Hey, so I was working on this Story for a long time but recently i showed some friends and I thought it might be easier to put down in an easier to read form, so I'm back on fan fiction for a bit. enjoy if you end up reading this, works with personal canon but the universe belongs to BUNGIE.
NOTES: Dust (Pyli), Beth (Lizabeta/Boa: Russian), Elsie (Captain: Russian), Spark (Iskra)
A Messy Entrance (warning: heavy content)
The hunter stood in a broken doorway, staring out over the EDZ in silence, her hands cradling a swollen stomach. Her black Cat-Shelled ghost floating over her shoulder protectively. 'We should go' the ghost spoke quietly, 'It's dangerous to stay here' she advised, a weak hope that perhaps this time her guardian would listen.
'It's fine for now' the hunter replied with a sweet Russian accent. she gave the ghost a gentle smile, no dice this time either.
Dust looked like she wanted to argue but didn't and gazed at her guardian with concern. After a few minutes, the hunter turned and walked back into the Crumbling building and stiffly settled back down in her camp, resting against a wall with breathlessly. Her gaze turned to her stomach as she rubbed gentle circles over her tight jump suit with quiet adoration and a flutter of nerves.
Due to the nature of her condition, her armour had been modified, giving her half the protection she normally had as her stomach extended in front of her. Beth was heavily pregnant, something neither her nor her ghost thought was even possible. Their first death was thought to have ruined the ability let alone the constant deaths caused by a guardians line of work. The Hunter hadn't died for months now, apparently she had lived long enough for a pregnancy to take hold and beyond that, she avoided death to preserve her condition as she was unable to find the will to stop it in it's tracks.
Beth Flinched as she heard metal footsteps approach and with her slower reaction speed, she barely had her weapon up before a familiar titan walked through the door with her hands up defensively. "hey, i assure you i'm not that scary" a female Russian voice spoke playfully. The hunter gave a relieved sigh and dropped her weapon lazily as the titan took her helmet off. A beautiful awoken woman faced her with a concerned smile 'hey... how you feeling?' She asked as she stepped over and dropped down beside the hunter.
The titan was the only one who knew where Beth was, she had left the tower when she couldn't escape the eyes on her at the tower, The unwanted attention was driving her insane since she was stuck there by vanguard orders that she would later disregard anyway. Elsie, The titan of her fireteam, had managed to see through the hunters careful actions to remain hidden and found her as she was moving on, simultaneously stopping her from going anywhere until she had answers. Elsie didn't want to leave the hunter in the wild but after much stubborn arguing and threats, the titan settled into defeat on the condition that she alone could be aware of where she was at any given time so she could assist and be the hunters back up if she needed it.
The hunter brought her hands up to break the seal on her helmet, lifting it off her head and nodded with an appreciative smile. 'I think it was a false one' she admitted, "sorry for making you come out" she apologized awkwardly.
Elsie looked relieved but also worried in response. "It's ok" she shrugged, "I was in the area anyway..." she replied before looking more serious. "you should really be somewhere safer than this..." she continued looking hopeful, "Please, it's not long now, surely you can come back to the tower now" she sighed.
Beth shook her head, the mere thought making her feel ill imagining the looks and judgement she would face, not to mention the vanguard who was sure to be pissed at her. "No" she muttered before looking at Elsie with guilt, it was getting harder to say no with the clear concern in the titans features. "I just can't..." she muttered, eyeing the floor with irritated shame.
Elsie seemed to expect the answer and sighed "ok, ok, it was worth a try" she replied weakly before looking determined. "what about somewhere, or anywhere safer... you can't bring this child into the world here" she pushed gently, "I'll take you anywhere as long as it's safer' she promised.
Beth paused at the words and bit her lip. "I don't know where I should go" the hunter admitted thoughtfully before flinching as her baby kicked. The titan looked concerned but Beth silenced her by putting the titans armoured hand on her stomach. "It's just the little one complaining" she assured tiredly.
It was barely a moment before the titan smiled gently, all her concern sidelined as adoration took over at the babies little kicks. "That's never not going to feel weird' she admitted playfully before looking more serious, "listen, I have an idea, how about that bunker you fixed up on Venus?...'.
Beth looked unsure at the words, "I told you about that?" She asked. she didn't recall sharing those details because she liked keeping her hiding spots private, she had become a bit forgetful in the later months though.
"You mentioned it but never told me where it was" Elsie admitted, "I won't tell anyone, promise, but you've got to be safer there right?".
The hunter gave it some thought, the fallen or vex had yet too or ever broken in there, so theoretically, Elsie was right. After a moment, she met the worried titans gaze reluctantly, "ok, but I won't be able to move from there I think.." she muttered, not looking forward to the flight or moving. Her gaze moved back to her stomach and softened, "I don't know... but i think it will be soon..." she admitted.
Elsie bit her lip thoughtfully and nodded, "then we don't have time to wait, I'll start packing up" she replied with determination. She didn't waste a second longer and got up, proceeding to pack up the camp neatly in less than ten minutes with the help of her ghost. The titan was an expert on the field and sometimes Beth forgot this but watching Elsie work, she envied both her freedom and the ease that she seemed to do everything with. When Elsie returned to the hunter, she took Beth's hands politely, "let me help you" she offered.
The hunter accepted the help gratefully and stood with an effortful grunt, feeling dizzy for a second as her mind caught up with her bodies sluggishness. The titan was quick to support her as she swayed a bit briefly, her balance was off because of the extra weight. "thanks" Anne muttered with embarrassment and relief. Normally the hunter didn't need help with anything, she worked on the field for months at a time alone, she preferred it that way and with her small and petite stature, she easily completed her work without being caught. of course now her petite frame was unbalanced and clumsy as her body was clearly not quite as limber with a heavy weight of her womb making her look even smaller that she already looked.
"Should I carry you?" Elsie asked with worry, waiting before letting the hunter go.
"No, it's ok" Beth assured stubbornly, reaching for her helmet on the ground. Elsie beat her to it however and put it in her hands before she could even consider bending over.
"Let's go in my ship, I'll get yours later" Elsie promised gently before leading the way out protectively. The hunter had been settled in an old apartment in what was the city center of somewhere golden age, it was crumbling due to age and it made cliff like sections on the way down as Beth had specifically looked for a place above eyesight since people and aliens alike were less likely to look there. The titan took to gently lifting the hunter down to the flatter areas until there were able to walk properly towards Elsie's Ship.
It was a few minutes until they reached the ship, a recognizable cargo type ship, about as strong and bulky as the titan herself. Black and red was painted neatly on the Hull, showing off her titan pride boldly. Elsie again helped by lifting the hunter up and onto the ship where the hatch was. inconvenient for the hunters current condition but Elsie made short work of ensuring the hunter barely had to move a muscle as she could effortlessly carry the hunter and lower her safely inside the ship. As they took off, Beth looked to the titan gratefully, "thanks for this Elsie".
Elsie focused on the controls for a moment as she set the ship to break orbit before looking over to Beth with a playful smile. "This is nothing" she mused, "I've had to deal with worse and frankly, a wind could still come and blow you over, there's still nothing on you miraculously" she teased before focusing back on flying.
The hunter wasn't sure if she should feel complimented or offended at the comment and simply huffed, rolling her eyes. "oh please... I'm pretty certain you're just a monster" Beth muttered, earning a laugh from Elsie.
The flight was mostly calm, lasting a few hours in which Beth caught up on some sleep while Elsie watched over her and the flight protectively. Everything was going well until they had to break through the Venus atmosphere and suddenly the hunter groaned to life, broken from sleep after a particularly heavy bump.
"You ok?" Elsie asked with concern, her concentration remained on the flight though as they were still breaking orbit.
"Yeah" Beth muttered with a wince, "It's just a bit rough" she admitted.
"It's almost over" Elsie promised apologetically, "where am I going?" She asked as she got ready to adjust their destination.
Beth was still a little reluctant but nodded, shifting stiffly as she replied. "go to the academy" Beth explained irritably, getting comfortable was impossible.
The words made the titan look concerned and she sighed with her own annoyance, "that area is full of fallen" she replied with concern.
Beth shrugged and held her hand out in front of her as her ghost transmatted a handcannon in her hands. "Nothing that I can't handle" Beth replied bluntly.
Elsie let out a stressed laugh and shook her head. "Haha, funny, but you're not going anywhere near a gun fight" she assured sternly, "I'll go ahead and you will stay back until it's safe" she ordered, eyeing the hunter expectantly.
"Ok, ok mother" Beth muttered, closing her eyes and setting her handcannon on her belt anyway, she took the time to rest as she felt a little ill.
It was another few minutes before the ship flew over the Ishtar academy and Elsie let down the ship in the specified transmat zone. while it was unusual to park properly in the wilds, this was a special occasion. The hunter had dozed off in the short amount of time but unfortunately Elsie had to wake her to move her to safety. Beth woke with a moody mutter and Elsie left her briefly to duck into the cargo bay, this time taking the time to head over to the bay controls. Normally, Elsie just used the hatch on the top of the ship to get in and out. it was more convenient because the cargo bay door was a bit stiff and often refused to open up from outside. the wires or something likely needed repairs but Elsie never really needed anything in the ship so she hadn't bothered getting it checked out. she spent a minute to get the cargo bay door down for Beth so she didn't have to be lifted again.
Beth joined the cargo bay just as Elsie got the door working and sighed as she finished sealing her helmet. "why don't you just get a new ship? you have had this one for literal years, just get a newer model" she muttered with irritation. Elsie's ship was in great condition for its age, granted but considering it had been through a few wars now, its age was certainly showing.
Elsie shrugged as she put her helmet on, ignoring the toxic air of Venus for the brief moment she was exposed to it. "i like this one, all i need is just for Amanda to take a look at it really" Elsie admitted,"i just never bother, it's not like i need the door to work properly with the amount of time I'm on the wall".
Once they were both out of the ship, it was all locked up and sent to the protected parking bay of Venus, the two guardians started a slow walk towards the academy. when they reached fallen infested areas the titan moved ahead and cleared the area before the hunter could move on. It was slow going since the hunter couldn't run, or more so, if she could, the titan wasn't letting her. They reached the front of the academy relatively quickly considering though as they were almost clear, Beth stopped in her tracks to lean against the nearest wall with a groan as pain started to spread through her body in slow waves. she didn't get much further before having to lean on one of the nearby cement poles for support as her breath was knocked out of her with another unexpected burst of pain as she stepped up towards the academy entrance stairs.
Elsie was nearby but leading the way so that she could see and dispatch any enemies they ran into but she quickly returned to Beth's side with concern "Hey, you ok?" she asked.
Beth stood quietly for a moment, focusing herself before nodding and replying breathlessly. "yeah, I'm ok.. just- ugh". Beth was cut off with a pained grunt as she bore the damage of an explosive arc blast near her feet, suddenly flinching as the sounds of bullets came from above, a fallen skiff slowed above them, the obvious culprit.
The distraction of Beth's condition had been enough to catch the titan off guard but not for long as she immediately put up a shield before she saw adds drop in front of her. 'stay there' Elsie ordered before rushing out into the fray, a shotgun appearing in her hands.
Beth straightened up, gritting her teeth to turn and face the fallen, mostly so she could keep track of them before more pain rocked through her and she struggled to stay on her feet for a moment as she staggered. The moment was long enough that when she looked up, she was greeted by a dregs knife In her chest and she gasped with surprise before falling backwards, landing with another pained grunt, tearing up as pain overwhelmed her.
Elsie returned at that moment and the dreg barely got a chance to look at the hunter again before it disintegrated in a fiery rage. The titan kneeled down and picked her up gently, sounding guilty. "ok, tell me where to go" she urged, a path of decimated adds behind her.
Beth nodded and pointed up the stairs towards the buildings entrance, "there's an elevator shaft" she muttered between heavy breaths, a hand on her stomach protectively while the other gripped Elsie's chest armour tightly.
Dust appeared and started floating ahead to lead the way. "follow me, I'll get us in" she urged with worry.
By the time they had made it down, Beth was beginning to whimper and pant so the titan was quick to get her inside the bunker as soon as Dust could let them in. "you look after her, I'll deal with life support" Dust spoke before entering the computer systems with a a flash of white light. The bunker was once a research lab, that much Elsie could tell in the dim. the titan was momentarily impressed before getting back to the job at hand and she gently laid the hunter down in the bedroom. It looked like it was designed for a team but the hunter had obviously set it up for herself over the years, one bed was set up in the center of the room with a bunch of personal items nearby. This was where she laid the hunter and as the lights flickered on, Elsie's heart sank. she was suddenly seeing a lot more blood that she was expecting.
Beth already looked weak as she pulled her helmet off gasping before crying out in a pained whimper, her hands searched for the titans. Elsie didn't hesitate to give her hands and the hunter gripped them tightly for a moment before relaxing a bit. 'it's time' she breathed weakly, looking to Elsie with tearful fear and coughing heavily, blood surfacing from her lips.
Elsie seemed to freeze in a moment of fear before nodding and taking her helmet off, her panic rising as she tried to think straight. "right... ok, um... I'll be back" she replied quickly, getting up and sprinting out of the room. She returned barely a minute later with some supplies before starting to take off the hunters armour as quickly and gently as possible. after a few minutes dust returned to her guardian looking concerned and a little lost.
"Can you heal her?" Elsie asked with concern as she worked urgently.
the cat-shelled ghost flinched before floating loser to the hunter looking uncertain. "I don't know" dust admitted with concern, "I don't know what affects the baby... Ill try" she replied weakly before scanning the hunter and concentrating. The wound in her chest closed up after a second but the damage had already been done as Beth already looked exhausted as her breath was becoming labored, she looked as though she was about to pass out. Elsie had gotten rid of most of her constricting armour and put a sheet over the hunter so her ghost could take off the hunters body suit with dignity. She finally put a bunch of pillows behind the hunters back and raised her gently. This was about where the titan looked just as clueless as the hunter's ghost.
Beth breathed slowly and looked at the titan with weak appreciation, taking her hand with all the determination she could manage. "do what you have to to save her ok? I'll be fine" she spoke, almost begged. the words were heavy, Beth was expecting to die at this point.
Deep down the titan knew she was right, Beth could respawn at will but the baby however, no one knew if the baby would survive that. Being put in charge of such a big responsibility was terrifying, running field operations was nothing compared to this but Elsie nodded and squeezed the hunters hand supportively. "don't worry, I got this" she replied weakly, determined to do her best but she wasn't sure yet where she was finding the strength.
Beth gave her a pained smile before groaning with pain and gasping weakly, the next few minutes stretched into half an hour and while beth managed to hold on, she was waiting. when she finally felt like she had to push, The hunter squeezed Elsie's hand with such force that the titan didn't know where she got the strength, but she did her best to try and comfort the hunter as she painfully gave the rest of her strength to the task ahead of her.
After a few minutes though, the hunter could barely bring up the will to stay awake let alone push and with one last weak attempt, she passed out much to Elsie's dismay, things had fallen onto her. After trying and failing to wake the hunter briefly, she swallowed heavily, Beth was still alive but barely. Elsie had researched childbirth and sometimes children had to be cut from their mothers. for a civilian, this could easily mean death, they didn't have the luxury of a ghost, however the chances of survival were generally good in the hands of an expert. Elsie was no expert and with the prospect of having to do this herself, she felt sick but she didn't have time to linger on it, tearing up.
Elsie knew what to do and pulled a knife from her armour before hesitating for a moment. normally she didn't carry knives, but she had carried this ever since she had learned about what she might have to do. in the brief moment of hesitation, Sparks appeared beside her and turned on her light to assist 'come on Elsie, you don't have time' sparks urged.
Elsie nodded with a deep breath to focus herself before ripping the sheet with her hands, her strength made it an almost effortless task. she revealed just the hunters stomach before taking another deep breath and cutting carefully into the hunters flesh with her knife, sharpened especially for this event. This seemed to vaguely make the hunter groan in her unconscious state but it didn't make her wake.
Naturally Beth started bleeding immediately which made things more challenging but sparks lit the area and a projection of where Elsie had to cut showed her how to continue despite not seeing everything properly. Dust could barely watch but did so to keep track of the hunters vitals and about halfway though she looked almost relieved. 'she's gone, your running out of time' she urged with fear.
This made Elsie feel both better but also worse and she carefully kept going. the fact that Beth was dead was good because she wasn't feeling the pain anymore but it meant the baby was in even more danger. It felt like hours despite being only minutes until finally Elsie managed to get through to the baby and with great care, pulled out the child, wrapping it up in a towel. The child was ominously silent and despite how well Elsie had been doing to keep herself collected, she now started panicking, forgetting everything. sparks was quick to float over supportively, "calm down, it's ok, remember what we read" she soothed.
Elsie shook her head quickly looking more than flustered and tearful. "I don't remember" she replied quickly, "I don't know what to do" she gushed with fear.
sparks nodded and nudged her cheek. "it's ok, Put the baby on her belly and rub her back, remember? just breathe, focus" she soothed gently.
Elsie nodded and did as she was told, she was good at doing as she was told. she vaguely remembered the words now sparks had said them and she gently held the baby and tried to clear its airways. It was a long minute before the room was filled with weak cries and Elsie sighed with relief as she wrapped the baby up and kept following her ghosts careful instructions.
The titan felt dizzy and sick when she was finally done, she felt like she herself was going to pass out but the tiny baby in her arms told her that she couldn't do that yet. Dust had waited until the worst had passed before she focused her attention on her guardian. sine she was already dead, there was no rush to bring her back and finally set about healing the wounds before letting the body fade into light after scanning her.
It was about a minute later of carefully reconfiguring the light before dust felt confident in resurrecting her guardian and Beth finally phased into existence in the centre of the room. the hunter stood for a moment in just her bio suit before collapsing to the floor weakly with a heavy cough and after a moment she finally crawled to her hands and knees, a hand finally reaching for her tender stomach before looking scared. The hunter looked rough, but finally looked around confused. "Elsie?" She called weakly.
"Over here" Elsie replied gently, waving to get the hunters attention.
Beth seemed to have trouble pinpointing where the voice had come from but on noticing Elsie, she crawled over to her weakly. the titan had made herself comfortable on the floor against a wall, she was covered in blood still but the baby herself was clean and tidy, sleeping peacefully in the titans arms and wrapped in a thick blanket.
The hunter joined her weakly before leaning against her shoulder in breathless pain. "please say she made it..." she whispered, almost begged.
"she's right here" Elsie's assured gently, "she hasn't left my arms and won't until you take her"..
Beth seemed slow to respond but as she processed the words, they seemed to please the hunter as she sighed with relief, closing her eyes tearfully. "thank you..." she murmured weakly.
"Hey, I'd never let anything happen to those under my charge" Elsie chuckled, sounding a lot stronger than she currently felt, "you should know that by now" she smiled.
The hunter looked at her gratefully but didn't seem to be able to focus on her but she was clearly not ok. "you're my hero" she murmured before closing her eyes and finally allowed herself too fall unconscious once more.
Elsie took a deep breath and fought off the worry, after all, the hunter could be revived if necessary but she seemed stable, just exhausted, she hoped. She however knew that she needed to get the hunter into bed and the bed they were using currently was ruined. The titan very carefully held the baby on one arm and shifted the hunter with her other so she could get up. She very gently let the hunter lie down on the floor before carefully setting the baby down on a bunk nearby and hesitated. after a tiny stir, she kept sleeping so the titan backed away as quietly as she could in her full set of armour before sparks took it off for her. "Thanks" Elsie whispered weakly.
'Your welcome, I'll watch them for you' sparks continued before going to float above the baby protectively.
Elsie begin by carefully replacing the whole bed, blood had soaked through the bed making it useless, not to mention the sheets were filthy. she ditched them in the main area for now and replaced the bed with a new one before making it as quietly and cleanly as possible. Beth was her next mission and she gently picked up the hunter before realizing she'd gotten filthy when she had crawled over to the titan.
She gave the baby a concerned glance before heading to the shower with the unconscious awoken, stripping the hunter gently before doing the same with a bit of an uncomfortable blush. while she enjoyed thee female form, especially Beth's when she was on top of her game, she didn't like having to handle someone without permission. frankly, this was not something she ever imagined she would do but she carefully gave the hunter a shower since there was no other option. She washed herself off as well which helped her feel a bit better and after wrapping the hunter and herself with a towel each, she put Beth to bed and set to drying her hair a little bit before tucking her in, she then went back to the baby with a tired sigh, choosing to also stay in her towel for now.
The baby itself was beautiful, her skin a pale violet and light danced on her skin vibrantly, Elsie had never seen an awoken shine this brightly, even after a resurrection. when she opened her eyes, they were bright white with no pupils that Elsie could see, maybe they would set in later but for now, Elsie didn't know. she'd never seen an awoken baby let alone could find out anything about them. Right now the baby was sleeping soundly and Elsie decided to take the time to make herself a proper bed before finally picking up the baby as carefully as if she were china. after carefully getting herself into bed and laying down on her side, she cuddled the baby close to her chest so she could keep it warm and safe while her mother recovered. She wasn't intending on falling asleep so soon but within minutes she was dead to the world, exhausted from the stress of the day, her arms locked protectively around the defenseless child.