Apprehension coiled in Kyler's stomach as they were escorted through the long curving hallway into Spider's lair. He knew the Spider by reputation alone, so he wasn't entirely sure what to expect from a face-to-face meeting. As far as he could tell, the associates hadn't released their hold on Harley. Not that he'd expected them to.

After all, they were operating under the assumption that they were bringing Spider a full-powered Guardian. Kyler didn't want to think what might happen when they realized Harley's Light was suppressed. The longer it took them to realize that, the better off they would be.

They rounded the corner into a slightly larger space. Lounging in a hanging seat across from them was one of the biggest Eliksni Kyler had ever seen. The Spider looked comfortable reclining there, fiddling with a dead Ghost with two hands while the other two were folded across his lap. Two more of his associates stood guard on either side, spears clutched in two of their hands. Kyler saw a small alcove to the right and a sealed door to the left. The only exit was back the way they had come.

The Spider leaned forward as they entered, eyes flicking from Kyler to Harley as the associates stopped next to Kyler.

"Well, well, well," the Spider rumbled, "if it isn't Harley Hayden. The famous - or rather, infamous - Hunter."

Harley was glaring. "What do you want, Spider?" he demanded.

"Such hostility," said Spider with some amusement, "Was I not the one who told you where Uldren and the Barons were?"

"You didn't tell me where all of them were. And you had me doing your chores the entire time."

The Spider shrugged. "What kind of businessman would I be if I didn't get something out of it? Speaking of which…" He pointed at Harley. "You still have a debt to pay."

"How do you figure?" Harley challenged.

"I provided a great deal of assistance to you, little Hunter. I gave you the locations and lent the talents of my associates to cut through those wretched Scorn." He leaned back in his chair. "What I'm interested in is how you intend to pay me back."

The Hunter frowned. "How did you even know I was here on the Shore?"

"I always keep track of my investments. My associates were ordered to keep an eye out for you after your last… excursion to my Shore."

Kyler didn't like how Harley kept mouthing off to the Spider. Neither of them was in any position to shorten the mob boss's temper. He just hoped the Hunter realized this before it was too late.

"So you want me to pay you back," said Harley, "How, exactly? By being your enforcer? Clearing out Scorn and Hive?"

"No. Your other Guardian friends can do that." The Spider's eyes glittered. "Some interesting information has recently come to my attention. I happen to know someone willing to pay a high price for you, dead or alive. A business associate of mine, in fact."

Kyler's heart sank. The Spider was going to turn Harley over to someone who wanted him dead.

"What makes you think you'd get away with that?" said Harley defiantly, "I've fought enemies a hundred times more powerful than you."

"Oh, I'm well aware," replied the Spider, "But my friends keep me informed. I know about those Praxic binders you're wearing. Useful little things. And your Vanguard won't squander their resources to get you. You've been branded as a criminal, I'm afraid."

Kyler could see how much the words impacted Harley, yet the Hunter held onto his defiance. "So that's it then? I killed Uldren and the Barons, got you the Shore back, and you're just going to send me to my death. So much for loyalty."

"Everything has a price, Hunter," said the Spider, "It's nothing personal. As I said, I'm a businessman. And I'm fair. I'll ensure the Praxic Order gets the same information. First come, first serve." He motioned to the associates. "Take them away."

They were escorted to a smaller, darker room. While Kyler walked in under his own power, the associates shoved Harley inside, causing him to stumble, before sealing the door behind them.

Once they were alone, Kyler turned to look at Harley as the Hunter crossed to sit down against one of the walls.

"Well, that could've gone better," Kyler quipped, hoping to spark a conversation.

It worked a bit too well.

"You think?" Harley snapped, "In six hours, I get to find out whether I'm getting locked up again or going to my death. Actually, if I go back into Praxic custody, I'll be as good as dead anyway." He pointed accusingly at Kyler. "None of this would've happened if you had just let me leave when I wanted to!"

Kyler didn't reply. The Hunter was right. If he had left, Kyler wouldn't have dragged him to Thieves' Landing and into the Spider's reach. Kyler knew this, yet he still felt that he'd made the right choice in not letting Harley walk away.

Still, that decision now left them with one hell of a problem.

"Maybe someone else will get here first," he said, "I'm sure your friends are looking for you..."

"I didn't tell any of them where I was going," Harley admitted, running a hand over his face. "And this is the last place they'd look for me."

Kyler wanted to demand answers from the Hunter as to what could possibly make him think that had been a good idea, but he knew Harley would only get more defensive. "Well, we have some time before anyone gets to the Shore," he said, "Let's see if we can figure a way out of here."

If someone had told Sarren a week ago that two of Harley Hayden's friends would end up blowing the case wide open, he would've been skeptical, to say the least. But after he and Aunor met with Rogue-12 and Tristan Bentlix, they learned a lot more than they'd bargained for.

Aunor wasn't as surprised as Sarren had been when it was revealed that someone had made an attempt on Harley's life in the Praxic holding cell. Apparently, she had been investigating the possibility. Now, they were kept busy trying to find out anything and everything they could about who was behind the attempt.

Tristan and Rogue had told them that the would-be assassin was just a lackey of someone else, but they had no idea who the person in charge was. Sarren was thinking criminal, given the other people that seemed to be after Hayden. And yet, they had been unable to uncover anything useful.

All of a sudden, he was alerted by Tau that Aunor wanted to see him in her office. Immediately.

Wasting no time, he powered off his terminal and made his way to her office.

Aunor was standing, seemingly pacing with excitement.

"What's going on?" asked Sarren.

"Hayden's been found," she said abruptly.

Sarren blinked. That was not at all what he'd expected to hear. "Was he brought in?"

Aunor shook her head. "We weren't the ones that found him. Spider did. He's out in the Tangled Shore."

Sarren frowned. Why would Hayden want to return to the Tangled Shore? There was nothing there that could help him in any way. At least, nothing that Sarren could think of. "He won't be there for long if he knows we're coming," he pointed out.

"He doesn't have a choice," said Aunor, "Spider's holding him. The problem is we didn't get the information directly. The Spider wants payment and he doesn't care who he gets it from."

Well, that certainly put a damper on the situation. If anyone else got to Hayden before the Order, he would be as good as dead. "We need to get there first."

Aunor nodded. "We do. Unfortunately, the logistics of it aren't easy. Travel to the Shore isn't sanctioned by the Vanguard and neither of us was assigned to Hayden's case. At least, not in any official capacity."

Sarren knew that. But he also knew that this case had been dragged out far longer than it should have been. They couldn't afford to drag it out any longer. And if they did, it would only jeopardize Hayden's already tenuous safety. "Who cares about logistics?" he said heatedly, "That's just bureaucracy anyway. Our top priority needs to be getting to the Shore first. It was a condition of Tristan and Rogue's information."

Aunor frowned. "That 'bureaucracy' is in place for a reason," she said dryly, "However...you're right. I'm not about to let a Guardian die for the sake of a few forms. Hayden's safety needs to come first." She paused for a moment. "I'll requisition the funds to pay the Spider," she said decisively, "We'll take my ship."

Sarren felt his heart rate pick up in excitement. Finally, things were getting somewhere.

As Aunor moved to her terminal to acquire the Glimmer demanded by the Spider, he found himself thinking about Tristan and Rogue. He knew Aunor would draw the line at letting them come along, but he felt they should at least be informed of what was going on.

"Aunor." She looked up. "Shouldn't we tell Hayden's friends what's going on? I know they aren't Praxic, but they did give us valuable information. Without them, I doubt we would have caught Miyako Thorne in time."

Aunor seemed like she was about to shoot him down but then appeared to change her mind. "I suppose you can fill them in," she said, "Just make sure to tell them not to go after Hayden themselves. We have enough to deal with as it is."

Sarren nodded. That was reasonable. He pinged Tristan and Rogue's comms.

Rogue answered. "What?" he said gruffly.

"It's Sarren from the-"

"Yeah, I know who you are, golden boy. They've got this thing called Caller ID."

Sarren was a bit thrown off. That wasn't exactly how he'd expected the conversation to start. "Bentlix didn't answer," he said, "Do you-"

"Tristan's busy," said Rogue, "Whaddaya want, Windrunner?"

Sarren cleared his throat. "I'm calling with new information. Hayden's been found on the Tangled Shore."

"The Tangled Shore?" said the Exo incredulously, "The fuck's he doing out there?"

"We're not sure… I take it you weren't expecting him to go there?"

"I wanna know how he fuckin' got there," said Rogue, "Last I heard, he was on Felwinter Peak."

Sarren's eyebrows furrowed. When had Felwinter Peak ever been in the equation? "Were you ever going to mention that to us, by any chance?"

"Shit... Yeah. I mean, we weren't sure how much we could trust you guys, no offense. But yeah, eventually."

Sarren figured he was better off leaving that for later. "How did he get to the Peak?" he asked.

"Mutual friend. Actually… hang on, lemme call him."

There was a low tone. Sarren blinked. "Did he just put me on hold?"

"Yep," said Tau, "He switched channels on you." The Ghost sounded like he was enjoying that entirely too much.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do but wait for the Titan to get back to him. He glanced over at Aunor. The Warlock was typing furiously on a Holopad. "How close?" he asked.

"Almost," she replied, "A few minutes."

Just then, Rogue's voice came back over the comms. "So apparently Ace stole K- my friend's ship a little while back," he told Sarren, "Didn't say where he was going, just up and left."

Sarren sighed. "Great."

"That's not all," said the Exo, "My friend told me that there's been a Hunter poking around on the Peak, lookin' for Ace."

Sarren rubbed his forehead. It could only be Shin Malphur. The fact that the vigilante had been a step ahead of the Praxic Order was concerning to say the least. "Is he still there?" he asked.

"Nope," said Rogue, "My friend saw a ship fly out just a few minutes ago. He figured it was the Hunter's."

Well, that was even worse news. Not only had Shin Malphur known about Felwinter Peak, he'd also managed to get the Spider's information about Hayden.

"So what's the plan?" asked Rogue.

"Aunor and I will be leaving shortly," said Sarren, "We're going to the Shore to get Hayden from the Spider before someone else can." Although from the sound of it, they would be racing for second place.

"If you need backup-"

"No," said Sarren firmly, "Aunor wants you and Bentlix to stay out of this. Let us handle it."

"Like you've handled it so far?" Rogue challenged.

Sarren sighed. "As members of the Praxic Order, Aunor and I will at least have some leeway for going to the Shore. You won't." He saw Aunor set down her Holopad. She met his eye, tapping her wrist emphatically. It was time to leave. "I need to go. I'll update you once we land. Stay out of the Shore."

With that, he ended the call and hurried after Aunor, who had already left the office.

It only took them a few minutes to get to Aunor's ship and take off but Sarren still worried they would be too late. Shin Malphur had a head start on them. Maybe not a big one, but it all added up.

"Do you think they'll listen to your warning?" asked Aunor.

Sarren pursed his lips as he considered the two Guardians. "I think there's still a chance of it," he told her, "They might decide that we need help or they might follow us just because Hayden is their friend and he's in trouble. But to be honest, I don't think they're the ones we need to worry about."

Aunor sighed. "Malphur." Sarren nodded. "I don't suppose he'll leave Hayden alone long enough for us to get there?"

"I doubt it. He shot me just to keep images of him from going around. He's determined."

"I was afraid you'd say that… I suppose all we can hope for is that my ship is faster than his," said Aunor with a tight smile.

Sarren nodded and turned his gaze to the stars whizzing past them. It was going to be a long flight.

Kyler was examining the door. He knew it was a long shot, but if there was any possibility for Harley to avoid meeting his fate at the hand of whoever had gotten the Spider's intel, then Kyler was going to do everything in his power to make it happen. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like the door shared his goal.

There were no locks to pick, no hinges to loosen, and no wires to exploit. He wasn't carrying any of the tools he'd need to access the locking system in the control panel.

Would Prism be able to hack it? It was worth a shot. Hell, anything was worth a shot at this point.

He walked over to Harley, who was sitting against the wall, forehead resting against his palms. "Ace, do you think you could ask Prism something for me?"

Harley didn't look at him. "You're better off asking her yourself," he said, "We...aren't on speaking terms right now."

Kyler frowned. His suspicions had been confirmed. Harley and Prism had had a fight. And from the sound of it, it must've been a bad one. "Ok," he said. He wasn't sure where to look, so he ended up just looking at the wall above Harley's head. He felt stupid. "Uh, Prism?" There was no audible response. "If you can hear me, I could use some help with this door."

After a moment or so of silence, the Ghost flashed into existence above Harley. The Hunter didn't even look up. Prism blinked at Kyler before darting away towards the door. He followed after one last glance at Harley.

Standing next to the door, he watched as the Ghost swept her scanning beam over it. Then she moved to the door's control panel and emitted a much thinner beam to begin the process of hacking it.

Kyler saw a rare opportunity to make conversation with her.

"So how are things?" he asked. She made a little huff sound and continued working. "That bad, huh?"

"...Well, we're locked in a mob boss's safehouse in a floating graveyard on the edge of anything approaching civilization, no one but our enemies know we're out here, and I'm burdened with the stubbornest, most self-sabotaging Guardian that's ever walked Sol. How do you think things are doing?"

Kyler was taken aback. He'd never heard Prism snap like that before, even when she'd berated Harley for doing something foolish. He couldn't deny that her words rang true, even the ones about Harley. But something about them just sounded wrong coming from her.

"Maybe I could try talking to him about it?" he offered.

Prism sighed. "No offense, Kyler, but he already took it badly coming from someone he-" she stopped herself, then amended the statement, "Someone closer."

"Someone he trusts," said Kyler flatly.

"That's not what I-"

He cut her off. "It was. That's exactly what you were going to say, weren't you?" He sighed. "It's fine. You're right. He doesn't trust me. He's gotten better at hiding it but I can tell."

There was a moment of heavy silence.

"I'm sorry," said Prism, "I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I… I haven't been very conscientious of what I say lately." The Ghost sounded bitter.

Kyler thought he knew what she was hinting at. "...You said something to him, didn't you? You guys argued and it was bad."

"...It was bad," she agreed, "I tried to apologize for it but I don't think he really heard me. I can't take it back. I wish I could but it is what it is. And I can't apologize to him again. Every time I think about it, I just get so… angry with him about the situation he's put us in."

"Back on the Tangled Shore," said Kyler, "Isolated."

"Self-imposed exile." The bitterness was sharp in her voice.

"Is that what it is?"

"It might as well be." She paused in her work on the control panel and turned to look at Kyler. "You don't know how glad I am that you found us."

Kyler blinked. "It wasn't that hard," he said with a touch of embarrassment, "You're the one that sent me the location."

"No, it's not that. It's the fact that you came. You made the trip even though you didn't have to. Even though it would have been easier not to."

"I owe it to him."

"I don't think you do. Anything you owed him was repaid when you saved him from that Devourer Bullet. If anything, I'd say he owes you."

Kyler wasn't sure how to react to that. His first thought was that the Ghost had to be wrong. He hadn't done much more than give Harley a ride back to the cabin. He was basically a slightly dramatic take on a taxi service.

He tried to explain that to Prism. "Look, it's not like I pulled out another Devourer Bullet," he said, "All I did was pick him up and drive him back."

The Ghost wasn't having it. "You did so much more than just that, Kyler. You don't know how worried I was about him. I was afraid he would… I'm not sure exactly... Do something drastic."

"You're giving me too much credit."

"Well, you're not giving yourself enough. You're a good person, Kyler."

Kyler shook his head. "How can I be a good person when I've done so much bad?"

"Good people sometimes make bad choices," Prism told him, "Being a good person doesn't mean you've never done anything wrong. It means that you're trying to be better than you were before. Show me a 'good person' who's never once made mistakes and I'll show you a fantasy."

Kyler had no idea what to say to that, so he was grateful when the Ghost turned back to her task.

He thought about what she had said as she worked on the door. He wasn't sure how much he believed her but it didn't really matter anyway. They had more important things to worry about.

Eventually, there was a low whirring sound as the door opened. They were free.

Kyler turned. "C'mon, Ace," he said, "We can leave. Let's make ourselves scarce before any of your 'friends' get here."

Harley looked at them but made no effort to stand up. He sighed. "Go without me."

Kyler frowned at him. That was easily one of the stupidest things he'd heard in a long time. "You must have some kinda death wish if you're seriously thinking about staying behind," he told the Hunter, "Let's go."

Harley shook his head. "Go. Take Prism with you. I brought this on myself."

Kyler could feel the astonishment on his own face. Harley couldn't be serious. He shot a glance at the Ghost. The fact that she hadn't spoken against it was almost as concerning. Almost.

"Don't be ridiculous," he told the Hunter.

Harley ignored his words. "You should go before someone connects you with me. They aren't after you but if they find you here and learn who you are, that might change."

Kyler was at a loss. He turned to Prism for help, but the Ghost merely shot him a look like "I told you so." He didn't know what to do. Earth's relative position to the Reef was currently favorable as far as travel time went, so they didn't have long before whoever had gotten the Spider's message would arrive. Certainly not enough time to waste arguing over something this stupid. So Kyler decided he was done arguing.

He marched over to Harley. "We're leaving," he told him, "And you're coming."

Harley frowned at him but still didn't move. That left Kyler with no choice but to do something dramatic - something he hadn't wanted to do. He reached out and before Harley could say anything, his hand grasped the back of the Hunter's cloak where the hood attached and he yanked him to his feet.

Harley's arms pinwheeled for a second before he regained control and tugged at Kyler's wrist. "Let go!"

Kyler released his grip without protest, if only because he'd seen the uneasiness in Harley's face. The Hunter's wariness around him was why he hadn't wanted to resort to physical force, but it was either that or let Harley die.

"I'm sorry," he said, "But I'm not letting you stay here. You can either choose to come with us or not, but I will drag you out if I have to." He paused. "I'd rather it not come to that, though."

Harley was silent for a moment, weighing his options.

Finally, he gave a defeated sigh. "I'm coming."

A relieved smile surfaced on Kyler's face. "Then let's get out of here."

A/N: We're closing in now y'all. Only a couple of chapters left! I speedran this update to get it out before MCC (Minecraft Championship) started lol. Hope you enjoyed!