Wren's fever was gone by the time she had to get up and leave but that didn't stop Cayde from fretting over her. She pulled on her boots but tucked the laces into the top as she'd have to gear up when they met with Sisre and Rorick. For a moment she remained on the edge of the bed, breathing deeply, bracing her hands on her knees.

"You sure you're up for this?" he asked from the doorway.

"Cayde," she warned.

He held his hands up defensively. "I'm not sayin' you aren't capable. You were very sick is all."

She sighed through her nose and stood, stretching her arms high over her head. He watched as the line of her spine curved and the early morning light from outside traced the planes of her face.

"What?" she asked with a yawn when she caught him staring.

All he could do was shake his head. "Can't a guy admire his girl every once in a while?"

In truth, he wished it was as simple as that. She was beautiful, yes, and he was admiring her but the conversation from the night before was still fresh and though he intended to change, he was still the same as before. The Infinite Forest was no stroll in the park. Too many Guardians had gone in, never to be seen again and Ikora had sent Wren without even consulting him first.

The Vanguard was doubting his ability to lead and if he wasn't careful, the rest of his Hunters would begin to doubt him as well. He hadn't missed the rumors. Or more, the spreading of truth in this case. Too many had seen him slaughter the Fallen at their camp. Too many had seen him almost punch another Hunter for bumping into Wren at the bar.

Maybe he was going too far.

All this for fear of losing her. In whatever way. Death, disappearance, break up…

He must have been lost in his own head for too long because the next thing he knew she was pressed against him, arms around his waist. He blinked down at her and pulled her back over to the bed where he sat down and pulled her close, resting his head on her shoulder. Her fingers lightly traced the back of his head and neck while the other arm draped over his shoulder.

"I'm trying," he muttered.

"I know." She kissed the top of his head and he closed his eyes, pulling her tighter. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so afraid of losing someone. The Queen was already slipping away and that was terrifying enough. And as for himself? He felt he was losing himself to. But not because of Wren. Because he was losing control over his own fear.

"It's time to go," he said at last, wishing it wasn't but knowing that unless he continued on this spiral, he had to hold up his end of the promise. He had to try. Be better. Be more responsible. Hell, wasn't that was the Queen had pushed him toward this whole time? He could do this.

Wren walked at his side toward where Zavala stood waiting with Ikora and Sagira. Rorick and Sisre weren't far behind, one of them carrying a duffel bag of Wren's armor which they handed over upon greeting her.

The mission briefing itself was simple enough and Cayde actually paid attention to what Zavala was saying. The eye contact made the Titan uncomfortable, and Cayde could see the suspicion playing on the Commander's face. Not that he could blame him. This was the most attentive Cayde had been at a briefing in… well, ever probably.

Don't get use to it big blue, Cayde thought.

Information from the Forest showed a Cabal invasion being generated there and Osiris had somehow sent word that the invasion needed to be shut down immediately. Cabal. Wren could handle Cabal. She may not have defeated Ghaul, but she did fight him single handedly. She could do this. She could do this.

"And I have one more surprise," Ikora said with a little smirk, holding her hand up to reveal Kiran who flew to Wren and circled her in excited halos.

"Kiran?" Wren asked to which Ikora nodded.

Wren grabbed the little Ghost and clutched him tight to her cheek. He was back and Wren was ecstatic. Even Cayde had to smile at that, casting a soft, sideways glance at Sundance who was hovering close to his shoulder. He didn't know what he'd do without her, even for a little while.

Cerulean was dismissed and Cayde and Wren exchanged reassuring nods.

"There's one more thing we need to handle," Ikora said. "One of my Hidden was tipped off about the Fallen weapons we've been trying to track down but there are too many leads for them to all be true. I suspect a good deal of them are red herrings so I need you to assign some of your Scouts to held my Hidden in their missions."

"I have a few I can spare," Cayde replied. "Quantis Rhee's been hangin' around Nessus too long. Maybe it's time she took a break from mapping Vex caves and saw some daylight."

"Very well. I'll send the details to you via your data pad. Let me know which locations are best for your Scouts and we can dispatch them immediately."

"If that's settled, then get to it," Zavala said, turning his back on them.

Cayde and Ikora glanced at one another, then walked toward the center of the new courtyard, out of earshot of the Commander.

"He's still pissed at me," Cayde said.

"He's worried about you. Your erratic behavior isn't helping your case, but I guess that favor around your arm means you and Wren have made up? What happened that last time? After your incident with us you disappeared for a while and no one knew where you were."

"I didn't leave the City."

"Hm. So?"

Guilt rushed up Cayde's spine, but he stretched it out and clasped his hands behind his head with a smile. "What, a guy can't lay low for a couple days and just binge old shows and scarf pot stickers?"

Ikora's face told him all the ways she didn't believe him but he also knew she wasn't going to push the subject.

"Fine. I only hope this means you're on the right track to stabilize yourself again."

"Sure thing. Headed to the Hanger right now for a meeting with Holliday about a supply shipment for the folks that stayed in the Farm."

Ikora smiled. "Get to it then, Hunter Vanguard."

She turned on her heel and walked away, robes flowing behind her. Though she smiled and waved at most that passed, the crowd parted for her. He always admired the ease of grace she had. Like royalty or something. That was it. A part of the Queen. A twinge of happiness graced his heart and he smirked. Maybe his Queen hadn't abandoned him after all.

The Infinite Forest stretched out before them, ever changing, full of Vex. The exterior had been swarming with Red Legion, remaining troops of Ghaul's that had fled Earth after their leader's death. They killed quite a few of them before entering the Forest, sending word back to the Vanguard so they could get more fireteams there to finish up the stragglers.

"I don't like this place," Sisre said as they made their way through the first corridor.

The triangular shaped hallway was adorned with Vex statues cast in gold, lit by fractalized light from the shifting walls, and large metal braziers.

"It's like it's… moving," Rorick said, edging closer to where the stone appeared to me moving in a rippling motion toward the far end of the hall.

"Just wait," Wren replied, taking the lead and stepping through the gate way into the Forest itself.

Before them a large cylindrical tower appeared out of nowhere but there was nothing else between the two points.

"How do we get there?" Rorick asked, easing toward the edge of the platform, jumping back when the path materialized in front of him. Stairs formed, leading down to a lower platform that went sharp to the left. A couple of Vex walked around but didn't seem to notice the small fireteam watching them. "I see…"

"Osiris' Reflections must be looking for Panoptes too," Sagira said.

"Even if he makes a million of them, they'll never find Panoptes in time. Not in this place," Kiran said.

"That's why we have to find the map."

"We'll find it," Rorick said, leading the way across the platforms and through the few Vex that lingered about. "Red Legion!"

Sisre fell back with her scout rifle and shot the shields of Phalanxes, allowing her fireteam chances to proceed through the line of them with ease. Rorick took glances back at her every once in a while, but seemed to be content enough that he and Wren were destroying and forces that might do her harm.

Wren wondered if this was how things could be with her and Cayde. Could he ever watch her back but not interfere with her progress? Rorick cast a watchful eye, but he let Sisre do what she was good at. She admired what they had and more than anything, wanted that same trust and comfort with Cayde.

"This place is like a weird funhouse," Sisre mentioned at the cleared the area and moved through the cylindrical room and on to the next set of platforms. Several more formed, some square and hard, others round and dripping with vines. Pillars rose all over and Red Legion as well as Vex could be seen on nearly every platform, despite there being few of them considering what was expected.

"It makes me nervous, being in here," Wren admitted. "I keep thinking we're going to be overrun but there never seems to be many enemies at all."

A shot clipped a step by Rorick's boot, causing him to jump back, a low rumble in his chest.

"Damn Hobgoblins," he muttered.

"I've got it," Sisre replied, singing the scout rifle over her back in favor of her sniper which she affectionately tapped with her faceplate in a kiss before drawing the weapon up.

Wren and Rorick kept low, each splitting off at the bottom of the stairs to arc left and right, destroying ground troops while Sisre took care of the Hobgoblins from range. Every time they cleared an area, Rorick waited patiently at the gate for Sisre to catch up before proceeding.

"I feel like we're going to be here forever," Sisre said.

"Time moves differently in here," Wren replied. "This place doesn't make straight shots either. These paths lead all over, in twisting winding sections. I can imagine how so many Guardians got lost in here."

"I wonder if any of them came in and spent a few days only to go out and like, decades pass," Sisre said. "Can you imagine that? Leaving with one life only to come back to one that's totally different than the one you left?"

Wren tensed, fist clenching around her Better Devils.

"I mean, I'm sure that won't happen to us!" Sisre said.

"I see the exit," Rorick said and the two women gladly left the conversation behind.

The thought made Wren sick. What if that happened? What if they got out and Cayde had moved on? Written her off as dead and made a life with someone else? Or what if he came in after her? She took a deep breath. She couldn't keep going like this. Not and focus.

"This is a combat loop," Sagira said as Cerulean passed through the next gateway. "A compilation of the distant past when the Cabal attacked Mercury. The Vex must be testing alternative outcomes."

The next gateway opened to a simulation of Mercury, pale sands and dusty plains stretching out before them. In the distance, Wren could see a massive arched form blocking out some of the sun.

"What the hell is that?" Sisre asked.

"I haven't seen that before," Wren replied. "I'm not sure what it is."

"But that's where we're going," Rorick said, dropping down to the ground where the Red Legion Legionaries turned on them immediately.

Vex at the other end of the platform took the arrival of the Guardians as a chance to kill the Cabal from behind. The Fanatics threw themselves into the fray, exploding into shards of metal and radiolarian that splashed across the armor of all the Cabal in the vicinity. Swirling white light illuminated circles on the ground that Cerulean had to dodge to reach the drop off on the other side.

The three Guardians stood there a moment, wind howling up the steep sides. Rorick peered over.

"With all due respect," he said, his helmet turning to face Wren. "We can make the jump. But I don't think you can. Not without your Bones."

"I can just simulate her Sparrow," Kiran offered, the vehicle appearing in front of the Hunter.

"I didn't know you could do that," Sagira said.

"Let's get ours too," Rorick Sisre said, strapping her guns onto her back as Sambo and Brix simulated the fireteam's Sparrows at the edge of the platform. "Get some speed going first. Don't worry about the enemies if you can."

"You don't have to worry about me," Wren smirked under her helmet, backed up and sped off the ledge, landing hard on the other side. Her Sparrow caught traction and sped off, tail end whipping to the left.

It'd been a long time since she'd been able to do this and her heart raced with adrenaline as she leaned in and gunned it, flying ahead of her fireteam and through a rain of bullets and energy shots. Down into the depths she went, through enemy lines and between spinning lasers.

She dropped section by section, weaving between Legionaries that raged at her in passing and columns and through narrow passes. Cayde would love this! Maybe that's what they needed. Times like before when they could get out and just be Hunters. No saving the world, no responsibilities, no City. Just the two of them, racing along at breakneck speeds through forests and over dunes and into fields thick with flowers. Just be Hunters.

The trio took the Sparrows as far as they could go, stopping once they reached a higher walkway where they dismounted and leapt up to confront the forces before them. As a unit they moved into the simulation, Sisre taking up the rear by several yards to snipe from afar while Rorick and Wren stayed out of her way and killed enemies that took cover behind pillars and half walls.

Rorick gave the orders to toss grenades into a too quiet pass. Wren's grenade tracked Legionaries around the corner and the Hunter and Titan took advantage of the chaos. Wren slid between the dividing walls, firing up at Cabal who were already injured by the blasts while Rorick boosted overhead and dropped the second line.

Wren picked up and ran, ascending the stairs toward the drop zone for a Cabal ship that flew overhead. She reloaded the Better Devils as she ran, her legs starting to feel heavy. Despite the fever breaking, the cold had knocked her strength down a few pegs and she was getting tired.

"Get down!" Rorick demanded and Wren hit her knees a moment before a rocket soared over her head and into the group of Cabal that had just touched ground. Whatever remained were killed by Sisre's sniper, the shots cracking out of her weapon and echoing from the left-hand wall.

Sisre caught up with them and Rorick walked up the steps beside Wren and patted her on the back, chuckling as a puff of dust rose from her cloak and helmet.

"What now?" Sisre asked.

They turned to the only way out; a round opening lined with pale blue lights. Beyond, the red of Mercury rock and sand gave way to blue gray the color of an incoming storm. Rectangular Vex constructs floated overhead but because of the stairs, Wren couldn't see what lay pas the steps.

"We're getting closer. We keep moving," Rorick said, taking the lead up the stairs.

The sky brightened, backlit with a sickly pale green from lights past the floating constructs.

"That's what we were seeing from afar," Wren said.

"Still don't know what the hell it is," Sisre replied.

"Look at that," Sagira said. "Ahead of it. That has to be the map. The Infinite Forest is a doomsday machine, but like this? It's almost beautiful."

"Remind me to admire it later," Rorick said flatly, slamming a new magazine into his rifle.

The space laid out before them was small, with high walls on either side and a lower one opposite the doorway with two circular opening blocked by white Vex barricades. Four short square structures sat in the space, mirroring each other around a round plate in the center.

"Sisre, get the Harpies. Wren take right," Rorick ordered, dropping into the pit and taking a space behind the left most block.

Wren obeyed, just glad to have someone else calling the shots. They quickly killed the Cabal and expected the barriers to drop, but nothing happened.

"What now?" Kiran asked but before anyone could answer, a flash of light and crackling of energy caught their attention.

A large Minotaur dropped to a knee on the center plate.

"That thing'll be a problem," Sagira said but Rorick was already readying his rocket launcher, his rifle by his knee where he knelt on the floor.

Wren leaned around the edge of her block and began to shoot but a shadow overhead made her look up. She gasped as a Cabal Centurion slammed into the Minotaur, sending Wren sprawling with the force of the blow. Her ears rang and the explosion of a rocket against the Centurion's chest didn't help. A shard of the Minotaur pinned Wren to the floor by her shoulder and from the yelling she knew something had happened to Rorick, but she couldn't make out what.

She sat up as much as she could to see Sisre roaring right back at the Centurion, her body arcing and crackling with lightning as she jumped and launched herself into the face of the Centurion. Wren grabbed at the metal shard and yanked, crying out in pain as it caught muscle and ripped.

Rorick was over her a moment later, one of his pauldrons cracked, blood spattered across his chest plate. He offered a quick apology as he snatched the metal from Wren's arm and threw it to the ground. He shielded her while Kiran healed her and though the pain was beginning to fade, an ache remained.

Meanwhile, Sisre unleashed her fury on a Centurion that couldn't stand a chance against her but soon she'd fizzle out and they'd have to see how much damage she caused.

"What's the sound," Wren asked, the ringing in her ears subsiding but a heated buzz replacing it.

"Vex systems powering up," Kiran said. "Those blocks you've been hiding behind? They're Vex security. Lasers incoming," he warned as Rorick and Wren backed, up watchful until the red beams shot out across the pit.

"Run you coward!" Sisre yelled and Wren watched as the Centurion jumped over the next wall, retreating farther into the Forest. Arc energy still crackled around her despite her Super being depleted and she turned to Rorick, touching his cracked pauldron. "Are you alright."

Rorick offered a quick nod. "Yes. The barriers are down as well. Let's move."

"That's Valus Thuun," Sagira explained. "He's headed for the map. We have to stop him."

"We're doing what we can. Sisre, did you assess the damage dealt before he fled?"

"Yes," Sisre replied, taking up middle position as the fireteam ran single file past defense lasers and into the next area. "Massive damage to the left side of his head, cracked chest piece, missing left pauldron. There was a lot of blood," she said and Wren noticed it, spattered against her armor in thick black marks, charred by Arc energy.

"Good. Wren, I need you to Golden Gun him," Rorick said, he and Sisre setting out on killing the few Legionaries and Minotaurs that guarded the next set of barriers. "Aim for the head."

She didn't have to be told twice. Wren scrambled to the top of a half pillar, taking an overhead position before allowing the familiar heat of the Golden Gun form the weapon in her hands. Valus Thuun didn't seem to notice her at first, striking a gigantic fist down at Sisre. It appeared he had a personal grudge against her from before and Wren took that as an advantage. She fired three rounds into the Centurion's back and the back of his head. Chunks of meat seared instantly, hardly leaving any blood from the cauterized wounds.

Valus Thuun thrashed and sputtered, hitting a knee in rage before a rocket from Rorick dropped him dead. The body crumpled, blood pooling underneath. Wren turned toward the barriers which had vanished, allowing them passage beyond.

Rorick and Sisre led the way to the map, Wren following slowly behind. Using her Super might have been effective but now she was tired and longing to get back in her ship and get some sleep. Who knew when they'd be allowed to return home, especially now that the map was about to be in their possession?

"Scanning…" Sagira said, floating in front of the Vex tech that held the map." I can't find Panoptes. The map's too big: I can't search it fast enough. It changes constantly. I need more processing power. There are Vex minds on Nessus that might do the trick. You up for a hunting expedition?"

"Will our Ghosts be of no use?" Rorick asked.

"I'm not sure. They can try I guess but I think this is going to take more than we can manage."

"In that case, I don't see that we have a choice. Let's get out of here and on to Nessus. I'll alert the Commander to our movements."

"Pst," a whisper called Wren's attention. "You did good."

Wren shook her head and smiled.