It may not have been the first kiss they shared, but it was by far the sweetest.

Shaxx kissed her tenderly at first, just a mere brushing of the lips, but it was long as he savored the taste. He broke away only to return at a different angle, his tongue relentlessly teasing hers. Frea's knees nearly buckled from the pleasure he was offering but she still craved for more. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, their armor scraping together. A low moan emitted from his throat as she felt his grip on her waist tighten. He wasn't going to be able to hold himself back this time.

Frea's mind was blank except for him. His every touch, every hot breath on her skin sent tremors down her body. His kisses were growing rougher by the second. She struggled to breath between each one.

They finally separated with a sigh, lips wet and eyes blearily with desire.

"You like interrupting me, don't you?" Frea asked, faking a disapproving frown.

Shaxx laughed. "I'm an impatient man. Besides..." He tenderly brushed the hair out of her face. "I can't help myself when you look so adorable."

"Now you're not playing fair," Frea whispered.

The corners of his mouth twitched up into a smirk as he started to close the distance between them again. However, his body suddenly froze and his eyes unfocused. He was listening, most likely to his Ghost or comms. With an annoyed huff, he hung his head.

"Arcite again?" Frea asked. She remembered him mentioning the Crucible quartermaster frame earlier.

"Yes." Reluctantly, Shaxx took the huntress's arms off his shoulders and pulled away. "Ghost," he called.

His Ghost materialized next to them, sporting a florescent red and blue shell. "Yes, Sir?"

"Tell Arcite 99-40 that it can stop buzzing my comms. I'll be in shortly," the Titan commanded.

With a short nod the Ghost vanished again.

Feeling a little disappointed, Frea picked at the chips in her armor. Her time with Shaxx always seemed to get cut short. She knew her position didn't allow her to be selfish. He wasn't a man she could keep to herself whenever she wanted.

"Well...guess I'll retire for the night. You have work to do and I'd hate to get in your way," she sighed.

Shaxx whipped around after retrieving his helmet off the floor. "Actually..." He tossed it to her. Surprised, she barely managed to catch it without fumbling. "You'll be coming with me."

Arcite 99-40 waited for them in front of the Crucible offices. The quartermaster was a frame, similar to the ones in the Tower that did menial tasks like cleaning and general upkeep. This one was once part of the Red Jacks, an elite group of combat units designed and coded by Shaxx, they assisted in keeping the locations used for the Crucible clear of enemies. And in times of war they would also be deployed to help the Guardians protect the Tower if the situation called for it. Arcite was one of the first frames built for the group, but now it was reconfigured to be a vendor. A pair of horns adorned its head, similar to the ones decorating its master's helmet.

"The data?" Shaxx asked the frame as he approached. Arcite placed a tablet in the Titan's open hand. He quickly skimmed through it before looking back up. "I'll finish the rest. You can go now."

"Of course, Sir." Arcite chirped and bowed its head slightly. "The Red Jacks are ready for your orders."

It then turned on its heel and left the two alone in the hallway.

With a sigh, Shaxx tucked the tablet under his arm and pressed a code into the control panel of the door. "I think that frame needs to be recoded to not bother me after midnight."

Frea giggled as she followed him into the office. "What's the data for?"

"Plans for a new arena for Saladin's Banner. He may not like me but he has no problem using my resources for his own benefit these days."

"He doesn't like you?" Frea carefully placed Shaxx's helmet on his desk. A glimpse of metal caught the corner of her eye and she glanced over to see the golden sword. It was cleaned and shimmering brightly in a stand next to a Raze-lighter.

"He and I have some rough history. It's a long story." The Titan sat behind the desk and rested his head against his fist. "Planning this should only take a moment-" His words caught when he noticed Frea had moved over to the sword stand. Her hands hovered over the engravings set into the blade. "The restoration work is rough, but not terrible. Did you take it to Banshee?" He asked.

"Yeah. Took me forever to convince him to do it."

"Of course, he hates swords." Shaxx snorted. "You could have brought it to me if you wanted it repaired."

The huntress turned back toward him, smiling awkwardly. "I kind of wanted to surprise you. I also wasn't sure how you would react to having your sword restored. You seemed a bit sad when you gave it to me."

He was silent for a moment as he stared at her. "That sword was never mine. Not really."

"What? You knew how to use it rather well." She walked back to his desk, her curiosity rising. "What did you do back in that nest?"

Shaxx's hand moved to his chin in thought. Frea wasn't sure if he was trying to remember or didn't want to tell her. "It belonged to a friend. A huntress, much like you," he finally said. "We were comrades during the Battle of Twilight Gap, her name was Ana Bray."

"Wait..." Frea's body stiffened. "The Ana Bray? The Hunter who used to own the pattern I now wear? Hero of Twilight Gap?"

He gave her a small smile. "The very one. The Speaker gave you that cape, yes?"

"Yeah, after my first mission. When I failed to save a boy." She grabbed the tail end of her torn cape, the golden embroidery reflected the dim light in the room.

"The Speaker likes to give honorary items modeled after previous legends to Guardians that he senses great potential in. I am not surprised he gave you that one."

"And the sword actually belonged to her?" Frea asked.

"Yes, she would never tell me where she found it. But it's power-" The Titan glanced over at the sword. "It can drain the light out of a Guardian's body and amplify it, turning it into a weapon. I'm sure you can imagine what would have happened if you had accidentally activated it in your weakened state."

Frea could feel the blood drain from her face. "Are you saying...that sword can kill Guardians?"

Shaxx nodded. "It takes whatever light it needs, even if it's all you have left."

"I can't believe I've been carrying something like that around with me this entire time." She groaned into her hands.

"My apologies, it no longer worked when I gave it to you. I didn't think Banshee had the skill to restore it again. I'm glad history didn't repeat itself," he said.

She looked up, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur." He whispered. It was the inscription on the blade, the same one Ikora had said a day ago. "Change but the name, and the story is told of yourself...It was Ana's favorite saying, that everyone was the main character to their own story." In the low light a sullen expression crossed his features. "At the end of the battle were were weak and cornered by Fallen, she used the last ounce of her light to cut them down and then died in my arms."

"I'm so sorry." Frea said.

Shaxx lifted his head, meeting her gaze. "It's easy to forget that we're not immortal. Not really." He tossed the tablet back on the table, it made a loud sound when it clattered against a pile of books. "Sometimes remembering the deaths of others forces us to realize that."

A foreboding silence came over the room. For Shaxx to recall so much about this woman, she must have been special. A thousand questions were streaming through Frea's mind, but just one made it to the surface.

"Were the two of you..." She stopped, her heart was pounding so loudly she couldn't hear herself breathe.

He looked up at her, his eyes brimming with an unknown emotion. Suddenly, he reached out and seized the huntress by the hand, yanking her down. She tumbled into his lap with a surprised squeak, her knees landing to straddle his waist. He cupped her cheek, his thumb pulling at her bottom lip, opening her mouth slightly.

"No, nothing ever happened between Ana and myself," he said and kissed her hungrily.

She wasn't prepared for the passion he put into the kiss. The Titan was rougher than usual, his hands greedy as they found the openings in her armor.

"Shaxx...wait." She tried to say between his unrelenting attacks.

"Enough waiting." He locked eyes with her. "I want you, Frea."

He firmly took hold of her hips and pulled her harder against him. She shuddered with pleasure when something hard ground against her most delicate region, it wasn't his armor. Holding back a moan she fell against him, burying her face and hands into his furry mantle.

"Not here, please," she whispered, nearly begging.

"Where to then?" He asked, his breath hot against her ear.

"My ship? Preferably somewhere where people won't overhear? Or walk in? Anywhere but here, honestly."

Shaxx chuckled as he summoned his Ghost into his upturned hand.

They materialized into Frea's ship together. Her feet barely touched the floor before Shaxx had her pinned to the metal wall, already unbuckling the straps to her armor. Hunters wore minimal protection and it didn't take him long to get her down to nothing but her undershirt and pants. His hand crept to the buckle on her belt before she grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"Impatient indeed." She playfully smirked.

"As I said before." He cupped her face and trailed hot kisses to her ear. "I can't control myself around you."

"At least let me help you out of that armor before you strip me completely bare, okay?"

Shaxx pulled away, looking slightly bashful. "Alright, fine."

Titan armor was exceedingly more difficult to get off. Shaxx could remove his gauntlets and greaves himself, but he needed assistance with his torso. Frea worked to unbuckle the straps located in the thin crevasses between the metal sections on his back, thankful that her fingers were small enough to get to them without too much trouble. The chest plate clicked and opened, allowing him pull it off and toss it with the rest of their armor.

Frea caught herself gazing at his back. This was the first time she'd ever seen him without armor. Even with the hulking pauldrons gone, his shoulders were still as broad as ever. Unwittingly, she ran her hand over his spine, feeling the fabric of his shirt and the defined muscles underneath. He flinched from her sudden touch. She didn't intend to tease him, but the fire inside him flared brighter anyway.

Shaxx turned to face the huntress, catching her off guard. He took her hands and guided them to the hem of his shirt. "Go on," he whispered against her hair.

Frea's face burned when her fingertips brushed his naked skin. Taking a steady breath, she pulled at the material and slipped the undershirt over his head. Her mouth nearly fell open when she saw his chest, muscles chiseled from centuries of fighting and scars from unimaginable battles dotted the flesh there. She went quiet as she stared, long enough for him to grow concerned.

"Do they disgust you?" He asked.

She jumped and looked back up at him. "Of course not! I just..." Her voice trailed off. She reached out to touch a scar but stopped herself. "They look painful."

Shaxx chuckled. "They're not. Not anymore."

He bent down and kissed her. She was so focused on his lips that she hardly noticed him remove the rest of their clothes. His aggression was exhilarating, but she wasn't about to let him control the whole situation. The huntress stepped forward, forcing him to move back and then shoved him onto the bed. He didn't exactly fall, she was much too small to actually knock him over, but instead he landed at the edge of the sheets. She was in his lap before he could question, her fingers tangled into his hair as she returned his vigorous kiss.

"Frea." Shaxx groaned and dug his fingers into her flesh. In this position her every movement rubbed against his erection, threatening to send him into a frenzy. He couldn't wait anymore.

He lifted her up by the hips and in one swift movement lowered her back down on himself. She nearly screamed when he entered her hot core. Already at her limit, her back arched as her entire body clenched in sweet pleasure around him. She weakly fell forward against his chest, her head resting against his shoulder as her orgasm passed.

He wasn't going to let her recover. Shaxx started moving then, thrusting hard against her.

"Wait...I'm still sensitive-ahhh" Her sentence ended with a moan when he slammed into a erogenous spot.

His hands explored her back, finding that one spot on her side from the night before. He teased her there while pressing long kisses to her neck and collarbone. It wasn't long before he had her wrapped around his finger. Already she could feel herself losing it, reaching the end of her limit again. He must have felt it too because he suddenly started to pick up the pace. His assault becoming so rough that he reached her deepest point, sending her flying over the edge of no return. Frea cupped his face as she came again, desperately pressing her lips against his. With one last hard thrust he stopped. She could feel him growl into her mouth as his grip on her hips tightened.

Shaxx pressed his forehead to Frea's, both of them taking a moment to catch their breath.

"That was..." The huntress whispered. "Amazing."

He gave her a sly smile. The fire in his eyes had hardly diminished at all. "We're not done yet."

"Wha-"

He twisted, pressing her back against the sheets. Any words she might have said were silenced by his tongue as she found herself at the Titan's mercy for the rest of the night.