Almost one year later, Reyna was standing on the outskirts of the village with Kait, waiting for Oscar and his cart to return. He had gone on a small ride, patrolling around the village.
"Can we go and shoot a bit while we're waiting for Uncle?" Kait asked.
"I don't think we need to," Reyna said. "You know how to shoot now and even went on a few raids with Oscar and Gary. Besides, we shouldn't be wasting ammo."
They both then heard the sound of hooves clacking on the ground and saw the cart with Oscar sitting in the driver's seat. "Nothing Oscar?" Reyna asked as he got out of the cart.
"Well, not exactly nothing," he said as two more figures stepped off of the cart. Reyna had no idea who they were, but immediately knew where they came from. A tall, muscular build and a body indicating that they had had more than the small portions given to other Outsiders or even COG civilians. These two were Gears.
The second they stepped out of the cart, Reyna was in front of them, hands gripped firmly on her knives. "Who are you two?" she asked, her words laced with venom.
"My name's JD," the first one, the one with creme skin and dirty blonde hair, said. "This is my friend Del." He then gestured to his dark skinned friend with black hair that stuck up in all directions.
"Where did you two come from?" Reyna tightened her grip on her knives and JD immediately noticed.
"Please, Ma'am, we're former Gears. We need a place to stay."
"Get out of my sight before I cut your heads off. We don't take any former COG. Leave."
"Wait!" Del exclaimed, holding his hands up. "Please, let us explain!"
"You have one minute. Don't say something stupid."
"Alright," JD said, trying to keep his vice at an even tone. "My name is James Dominic Fenix, or JD for short. This is my best friend Delmont Walker."
Reyna heard his last name and immediately froze up. She had known the last name Fenix for so many different things. Adam Fenix, who opened her eyes to what it means to be human, who taught her most of what she knew. And then there was Marcus Fenix, the son Adam sacrificed everything for.
Reyna would have respected Marcus if it wasn't for an article she read when she lived with the COG: Locust Defeated! Queen Myrrah stabbed to death by hero Marcus Fenix, leader of Delta Squad.
Once Reyna read that, she grew to hate the name of Fenix. And she had no doubt who this particular Fenix was. The person standing in front of her was the son of the man who killed her mother and the grandson of the man who killed her species.
"Leave, now," Reyna said, pulling her knife out.
"Mom!" Kait exclaimed, holding her mother's hand back. "All they said were their names!"
"That's all I needed to hear."
"Please, let us finish!" Del exclaimed.
Reyna sighed and said, "Fine. Continue."
"We came from Settlement 2."
Reyna held a knife to Del's throat and said, "Choose your next words very carefully."
"Uh…" Del trailed off, looking at Kait for help. Kait was now glaring at him too, memories of her father fueling her hatred.
"Ma'am, please!" JD exclaimed, trying to calm Reyna down. Reyna looked over to him and JD took a deep breath. "Look, we didn't mean for the Settlement 2 incident to even happen. That was all Jinn. She was sick of the Outsiders raiding COG technology, and she decided to act on it. She had the DeeBees programed to use lethal force and they did.
"She didn't just kill Outsiders, though. The DeeBees were programed to shoot on sight, and that's what they did. They killed a lot of COG citizens who were trying to stop them. They even killed a few Gears.
"After that, Del and I were disgusted by the COG, and so were a lot of other Gears. We were the only ones that acted on it. We ran away, and now we're enemies of the state. Please, we have nowhere else to go."
Reyna narrowed her eyes at him and said, "Listen here Soldier Boy. My husband and almost half of our citizens died at Settlement 2, and I refuse to let some soldiers who took part in that operation into our town. Leave. Now."
"Mom!" Kait exclaimed, stepping between them. "Why can't we let them stay?"
"Kaitie, weren't you listening? These two are part of the reason your father is dead! Why would you want them to stay?!"
"Their story sounds a lot like yours and Dad's. You two both hated the COG for the things they did and fled, only to get tossed out by another village. What makes them any different?"
"My answer is no Kaitie. Besides, for all we know, these two are COG spies and could have made up that whole story."
"We didn't Ma'am," Del said. "Please, help us."
Another Outsider, a teenage boy named Eli ran up to Reyna and asked, "Ma'am, are we still on for the raid tomorrow?"
"Are you two planning to raid another COG city?" JD asked.
"What's it to you kid?" Oscar asked, glaring at the two as well.
"Look, the only thing Jinn took from that incident was that the Outsiders are an even bigger threat than the Stranded. She told all Gears that if they ever even see an Outsider to shoot on sight. The DeeBees are programmed to do the exact same thing."
Reyna was surprised by this statement and turned to Eli. "No, we're not proceeding. In fact, I want you and a couple others going to the neighboring towns to inform them that there will be no more raids until further notice. Understood?"
"Yes Ma'am!" Eli exclaimed before running off.
"Thank you for the warning," Reyna said.
"No problem Ma'am," JD said. "We didn't want any more lives to be lost due to the corrupt COG."
He and Del turned to leave when Kait yelled, "Stop!"
Everybody turned and looked at Kait, and Reyna immediately asked, "What are you doing?"
"Mom, if they really were COG spies, they would have let us raid the Settlement, told Jinn, and then had us all killed. They just saved us. I think we can trust them."
Reyna looked at Del and JD and grabbed JD by the collar of his shirt. "Don't make me regret taking you in," she told him roughly.
JD nodded and looked over at Kait. "Thank you," he said, his voice filled with awe. Reyna looked at the way he was staring at her daughter and saw Kait was looking at him the same way. The way she and Diaz looked at each other.
Reyna glared at JD and whispered quietly so nobody could hear her except him, "Don't even think about it. You're lucky I'm letting you stay here, but if you go after my daughter, I will shoot you myself."
JD's eyes widened and he quickly nodded his head. "Come on!" Kait exclaimed, walking up to him and grabbing him by the arm. "I'll give you a tour of the village."
JD chuckled as he was pulled away. Reyna glared at him and Oscar came up behind her. He watched as the group of three walked away and he told Reyna, "You can't keep her from growing up you know."
"Yeah, but I can try my best."
Another small chapter with not a lot happening, but oh well. I finally got to when JD and Del enter the village. I even grabbed some of the dialogue from my first Gears of War story, mostly because I couldn't think of a better way to write this scene. The reason that I had Reyna threatening JD is because, according to articles published about Gears of War 4, Reyna isn't happy that JD and Kait are together, and I can see her reasoning. Reyna obviously wouldn't want her daughter together with the son of the man who killed her mother and the grandson of the man who killed her species.