Wren followed him a little too closely as he led the way from the hanger to Zavala's office. He wished he could tell her to go home. To spare her the anger they had surely incurred from Zavala. It wasn't her fault and Cayde would stick to his guns about that.

Late afternoon light cast long shadows as they entered the bustling courtyard. All around were whispers of the Infinite Forest and Cayde knew they'd have trouble on their hands. A lot of these newer Guardians wanted to get in there and make names for themselves… or a little Glimmer, but he'd be willing to bet most didn't know the dangers. Didn't fully understand what it meant to be lost in there.

He looked over his shoulder to Wren, knowing the Guardians would see her and have confidence to do what she'd done. Go into the Forest and return unscathed. But they weren't like her. God-slayer…He wished he had that confidence in her the way the other did. The way they watched in admiration, as he did, but without the fear he had. They'd never have the fear she'd never return.

She stopped a few feet short of the office door and Cayde turned to her.

"You okay?"

"I shouldn't have gone with you."

"I'm the one he's gonna lecture, don't worry about it."

"I knew better. He knows I knew better."

Cayde sighed, tilted his head. "You're nervous about this, but you just went into the Infinite Forest, where Guardians have been lost to time and never seen again? Kid, you gotta rethink your priorities."

The smile she gave him didn't reach her eyes. He kissed her forehead, lingering a moment before looking her in the eye and nudging her jaw playfully.

"What's the worst Big Blue can do, huh? Make you clean up after the Crucible?"

"As long as it's not the locker rooms…"

Cayde smirked. "C'mon."

He opened the door and Zavala put his pen down and sat back in his chair as they approached. A stern expression was all they were greeted with but when Wren tried to sit, he held up a hand to stop her. Ikora followed them in and closed the door behind her. Oh great.

Cayde moved in front of a chair and Zavala didn't stop him, but he remained standing with Wren.

"I assume the both of you know why you're here?" Zavala asked, disappointment in his tone.

"Yessir," Wren answered quietly. Cayde shifted his gaze to her for a moment but she was staring the Commander in the eye. Good girl. He resisted the urge to smile.

"Then you are also aware that Cayde is not your acting Vanguard?"

"I am."

Zavala sighed and stood. "Wren, you are an exceptional Guardian. You've saved us all on many occasions and for that, I am grateful. But what you're doing is setting a bad example to Guardians who look up to you. We rely on order. If Guardians start defying that order because one gets away with it, then we will crumble. Do you understand?"

Wren's gaze faltered. "Yessir."

"For the foreseeable future, you will not leave the City unless by my order."

"So, I'm not going to the Forest with my fireteam?"

"Cerulean was forced to return to the Infinite Forest without you to defeat Panoptes," Ikora said. "They were running out of time. Franz is with them as your replacement."

"This is my fault," Cayde said.

"Oh, of that I am aware," Zavala said. "Wren, you're dismissed. Bear in mind, if you leave without instruction, you will be grounded indefinitely. There's plenty of work to be done in the City."

Wren turned on her heel and left without even a sideways glance at Cayde. When she was gone, Cayde tossed the data pad on the desk.

"What's this?" Zavala asked.

"Information on the Fallen weapons we've been lookin' for. I have a source that's tracked down a few possible camps in the Cosmodrone. Places these weapons have been stockpiled. We know there's a single source that's behind all this, but we don't know who yet."

"This is what you took Wren for?" Zavala asked, reviewing the information on the data pad.

"Yeah."

"Any particular reason you needed her to go and not another Hunter that wasn't already on assignment?" He cut his eyes up at Cayde, who had no answer to give. Zavala leaned back in his chair. "Get a team on this right away."

Cayde turned to leave but his pants got caught on the arm of the chair and he stumbled, the ring box falling from his pocket. In an attempt to right himself, he kicked it and it slid to Ikora's foot where she inspected it a second before picking it up.

Oh shit.

"Cayde… is this—"

"Nothin'," Cayde said, snatching the box from her hand.

"Looks like a ring box to me."

"Cayde, you can't be serious." Zavala said.

"And what if I am? I don't get why you're so against this anyway."

"You know full well why I'm against it! The relationship isn't the problem, Cayde, you are. You cannot stay objective about her. Time and time again you've shown this to be an issue. As Vanguard you cannot show favoritism, or have you forgotten what happened to her when the others speculated as much?"

Cayde set his jaw. Wren had been put through hell for little more than rumors and he didn't want that for her, but he couldn't give her up either. He was in too deep.

"Then why don't you stay her Vanguard?"

"You're missing the point."

"Am I? You don't think I can be objective and hell, maybe I can't. But I can't walk away either."

Zavala tapped his pen on his desk. "Get your teams together to handle this Fallen situation. I'll consider your request, but you must understand that there will likely be repercussions to this. For one, you'll have to explain it to Wren."

"And you don't know how the other Hunters will respond," Ikora offered.

Cayde stared at the floor a moment. Hunters aside, this is exactly what Wren didn't want to happen. She wanted him to be better. To trust her abilities. Put his fear aside and let her do what she was meant to do.

"What can I do to prove I can still act as her Vanguard?" he asked.

"You can start by giving her the appropriate missions. And not take her on random outings when she is already in the midst of a mission."

"So… you're going to let me act as her Vanguard now?"

Zavala and Ikora exchanged glances.

"She is his Hunter," Ikora said and Zavala inhaled deeply. "If the goal is to maintain the order between Vanguard and Guardians, he has to be able to command them all."

"I'm giving you one more chance, Cayde. I don't want to overreach as I know what issues will arise by doing so. But I must do what is best for the Guardians and for the City."

Cayde nodded slowly. "I'll uh… I'll get those fireteams ready to leave for the Cosmodrone."

"Very well. I'll arrange some Titans with a transport."

"Make sure those weapons get to my Warlocks," Ikora said. "If we can figure out the method of their construction, we should be able to trace it back to a source."

"Right," Cayde muttered, jamming the ring box in his pocket before making a hasty retreat.

One last chance. Seemed he was getting a lot of those lately…

Steam rose to the ceiling of the bathhouse and Wren couldn't stop herself grinning ear to ear as she followed Sisre into the main bath area. How long had it been since they'd done this together? It seemed years though she knew it couldn't have been that long. Being a Guardian, it felt like she'd lived several lifetimes already, though she had hardly been alive long at all.

"What do you think of this place?" Sisre asked, nodding as they passed some Warlocks she knew. "I hate the Cabal destroyed the last place but it helps that this one is owned by the same people."

"It's beautiful."

Wren took in the room. It wasn't like the old bathhouse with the glass ceiling and entry into the baths from all sides. This one had similar ornate pillars, but only one side of the bath was accessible via steps. Over the pool itself was a tall, arcing ceiling decorated in blue tiles and inlaid with shimmering gold colored glass that reflected the torches around the water. It reminded her of a stary sky.

The darker atmosphere was more calming to her and through the water was a deep blue, the way the light of the flames danced off the surface was like walking into the night sky itself. The ripples around her ankles distorted the golden glow and she shivered as the hot water warmed her skin.

"Let me get your towel," a voice from behind said and they turned to the attendant. She gave a small bow when they handed them over and Wren quickly sank into the water.

The pair of them swam to the opposite corner and put their backs to the edge of the pool. Wren let her legs float, kicking them slowly while supporting her weight by putting her arms back on the edge.

"We need to do this more," Wren said.

"Agreed. So, what did you get up to when you disappeared?"

"Remember when Cayde destroyed that entire Fallen encampment?"

"How could I forget?" Sisre asked bitterly.

"Well, I guess he was trying to make up for losing that information and the weapons so he got one of his Scouts to track down another Fallen encampment. They left the information in a cabin in the middle of nowhere and Cayde took me there to retrieve it."

Sisre watched her a moment. "And… did anything happen there?"

"Like what?"

"Like… anything you'd want to tell me about?"

"No? Why?"

"No reason. We were worried about you. I didn't even notice you slipping off with him. You were there one minute and by the time we reached Zavala it was like you vanished. Didn't even let me know."

"I'm sorry. It wasn't planned or anything. I wasn't even sure what we were going for until we were almost there. I guess things went well with Panoptes? Is Sagira okay?"

"She's fine and we were able to kill Panoptes but it was tough. We missed you."

"Franz filled in for me?"

Sisre chuckled. "Oh yeah and he was pissed about it too. I swear, he ranted through most of the mission until Rorick told him to can it."

Wren sank into the water until only her eyes were out. She wished Franz didn't hate her so much. When he found her after the incident with Cayde, she thought there was hope. He hadn't been nice to her, but he had been kind. He'd shown a hint of the concern he'd had for her before Beorn's death.

"I know I keep saying it'll get better with time," Sisre said. "And I know the more I say it the less it means to you but… I really do have hope that Franz will come around. I don't know why he hasn't yet but… I'm sure he will."

"I don't want to think about it."

"Okay then how about we make plans for after this?"

"Like what?"

"Well, I don't know about you, but I think I could go for a drink. Maybe some dancing. I haven't been dancing in ages."

"I can get behind that," Wren grinned. "Maybe some curry too?"

"What, no ramen tonight?"

"No, not this time. I just want something a little different is all."

Sisre stretched and relaxed, looking up at the ceiling. "Funny how things change."

"In regards to?"

"I dunno. Everything I guess. I mean, when we first met you practically hated Cayde. Remember that? And now you've given him a favor," she snorted. "Koro's folks don't own the ramen shop anymore and hell, it doesn't even exist anymore. He's hanging around with Hawthorne all the time, learning combat techniques. Going after refugees."

"He's come a long way."

"And our fireteam? So much has happened…"

Wren felt a shiver despite the heat of the water. "Did you know that Flak was missing?"

Sisre went still, her legs sinking. "Seriously? When did that happen?"

"Red War. I guess in the attack he went missing."

"Could be dead…"

"Maybe. Zavala is treating it like he's just missing."

"You know you're safe though, right? I mean, he'd have to be an idiot to come after you."

"I know. I still dream about it sometimes."

"Does Cayde know about that?"

Wren shook her head. Sisre sighed.

"Please don't go back to doing that," Sisre said. "Drawing in on yourself instead of relying on us."

"It's not like that I just… I don't know how he'd take it and with everything else that's happened? Seems pretty low on the list of priorities."

"I just don't want you to suffer alone."

"I appreciate that but for the moment I'm fine. Really. Look, this is getting depressing. Let's get out of here and have some fun."

A sly smirk curved Sisre's lips and her bright eyes narrowed. "Ya know what, there's something I've wanted to do for a long time. We should go."

"Where?"

"Oh, you'll see."

Cayde didn't hear her come in. He didn't hear her stumble across the apartment, tripping over furniture she wasn't used to having yet. He didn't even hear her as she crawled across the bed toward his sleeping form…

He did, however, wake to the feeling of her hot, wet mouth around his cock. Consciousness came to him slowly and the sensation was like a dream but instead of fading, it became more and more intense.

"Oh fuck," he muttered, slowly gripping the sheets as her tongue encircled the tip before she tried to take as much of him as possible. She'd never done this to him before and when he looked down she had the head of his cock and just below stuffed into her mouth, stretching her lips around it. She couldn't get beyond that point but damn did it feel good anyway.

"What's gotten into you?" he breathed, a moan hitching in his throat. "I mean, I'm not complainin' but—" a strangled chuckle rumbled in his chest.

At first he put a hand to the back of her head, restraining himself to push her farther as he felt the opening of her throat around his head. She moaned, sending vibrations through the synthetic skin and he tensed but the smell of alcohol got to him first and he realized she was drunk.

"Sugarbird," he moaned. "Fuck… you gotta stop."

Probably the most painful thing he'd ever said. More than damn near anything he wanted to keep going. It'd been so long since they'd been together like this.

He shuddered as she pulled back, sucking until his head popped out of her mouth. She tried to speak but he couldn't comprehend what she was saying. Just a bunch of drunken nonsense about a spade and a… harness? He took the opportunity to back away, sitting against the headboard. She tried to crawl closer but collapsed to her side.

"You're a mess," he smirked, brushing a lock of hair from her face.

Wren sighed at his touch, and despite wishing she was sober so he could pin her down and show her a thing or two, he couldn't help but laugh to himself. Her few short years had been such a rollercoaster, it was nice to see how far she'd come.

"I'm so sorry about that," Kiran grumbled, materializing to lay down on a pillow he and Sundance shared. "Things got a bit out of hand. I can heal the physical stuff, but being drunk? I swear by the Traveler she's a lot to keep up with like this."

"But she's okay? Not too much trouble, right?"

"No, we didn't have any incidents if that's what you mean. Urg, I didn't even know I could be exhausted. Traveler help me…"

"Get some rest."

Cayde stood and pulled the blanket up around her shoulders but she was already fast asleep, her lips slightly parted as her breathing became shallow. Peaceful. He removed her shoes and tossed them by the door but left her in her clothes before retreating to the bathroom.

Despite her drunken state, he had to admit it was too hot of a scenario to ignore and he wrapped his hand around his cock, made sticky by her saliva. He closed his eyes and imagined if she'd been sober enough to finish the job, those sweet lips stretched around his cock. He stroked long and slow, thinking about her tongue caressing the head with slow swirls and gentle sucking. Though he'd not be so bold in real life, he could imagine what it would feel like to force his cock down her throat, past the point she was capable of and unload deep into her.

A moan escaped him and he quickened his pace, thinking of how it would feel, how her throat would contract around the head of his dick as he unloaded wave after wave of hot, thick cum directly into her. He cursed quietly as he came onto the tile floor, his knees buckling as he held onto the sink for support.

When he finally got control of himself he cleaned the floor and then decided to get a shower, spent but unsatisfied. For a long time he stayed in the hot water, closing his eyes. Steam drifted around him and he considered whether or not to bring it up to her in the morning. She might be embarrassed and he didn't want that, but it was sexual so maybe she needed to know?

"Well then," Sundance chirped, appearing beside him. "That was… new."

"You're tellin' me. If only she wasn't drunk."

"Better than almost falling off the Tower…"

Cayde sighed and leaned against the shower wall. "Damn. I was thinking about that a bit ago. She's come a long way."

"So…" Sun drifted back and forth in the water, her shell giving a satisfied little shiver, sending drops all over Cayde's face. "Whoops," she giggled. "Anyway, so what about the cabin the other night? You plan on trying that again? Preferably when she's conscious?"

"Of course I just… want it to be more special than that."

"Uh huh… and cuz you know Sisre would kill you if you didn't."

Cayde snorted. "And that. Besides, what if she wants to hold off until I can prove I've changed?"

"Have you?" she perched herself in a soap dish like a little bird.

"I dunno. Maybe? I don't want to lose her. In any way."

"Cayde… you know… you know how it is though. Being a Guardian. Loss sort of comes with it."

He abruptly cut off the water and got out, water sloshing to the floor. Loss was nothing new to him. Countless Hunters, friends. When Andal died it ripped his heart out. There were still nights the memories snuck up on him and held him under. Losing Wren? He didn't want to know what would happen to him. What he'd do. How he'd respond.

Sundance sense he didn't want to think about it and didn't bring it up again. She let him dry her off with his towel before she disappeared into the bedroom.

Cayde took his time cleaning up his mess, wishing he could scrape the conversation from his mind but the though stuck tight.

He brought Wren some medicine from the cabinet and a glass of water, which she swallowed down without question. He smiled sadly to himself and brushed a lock of hair from her cheek. She clung to his hand, keeping it against her as she drifted off.

"Trouble maker," he muttered, slipping between the sheets to hold her as he fell asleep.

A pot being knocked off the neighbor's balcony woke Cayde the next morning. He jolted awake at the sound of broken pottery and cursing but the grogginess remained. Wren slept beside him, blankets tossed back and tangled around her legs. At some time after he fell asleep she'd stripped off the clothes from the night before and tossed them on the floor.

A sliver of light on the wall told him it was well after sunrise but Wren didn't seem anywhere close to waking. The curtains blocked most of the morning sun and Cayde silently thanked whoever invented blackout curtains. He rolled over and slid his arm across Wren to pull her closer but an unfamiliar feeling of metal against his plating caught his attention.

"What the—"

In the low light he could barely see the glint of two shiny new nipple rings. She lay on her back, sprawled out and he could see a tattoo between her breasts, curving down her sternum before disappearing from sight. A small red heart, point to point with a black spade. Wings, feathers, delicate chain designs… it wasn't what he'd ever expect from her and yet…

His cock began to swell in his sleep pants as his thumb gently caressed the nipple ring on the breast closest to him. It was real. Holy shit…

Wren let out a low moan and arched her back toward his hand, stretching her arms high above her head.

"Cayde?" she muttered.

"Mornin'," he grinned. "You uh… you have fun last night?"

She rubbed her eyes, taking her time to reply. "I think so. I don't remember much."

"I see. So you remember these little additions?" he teased, caressing one of her nipples.

A hitched moan escaped her lips and she looked down. "What the hell did I do?"

"I dunno but I like it."

"Really?" she glanced up at him.

Cayde nodded. "Especially this part," he said, tracing a finger over the heart and spade on her sternum. Made it feel real. All of it. Made them feel real. Like this could be a thing that could last. "I guess what Kiran said about healing physical things make more sense now…"

"At least I don't feel too hungover."

"Yeah about that. You came in and uh… tried to get kinda frisky so I gave you some water and meds and put you to bed."

"I did what?" her eyes widened.

"Don't worry, I didn't let you do anything. Well… I mean, you did enough on your own before I woke up but I didn't let it go too far."

Wren groaned and covered her eyes with her hands. "How embarrassing."

Cayde chuckled and pulled a hand away to kiss her. "Nah. Hate to admit it, but it woulda been real sexy if you weren't three sheets to the wind." He rolled to prop himself over her, her cheeks flushing. Funny, even the simplest things he did got under her skin. "So, what's the plan now that you're sober?" he asked, thumbing a piercing, his cock pressing against her leg.

She noticed and inhaled deeply. "I don't know… I can keep them I think. If you want me to."

"Not about what I want, Sugarbird. But I would like to make a little request…"

"Oh yeah?"

"Let me have just one go at you with 'em in."

Wren bit her lip and slid her arms around his neck. "And then I can decide if I want to keep them or not. I guess maybe if you make it worth my while to keep them—" her voice drifted off and Cayde took the challenge. He kissed her, a dark chuckle escaping him as he got on his knees between her thighs.

"First we gotta get rid of these," he said, grabbing the sides of her underwear and yanked her into his lap. She gasped but adjusted quickly, getting on her toes on either sides of his legs to push herself up so he could slide them off and toss them aside. His plates of his abdomen pressed against her as he leaned in for another kiss, the wet heat of her making his cock harder where it pushed up against her ass.

"What about yours?" she asked, a moan hitching her breath as he sat up and traced a fingertip down the center of her folds, parting them to look at her.

She squirmed at his touch and he slowly sank a finger deep into her, causing her to arch her back and press against him.

"Wish I could do this all day," he said, his gaze tracing up her body to her face.

"Why can't you?"

Cayde glanced at the clock as the time changed over and an alarm began to buzz. "Because, I have to be at work in a half an hour." He got on his knees and leaned over her, slapping the clock to turn the alarm off. When he sat back between her thighs, hands on her knees, he gave an annoyed sigh. "I guess I gotta wait so I can take my time with you."

"Why wait?" she said, her tone quiet despite the way she stared him in the eye.

He gave one of her nipple rings a playful nip and she inhaled sharply, goosebumps scattering across her skin. "Because, Big Blue says I can be your Vanguard again and I don't wanna screw that up the very next day. I gotta be on my best behavior."

"Well… how long would it take for you to be on your worst behavior?"

"You really wanna do this even though I just have a few minutes?"

"Let's see what you can do," she said, grinding against him.

"When you say it like that…" he smirked and kissed her before kicking off his pants and pulling her hips back onto his thighs. His cock lay thick and heavy against her, filling the space between her thighs. Suffice to say he was a bit more worked up than he thought and a dribble of precum glistened on the tip.

Cayde adjusted, rubbing the head against her entrance, relishing the way it made him hot and slick. He pressed against her, watching carefully as he entered her, nice and easy. Inch by inch until he was all the way in and he gripped her soft hips, restraining himself from getting too rough with her immediately. There was still a lot of uncertainty about what she liked and how much she could take.

Looking down at her, slowly moving his hips, he wasn't sure what was hotter, watching his length disappear into her, or seeing the shadow of the bulge in her belly. He could almost make out the definition of the head of his cock and he groaned.

"Thought you were in a hurry?" she moaned, putting a hand on her belly to feel him. "T-thought you were gonna show me what… what you can do? You'll be late."

"I dunno. Maybe this wasn't a great idea…"

"You won't hurt me."

Cayde hesitated, then got to his knees, pulling her hips up to meet him. He put one hand on the bed beside her head and the other supported most of her weight. Shivers coursed through his body as he rammed into her. Wren tossed her head back and cried out with the force, her body tightening around his shaft, fingertips biting into the synthetic skin between the plating of his shoulders.

"Wish I could take my time with you," he moaned. "You're so damn beautiful…"

Wren pulled at him and he eased down closer to her, holding her tight while increasing his pace. He needed more. To be closer. Deeper. He closed his eyes and pressed his cheek to her hair. Her arms wrapped around him, clinging to him, her breath hot on his neck, moans spurring him on.

She cried out for him, her back arching against him. He could feel her breasts between them, her piercings gently scraping his plating with every thrust. This was it. This was them.

"Fuck," she gasped, her orgasm rocking through her.

It pushed him over and he came deep inside her, crushing her tight against him.

He recovered before she did but neither of them moved. She trembled a little under him but her arms around him were still strong, keeping him close.

"Is it weird…" she began but after several seconds of silence he spoke.

"Is what weird?"

"I wish you could be… I don't know… closer?"

Cayde smirked and rolled to lay on his side, tucking her close to him. "I was just thinkin' the same thing. But I don't think there's any way you could be closer to me than you are right now." He kissed her forehead.

Wren stared at his chest, tracing little shapes with her fingertip. He had to go but damn, he would have paid anything to not have to leave her here. There was a tired sadness in her eyes and he propped up to get a better look at her.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." She paused, searching his face. "I don't know I guess… sometimes I don't feel like I know much about you is all."

Well shit. Cayde didn't know how to reply to that. He had a hard enough time being open about his life when he wrote in his journals. Being open with her? His insides twisted.

"I uh… ya know, I gotta get ready to go but when I get home maybe we can talk?"

She sighed. "Yeah. Sure."

"Hey," he pulled her chin up so he could look her in the eye. "It ain't exactly easy for me just… I'll do my best."

"Okay."

He kissed her but he could tell she was withdrawn so he peppered her face with kisses until she giggled and shrugged away from him.

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

Cayde cleaned up, threw on his armor in record time, and gave her one last kiss as she was getting in the shower. Fuck he was in trouble. What would she wanna know? And what would he even say? As he walked toward Zavala's office he tied the red favor around his arm and smiled. This was it.