Whelp... so much for my sports optimism I mentioned last chapter. At least my Twins are still doing decent and Vikings training camp sounds like it's going good. If I can provide entertainment for people in this quarantine, I'm happy for it.

Anyway, to the story.

Ruby sat at a table in the Avenger's bar when the elevation alarm blared. She sighed and held on tight to the fragile dishes on the table in front of her. The whole room shook as the ship ran toward cruising altitude. Behind the bar itself, three people frantically secured all the booze and glasses on the shelves. Those things were secured better than some of the explosives down in the armory. Sure, that stuff was needed to keep morale up, but there were definitely more important things onboard to secure.

As soon as the Avenger leveled out, Ruby continued eating her MRE of some kind of mac and cheese. She saved some of the better stuff for people who couldn't stand the prepackaged meals. Her plate was almost clean when the ship's intercom chirped to life. "The following soldiers, please report to the hangar: Sergeant Phil Coulson, Lieutenant Rex, Sergeant Ruby Rose, Corporal Greg Harmon, Corporal Tahvo Marlov, Sergeant Jane Kelly."

"Of course…" Ruby slammed her water back, scarfed down the rest of her food, then left the bar. She wasn't in a hurry like she was the past few times. There had been enough of a pattern to the deployments for her to recognize that she had enough time to prepare before a mission. More than enough in fact. No one had to wear themselves down before deployment.

As she walked through the halls of the ship, she felt a sense of urgency from other people but didn't feel anything herself. She could have been sipping a mug of hot chocolate and it wouldn't feel out of place given the situation.

In the armory, it was more of the same. Ruby grabbed her gear without looking and any other weapons… with the exception of an assault rifle that had been painted with some science fiction fighters on the barrel and receiver. Someone on the ship was an artist.

Three other squad members hung about the armory and hangar, just not around the Skyranger where Firebrand was yelling at her ground crew. Rex and Coulson were nowhere to be seen… then again, Ruby never met Coulson. He could have been on the ground crew for all she knew. She'd only heard that he was the best covert operator XCOM had. The mission probably had something to do with him.

The missing soldiers were noticed by the other squad members. They all faced the door, especially when the Avenger started its descent. Rex and Coulson didn't show up until after the ship touched down. Coulson wore a normal suit, looking more like a KBI agent than a soldier. Then again, if he was a spy, that might as well have been body armor.

"Firebrand," Rex called, "are we good to fly?"

"We got the holes from the last op patched up," the pilot called. "It might be a bit of a rough ride, but she'll get us there and back."

"Good enough for me," Coulson said. "Everyone, load up. We've got to make this quick." He walked toward the Skyranger with Rex right behind him. Definitely a mission coming from his field.

The squad loaded into the Skyranger and the elevator lifted the transport to the top of the ship. A few seconds later, the Skyranger lifted off the deck and banked to the left. The intercom crackled to life. "We're sending you into southern Philadelphia for this mission," Central announced. "You have a tight window between the sports complex and the naval yard, so you've got to make this quick. Sergeant Coulson will brief you on the specifics."

Coulson nodded and picked up the tablet that lay beside him. "First off, I see some new faces here. Hi, I'm Phil Coulson. Used to be the Director of a multinational intelligence organization before I ended up here." Ruby blinked. She wasn't surprised to see yet another powerful figure with XCOM, but he said it so nonchalantly, like it was no big deal. Even Ruby felt a little pride when she talked about her 'current' and former position with the Riders.

"Anyway, this mission." The projection screen that held the mission briefing switched to an image of an armored truck. "My contacts within the Liberated informed me from day one of their operatives currently inside ADVENT and a short list of those they thought could be recruited. This case is the latter. Our target for this mission was discovered trying to burn her way through the wall of an ADVENT facility some distance north of Philadelphia. She is being transported through the city as we speak and will be in position in a matter of minutes."

"Do we extract the target from a moving vehicle, or do we force them to stop?" Jane asked.

"The Liberated took care of that. They found a weakness in ADVENT's systems. The Elders made it law for all vehicles made under their regime to have a remote shutoff switch in case they needed something from the occupants. That includes their own people. Our friends found the frequency that ADVENT uses for this purpose. In other words, we can shut them down and any other vehicles in the area. We won't need to worry about hit and runs." Coulson grimaced. "At first at least. We don't know how long it's going to take for ADVENT to catch onto what we're doing and get the vehicles rolling again."

"What is target?" Marlov asked. Ruby didn't miss that he said 'what' not 'who.'

The screen changed again, this time to a mostly green Viper. Her face and part of her torso and arms were a silvery white. A red stripe ran around the top of her head. Lighter green scales covered her chest armor and a crest above her eyes. Quite a few spikes lined her arms and shoulders. Ruby cocked her head. "This one's different from the others I've seen."

Coulson nodded. "That's because this one's a Bio Viper. As far as the Liberated let me know, these are the rarest breed apart from the Psi Vipers. They're the shock troopers of the species." He looked straight at Ruby. "And you, Viper whisperer, are going to make first contact."

Ruby stared back and shrugged. "Okay." It made sense in a way. She had the most experience of any XCOM soldier with talking to Vipers. "We got a name or code phrase to tell this one we're friendly?"

"Sisarn Aliasis…" Coulson made a face. "Sisi Nasisl… I've tried for a while and I can't pronounce her actual name and don't even ask me how to spell it. The codename the Liberated gave her is Whiplash but it didn't sound like… Sisarn knew about it."

The sniper nodded. "Try not to get strangled on sight. Got it."

Coulson reached grabbed a beefy tablet from beside him and handed it across the crew compartment to Ruby. "You're going to need this. If you can get something from their systems this way, great. If not, I'm sure you can use your sword."

Ruby almost laughed at that. "Considering tech's not normally my thing, I might have to." She clipped the tablet to her belt.

"We're touching down in ten mikes," Firebrand called back. "I hope your contact can do what they claim."

"I have no reason to believe they can't."

Rex checked his weapons. "When we touch down, keep your weapons quiet and your heads down. The civies in the city are loyal. If they see something wrong, they will let ADVENT know. One slip up our lives get a whole lot harder."

Ruby grabbed her rifle and made sure the magazine was locked in. "Just another day for XCOM." A few grunts from other soldiers followed her statement.

A few minutes later the Skyranger banked hard to the left. "Get ready to drop, Menace!" Firebrand called. "I'm going to need to book it out of here. Don't be late for your rendezvous." The lights in the crew compartment turned red.

"You heard the lady." Rex stood up and grabbed the bar above him. "Drop quick then to the shadows." Everyone else stood up and grabbed the rails on the ceiling. Ruby slung her rifle over her back. The Skyranger nosed up and Ruby felt herself be pressed into the floor. If it wasn't for her heightened equilibrium from years flying on Cerise, she would have at least wobbled. Grizzly and Bobcat almost fell over from the force.

The lights turned green and the back hatch lowered. Ruby jumped out first and grabbed one of the ropes that hung from the back of the Skyranger. As she fell, she easily picked out the sports complex. Four large sports stadiums, both outdoor and indoor, lay to the north of a highway. Directly to the south and west, a large military base. Ruby grit her teeth. This wasn't what she was expecting. Either Firebrand was extremely confident, ADVENT was that incompetent, or XCOM was extremely short on time.

Ruby hit the ground and unslung her rifle. She ran toward the nearest building and jumped for the roof. As she set up near the edge, the Skyranger peeled off, completely visable to the naked eye. Music filtered through the air. Ruby turned her head toward it… they were right next to a large open green space with some kind of concert going on. Sure, it was dark out, but surely someone saw what happened. People would sure hear it when XCOM went loud.

"Eyes on the bridge, Shadeslayer," Coulson called. "Don't worry about the civilians. They're too occupied with their ADVENT endorsed entertainment."

Ruby grit her teeth and faced the bridge that covered the road that ran by her perch. "There's a lot of open space. Not a lot of places for bullets to be stopped."

"Then don't miss."

"I'm not the one you should be worried about." Ruby stared down her scope. An ADVENT checkpoint covered the length of the road. The guard consisted of mostly ADVENT soldiers with a Sectoid and a pair of Mutons as well. She was about to call out the enemies when a red Viper slithered around one of the guardhouses.

Ruby zoomed in on the giant snake. She searched for something, anything that this one held in common with the one in the brig back on the Avenger. A specific lip curl, a look in her eyes, a curl in her tail. But no. This one looked about as military as the Troopers and Mutons. Other than that, nothing struck her as familiar. Just another target.

"I make out twelve hostiles at the checkpoint. I don't think there's any more in the guardhouse than what I see. It's too small."

"Copy that," Rex said. "Menace 1-5 hold your fire until the convoy is shut down. Avenger, how long until contact?"

"ETA one minute, Menace," the Commander said. "Our contact is standing by to disable the vehicles. We'll stop them on your side of the checkpoint."

Down on the ground, the rest of the squad spread out. A few took cover by parked cars. Marlov and Harmonran closer to the bridge and hid behind a concrete barrier. "Grizzly," Rex called, "as soon as the convoy stops, blow the checkpoint. Bobcat cover him."

"Acknowledged," Marlov said in his heavily accented English. "They will not know what hit them."

"Shadeslayer, take out any officers, then make your way toward the truck. The rest of us will cover you."

"Copy." Ruby grit her teeth. Twelve against six, plus however many were in the convoy. She didn't doubt her squad would win, but someone was going home injured. Someone always was against less odds. If she had access to her full power, she would be able to wipe the floor with these soldiers. Now, she just had a pea shooter and a sharp stick. Me a pessimist. Who'd have thought?

"I've got movement," Harmon whispered on comms. "Two cruisers, one armored truck. Can't make out occupants."

Ruby aimed her rifle down the road. The convoy was still quite a distance away on the other side of the bridge. The first and last vehicles looked like futuristic armored police cruisers while the middle was a blocky prison van. The tinting on the windshields couldn't give her a good view. Still, she could safely guess that each vehicle had a driver and at least one passenger. At least six more hostiles. Three to one… then she thought of something she'd heard in the bar quite a bit. "How easily do these cars blow up again?"

She could almost hear the grin in Rex' response. "Very. Think you can time it with the checkpoint?"

"If I get a good countdown." Ruby aimed her weapon at the center of the lead vehicle's hood. "Just say when." The convoy passed under the bridge.

"Stand by for shutdown," Central said. The lead vehicle stopped at the checkpoint. After a few seconds, they were let through. "Five, four, three, two, one, shutdown." In unison, the headlights on all three vehicles shut off. The convoy slowed and they all turned right toward the side of the road. The sniper kept her weapon on the lead cruiser the whole time.

"Launching," Marlov called. Ruby saw the puff of smoke from the grenade launcher out of the corner of her eye. She watched the grenade arch while keeping her weapon trained. It hit the ground and bounced into the main guardhouse. The Muton inside just stared at it.

A millisecond separated the grenade explosion and Ruby pulling her trigger. The lead vehicle exploded right after. The sniper faced her target in time to see helmets and other body armor pieces fly away from the vehicle. No one inside could have survived. Ruby pulled the bolt back and loaded another round. That was easy.

She swung her rifle back toward the checkpoint. The soldiers closest to the blast struggled to get up off the ground while under fire. A Muton with half scorched armor fell under a salvo from Harmon's assault rifle. Jane sprinted from her cover to the burning wreck. She blasted the driver of the center van with her shotgun before drawing her sword and running toward the other side of the vehicle. It was a good initial strike but there were still a dozen enemies still standing. Here came the hard part.

Ruby searched the crowd for an angular red helmet. She picked it out near the back of the enemy 'formation.' The Officer shouted orders at his troops as they ran to defensive positions before he took one himself. Ruby lined up a shot and pulled the trigger. The shot hit home, right in the unprotected mouth. He fell backward never to rise again.

Seeing no more obvious officers, Ruby searched for one more target for her remaining bullet. She found it in the red Viper aiming her weapon right at the center of Ruby's scope. Both pulled their triggers at the same time. Ruby ducked out of the way as a green line of plasma flew through the spot where her head just was. She thought she smelled burnt hair. Ruby ejected her current magazine and loaded a new one before peeking over the edge again. The Viper retreated behind the wreckage of the gatehouse, one of her arms hanging limp by her side.

"Shadeslayer sees no Officers. I'm moving." Ruby jumped off the building and rolled on impact. She sprinted toward the burning wreck while keeping an eye on the firefight. Two more troopers and the other Muton fell in the onslaught. One of the specialist troopers in red armor, a Duelist she thought, aimed a pistol her way. Ruby aimed on the run and fired a shot in that general direction. She knew she didn't hit but it should have discouraged him from taking a shot.

"I'm hit!" Harmon called over the radio. "Damn Sectoids don't shoot like that!"

"I've got you, Bobcat," Jane called. She ran out from behind the van and to the line of aliens. She jumped over a barrier and slashed at the Sectoid on the way down. As she sprinted away from her opponents, she took a shot to the back of the leg from the Duelist. Ruby took aim at the soldier as he prepared to execute Jane when two shots slammed into the Duelist's helmet, dropping him.

"Get out of there, Quiet," Rex called. "Coulson's back there with you."

Coulson? How? Ruby counted the bodies. There were two more corpses than there should have been. As she wondered how, a soldier in white Medic armor fell revealing Coulson standing in his place. Whoever this guy was, he was good.

"We have the last two suppressed," Rex called. "Shadeslayer, make contact."

"Will do." As Ruby left her cover, she couldn't help but mess up her face. Two? She might have missed one, but there should have been three. As she ran, the alarms at the adjacent military base blared to life. However many there were now, there were more than two.

She slammed into the side of the van then crept around the back. Ruby grabbed the tablet from her belt and brought it up. She pressed the big hack button in the center… and stared at the unfamiliar text. The only coding she knew involved bionics. Locks had to be simpler, but she had no clue how. She pressed a few buttons on her tablet and to her surprise, she heard something unlock. "I'm a genius." She clipped the tablet back to her belt and opened the door.

Inside near the back wall 'sat' a Viper that matched the image from the briefing... only without the armor so she was naked. A solid muzzle covered most of the front of her face. Her tail was bound in at least three places. Metal cuffs and chains kept her arms still while a leather band wrapped tight around her neck. She still had enough freedom of movement to turn her head toward the back of the truck. Green irises surrounded black slits of pupils, holding enough rage and anger to cut through metal.

Then… it all vanished. Her pupils widened to fill her whole eyes. Her shoulders slumped and her head dipped forward. A quiet whimper filtered through her muzzle. A familiar feeling hit Ruby like an Ursa. She wanted to break all those binds off the alien and bring her into a tight hug. Only it was more intense than what she felt around the Psi Viper on the Avenger. So much more… Must be that Bio bit.

"Sisarn Aliasis?" Ruby asked as she stepped into the van. The Viper just stared back. "We don't have time for this. Are you Sisarn Aliasis?" The alien as slow as a snail, never taking her eyes off Ruby. "I'm Sergeant Rose with XCOM. The Liberated sent us. We're getting you out of here." Ruby looked for any keys. Seeing none, she drew her sword. The Viper held her arms as far away from her body as she could, never taking her eyes off her rescuer. Ruby chopped through those restraints first.

To the rescuer's surprise, the Viper proved extremely helpful in freeing herself. It's like she knew exactly the order in which Ruby would break the restraints. She didn't even try to break anything herself. Whoever she was, she wanted to make a good first impression.

Ruby saved the muzzle for last. She glared into the Viper's eyes. "You're not going to try to bite me, are you?" The Viper shook her head immediately, her eyes never moving. "Okay. I'm trusting you here." Ruby unclasped the straps holding the muzzle in place and pulled the whole thing off. As soon as her mouth was free, the Viper's tongue shot out of her mouth and licked Ruby's left cheek. The Huntress could only stare. Another thing in common with the Viper back on the ship. The feeling from before only grew stronger. Ruby messed up her lips. "Keep your pheromones to yourself."

Before any response came, gunfire resumed outside. Both vehicle occupants pressed themselves against the walls of the van. Sisarn hissed and slithered in front of Ruby as if to protect her. "Hey," Ruby put a gentle hand on the Viper's shoulder, "I've got the guns and the armor you should…" she trailed off as she realized she was talking to the Viper in the same tone she would use for some of the Riders back on Mor'ranar Vera. She shook her head and growled. "Can you fight?"

Sisarn turned her head back, her pupils once again slits. A low hiss, almost a growl, came from her throat and she nodded. A beautiful chill ran down Ruby's back. That feeling grew even more. As much as she hated what it could mean, she thought it meant the alien wouldn't hurt her.

Ruby keyed her comms. "This is Shadeslayer. I've got the VIP. If we can get Whiplash a gun, she can fight too."

"Avenger copies, Shadeslayer," the Commander said. "Firebrand?"

"ETA one mike," Firebrand said. "Gonna have to power through their air defenses but I'll make it."

"Rose!" Rex called from outside. "We need all the firepower we can get out here!"

"On my way out." Ruby jumped out of the van and over a concrete barrier to protect herself from the bullets coming from the base walls. She pulled her rifle around searched for a target. Sisarn took cover right beside her and she stared at the line of defenders. Ruby took aim at an ADVENT Officer and pulled the trigger.

A sharp pain to her left shoulder accompanied the crack of her rifle. Ruby screamed and fell to her right side. Her right arm instinctively whipped up to her other arm and the injury. She clenched her eyes trying to block out the pain. She couldn't place the last time she'd been shot, but she was pretty sure it didn't feel like this.

An enraged roar filled the air. Ruby snapped her eyes open and looked skyward. Hearing it so many times over the years, she knew what accompanied it… but where was the dragon coming to her defense? That sound was always accompanied by a diving dragon ready to defend someone in trouble. But there was no dragon, and the sound was off. It wasn't nearly as guttural as even the youngest hatchling. This one should have sounded old, one of the oldest dragons alive. All of that realization happened in a matter of seconds.

Sisarn disappeared from Ruby's side. She didn't slither toward the wall but the bridge. She slithered over the last vehicle in the convoy and stared up at the bridge. She reeled her head back, shot it forward, and her long tongue shot out. It grew taut and recoiled with a soldier in Sniper armor coiled inside. Sisarn released the soldier only to coil her whole body around him. Unlike the other Vipers Ruby had seen on footage, this Viper positioned its head so its mouth was over the soldier's neck. She bit down and pulled back. The man's trachea hung in the Viper's mouth while the soldier bled. Sisarn uncoiled herself, grabbed the soldier's gun, and retreated to Ruby's side.

Once back at the barrier, she put pressure on Ruby's wound and shoved the captured rifle into Ruby's good arm. She pointed out a few blocks on the rifle before she waved someone over and putting even more pressure on the wound.

Ruby dipped her head to examine the strange blocks Sisarn pointed at. They were the little self-destruct devices that were on every ADVENT weapon. Ruby used her good hand to peel off the mini explosives and threw them away. They all exploded once they hit the ground. Sisarn grabbed the rifle then Ruby's bionic hand and forced it onto the gunshot wound. "I can fight." Ruby tried to push herself off the ground.

Sisarn hissed at Ruby and placed a hand on the uninjured part of her rescuer's chest. The Huntress stared with an open mouth. "But I-" The Viper hissed even more and pushed Ruby right back down. Things were adding up even more. Sisarn's eyes, the pressure she put on Ruby's chest, the subtle curls on her lips… The Viper raised the stolen rifle and took a shot at the wall. It wasn't the way she held the gun, but it was her laser focus. But… no. That's impossible.

Soon after, the Skyranger appeared in the sky above them. People yelled on the comms but Ruby didn't hear a word of it. She was too focused on the Viper she was supposed to be rescuing. As it stood now, Sisarn picked Ruby up and helped her to the evac site. Rex and Marlov stayed on the ground providing covering fire while the rest of the squad evaced.

Up in the transport, Sisarn put Ruby in one of the seats. Right next to the cockpit, Jane sprayed Harmon's injury with one of the onboard medikits. Sisarn then took a firing position at the edge of the floor. She took two shots by the time Rex and Marlov got up. She pulled the trigger once more and the gun clicked. A growl escaped her throat as she threw the weapon into the ship. The hatch started to close as the Skyranger accelerated away.

Sisarn stopped in front of Ruby and turned her head toward the human. Her eyes grew wide and a whimper escaped her throat. She pounced toward Ruby and leaned almost her entire weight on the wound. Ruby had a feeling that there was more that could have been done but she couldn't move.

"Hey. Viper. Out of the way." Jane muscled Sisarn aside, revealing Ruby's injury. "Ooh." Jane winced. "That's a heck of an exit wound. This'll take the pain away." She started spraying the medikit on the bullet wound. Ruby sighed and closed her eyes as the burning sensation started to fade.

A soft something pressed against her forehead. Ruby opened her eyes to see Sisarn holding a piece of cloth to her forehead. The Viper's eyes remained wide. The concern in them… something else too. Something very, very familiar. "I know you."

Sisarn straightened up and the sides of her head raised. She pulled back and made a writing motion in the air. Ruby reached her bionic arm for her borrowed tablet. She handed it toward the Viper. Sisarn snatched it and hit a few things on the screen. Her eager expression faded as she scowled at the screen. She slithered backward and sat in an open seat. She made a noise of satisfaction, tapped a few more things, and turned it toward Ruby. The sides of her head raised again.

Three words took up the screen. 'I am Nalia.'

Ruby's heart fluttered. She wanted to believe that more than just about anything. Only two people topped Nalia on that list. But… Ruby shook her head. "No. Nalia is a dragon twice the size of my childhood home. You are neither." The sides of Sisarn's head fell again. She turned the tablet around and started tapping the screen with a single finger.

"Am I missing something?" Jane asked. "You know this alien?"

Ruby grit her teeth. "Maybe. We're trying to figure this out."

"A dragon?" Harmon scoffed, though it sounded pained. "You're kidding, right?"

Ruby gave him a look. "Your planet's been invaded by aliens. Your paramilitary group has soldiers and support staff from other planets, dimensions, or what have you. Can't you believe something that doesn't exist on your planet can exist on one of the other planets?"

Coulson shrugged. "That part at least checks out."

"I haven't seen them in person," Rex started, "but I've seen holos of Krayt dragons. Are you talking about one of those?"

"I know of Alagaësian dragons, Wyvern Grimm and Sea Feilongs. I'm not sure what a Krayt dragon is, but I'm sure Nalia isn't one of them." Ruby stayed silent while the Viper claiming to be Nalia continued tapping on the tablet. Whatever she was typing, it was more than just a sentence or two.

A couple minutes later, the Viper turned the tablet around. A full paragraph of text showed on screen. 'Your firstborn is Angel. Your second born is Crey. You built your first fake-metal-legs-and-eye at sixteen. You once said you would beat me in an over-land-speed-race but you never tried. You and my-partner-of-my-heart-and-mind-Aaron saved my first-love-egg from the Oath-Breaker's castle. You needed all of our help after the North Sanus Mountains. You were ready to turn the Dragon Riders to successor-Arya years before you did.'

Ruby clenched her teeth. That was all true and she hadn't mentioned most of that on Earth. "Where did I propose to Aaron?"

Sisarn turned the tablet around and tapped out a few more things before turning it back around. 'AARON proposed to YOU at the top of a water-drop-cliff in Du Weldenvarden.'

Ruby fought herself from crying and jumping out of her chair. Few people knew that part, just her team and their dragons… and the few elves Aaron recruited to help with the proposal, so probably more than she thought. But there was one thing that she knew for sure that no one outside a small group knew. Something that they wouldn't share to save their own lives. "What were the first and last letters of my True Name on Vroengard when we entered the Vault of Souls?"

Sisarn jumped in her seat and yelped. The sides of her head raised… just like a dragon's ears would when surprised. She lowered her head and her eyes narrowed. Her tongue flicked out of her mouth as she hissed at everyone else. She tapped on the screen again, this time going much slower. She turned it around, revealing a question written in the Ancient Language but with Vytalian letters. 'These letters or the other?"

"These people know these letters. The others would work better. That app should have a drawing feature." The others in the Skyranger murmured among each other. Ruby couldn't catch all their words, but it sounded like they didn't like the conversation between near-human and alien to go in in a language they hadn't heard before.

The Viper turned the tablet around, tapped a couple things, then started drawing. Sisarn glared at those she didn't know over the top of the tablet. After a minute, she handed the device across the Skyranger face down. Ruby grabbed it and flipped it away from everyone else. Two letters in the Liduen Kvaedhi lay on the screen. The exact two she knew once applied to her.

Ruby cleared the screen and her mouth dropped open. She slowly raised her head to lock eyes with the Viper. The alien's eyes widened and her head raised in a friendly way. A quiet hum escaped her throat. Sisarn Aliasis… Ruby felt so stupid. It was literally in the name. "Nalia?"

The Viper hummed and cocked her head like she would have whenever Angel or Crey did something cute. She blinked three times in a row, adding to the effect.

Ruby jumped out of her seat and pounced on her second dragon. She wrapped her arms around Nalia, ignoring the pain in her left shoulder and squeezing as hard as she could. The hug was returned much softer at first, then grew stronger and Nalia's head pressed into the back of the Rider's. Her hum turned into whimpers. She stood up somewhere in there and carried Ruby backward to her seat.

Nalia let the Rider go, then forced her down to the seat. She pulled the restraints down and secured her friend in the seat. Ruby could only stare. "Wha, Nalia, what are you-"

Nalia pointed at Ruby's injury, then the seat. She shook her head with peeled lips. Her eyes squinted a little as well.

Something wasn't right. "Nalia, what's going on?"

The Viper snatched the tablet from where Ruby set it. Nalia took her time poking something into the tablet. Her eyelids trembled. If it was possible, she would have been crying. She turned the tablet around.

Three words took up the screen. 'I killed you.'

I know one of you called something like this. Cookie for you.

Fair warning, he next upload from me won't be for this. I said at the end of Reconstruction I had another project in mind and I just can't get it out of my head... I need to stop picking up more.