Ugh... Mandatory overtime... good for the paycheck, but not for doing things outside of work... This probably would have been uploaded a week ago otherwise... We don't need to talk about my sports teams either...

Enough depressing 2020 talk.

Ruby stared at those three words on the tablet, then at the dragon in a Viper's body. "Nalia, you didn't kill me. I don't think we were on the same continent when I got dragged here."

Nalia whimpered and shook her head. She made several whining and keening noises before stopping and staring at Ruby. She returned her attention to her tablet and tapped a few things. A little while later, she turned the tablet around. 'Open your mind.'

"I can't." Ruby grit her teeth and shook her head. "ADVENT put something in my head that works like a suppression collar." She turned her head so that Nalia could see the back of it. The Viper screeched. "The doctors on our side can't get it out." Ruby felt two warm fingers press against the back of her head and run down either side of the scar. There was a little bit of pain but Ruby didn't flinch away. Nalia needed to see it.

Ruby turned her head back to Nalia. The Viper's pupils filled her whole eyes. Her tail lay perfectly still. "You know there are only two others I'd rather have in my head. If I could have, I would have checked your mind back on the battlefield. Now, I'd latch on and not let go for so long."

Nalia lunged forward and flung her arms around Ruby. She touched the wounded arm for less than a second before snaking her arms underneath her second Rider's. Her head curled around Ruby's. The Huntress sighed and leaned into the embrace as much as she could while returning it with her free hand. Sure, she had Invidia on the Avenger, but their relationship was more professional than personal. Having someone she loved so much so close again… her first real smile in she didn't know how long burst onto her face. The hum that came from Nalia's chest sounded happy as well mixed with something else, probably relief, if she understood the former dragon's situation right.

"You know this Viper?" Grizzly demanded. "That snake claimed to kill you and you hug it like it's babushka?"

And there went the moment. Ruby grimaced and leaned back into her restraints. She turned her attention to the others in the crew compartment. Coulson looked at Nalia with interest. Rex sat with his arms crossed but that could mean just about anything. Who knew what his expression was under that helmet. The others had glares of varying intensity and all had hands on their weapons. "I don't know what a 'babushka' is, but yes. I know this Viper. Her name is Nalia Quickwing and where we're from, she's a dragon."

"A dragon?" Bobcat scoffed, then winced. "Do we have different definitions of that word?"

Ruby glared at him. "Giant, horned, winged, fire breathing lizards that can bite you in two if you tick them off." Nalia growled in agreement. "They can be terrible enemies, but I trust Nalia with my kids' lives. She's not a threat to XCOM unless you try to kill her or me."

Grizzly swore in his own language and angled his weapon toward Nalia. "It's a Viper. It can't be trusted."

"I suggest you stay quiet before you say something you'll regret," Coulson said. "The Liberated were interested in this Viper and they are our allies. We don't need a rift between us so early."

"Thank you, Sergeant." Ruby turned her attention back to Nalia. The Viper glared right at Grizzly, her fingers clenched. If she still had visible ears, they would be pressed against her head. A light growl escaped her throat. "What do you mean you killed me?"

Nalia's anger disappeared in an instant. The growl turned straight into a whimper. Her body grew slack with her arms hanging by her sides. She faced Ruby with eyelids drawing apart and her pupils filling her whole eyes. Her lower lip trembled, then her tongue darted out and licked Ruby's cheek. She slithered back to her seat, picked up the tablet again, and started tapping her response.

"You calmed down enough back there?" Firebrand called.

"For now," Rex responded. "We'll see how long that lasts."

"Well, for those interested, I've got the latest ADVENT propaganda from our mission."

The Skyranger's intercom chirped. "XCOM dissidents have taken their most radical action yet." It was a man's voice this time over the typical female reporter. If what the others said was true, this was the Speaker, the supposed leader of the ADVENT collaboration government. "In our great city of Philadelphia, XCOM freed a dangerous criminal from ADVENT custody. Not only did they kill loyal enforcers in the process, but many civilians at a nearby concert were killed by their fire. The Elders will make sure these actions will not go unpunished."

Rex' helmeted head looked around the crew compartment. "I trust that those civilian casualties were actually caused by ADVENT?"

"None of my shots were in a ninety degree arc of the concert," Ruby said. "I can't make that kind of ricochet here, not that I've tried in the field yet." Most eyes in the transport turned to her then back to Rex. Everyone stayed silent before telling the ranking officer what they thought of their own shots.

Jane, who spoke last, shifted in her seat. "Maybe a stray slug or two from me may have made it over that way. Not all of them made it into my targets."

"The Commander will want to check all our body cams, just to be sure," Coulson said. "Even if it was a stray shot, our own propaganda's going to need to know about it."

Ruby returned her attention to Nalia. The dragon in Viper's clothing tapped at the tablet in her hands. Nalia's eyes turned up for a second and locked with Ruby's. She hummed, sounding half like a whimper, then returned her attention to the screen in front of her and tapped even faster.

The Commander or Central spoke over the Skyranger's intercom but Ruby didn't hear a word. The initial shock and joy of seeing Nalia again had worn off and the pain in her shoulder started to scream for her attention. It was nowhere near as bad as it was before the medikit application, but it wasn't the most pleasant experience. Ruby winced in pain and breathed through her teeth. Nalia tapped at her tablet even faster.

After a few more minutes in flight, Nalia slithered to Ruby's side and handed her the tablet. She then forced herself into the small space between her second Rider and the ramp and cuddled as close as possible. Ruby leaned her head into it as she read what Nalia typed. It was in the Ancient Language, but in Vytalian letters.

'A Grimm parasite took over me. It forced me to attack and burn Vale. I killed so many. I killed you. I am so sorry, Gem. I love you. I would never hurt you. I look after Angel and Crey just as you would.'

Ruby lowered the tablet and stared at the seat straight ahead of her. But… that was what Cerise did to Aaron. Nalia didn't do that. She would never. Then again, Cerise would never either. They couldn't both be true… Ruby looked around the crew compartment. She counted at least three worlds represented here. No one knew how any of them got to this one. Nalia was there when Ruby spoke her True Name to open the Vault of Souls. Very few others were. This Viper was Nalia. Maybe not hers, but Nalia all the same.

The Rider shifted her head and Nalia pulled hers away. Wide eyes bored into Ruby's. "Gem? Only my mom and Cerise can call be that." The sides of the Viper's head sagged. Ruby raised her good arm and rested her bionic hand on top of Nalia's head. "The Grimm did that. Salem did that. Not you. I know you'd never hurt me." Nalia's head raised again. Ruby's smile fell away. "This won't be easy to hear, but where I'm from, Cerise did the same to Aaron."

Nalia pulled away in an instant. Her eyes narrowed and her pupils turned back to slits. A deep growl burst from her throat. Ruby gave her the look that she used to give Aaron when he said or did something stupid. "Cerise is in the exact same situation as you." Her look softened. "She hates herself as much as you do." Nalia silenced herself and loosened a little bit of her tension. She made a questioning growl and Ruby shrugged. Professor Who was Yang's show but the whole family knew the quote. "Wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff." Nalia let her arms hang and she turned her head away and to the floor.

Bobcat looked straight at Ruby. "Was that a Doctor Who reference?" he groaned.

"Professor Who actually." Ruby winced in pain as she paid for her shrug. Nalia raised her head toward Ruby again. "I really wish Orchid was here…" The Rider stared into the distance without seeing anything. Something in her head hit her like an anvil. All those times visiting the Viper in the brig. That one thought made everything click. "Oh my gosh… I am a moron." Nalia cocked her head and made another questioning noise. "Orchid is here. We've known about her for weeks. She's in the brig."

The sides of Nalia's head tilted up in back and her eyes narrowed again. She hissed her disagreement with the situation. "I know. I wouldn't have let them put her in there if I'd known. She's a Viper too, Tygan and Invidia say she's a Psi-Viper." The whole sides of Nalia's head raised that time. "Yeah. Invidia's XCOM's lead medical doctor. I don't know why she didn't know we have Orchid though. Gonna have to ask her."

Nalia hissed aggressively again. She flicked her tongue out of her mouth then pointed at Ruby's injury. "That's the idea, if she still has her Semblance anyway. I sure don't have mine."

"It sounds like you have some explaining to do, Sergeant," the Commander's voice came over the Skyranger's speakers.

Ruby raised her head and stared directly at the camera in the crew compartment. "I will tell you what I can, but there's so much I don't know. But first, we more than likely have a dragon that would never hurt any of her friends in the brig being treated like a criminal. If I'm right, we're about to get another extremely valuable crewmember, and friend."

"Friends don't win wars Sergeant."

Ruby scoffed and it sounded like Nalia did the same. "Then you really don't know us. Besides, in a war, friends can be the fiercest allies." She got a few strange looks for her words but she didn't care. Nalia, one of the people she trusted the most in her life, sat right beside her. Orchid, the friendliest dragon to ever live, was in the brig, and that situation needed to be corrected.

The rest of the squad took their eyes off Ruby and started talking among themselves. Ruby sighed and leaned toward the ramp again. Nalia fit herself into the small space and rested her head on top of Ruby's. If it wasn't for the pain in her shoulder and the turbulence the Skyranger flew through, she could have fallen asleep right then and there. Nalia would never be Cerise, but she was better than the nothing that currently filled Ruby's head.

The two of them stayed like that the rest of the flight. Right after the transport touched down, Nalia helped Ruby out of her restraints. The ramp lowered and Coulson stepped out. "We've got two wounded here. Clear the area."

Nalia pulled Ruby to her feet then pointed to the med kit on the wall by the cockpit. She cocked her head and made a questioning trill, something that sounded almost cute compared her normal deep and gravelly voice. Ruby shook her head as she slung her good arm over the Viper's shoulder. "If I'm right, the best medic onboard is on the bottom floor." Nalia nodded and she helped Ruby out of the Skyranger.

They walked and slithered past one of the two nurses on board. At first it looked like they were going to protest but then they saw Grizzly carry Bobcat out of the ship. They rushed to his side as they let the Rider and Viper continue on. Ruby led the way through the Avenger to the nearest elevator. They slowed down only for Ruby to drop her weapons off in their racks. She and Nalia got a few looks as they passed but no alarms sounded. At least that went right.

Once on the bottom floor, Ruby tensed. She'd had too many run-ins with over enthusiastic guards when they visited the brig before. Taking in a Viper they didn't know probably wouldn't be the best thing to not set jumpy guards off. As usual two guards stood outside the brig. Thankfully, Bones was one of them. Ruby didn't know the other man. The male guard looked Ruby's way and stiffened. He half raised his rifle before Bones forced it back down and shook her head. "I don't know what's going on, Rose," Bones said as she turned her head toward Ruby, "but we have orders to make sure you and your new friend get in unharmed." She stared at Ruby's gunshot wound. "But I think you should see the doc first."

"I am seeing the doc. One of the best ones I know." Since neither guard did it themselves, Ruby hit the open door button. The metal slid to the side and Ruby and Nalia walked in. The Rider stared at the purple Viper through the one-way glass. The Viper that could be Orchid paced with her arms crossed and head down. Ruby glanced at Nalia. The Bio Viper stared into the cell with unblinking eyes. "What do you think?"

Nalia shrugged and made a confused trill.

"Not enough. Got it." Ruby sighed. "I guess there's one way to make sure." She walked toward the door with Nalia right beside her. She opened the door and stepped inside.

The Viper turned her purple head around, her eyes settling on Ruby. They were initially filled with her sadness, then recognition. She straightened up with the sides of her head raising. Then she noticed Nalia. She lowered her upper body and hissed at the other Viper. Her tail twitched like she was about to pounce. That was a very dragon like action, though Ruby didn't know if normal Vipers did that too.

"She's with me," Ruby said in a kind voice. "Trust me, you're in more danger from an aggressive corgi than this Viper." The Psi Viper straightened and looked at Ruby. Her eyes flicked to Ruby's bullet wound and her arms hung. She whimpered and her tongue flicked out of her mouth.

Ruby looked down at her injured arm. She had a few scratches farther down. That would be a good test rather than going straight to the bullet wound. "What is your Semblance." She raised her head toward the Psi Viper. The Viper stood her straightest yet but with her mouth closed. Her pupils filled her whole eyes. Yet she didn't do anything to reveal a Semblance. "I'll ask again, what is your Semblance? If you are who I think, I'll know your Semblance from sight alone."

The Viper's purplish red tongue flopped out of her mouth. A split second later, a faint purple glow surrounded it. Ruby took a deep breath through her nose. That was it. She held her arm straight toward the Viper, making sure 'Orchid' saw the scratches. "You know what to do."

'Orchid' slowly slithered forward, her eyes flicking between Ruby's wound and Nalia. About halfway to Ruby, she stopped and took her tongue back into her mouth. She hummed high and long. Nalia softened beside Ruby and she hummed as well. Orchid picked up her pace and grabbed Ruby's arm. Her glowing tongue lolled out again and landed right on one of the worst scratches. She guided it up Ruby's arm, almost all the way to the bullet wound. Ruby felt the familiar tingle that healed quite a few of her injuries before, though it wasn't as strong as it was back then. There was no doubt about it now.

Orchid pulled away once and looked at the arm. She cocked her head and licked the entire area thrice more. After that, not even the largest scar remained. Ruby's arm felt as good as it ever had. Orchid nodded at her work then locked eyes with Ruby. A happy hum burst from her throat as her pupils widened.

Ruby sighed and smiled at the dragon in a Viper's body. "I know you want to, Orchid. Just watch the shoulder."

The purple Viper pointed her head at the ceiling and 'roared' happily. She launched herself at Ruby's right side and wrapped her arms around her. She reeled her neck back then slithered it forward to rest underneath Ruby's chin. That was something she occasionally tried to do with Violet, but with their size differences, that didn't work out too well. When everyone was roughly the same size, it worked out wonderfully.

After about a minute of the cuddle, Orchid pulled back and pointed at the gunshot wound. Ruby nodded. "We should probably get my armor off first. Better access for you." As one, though they fumbled with their actions, the two Vipers peeled the broken armor off Ruby. She tried to help, but both dragons shut her down with a look. Ruby just stood there and let the two fret over her.

Once her armor was taken care of, Orchid set to kissing the wound away. For the first time, there was a little bit of pain in the first few licks. Ruby winced each time Orchid's tongue hit her skin. The dragon sped her treatment up after she saw that. After about ten kisses, the pain was gone. Five more and the normal soothing feeling started to take over. Ruby sighed when that happened and could finally look at Orchid's progress. Her injury looked like a literal bloody pulp, something she hadn't seen before with Orchid's treatment, but it got better with each lick.

After way too long, Ruby's skin reformed to its natural state. Orchid sighed and slumped away. Nalia caught her and held her up. The Psi Viper grunted her thanks. Ruby brought her natural hand up and touched the area. If she didn't know otherwise, she wouldn't be able to tell she was shot. Not even a scar remained.

"Glad to see one of us still has our Semblance." Ruby rubbed the top of Orchid's head. "Yours is probably the most useful around here."

Orchid tried to smile with her unusual mouth but it sell away before it could fully form. She tapped the side of her head twice. Nalia whimpered and shook her head. The two Vipers locked eyes. They occasionally trilled at each other but judging from their expressions, they spoke in each other's minds. Orchid's eyes widened and her upper body slacked.

A second later, she shrieked and shot off the ground. She lowered herself to the floor and started curling around the Rider. After several rotations, her torso ended up level with Ruby's. She hugged Ruby as hard as she could and wrapped her head around the Rider's. It felt extremely tight but not painful in the slightest. Ruby sighed and leaned her head against Orchid's while looking at Nalia. "You told her about the thing in my head?" Nalia nodded without a sound. Ruby turned her eyes a little to the left and managed to meet one of Orchid's. "Do you know if Violet's alive." The Viper hummed and nodded.

Orchid pulled back and looked Ruby in the eyes. Her glowing tongue lolled out again. Ruby shook her head and blocked the tongue with her hands. "Thanks, Orchid, but no. I don't want to feel that good about not having Cerise in my head." Orchid narrowed her eyes and her tongue shot between Ruby's fingers. Ruby gasped as it hit her cheek. The tongue flailed as the dragon kissed her mother's Rider's worry away. But not all of it. The day's worries disappeared, the hurt from being alone for weeks disappeared, but not the ache of having half her mind being empty. In other words, the best she could feel without having Cerise in her head.

Ruby relaxed in the Viper's grip and pulled her hand back. Orchid pulled her tongue back a second later. "Sorry, Orchid. I guess I haven't been paying as much attention to you as I used to."

A door opened behind Ruby. She turned her head around to see the Commander walk in along with Central, Invidia, and the guards from outside the brig. Invidia's expression didn't give away anything, but her eyes locked solely on Orchid. If she saw the treatment from the other side of the one way glass, she knew who the Viper was. The guards held their weapons ready but pointed at the ground. "Are we interrupting, Sergeant Rose?" the Commander asked.

"No, Commander. The procedure just ended." Ruby tapped Orchid's coils and the Viper pulled her tail back to let the Rider out. "Commander, Central, I'd like to introduce you to Nalia Quickwing and Orchid Healtongue." Ruby gestured to each Viper as she said their names. "Nalia is my husband's dragon and Orchid is my dragon's daughter. Both of them are telepathic and understand and speak perfect Vytalian, er, English. If you let them, they can speak directly in your minds."

"I can confirm, Commander," Invidia said. "There is a little difference in their minds but they are who Shadeslayer claims." She relaxed her shoulders and focused on Orchid again. "I believe that is why neither of us recognized each other when our minds touched."

The Commander glanced back at Invidia then faced Ruby again. "Two more from your world. Besides this Earth, that makes yours the one with the most people here. Can you offer an explanation why?"

Ruby shrugged. "The only thing I can think of is that we constantly use magic to move from Remnant to Alagaësia. Maybe something there makes us easier to kidnap. Besides that, I've got no clue. I don't even know how we got here. That's more Tygan's and Romero's field."

"The Liberated let us know about… Nalia." Central gestured at said Viper. "They knew we had a Viper in our brig and said nothing. Can either of them be trusted?"

Ruby felt her eyebrows twitch. "In a fight, there are only two others above Nalia I'd rather have by my side and she agrees. Orchid?" She scoffed. "An overly affectionate golden retriever puppy poses more of a threat to XCOM." Ruby pointed at the shoulder that was shot in the recent fight. "As pleasant as puppy kisses are, they can't do this."

Central and the Commander stared at where the wound should have been with blank expressions. The guards whispered amongst themselves. Ruby winced at her word choice. No dragon liked being compared to animals. She'd be paying for that later.

The Commander crossed his arms. "Well, you seem to believe that these two will be of service to XCOM. I wish we could take as many as we like, but we have limited supplies and space onboard."

"Space will not be a problem. We need one bed between the two of them." Ruby glanced at the dragon she didn't normally share a room with. She and Nalia slept together all the time. Orchid… she was too cuddly and she had to be missing Violet as well. "Probably not even that most of the time." The sides of Orchid's head raised. Ruby returned her attention to the Commander. "Food, just be glad they aren't dragons right now. That wouldn't be easy to feed. Orchid's kisses can cure almost any disease and heal almost every injury. Nalia's going to need some hands on training to be able to fight with guns but you won't find another soldier that works as hard as her.

"We'll see about that." The Commander looked between the two Vipers. "Central will need to debrief both of you before it becomes official, but at the moment, I see no reason to keep either of you in the brig. I leave you in Sergeant Rose' care until then." He paused as he faced Ruby. "After she has Invidia and Tygan inspect her injury that is." Nalia straightened and gave the Commander a salute. Orchid hummed and bowed her head."

"I'll get to you when I can," Central started, "but at the moment you're my lowest priority. I hope you can keep your heads down until then."

"I assure you that the only trouble they'd cause would result in a noise complaint," Ruby said.

Central grimaced and turned his head away. "And someone get Nalia a shirt."

Ruby blinked and faced Nalia. The Bio Viper gave Central a strange look then looked down at herself and the very human like breasts. She jerked her head to look up at Ruby. A long and low hissing sound came out of her mouth but she didn't try to cover herself. "Shirt, yes. Bra, probably not." Ruby turned back around. Most of the group the Commander came with had left the cell leaving only the elf. Invidia cast the dragons a sad glance before leaving.

Ruby sighed and relaxed. She didn't realize how tense she was until then. "Invidia probably filled them in on some of the specifics." She turned around and faced Orchid. "I'm sorry I compared you to a dog. I know how you feel about that. It's the only thing I could think of on the spot to convince him you weren't a… threat." Ruby blinked as Orchid stuck her tongue out and started panting like a dog. She barked twice then got back to panting. Ruby winced. This was the first time she knew of that Orchid mocked anybody. "I know. I know. I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

Orchid pulled her tongue back in. She waved her hands in front of herself. She stopped herself then hugged Ruby again. Ruby stood there for a second before returning it. Of course Orchid wouldn't hold it against her. "Thank you, Orchid."

They gave each other a big squeeze before pulling apart. "As happy as I am to see the two of you, I want to know a few things that I don't think anyone here knows. How are you Vipers and not dragons," Ruby shifted her gaze to Nalia, "and how did you kill me when I'm still here?"

Ah, the feeling of not being alone, a feeling that is almost impossible to come by this year.