Happy day late birthday to me! And due to President's day, it's a three-day weekend! Probably a good thing with that massive snowstorm coming in. As I'm working on this, it hasn't hit my area yet but I've heard some nasty things north of me. That's going to be fun to shovel... But you didn't come here for a weather report. Also, happy fifth story to reach over a hundred favorites! Didn't see that coming.
Something beeped in Ruby's barrack, waking her up, and judging by the groans from everyone else, everyone in the room. She groaned and pushed herself out of both Vipers' arms to glare at the source. One of the tablets was beeping. As she stared, another of the tablets joined the first.
"Who set an alarm?" Yang groaned from above Ruby.
"I'll find out." Ruby pulled herself over Nalia, almost fell to the tilting floor, and stepped to the small table. One of the offending tablets was her own, and she definitely didn't set an alarm. She keyed most of her alarms to her bionic eye so this exact thing didn't wake anyone else. More than a little irritated, she picked her tablet up and looked at the message on the screen.
It was a summons to the armory for a mission with the names of everyone on it. Captain Rex, Sergeant Rayla, Sergeant R. Rose, Sergeant Bloodmoon, Sergeant Thompson, and Corporal Marlov. Ruby screwed up her face. People from all four squads? What was that about?
"Dahlia, we're up." Ruby started putting her clothes on in the minimal light in the room. "Don't know what for."
"Are you kidding me?" Dahlia rolled off her top bunk and fell face first to the floor. She pushed herself up like it was the most normal thing in the world. "I didn't think we're supposed to be active until later." She picked up her tablet and glared at it. "If this turns out to be something inane, someone's going to wake up with their arms switched with their legs.
"Agreed." Ruby shook her head. "Sleep is important."
"Kick butt for us." Summer held a thumb up, then brought her thin sheets over her head. The two men, er, males in the room remained silent. Then again, that was Mox' and Verge's thing. They didn't really interact with the rest because they weren't part of the squad. Whoever was in charge of room assignments needed to get their acts together.
The two women dressed in silence while everyone else got back to sleep. Since they had personal weapons no one else knew how to use, they could store them in their barrack. They grabbed said weapons and proceeded to the armory, trading yawns the whole way.
When they reached the armory, everyone else but Rex was already there. Rayla and Rick looked wide awake. Tahvo, well, the Grenadier always looked grumpy. "What's with the mixed squad?" Ruby asked through another yawn.
"Let's see." Rick looked around. "We're pretty melee heavy, we've got pistol specialists, and we've got a Ruskie who knows how to spray and pray." Tahvo glared at Rick. "I'm guessing Lost. I've been on a few of these ops before. The only real difference here is that we don't have a shotgunner."
"Lost?" Ruby blinked herself awake. "Zombies? That I can do."
Dahlia stared at Ruby. "You are okay with zombies? Real zombies?"
Ruby shifted on her feet. "Well, they're already dead. Might as well have their bodies join them?"
"Best not to think about who they were before," Tahvo advised. "Especially the young ones. It's no good."
Rayla paused while sharpening her swords against each other. "Young ones? Children?" She stared at the big Russian in disbelief. "You can't be serious?"
"Unfortunately, he's very serious," a voice said behind Ruby. She turned her head over her right shoulder. Rex walked into the armory with his white and blue helmet under his arm. "Everyone, armor up and take extra ammunition. We are in fact deploying to a city overrun with Lost. Central will brief the rest of you on the flight." He pulled his helmet over his head and walked up the Skyranger's ramp.
Ruby and Dahlia glanced at each other, shrugged, and proceeded to armor up and grab their ammunition. Ruby thought about running back to her room to grab Crescent Rose since no plasma weapons were expected, but judging by the way Firebrand ordered everyone to hurry up, they were now in a time crunch. As she walked to the transport fully kitted, she noticed Dahlia cradling a Gremlin and a thoughtful look on her face.
Once everyone was on the Skyranger, the transport took off and banked away from the Avenger. The crew compartment's speakers cracked to life. "As you may have heard," Central started, "you are flying to a Lost infested city. Our Reaper friends from Iowa reported that one of their salvage teams in Minnesota got bogged down by the Lost and trapped in St Cloud." Rick stiffened. "At this time, there are two survivors of the expedition. Your mission is to extract them and bring them back to the Avenger. The Reapers have decided to give their services to us for the hassle." The speakers clicked off.
"St Cloud…" Rick shook his head. "Damn it… I might be shooting some family."
"You're from where we're going?" Rex asked.
"No, but I've got a lot of family who are." He hung his head. "I guess I'll have to put them out of their misery."
"Like I said," Tahvo started, "don't think about who they were. Just shoot."
"What about us?" Ruby looked at her left arm. A lot of it was covered but there was still some exposed skin and thin fabric through the plates. "How fast is the infection and is the double-tap protocol in effect?"
Dahlia's eyes brightened. "Long story short, as long as you don't die, we can cure you. AVDENT had the cure for it from the beginning. XCOM stole it a while ago. The cure for the Lost disease is all in our Medikits." She raised one before emptying its contents into her Gremlin. "The public probably doesn't know about the cure. The city defenses are one of the biggest draws for them. To save them from the zombie apocalypse."
"It is how they got so many of us in them in the first place," Tahvo added.
"Still, don't get bit," Rex said. "I've fought these things before. They can bite through one of your landspeeders."
Ruby shrugged. "We've fought worse."
"With Aura." Dahlia gave Ruby a Look. "Which at the moment you have a stunning lack of." Ruby returned the Look. She knew what she was capable of. She didn't need anyone else telling her what she could and couldn't do. She turned her head to the ramp. The gun could have been useful here, even in its normal form. As it was, it was torn apart on one of Shen's work benches, waiting for the laser components. Ah well. Next time they flew into a zombie infested city, someone in the Skyranger could rain hell on the horde.
After a longer than expected flight, the Skyranger's speakers clicked. "We just received word that the VIPs' vehicle has been disabled and their ammunition supply is running out," Central said. "Their escort has been knocked out by the Lost. Once you touch down, you'll need to move fast."
"Firebrand copies, Avenger," the pilot said. "I believe I see the gunfire now. Descending." The transport nosed down and quickly leveled out. The lights in the crew compartment turned green and the ramp hissed. "Looks like they're under the parking garage you'll get out facing. This is as close as I can get for our non-superhumans to not break their ankles."
Rick scoffed. "Thanks for the concern."
Ruby freed herself, grabbed her compacted weapon, and jumped for one of the lowering cables. She rode it all the way down and expanded Íss Bláto when her feet touched the parking lot. The sniper stared through the scope down the street. "There's a car down there with a minigun on top alright, and a lot of Lost too. I just see one person standing. Don't know where the second person is."
Rex touched down beside Ruby. "The Lost might have gotten to them." He drew a pair of XCOM issued laser pistols. His own must have finally ran out of ammo. The rest of the squad landed and drew their own weapons. "Grizzly, be ready to clear out the side streets. Shadeslayer, get up top. Let us know what we're getting into." Rex brought one of his pistols up and fired into a nearby building without turning his head. Glass shattered and a Lost tumbled through the now open window. "Everyone, keep your heads on a swivel. These things could pop up anywhere. It's only a matter of time before a horde like that comes up behind us."
Ruby turned to face south, away from the gun car. There were plenty of Lost corpses in that direction, and a few live ones as well. She looked through the scope to see just how many there were. There was no massive horde, but quite a few still shambled toward the sound of gunfire…
There were also a few kids among them. Girls with ponytails, boys in sports shirts… all with the same gray skin and green bulges. Ruby focused on one of their faces. The look in the girls' eyes was one of animalistic hunger, like a lion eyeing its prey. Ruby lowered her weapon. She'd played plenty of zombie killing games before. None of them had children zombies. She didn't like the idea of needing to put them down. But like they said on the Skyranger, they weren't kids anymore. They were hostile Lost. If there was anything left in their heads, shooting them would be doing them a favor.
"I can keep our six clear," Ruby offered. "Right now at least, there's not many of them."
Rex nodded. "Get up high and do so."
"Will do." Ruby ran to the closest two story building, put all her weight on her bionic leg, and launched herself up. She rolled upon landing then jumped again to the roof of the next. From there, she had a clear view of the street from the gun car to the hovering Skyranger and beyond. She rested her rifle on the edge of the roof and aimed her rifle directly at a former girl with what looked like a Hisney princess t-shirt.
"I'm sorry." Ruby squeezed her trigger. A single red lance blazed from her weapon and into the child's head. When it faded, she saw pavement between what was left of the Lost's eyes. The corpse fell back, never to rise again for the second time. Ruby took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "She's not a girl. She's already gone." She was really starting to hate this world. At least there was no body reanimating Grimm on Remnant... anymore anyway. She shook her head and proceeded to drain her current magazine on other Lost to the south, using only one laser shot on each.
"Uh, this one's a little tougher!" Rayla called over the radio.
Ruby swung her rifle back toward the squad. Rayla hung by her two swords, which were implanted in the back of a Lost that made Yatsuhashi look short. The brute reached back, grabbed Rayla's head, and threw her into the brick wall ten feet beneath Ruby. She fell to the sidewalk and didn't move. Everyone else on the road opened fire on it. The Lost raised its oversized arm to block the laser fire, which burned away like a leaf under a magnifying glass. Ruby sent a single shot into the brute's shoulder and the arm fell to the ground. A burst from Tahvo's laser cannon tore into the thing's face, dropping it for good. Blue and green smoke rose from the corpse.
"Damn thing took a lot of shots." Rick stepped forward with his pistol raised. He blasted two more laser shots into the thing's head. "Stay dead this time." He holstered his pistols and started pulling on Rayla's swords.
"Medibear?" Rex started.
"Already on it." Dahlia's Gremlin flitted over her head. "I really wish my medigun didn't get shot…" The Gremlin flew over to where Rayla lay and released its blue and green mist.
"Thanks for the-" Rayla coughed into the radio. "Thanks for the help. That stuff really works."
"I can work on you better back on the Skyranger," Dahlia offered.
"I'll take you up on that."
"Menace one-five," Central interrupted, "the vehicle is almost out of ammunition. Get to the VIP and escort and get them out of there."
"We're almost there, Central," Rex said. "There's just two more." He raised his pistols and fired a shot from each into the bloated one on the right. The Lost explodedin a spew of green acid. The sound reverberated off the buildings and some windows shattered. "Ah, dank farrik. Never thought I'd miss the clankers."
"Menace, this is Firebrand," the pilot called, "I'm seeing a horde of Lost moving in from the south."
Ruby swung her weapon that way. Sure enough, a group of at least fifty zombies had congregated and ran toward the squad, some much faster than others. Another brute was among them. "Yep, that's a horde." Ruby focused on the nearest side and fired. Her laser shot burned through the first and apparently the next three as four Lost fell to the ground. All four were trampled by those behind them.
Tahvo shouted something in his native language and stepped in front of the squad. He dropped to a knee, steadied his weapon, and unleashed a torrent of laser shots from his cannon. Everyone with a ranged weapon joined him. Ruby focused on the brute in the horde. She pumped shot after laser shot into the thing, all shots going right through. Even clear headshots didn't bring the thing down. On her final shot in her mag, the brute fell, directly beneath the Skyranger. Ruby searched for more targets from that horde but found none.
"At least hordes fall like the video games," Ruby said to herself. She tracked her rifle back toward the car. "I'm not seeing any more on the way to the VIP." As she spoke, the car's gun fell silent. "Aaaaand they're now out of ammo. Can't see past the parking garage, but I'm guessing…" She fell silent as she noticed something shining in a dead brute beside the car. Something… green, and not in the way of the Losts' growths and blood. She focused her scope on the source.
Ruby's heart skipped a beat and her right eye shot open. Her bionic eye also magnified the image. She didn't know what initially shone through the scope, whether it was the emerald in the sword's pommel or the shining forest green of the blade, but she'd know Redemption anywhere. And… if her husband's sword was here…
She turned her scope toward the downed man. The other person XCOM was there to rescue stood in the way of the man's face, but it didn't matter. The shoes, pants and undershirt were different, but she'd recognize the scale plate armored jacket anywhere. It was ripped, torn, and burned, but it still held together. The visible left hand still gripped a green, heavily modified V4 in its submachine gun form.
The person blocking Ruby's view dropped something and ran out of her line of sight. Ruby's heart fluttered and dropped at the same time. Half of Aaron's face was peaceful, with maybe a few more scratches than Ruby remembered on her husband's. He might as well have been sleeping with his mouth open. The other half though… It looked like part of his skull was caved in. A big, bloody scratch ran from just below his right eye to his neck. He might have even lost the eye. Now that she really looked, his right arm was cracked in two places as well. Worst of all, it looked like some of his skin was turning gray and green.
Ruby fumbled to key her radio. "Medibear! Do you have any more juice in your Gremlin? That's Street Rat down there!"
"Wait, Street Rat?" Dahlia sounded bewildered. "Yeah. Hang on. Just let me…" The radio fell silent. "What do you mean this hunk of junk's empty?" Ruby didn't need her comms to hear that yell.
Ruby grit her teeth as she stared down at her husband. Rex or Central might have given her an order but she didn't hear it. Only Dahlia wasn't pulling back. "Screw it." She compacted her weapon, jumped off the building, and sprinted toward her husband. She only ran past him to yank Redemption out of the dead brute. The Huntress faced the oncoming horde. She might have ten seconds before the horde reached her. Plenty of time.
She shoved Redemption back into its scabbard. The Huntress then grabbed her husband and heaved him up to drape over her shoulder. Ruby then picked up the modified V4 she worked on so long ago. Her husband and his irreplaceable weapons secured, Ruby sprinted back toward the Skyranger. Dahlia also started falling back, firing as she backpedaled.
Ahead, a cable dropped from the Skyranger. A few seconds later, Tahvo rode it up. As soon as his feet hit steel, he turned around and started laying down covering fire. As each second passed, the sound of Lost behind Ruby shrank, but there were still plenty still upright. As more of the squad made it to the Skyranger, more laser rounds shot past Ruby's head. As she approached, a cable dropped from the rear of the transport. She folded up the V4, hooked it to her belt, and jumped for the cable before it reached the ground. She grabbed on and the transport started hauling her up immediately. The laser fire from above silenced.
Ruby finally looked behind her. The horde of Lost now swarmed where she just was. All the deceased people moaned and clawed at the sky. Some of the ones in the center were crushed as the rest of the horde pressed in. Even the minigun might have had trouble holding all those things back.
She tried to turn her head toward her husband, but all she saw was his relatively uninjured left side. "Just hang in there a little more, Aaron. Just a little more."
When she reached the ramp's level, Rex and Rick pulled her in. "Sooka sin!" Tahvo yelled as he stepped further into the crew compartment. "You risked all of our lives for a zombie?"
"He's my husband!" Ruby shot him a steel melting glare before returning her attention to her beloved. "And he's not dead yet."
"He will be soon." Dahlia threw her weapons onto a seat and opened the medical kit in the Skyranger. "Set him on the floor so we can seal this tub up." Ruby took a couple steps inside and laid Aaron on the floor as carefully as she could with his head closest to the ramp. His chest slowly rose and fell, his breath raspy, but stable.
The squad besides Ruby and Dahlia took their seats. The medic worked her way to kneel by Aaron's head with one of the Skyranger's medkits in hand. "Just a nice mist on his face…" Dahlia sprayed the medikit on the worst of Aaron's injury. "And for the insides…" She gave Aaron's mouth and nose a lighter spritz. "That should cure the virus." She offered Ruby the Medikit. "You've got easier access."
"Thank you." Ruby took the medical tool and began spraying everywhere on the left side of Aaron's body. She'd used some of the stuff in training before. She didn't know how, but the spray could penetrate through the toughest armor XCOM had and heal injuries beneath it. When she eventually got back to Remnant, she'd need to get Velvet and her Invidia the recipe.
The medikit clicked dry and Ruby stared at it. She didn't think she used that much. "I'll take that." Dahlia grabbed the empty spray. "He should be stable, but we'll look him over in the infirmary when we get back." She looked at the medikit and grimaced. "And when I'm done with that, I'm making sure every Gremlin on the Avenger doesn't waste a full spray on a scratch."
"You call being thrown into a solid wall a scratch?" Rayla demanded.
"With the injuries I've seen and how you've already recovered fairly well, yes." Dahlia sounded like she just explained that blood leaking from the body is not good.
Ruby returned her attention to the one laying on the floor. All of the green on Aaron's face had faded away and now only red blood lay on the surface. The swelling had almost disappeared. Most of the scars also healed. His face was as pristine as the day she lost him, with maybe a day or two's growth of facial hair. That was a little strange. He was always so careful with his shaving…
But… Aaron was dead. Ruby was there when he died. Stabbed in the chest by a Grimm controlling Cerise. Nalia cremated him in Ellesméra. He's been gone for so long… but here he was. Alive. Breathing. Ruby would have touched his mind if she could have. Instead, she settled for reaching out and laying her left hand on his left cheek. His skin was warm and his beard tickled her thumb as it brushed his face.
A laugh escaped her mouth, then another, and another. Her husband was back. The father of her children was here. Her Aaron was gone, but here was another. He lost his Ruby. God, fate, magic, or whatever meant for this to happen. Ruby pushed aside the part of her mind saying that line of thinking was wrong. She and her husband were going to be together again.
Ruby's first real smile in, she didn't know how long, formed on her face. "Hi," she whispered. She caressed the side of her husband's beautiful head. "It's good to see you again." She leaned forward and placed the gentlest kiss she could on his lips. "We'll get you back to Nalia. You'll be back together soon." As joyful as she was to see Aaron again, she knew just how much a bonded pair needed each other. She wouldn't stand in their way… she'd just hug them both from behind Aaron's back.
Aaron's lips puckered and a quiet moan escaped his closed mouth. Ruby's mood leveled out and she blinked. That was unexpected. "Uh, Dahlia? Is it safe for him to be waking up?" She turned to face the medic.
Dahlia shrugged. "He's stable and not in as much pain as before. It couldn't hurt, but it's not the best either."
"Do we have any sedatives onboard?"
"Just our fists, and that I definitely wouldn't recommend right now."
"Whhooo'ssss ttthhhrrrr?" Aaron moaned.
Ruby whipped her head back to her husband. Aaron's eyes moved under his eyelids. His head lolled from side to side. "Easy there," Ruby soothed. She placed her hands on either side of Aaron's head and held it still. Her husband's whole body stiffened. "Eeeeaaassyy. You took a hard hit. Don't hurt yourself."
"Rrrrruuuuuubbbyyy?" Aaron's eyelids opened slower than a garage door. His green eyes almost met Ruby's. Almost only because they were fogged over. Ruby smiled and brushed her thumbs over her husband's face. She wanted the first thing he saw was her beautiful face that he hadn't seen in so long. He blinked several times over a minute and Ruby saw his eyes come into focus. They locked eyes for the first time in years. Aaron's mouth opened. "Ruby? Am… am I dead?"
"No," Ruby laughed while shaking her head. Her own vision blurred as tears formed while she heard her husband speak for the first time in forever. "Not yet. You're still in the land of the living."
"But… you're dead. Years ago. You passed in my arms."
"But here I am. As alive as you." Ruby giggled. "Welcome to Earth. Not a lot makes sense here."
Aaron's right arm shakily rose from the floor and cupped his wife's face. Ruby sighed and almost let her head fall into it. Once she felt how strong Aaron's hand and arm felt, she let him take her whole weight. Aaron's eyes brightened but darkened just as fast. "Why can't I feel you?"
That sent a stab into Ruby's heart. She took her head out of Aaron's hand. "We don't need to talk about that right now. I don't want to think about it."
Aaron narrowed his eyes. "No… you're dead. You died in my arms." He shook his head. "This has to be a dream. Or some ADVENT trick."
Okay, it is time to talk about that. Ruby grabbed one of her husband's hands and brought it to where the scar on the back of her head lay, covered by her partially regrown hair. She tried not to swoon at the touch. Husband and wife locked eyes. "ADVENT put something like a suppression collar in my head." Aaron stiffened. "They cut me off from Cerise before I even woke up here."
"What?" Aaron drew back his hand and gripped Redemption's hilt. His eyes were hard and horrified. He glared around the transport then back to Ruby. All signs of pain and fatigue vanished. "How long?"
"A few months now." Ruby shrugged. "There's a few people here that help me out. You'll meet them when we get back to the Avenger."
Aaron released his sword and cupped Ruby's face without prodding. "Are you okay?" His words shook with every word.
Ruby stopped herself from melting into his touch. "Depends on the day. Right now, I'm pretty good." Her smile returned.
Aaron just stared with an open mouth. His jaw moved like he was trying to say something, but nothing came out. Before anything could, the Skyranger hit some turbulence. Aaron's head rose off the deck plating and slammed back down. He yelped and clenched his eyes. "Yeah… not dead…"
"Can he… get off the floor now?" an unfamiliar voice asked.
Ruby stiffened and her blood ran cold. There was only one person onboard whose voice she didn't recognize. She creaked her head around to glare at the scientist Aaron was with. Considering the cowardice, Ruby expected to see a scrawny whelp who could hardly raise a Scroll, much less a pistol. Instead, the man was built like a KFL linebacker with a beard straight out of redneckville. "Like you got him off the floor?" Ruby growled. She stood up and clenched her fists. The 'strong' man stiffened. "You left him to die."
The man's eyes shrank and he held up his hands. "Whoa! Lady! You saw his face. He was one of them!"
"Does he look like one of them?" Ruby jabbed her left arm at Aaron while she shifted her right into its gun mode. "Tell me why I shouldn't throw you off this plane." Dahlia's jaw dropped. The others in the squad stiffened.
"Ruby," Aaron wrapped a hand around the back of Ruby's left thigh. She looked down, her anger partially deflated. Her husband looked up at her with surprised and concerned eyes. Aaron's eyes flicked away for a second before reconnecting with Ruby's. "His family was killed by the Lost." He shrugged. "That, and I took a pretty solid hit from a horde before that big one got me. From what I've seen of other people, he was right to assume."
"No." Ruby shook her head and pulled her husband up only to push him into one of the crash seats. "No one is allowed to think that. It's not allowed to happen again. That's an order. You hear me? No one is allowed to even scratch you. I am not losing you again."
"Again?" Aaron blinked in rapid succession, even more confused. "What do you mean again?"
"Like I said. Nothing on this planet makes sense." Ruby braced herself with her bionics. "You'll see more of that when we get back to the Avenger."
"Hey, Aaron?" Dahlia called. Aaron faced her, his confusion still not going away. "Got a headache from that hit?"
"A bit, yeah." Aaron's voice mirrored his face.
"Here." Dahlia raised her right hand and a muted red light came out of her hand and flowed to Aaron's head. The Rider blinked and straightened in his seat and rubbed the back of his head.
"I believe that," Tahvo started, "is what Bobcat would call anime bullshit." He sounded like he just gave a weather update.
Dahlia lowered her hand. "Better?
"Yeah." Aaron lowered his hand. "Thank you."
"No problem." Dahlia smiled. "Good to see you again, little brother."
"What?" Aaron nearly jumped out of his seat. "Little… Who are you?"
Dahlia's jaw dropped and her shoulders slumped. "Wha…" She shook her head and gave a sad smile. "Another person that doesn't know who I am? Thanks, universe…"
Aaron looked between Ruby and Dahlia before settling on his wife. "What's going-" He stopped mid-sentence as his eyes widened. He snapped his head toward the front of the Skyranger. He mouthed 'Nalia' without making a sound. A second later he shivered and slumped back into his seat with a contented sigh. Ruby relaxed as well. Aaron and Nalia felt their soulmates again. She tried not to think that she still didn't even have the base feeling that Cerise was alive.
After a few minutes, Aaron opened his eyes and stared at his wife like he was seeing her for the first time. "So… I'm not dreaming. You're really there. You're really alive." The edges of his lips rose.
"Yeah. I guess. I am." Ruby returned the smile. "Your knight in moderately shining armor here to save your life. You know what usually happens after that?"
Aaron stood up and held his hands on either side of his wife's head. Ruby sighed, wrapped her arms around her husband's waist, and leaned into his chest. She gazed deep into his green eyes. She could have gotten lost in them, but it wasn't to last. Aaron dipped his head forward and their lips met. Ruby closed her eyes and gave into it. It was… intoxicating. After so long of needing Orchid's kisses to feel more than the slightest bit of happiness, this felt amazing. If there wasn't an audience, Ruby might have gone a bit farther.
Her husband pulled away first and gave her the most beautiful smile ever. "Wow."
Ruby giggled. "First time in a few years but it feels like just yesterday."
"You know there's a camera back there, right?" Firebrand called from the cockpit. The couple both looked at the open doorway. "I can see you and everyone on the Avenger's bridge can see you."
"Oh, hush." Rayla waved an arm at the cockpit. "You ruined the moment." She winced as she pulled her arm back. She glanced at Dahlia. "Could I get the, uh, magic hand treatment thing?"
"Sure thing." Dahlia placed a hand on Rayla's shoulder. A red glow came from beneath it.
"Yeah, yeah," Firebrand said. "Either sit down or grab onto something. We're coming up on the Avenger."
Aaron sat back down and stared at the ramp, excitement on his face. Ruby sighed. "Excited to see Nalia?"
"Of course!" Aaron turned his ecstatic face to Ruby, but his excitement faded almost right away. "What's wrong?"
"She hasn't told you?"
Aaron blinked and stayed silent for a long time, likely speaking with Nalia. "What's wrong?" he finally asked.
Ruby shook her head as she used her bionics to brace herself. "If she didn't tell you, it's not my place."
Aaron sighed. "Let me guess, things don't make sense."
"Not at all. Just… don't draw Redemption."
Confusion replaced Aaron's excitement and he faced the ramp again. The Skyranger's engines and the transport itself dipped back. It shook as the landing gear touched the elevator. Aaron's lips twitched upward but his confused expression didn't go away. The ramp hissed open and Aaron stood up.
Before it lowered to the floor, a pink rope looking thing shot into the crew compartment and wrapped around Aaron. It yanked him out of the transport before he could make a sound. Ruby turned her head in time to see Nalia wrap her Rider up in her coils, then her arms. The Bio Viper nuzzled her head to the human's before wrapping around the back of his head. Aaron stood stiff as a tree for a second before hugging Nalia tight.
Nalia pulled her head back and hissed at the entry to the ship. Ruby looked that way as well. Orchid slithered forward with her tongue hanging out and already glowing with her Semblance. Behind her, Yang and Summer stood by the door into the rest of the ship. Yang wore a playful smirk while Summer just smiled.
Ruby returned her attention to her husband. Orchid licked the side of Aaron's face with a doctor's precision. Still, the natural and pleasant side effect of her Semblance blissed him out as he leaned into his dragon. An unexpected irritation rose up in Ruby and she tried to suppress it… but why should she? It wasn't fair. Aaron could sleep in his dragon's arms. Yang might as well be surrounded by hers anytime she was on ship. Why did they get to be so close to their dragons while she didn't even have the half of her brain feeling to know Cerise was alive?
Man, it's weird to write Aaron again. It's been a few years, barring a few Tenga's Tower chapters. Gonna have to get used to him again. Maybe even switch up POVs like I used to. Anyways, see you next time.