"So where are we going?" Wren asked, her ship tailing Cayde's closely as they flew low over the tops of snow-covered firs.

"I had a scout dig up some information about those Fallen weapons we found at the encampment. They didn't have a lot of time so they dumped what they found in an old cabin deep in a Darkness Zone."

"And Zavala cleared you for this?"

"Why do you have to ask questions you don't want the answers for?"

"Cayde—"

"Alright alright! I'll let Big Blue know what's goin' on. Little bully," he muttered. "I just wanted to make up for… for how back I screwed up before."

Wren could understand his desire to right his wrongs, but she kept quiet, unsure of what to do. She didn't want to tell him he had nothing to make up for, as they both knew that was wrong. He'd screwed up. Bad. If this is what it took to help him move forward and make up for the damage he caused, then so be it.

"We have to walk from here," Cayde said, bringing his ship in lower and transmatting out.

Wren followed, landing beside him in the snow. She pulled her hood up over her head to shield from the wind. Overhead snow clouds began to gather, blotting out the blue sky but they still had plenty of daylight left before sunset.

"How far do we have to go?" Wren asked, turned to Cayde who gave her chin a gentle nudge before leading her toward the trees.

"Few miles past the tree line, then through a mountain pass. There's a cabin on the other side so… about ten miles total?" he said, strapping a rope to his hip and checking added pouches for supplies.

Wren sighed. "I should have asked before I came."

"What, you don't like hiking?"

"Ten miles, one way, through a Darkness Zone, in shin deep snow, with a guy who makes me run because his stride is so long… let me see, what is there about this I might find unappealing."

Cayde snorted. "I could carry you if you want?"

"I might take you up on that later."

"I still owe you from that first time," he said, moving a branch aside for her to pass under.

"First time?"

"Don't you remember? I was stuck in that cave with a few less appendages, and you saved me?"

"Hardly," Wren smirked. "You would have done just fine in the cold without me."

"Hm, sure I saved you on that one but the next morning? You pretty much pulled me up the mountain yourself."

Wren did recall the incident but she wouldn't say she pulled him up. He did a fair bit of it himself of she wouldn't have been able to move him at all.

"We've come a long way since then," he said. "You don't even have to be freezing to death to cuddle with me now."

"I missed you."

Cayde looked over his shoulder at her and smirked. He extended a hand and Wren took it for a moment, giving it a squeeze before he let her go and focused on the path once more. She kept close to him as they walked, feeling the weight of Darkness on her shoulders as they passed deeper into the snowy woods.

A few birds fluttered by, disturbed by their presence. Their boots crunched in the snow and Wren walked in Cayde's footsteps as best she could, lengthening her stride to match them. It was nice to be away from everything. Even if they were trekking to some cabin in the middle of nowhere, at least she wasn't in the Forest. She could be calm here. Maybe even let down her guard enough to play.

She glanced at Cayde's back, then scooped up snow and packed it into a tight ball before throwing it at him. The snowball burst as it struck his shoulder and he stopped dead in his tracks. Quickly she made another and the second he turned she hit him square in the face. Laughter fill the space between them and she took a few steps back as he neared, a sly smirk on his face.

"You think you're real cute, don't ya Sugarbird?" He scooped up a massive amount of snow and began packing it as he neared her.

"Don't you do it," she warned through a giggle.

"Oh, you can dish it out but not take it huh?"

The snowball hurtled toward her face but Wren ducked it, choosing to run straight into Cayde instead. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pushed with all her might but he barely moved. Instead, he grabbed her and spun her around, pushing her down in the snow. He straddled her hips with his knees, arms on either side of her head and grinned down at her.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" He tilted his head. "A little penguin?"

"You've already used that one."

"What?"

"Penguin. You've already used that one. Try again."

Cayde leaned in and kissed her, the heat of his plating coming as a bit of a shock to Wren. She slid her hands up his jaw line, his warmth passing through her damp gloves and when she shivered, he helped her up.

"Sorry if I can't think of any more wintery birds right now. Didn't know you were keeping track. C'mon. We still have a while to go before we get to the pass."

She'd never talked to him about the names before. It had been an annoyance at first but now she thought it was funny. Sweet even. She wondered if he called her the weird bird names when she wasn't around and if it ever confused anyone but then she remembered the death where he'd called her by her name. It had felt so… wrong.

They traveled another mile or so without speaking, Wren lost in her thoughts when suddenly Cayde stopped and she ran into his back.

He put an arm behind his back and held her still as he scanned the forest around them. She didn't have to ask what was wrong. The birds were gone and they were surrounded by silence. There was nothing. No wind. No animals.

"We should hurry," he said, his tone low.

"Why? So the birds are gone. It's cold."

"I can hear… something."

Wren turned toward the forest and strained to hear anything but at last she gave up and shook her head. She looked up at Cayde who had his eyes locked on something in the distance.

Snow began to fall gently between the trees. Cayde charged ahead and Wren followed, struggling to keep up. The closer they went to the pass, the more thinned out the trees became, allowing them less cover. Wren's legs ached from pushing through the snow and her breath came in sharp gasps that dissipated in whisps of white.

The farther they went, the heavier the snowfall became. If they weren't careful, they'd get caught in another blizzard. She was tempted to tell Kiran to send a message to Sisre, but before she could, a shot rang out through the trees.

"Run," Cayde demanded, grabbing Wren's arm and pushing her in front of him.

She nearly fell to her palms but recovered her balance and ran as the forest behind her erupted in chaos. Pikes in the distance grew ever closer, their sounds distorted by the snowfall. Shots were fired all around and Fallen laughter followed.

The distinct shots of the Ace of Spades echoed behind her but she continued to charge toward the mountain pass, only for her heart to drop when she saw what waited for them across a field of ice that had to be a small like. She slid to a stop and Cayde ploughed into her.

"Cayde, the pass!"

He cursed under his breath when he noticed a rockslide had filled the crevice with debris and boulders. The smell of burning in the air led Wren to believe the Fallen had done it intentionally to trap them on the frozen lake, out in the open.

"What now?" she asked.

"There's another way, but you're not gonna like it. Follow me." He ran around the right side of the lake, heading for a massive pile of boulders covered in snow. "Up here."

Wren scrambled up the rock beside him and when she joined him at the top, he uncoiled the rope at his hip.

"Tie it around your waist," he said, handing her a free end.

"What?" she looked to the sheer cliff face before them. "We'll be open targets if we climb that. I think we should—"

"We ain't climbin' Sugarbird."

Cayde stomped the ground between a grouping of rocks, his boot slamming in with such force that the ice began to shatter. He reached down and shoveled thick chunks of ice away to reveal a small, round cave, barely wide enough to accommodate him. It was completely filled with water, which darkened to pitch black only a few feet from the surface.

She took a step back, rope clenched in her fists.

Cayde snatched the rope from her, bullets and energy rounds pinging off of rocks all around them. He tied the rope tight but Wren couldn't stop staring at the hole, her breathing ragged as her body began shaking from more than just the cold. Sweat beaded under her armor and every time she blinked she saw flashes of light through holes in the top of a water talk. She heard the echo of her sputtering for air. Felt the water in her nose and mouth.

"I can't…. Cayde I—"

"You have to," he said, grabbing her upper arms. "I dunno if these Fallen have weapons that can take us out, and for once I'm not willin' to take that bet. I need you to trust me."

"You don't understand I—"

"Sugarbird!" he snapped and her eyes met his. "Trust me. Hold your breath and whatever you do, don't let it out. Close your eyes and just… trust me."

She didn't want to but with the Fallen closing in, she felt she had no choice. Without another word Cayde went into the hole head first, the rope growing taut around her. Tears streaking her cheeks she took a deep breath and went in head first after him.

The frigid water shocked her system and she almost exhaled. It felt like thousands of knives stabbing into her at once, from everywhere. Her shoulder smacked into the wall and her heart nearly burst from her chest. She scrambled along the cave, blindly grabbing anything she could to move her along. The rope was tight around her ribs, digging in despite her armor and Cayde pulled her through as fast as he could but it wasn't fast enough. She had to get out.

Her lungs were on fire and she fought against the desire to open her mouth, to gasp for air she knew wasn't there. A glove became caught between some rocks and Wren snatched her hand out so hard she flung it into one of Cayde's spurs. She hadn't realized she'd gotten so close to him.

Panic rose in her chest and focusing on getting through was overcome by the urge to breathe. To run. Cayde's pace slowed and she could feel the walls growing even closer. There was no longer any indication to her as to which way was up and she felt just as trapped by his presence as she did by the cave itself.

She couldn't make it. Couldn't force herself to hold her breath. Her teeth clenched so hard it hurt but it didn't stop the impulse. Bubbles burst from her mouth and when she inhaled again a bright light blinded her as water rushed down her throat.

"You did great," Cayde said, pulling Wren close to his side while she choked out what water she'd swallowed. "I'm sorry it took so long, I tried."

She didn't speak but the sound that escaped her was somewhere between sobbing and gagging. He rubbed her back as she sat on her hands and knees in the snow, water dripping from her lips. Strands of black hair frosted over, turning to ice. He'd have to get her somewhere warm but they were still a few miles from the cabin and the snowfall was getting heavier.

"Are you alright to go now?"

"I-I think s-so," she whispered, a distinct rasp to her voice.

Cayde helped her stand. "Do you want me to carry you?"

She shook her head. "I c-can walk."

"Well, I'm gonna keep the rope around you in case the snow gets so bad I have to lead you through. And Sugarbird? I will carry you if I think it's getting' too rough."

"L-let's just g-go," she chattered, hugging herself tight.

Cayde didn't waste any time. He pulled her as fast as he could through the snow, but the farther they went, the harder it became for her to keep up. She stumbled behind him and when he looked back to check on her and realized her eyelashes had frozen together and she'd been blindly following him, he cursed under his breath.

"Dammit, Sugarbird." He didn't ask, just scooped her up. There were no protests from her, only a pained whimper. The leather of her armor crunched when he held her close but she wasn't shivering much. "Stay awake."

"I'm… n-not all that c-cold," she quietly insisted.

Hypothermia was worse than he'd thought but hell, he should have known.

"Just hang in there. We'll be at the cabin soon and I'll start a fire. That'd be nice, right? A fire and maybe some dry clothes."

She only replied by turning her face into his chest. The snowfall had gotten so thick he could hardly tell where he was going. Wind rushed past them, snapping his cloak behind him. It felt like forever before he saw it, a dark mass in the snow.

The blizzard had covered most of the small cabin except for the roof, of which only the top few feet were exposed. A thick blanket of white covered the top and soon the whole building would be consumed.

"Stand here," he said, trying to get Wren to stand but she crumpled to her knees the moment her feet pushed through the snow. "Look, just stay here. I have to clear a space for us to get in."

He'd yelled over the howling storm but Wren didn't seem to hear him. He untied himself from her tether and rushed to the roof where he could dig out the roof hatch. Snow flew in all directions as he tore at it like a dog digs in the dirt. Where the hell was that damn hatch?

At last he found it and yanked it open, peering into the darkness below. Didn't look like anyone else was here. He went back for Wren who wrapped her arms around his neck when he picked her up and got her to the hatch.

"Sit here," he instructed, placing her to sit with her legs in the hole. He hopped in and held his arms up to her. "Go ahead and drop. I'll catch you."

She had to reaction at first and when he was about to speak again, she slid forward and dropped into his arms with a gasp. Cayde let her sink to the floor before he climbed up and closed the hatch, plunging them into complete darkness.

"Cayde?"

"I'm still here. Let me get sine candles lit."

The place was dustier than he remembered. Though that checked out. This place hadn't been an active Hunter safe house in a long time, mostly due to the unpredictable nature of the weather. Wren was trying to drag herself up onto the couch but Cayde stopped her.

"Hold it. Get those clothes off first. I'm sure I still have some clothes and blankets stashed around here somewhere."

He rummaged around in the little side rooms until he was able to collect some old sweaters, pants, blankets, and several pairs of socks. Wren was struggling to pull her armor off so Cayde set the dry things down to help her.

"Don't make any moves," she said, a hint of jest in her tone.

"Damn. Now I'll never know if I have a kink for people suffering hypothermia."

She slipped into a few of the articles of clothing he'd brought while he found some wood stockpiled in what should have been the entryway. While he was there, he checked the metal box inside the door. Inside was a storage device with all the information they'd come for. Soon he had a fire going and decided to change into something dry himself. It'd likely take everything he had to make sure her body temperature would rise.

"How are you?" he asked, sitting on the floor in front of the fire with her. She shrugged and he pulled her to sit between his knees. She leaned back against him, cuddled close in layers of blankets.

"Wh-what are w-we here for ag-gain?" she chattered, shivers overcoming her.

"Information. I already have it, but we'll have to get it back to the Tower before I can see what was left for me." He sighed. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Seems like I'm always getting' you into some kind of mess."

She craned her neck to look up at him, reaching to rest her hand on his cheek. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"This is m-my life, Cayde. I'm alw-ways in some kind of m-mess. That's not y-your fault."

He tightened his arms around her and closed his eyes, leaning into her hand, icy fingers trembling.

"Get some rest. I'll get a message out to the Tower and get them to send Cerulean to get us. Are you feeling warmer at all?"

"A little. Really sleepy."

"Close your eyes. I'll keep watch over you. Just in case."

She hummed a content sigh and hugged herself, her body relaxing despite the shivers. He stared into the fire, watching as the flames licked across the dried wood. Their wet clothes hung in the bathroom but he thought about what was in his belt pocket. Her ring. He'd wanted it to be special… to be at the right time but… when would that be?

He cleared his throat. "Listen, Sugarbird I uh… I wanted to talk to you about somethin' kind of important. Well, it's really important. I mean, it's important to me I guess it… whether it's important to you depends on if you say yes. And you don't have to! I mean, I'd really like if you did. If ya don't then uh… this might get really awkward. Come to think of it, sayin' something out here in the middle of nowhere might be one of the worse mistakes I've ever made. Not that I think it's a mistake at all, that's not… son of a…Okay. Look. I'm not good at this kind of thing so I'll just come out with it. Sugarbird, I… I love you. And I really hope you say yes when I tell you… I wanna return the favor. I have a ring in my pocket and I'm ready for this. I haven't been so ready for anything since—"

He realized she hadn't moved during his whole jumbled mess and leaned around to look at her face. She was asleep, her lips parted slightly. His mechanical heart had nearly burst loose and run off on its own and she was sleeping so peacefully.

A ragged laugh escaped him and he rested his head on her shoulder, wrapping her tight in her arms. Good thing she wasn't awake to witness his utter disaster. The proposal would have to go better than that. It had to or he'd have Sisre to face for it. Besides, Wren deserved better. At least words that he didn't struggle through.

But that was one hurdle cleared, even if she didn't hear it. He'd said it. Finally said it. He loved her. Something about it felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Carefully he picked her up and wrapped the blankets around them both as he moved them to the couch.

Wren was tucked in close to his side and he hoped her being squished between him and the back of the couch would help raise her body temperature. Her head on his chest she mumbled quietly until she was able to settle down and drift off once more.

He twisted a damp, black curl around his fingers and kissed her forehead, unable to stop the small smile and light feeling in his chest.

"I love you, Sugarbird."