"Banshee."

The Exo made no attempt to look up from the pulse rifle he was dismantling to greet his customer. Frea watched his fingers nimbly move over the delicate pieces, treating them like they were treasures. If only he put that kind of attention into those around him as well. The huntress sighed and dropped the dusty Raze-lighter on top of the table with a little more force than was necessary. She saw his robotic eyes glance over to the weapon for a second before returning to his work.

"Frea," he grumbled. "What do you want this time?"

"As charming as ever, I see." She chuckled, earning another grunt from the gunsmith. "Was hoping you could work on something for me. A little restoration project."

Finally, Banshee straightened to his full height and moved aside the gun.

"You know swords are Lord Shaxx's specialty, why bring this to me?" He reached out and picked up the relic for inspection. The wear on the blade was much more obvious now in the light of day than it was on Shaxx's ship. Cracks and dents marred the surface of the metal, Frea was amazed it stayed in one piece when she used it against the Ogre.

"I was hoping we could keep this between you and me." Frea smiled cooly. The metal plates over Banshee's eyes rose, the Exo equivalent of a questionable look. "Besides you helped build the new swords right? This should be easy."

The Exo grumbled again as he carefully placed the sword down. "This isn't even remotely like the blades carried today."

"What do you mean?" Frea curiosity was steadily rising.

Banshee stooped low and pulled a modern Raze-lighter from behind his kiosk. He placed it next to the relic sword and instantly Frea could see the differences. The weapon she took from Shaxx's ship was of similar blade design with the same serrated edge, but it was much thinner, made more for puncturing and bleeding instead of slashing. The crystal normally used to power the Raze-lighter's flame was replaced with an orb so tarnished its original color was unrecognizable. "This sword..." Banshee began, cutting Frea's attention away. "Is incredibly old, Golden Age era most likely. Where did you get this?"

She hesitated. Shaxx didn't seem keen to talk about the sword, so maybe he didn't want anyone to know about it. "It uh...I found it. Over in the archives on Venus."

Banshee gave her a look, he definitely didn't buy that, but thankfully he decided not to press the Hunter. "Spinmetal, relic iron, and an exotic shard," he curtly listed off the materials. "Bring me those, and it'll be better than new."

"Thank you!" Frea clasped her hands together with a wide smile. "Knew I could count on you, Banshee." The spinmetal and relic iron would be easy to retrieve, the shard however was another story.

"Yeah, yeah." The Exo dismissively waved her off.

Frea practically skipped away from Banshee's table, feeling the same excitement a child does whenever they got their hands on a new toy. She didn't expect the sword to not actually be a Raze-lighter, though her experience with the blade was admittedly lacking. Her own exotic sword was the Dark-drinker, the void powered version, so she'd only seen the Raze-lighter in person on her comrades' backs.

The huntress turned the corner and briskly walked toward Shaxx's office, her thoughts moved on to last night. The squad had returned from the Hive nest late, with nothing to show for it except for a couple dead Ghosts and even more questions. Whatever happened in that nest before, the Hive were long gone. And now Frea and Dex were responsible for putting a leader, one that happened to command a large part of the Guardian forces, out in front of danger for no reason. Shaxx said he would shoulder all the blame, but she wondered how much trouble they were going to run into because of this bust of a mission.

Frea reached the familiar door and reached out to knock. The sound of loud voices on the other side made her freeze, someone was yelling. At first, Frea turned to leave, Shaxx had company and her report could wait until later. However, something nagged at her mind and she spun back to the door.

Glancing around for anyone who may be watching, she quickly pressed her ear to the cold metal. The voices were too mumbled to be understood, but she recognized who they belonged to. Her stomach dropped.

Carefully, she gripped the edge of the door and cracked it open just enough to hear inside.

"Do you have any idea what your actions could have cost us?" Commander Zavala's voice boomed inside the enclosed room.

Shaxx held equal status to the Commander, but even so he stood at attention with his hands clasped behind his back.

"I realize that, Zavala-" Shaxx began.

"That nest has already proven to be dangerous, and yet you go off to inspect it yourself with only two other Guardians to protect you." The Commander sighed as he clenched the skin between his brows. "My friend, I know that being stuck in this Tower can make one antsy, but the days like Twilight Gap are behind us. We have a responsibility to be here to offer the new Guardians guidance." Shaxx didn't say anything as Zavala gripped his shoulder. "You need to be here for them. To make them stronger. I can trust that to you, yes?"

The long pause between them felt like it could last forever. Finally Shaxx nodded. "Of course."

"I'll be waiting on the reports from your mission last night. Please leave the rest of the inspection to the Hunter. She is one of our most capable Guardians after all." Zavala spoke with a sad smile, his tone much softer now.

"I am aware," Shaxx replied.

Frea watched the two carefully. Shaxx knew this was coming, she couldn't help but wonder if he did this before, escaping the Tower and going on missions to live out his glory days again. That didn't really seem like his style. Especially since he could just do it in the Crucible anytime.

While lost in thought, the huntress didn't notice the the door before her shudder and move. Suddenly Commander Zavala's hulking form stood before her, a slightly surprised look crossed his features from her presence. Immediately, Frea jumped back and straightened her posture, calling herself to attention.

"C-Commander! Good day." She stuttered, her pulse beating wildly in her chest.

The Awoken man considered her in silence for a moment before giving her a gentle smile.

"Good afternoon, Frea. I trust you are doing well?"

"Yes, sir. Very well." She returned the smile.

"Excellent. Have a good day." He said and walked by her, back toward the Vanguard office.

Frea watched him go. Despite his intimidating appearance Zavala was a kind man. He was always available to listen to anyone's concerns, not matter how small. She reminisced about the first day her and Dex arrived in the Tower, when her Ghost led her to the Vanguard. The Commander was the only one around the office that day. Cayde-6, the Hunter Vanguard representative, had run off somewhere. Which Frea came to find later was a common occurrence. Instead it was Zavala who toured her around the Tower, answering her every question with immense patience.

"Didn't know eavesdropping was your hobby."

A voice from behind snapped Frea back to reality and she whipped around to find Shaxx leaning against the doorframe with his arms tightly crossed together.

"Sorry about that, guess I came at a wrong time." She shyly laughed, feeling awkward.

Shaxx still wore his helmet as usual, but she heard the distinct ringing of him chuckling inside. "Come in, you have reports for me I assume? Or did you just come to see your favorite Titan?"

The huntress's face flushed red hot and she quickly dashed past him into the room, hiding her expression. Her mind whirled at his comment. She was quite sure he just flirted with her. They often bantered, trading snarky quips, it was just a thing they did after spending so much time training in the Crucible together. This however, seemed different.

"I brought reports, o-of course." She tried to rein in her throbbing heart. "You said you wanted them as soon as possible and..." Her voice trailed off. When she turned Shaxx was closing the door, his fingers hesitating over the control panel. His usual proud stance was slumped and forlorn, clearly something was on his mind. The Titan walked by her, plucking the report from her hand as he removed his helmet. He set it down on a dangerously high stack of books atop his desk with a loud clunk and began to scan the tablet.

Frea carefully followed after him, unsure if she should stay or leave. She glanced at his hands, his fingers were so tense it looked like he might break the tablet, then her gaze moved upward. It hovered over his arm and chest, and finally stopped on his face. Her breath caught when he locked eyes with her.

"What is it?" He asked, noticing her stare.

"Are you okay?"

His brow twitched, the question caught him off guard. "Why do you ask?" He dryly chuckled.

"I dunno, you just seem off lately. Did the Commander's comments bother you?" Unable to keep eye contact anymore Frea twisted and rested her back against the edge of his desk. "You can talk to me, you know. I'm a good listener." She smiled.

The Titan peered down at her as his jaw clenched, he was clearly holding something back. Before she could ask again, he reached over and ruffled her hair.

"H-hey!" Frea complained, batting away his hand and smoothing the damage. When she looked back up her heart leapt out of her chest. Shaxx was in front of her now and much, much closer. His hand rested on the table behind her, cutting off any chance of escape. They were barely touching, but she could feel the body heat emanating from him. She hardly noticed the cold impinging feel of his armored fingertips on her cheek. The look in his eyes was piercing, like a lion who just caught its prey. Just his gaze made a shiver run up her spine. "Shaxx-"

She wasn't able to finish before he silenced her with a kiss.