Olympus courtyard and lawn, minutes before pristine and manicured, is pockmarked with bullet holes in concrete and grass blackened by explosives. The orange wall of electric death is drifting in, only minutes remain.

She's managed to go the whole match utilizing her new abilities to a minimum. No reason to show her hand early. She lost both her teammates, having had no time to protect them. Metalhead took a Sentinel round to his titular dome, and a frag grenade erupted under Caustic's feet before she had a chance to Void it.

Some of her opponents may have noticed her unusually heightened ability to slip in and out of the Void, but other than one deft portal she'd use to divert an arc star, she's stayed under the radar.

The final circle is looking to be this small section of mostly flat, white concrete courtyard interspersed with a few planter boxes and benches and plus-sign shaped wall segments. The last handful of Legends had been pulled into the area almost at the same time, and it had gotten real hot, real quick.

One of her oldest and favorite tactics in this situation is to find cover, rip off some shots, Void jump to another cover, and continue harrying, leaving the other contestants to largely deal with each other. And that's precisely what she had done.

Rampart had almost gotten her with her Spitfire, Wraith spotting her right as she was about to start shooting from behind one of her barriers. Wraith had jumped and relocated to a planter twenty feet away, with vantage to light Rampant up before she could reacquire her.

Wraith's probably gonna hear about it later, Ramya hates that strategy of hers.

Gibraltar had gotten the drop on her as well, his EVA-8 shotgun ripping through her shield, armor, and drawing some blood. She'd jumped toward him, surprising him with a kick to the knee that had brought him down on it. While he was stunned, she pushed her P2020 right through his shield and delivered a shot to his forehead.

She felt a little bad. It was an icy kill, and Makoa's a great guy. But she has one goal, today.

She's catching her breath now. She glances up at the sky, where basic stats on the game are projected.

Two teams left, two contenders left.

Just her, and someone else.

It's gotten quiet. She scans the area with her eyes, but there's no one. She peers around the wall she's leaning against.

The silence is eerie, the courtyard calm. The wind gently tussles blades of grass. Then they see each other at the same time.

Revenant is thirty feet away, peering her way behind a similar plus-shaped wall segment. His soulless eyes are like ice, as always. His face disappears behind hit.

Wraith thinks. He's likely to—

And right as she think it she hears feet pounding toward her. She knows it's one of his shadow clones.

She clenches her jaw. Damn it.

She shoulders her gun, rounds the corner, and they both start shooting the same time.

Revenant's fire-and-smoke clone of himself is less accurate with his twin RE-45 auto-pistols, since he's running at her, but bullets pelt her already weakened shield. She feels one cut through the flesh of her cheek.

Her heavy Flatline AR rips into the clones torso, tearing it apart in a couple seconds. It dissipates into ash. He did a little damage, and she's low on ammo, but other than that, the stunt didn't really accomplish—

Barely a second and a half after the clone is destroyed, Revenant's true form, reunited with his consciousness, is already turning the corner with a Triple Take sniper leveled on her.

She's mid-reload and she curses herself. She sees his finger move and she ghosts into the void. The bullet passes through her harmlessly, and she reappears a second later. He pulls again, to the same effect.

His metallic face may as well be cut from stone, but she sees hesitance in his movements. She's not supposed to be able to do that, and he knows it. He waits a moment. She can't help but think of that Northstar, on that hill. She thinks of Anise for a moment and there's a pulse in her chest, but now is not the time for that.

She reappears and he pulls again, she vanishes, and this time, she charges him. She's invisible and inaudible, to most, but some Legends have proven an uncanny ability to sense her regardless. She positions himself next to him. He glances about, very slowly, patiently, calmly. He's ready to shoot at an instant's notice, with eyes that were made to kill.

"You've been improving your abilities," he says to the empty courtyard. "You may even prove formidable."

She reappears and goes for his gun. He reacts instantly, though, dropping the gun she was going for and turning and slugging her in the jaw. He hadn't been fooled at all. But it's gonna take a hell of a lot more than that to drop her.

She takes a step back after the blow, and blocks the next with her left arm. She dodges the next couple straights and returns one that finds his jaw. Simulacrums are tough, but not invincible.

He swings wide and she ducks it. He swings low and she dips back. He swings a hard right and she grabs it with her left hand. He retaliates with a heavy kick to her midsection, but she just takes it into her hardened muscles. She yanks him toward her and throws a hard right elbow into his face.

He's actually stunned for a moment, and she plants a heavy kick into his midsection, sending him a few steps back for space.

It gives her the chance to pull her P2020, but it only has a few rounds left. It's too late, though, because he pulls out a frag. There's a click, and an orange light that means detonate-on-contact, and he hurls it at her chest.

With no time left, she holds out her left hand and the grenade is encased in a bright pink sphere of energy. There's a dull boom and small flash.

For a moment, silence reigns. Revenant observes in unperturbed fascination.

She gestures and the orb floats to the side. She releases it and a dense cloud of smoke and debris drifts to the concrete below.

"By my eyes, which never lie to me, it would appear," says Revenant in his unchanging tone, "that the word 'improved' is unequal to the truth." Slowly, patiently, he descends to one knee. "And if that is the case, then this was never a fight, at all."

He's unarmed. He may have another trick, but if he does, she'll beat that, too.

"Come then, champion," he says, "and do what you came here to do."

She walks over to him and puts her pistol to his forehead.

"It's uncommon, you know," he says, "for me to wonder what is behind my killer's eyes."

"In my case," says Wraith, "you may rather not know."

She pulls the trigger, and as his body falls to the ground, the blaring horns of victory sound from all sides.

A couple seconds later, her vision goes white, and the fanfare of the empty arena disappears and is slowly replaced by new sounds.

"That was so fucking sick! That was so fucking sick!" It's Mirage.

"How is that possible?!" says Ramya. "I've never seen anything like that!"

"New tech, it would appear," grunts Caustic, as if it were obvious.

"Is that legal?"

"Could she always do that?"

Wraith grunts, becoming reaccustomed to her real body. The only drawback of being the last one standing in fact is having no room to breathe when you wake up.

She pulls the neural links from her temple and opens her eyes to see Anita.

Unlike the others, Anita isn't freaking out. She actually looks pretty businesslike. When her eyes meet Renee's, there's a tinge of concern. "You good?"

"I won," she replies, pushing through the link fatigue to climb out of the chair.

"What the hell was that?" Ramya assaults her. "You never did that shit when I was on your team."

"Any other new tricks you'd care to share with us?" Caustic asks her. The douchebag is still wearing his gasmask for some reason. "Seems to me you might have used them to keep us alive."

Metalhead scoffs, leaning against the wall at the entrance to her bay. "This guy'll complain about winning."

"I'll complain," Caustic says mockingly, "about being denied information."

"Go easy on yourself, Alex," says Wraith, patting his shoulder, "you did pretty good."

It's exceedingly easy to rile Caustic, and a vein starts showing in his forehead.

The displays in the center of the Legends Platform are still going crazy, different announcers replaying footage from the match with manic excitement. Several of the displays are playing the final moments of the match on repeat. The huge stats screen is dominated by the banners of the winners; Caustic, Metalhead, and, front and center, Wraith.

Much of the chatter dies down as a new body enters the room.

Kuben Blisk pushes past Mirage and doesn't so much as look at any of them. He walks over to the techs monitoring Wraith's link into the game. He ignores all their eyes on him, exchanging a few quiet words with the techs, and checking some of the data.

Anita shoots Renee a worried glance, but Renee is distinctly unmoved by any of it. They'd talked about this before the match.

Eventually, Blisk seems to become satisfied and finally walks up to Renee. His weathered face is wrinkled, but not with any kind of emotion, except maybe annoyance. He searches her face.

"What the hell was that, Blasey?"

"A clean win."

"Clean?" he asks her. "I don't know what kind of tech you smuggled in there, or how, but the Commission is not familiar with it, and that's a problem."

"You calling me a cheater?"

"I'm calling you a problem. The games don't work when the contestants are… unequally equipped. But you knew that going in, didn't you?"

"You made me a Legend."

"And now I'm unmaking you. You're off the roster. Thanks, I guess, for the ratings." With that, he walks past her.

"And my transfer?" Renee asks.

He doesn't even turn. "Already sent, don't get your knickers in a twist."

Anita walks out onto the south terrace on floor one hundred and eighty of the Apex Tower. The games just ended and there are no TVs here, so it's pretty deserted, but for one form, hunched over one of the rails overlooking the city.

Anita walks her way. "I thought I'd find you up here."

Renee's in casual wear, hair tied up like usual. She always said it was pointless to dress up for game days, since you fight in a synth body anyway. She looks solemn. Her brow is slightly furrowed.

"Usually," says Anita, "I find you up here after a hard loss." Anita leans on the rail next to her. "Which doesn't describe today very well."

Renee doesn't respond. Her eyes move, now and then, at the city below. The sun is setting, and purple-orange light cast over the many buildings of Malta, shining off the skyscrapers and sending light down the narrow corridors between the smallest buildings. From this height, they have a good view of Lake Fresius, miles away.

Anita leans over and bumps into Renee's shoulder. Finally, the other girl meets her eyes.

"You upset?" Anita asks.

"Not the word I'd use."

"What are you thinking about?"

"Complicated things."

"Like?"

"Like the look on your face when Metalhead wasted you with that bionic punch."

"Oh, fuck you," says Anita, half-turning in annoyance. "Just cause you won." Renee's smiling now. Anita shoves her shoulder. "What are you really thinking about? Does it really not bother you you're out of the games?"

Renee's smile fades.

"I know how seriously you've always taken them, Renee," says Anita. "You once told me—you remember this? You once told me, 'I'm still looking for my purpose. But for now, this is my purpose.'"

"I remember."

Anita gestures with her hands as if to say 'and?'

"Alright, I admit it. I'm a little… a little sad. All the time I spent here. All the guys. That was my whole life, for a long time. But in another way, it was also like Limbo. Because I didn't know who I was, I couldn't know what I really wanted. To be honest with you, the Games were Broken Renee's thing."

Anita frowns. She gestures at Renee. "I never thought she was broken."

"Well, I did. And I'm not. Anymore. I'm complete."

Anita continues to frown. There's something in the air that neither of them are saying. That night wasn't the last one Renee has spent at Anita's apartment, or Anita at Renee's. It's been almost a week, and… Shit, truth is it's been really fucking great.

But what now?

"What's next, then?" Anita asks.

"That's the trouble." Renee turns back to the rail and leans on it again.

Anita follows suit. "Don't know?"

"That's not the trouble."

Anita frowns. "Well, what then?"

Now, Renee's eyes don't move. They stare straight ahead, an unerring line an unknowable distance, to some far off mark. She turns and tells Anita, and when she says it, she means it.

"We're coming for Marder."

"W—" Anita lifts herself off the rail. We? Is she talking about her?

Then she notices. Down by Renee's side, Alora again. Same six year old face, but an expression that's older than that. Much older. Anger. Sadness. And determination.

"What he did can't stand," says Renee as if she doesn't want to have to say it, but it can't be denied. "And it most certainly cannot happen again. Problem is, not many people disallow Marder anything. So it's down to us." Renee cracks her knuckles. Alora stares quietly.

"Renee…" Anita breathes. She may as well have said she's going to go back and conquer Earth. Marder is one of the top ten most powerful people in the IMC. He has an army at his command. He has armies. He has fleets, access to unlimited credits, and who knows what other alien tech.

But he was also responsible for Typhon.

Anita looks down at Alora. She gets down on one knee, to look more level. "You really want that, Alora?"

Alora's eyes have softened, but she's still frowning. She nods. "It was Renee's idea. But I was the one who wanted it first. We're not going to hurt him." She looks up at Renee. "Just stop him."

Renee nods back.

Anita stands up. "People going to want to join up," she says plainly.

"I'll tell 'em no."

"You can't tell me no."

"And finally," says Renee, looking down, "we've arrived at the trouble."

Anita steps forward and puts a hand on Renee's shoulder. "Renee, you've come out of a lot of scraps alive. Now you even have your memory back. This thing, I can't imagine something much more dangerous than this."

"Did that stop you when your commander told you to jump out of the truck and fight?"

"Of course not—" Anita screws up her lips. "But you don't have a commander anymore, Renee. Not even that asshole Blisk."

"Anita…" Renee looks at the ground, then back into Anita's eyes. "I know it's kind of fucked up, since I only jumped you like a week ago…"

Anita starts nodding. "Yeah. Yeah, it is kind of fucked up, Renee."

Renee smiles, turning to the side for a second. "I wouldn't try to tell you to stay. And I know it will be dangerous. But after what's happened to me, and Alora…" Renee considers, then looks her directly in the eye. She whispers. "I have to do this."

Anita stares back for a long time. Because it's Renee's face, she might be able to stare forever. Her blue eyes are big, really big. Her cheeks have really light freckles, if you look close. Her skin's a little red from the sun.

"You know," says Anita, "my life's been pretty cushy, these last few years." Anita advances on Renee slowly, and Renee starts circling her.

"Yeah?" says Renee, "Getting shot in the face every week? That's cushy?"

"Work one day a week. Make a hell of a lot of money. Go out on the town. Buy whatever I want. Go on vacations. And your, crazy, ass is about to stuff me into that busted shuttle so we can fly around the Frontier, chasing down a megalomaniac, like… well, maniacs."

Renee is smirking, still circling her. "You're gonna love it, don't lie. Plus," she flashes her card for a second, "I just won. Bout to spring my savings and buy a new ship, maybe hire some crew, we'll see."

"Oh ho, ho, Captain Blasey. Is that what I'm supposed to call you?"

"That sounds nice…"

Anita wraps her arms around Renee, ending their little chase. She feels soft, and warm. Something Anita's waited a long time for. Renee smiles back with that love-drunk look she gets. Anita leans in and they kiss. Her lips taste like salt and sun.

"You know what I thought of," says Anita, "when I thought I lost you?"

Renee's smile fades.

"How I lost Jackson."

Her features fall further.

"We need to be smart about this, Renee."

Renee nods, more serious. "I know."

Pink light gets Anita's attention.

Alora is staring up at the two of them in open fascination.

"Hey," says Anita, "it's impolite to stare, you know."

"Oh," says Alora, snapping back to herself. She looks off awkwardly, tapping her index fingers together.

Smiling, Renee looks to the darkening sky. The first stars are coming out. Soon they will be countless, and near one of those stars, spinning in a solar system lightyears away, orbit the remains of what had once been the planet Typhon.

Humans have found a way of screwing a lot of stuff up, but it was the first time they managed to destroy an entire planet.

And it's going to be the last.