When Fal-Mai opened her eyes, she didn't want to shut them again.

The Commander must've still been asleep. Eliza was resting on her chest, arms around her still while her hair was splayed out like a platinum brown veil. The calming rush of Eliza's breathing came through clear to Fal-Mai's ears and let her know that she was relaxed right where she was at. She'd spent the night with Eliza, and it was the best sleep she'd had in her year and a half of life. So good, in fact, that it almost made her want to go back to it.

But Fal-Mai didn't want to take her eyes off of the Commander, still snoozing on her. She wanted the image of it burned into her mind, so she would remember Eliza's kindness even in her darkest moments.

Yet, Fal-Mai was so sleepy. Even as good as she slept, it brought her into a state of grogginess once more. Chosen didn't need to sleep—and if Mordenna was to be believed, he couldn't at all. But something about having Eliza on her chest made Fal-Mai both not want to move and join her in resting. Well, you are injured. Eliza said it would be best to get your rest, after all. It was hard to argue with that kind of logic. Taking in the scene with Eliza for a few seconds more, Fal-Mai closed her eyes and let her head rest back on her pillow.

Sadly, it was only a few minutes until she felt Eliza rise, yawning as she did. With the Commander awake, Fal-Mai no longer wanted to pretend. She sat up, stretching as best she could. When she opened her eyes again, Eliza was looking at her and smiling. "Morning, Fal-Mai."

Fal-Mai blinked, still trying to get the sleep out of her eyes, rubbing at them. "... good morning, Eliza," she replied, voice quiet. Goodness, she sounded sleepy. "—apologies for my tiredness."

Eliza chuckled and it further warmed Fal-Mai's heart. "Don't worry about it, I don't blame you." Eliza herself looked refreshed—and it may have been just Fal-Mai's groggy view of the world, but the bags under Eliza's eyes seemed to have shrunk. "Honestly, I think you should keep sleeping. Need that rest, and all, and might as well take advantage of it while you can. Me, I have a thousand things to do yesterday."

Nodding, Fal-Mai gently sunk back into her bed. Eliza, meanwhile, assembled the things she'd taken off the night before and slipped them back on—including an article of clothing Fal-Mai couldn't place, which Eliza slipped on under her shirt. Curious. As collected as she'd be, the Commander scooted over on the bed. When she leaned down to hug her, Fal-Mai readily reciprocated. "Get your rest," Eliza softly whispered. "I'll come in to check on you later today."

"Have a good day, Eliza," Fal-Mai quietly replied. With that, Eliza shoved herself off of the bed and drew the curtain aside enough to walk out. Her footsteps faded into the gentle background noise of the Infirmary, the door opening and closing heralding her exit.

Fal-Mai would've very well tried to go to sleep again if she didn't hear both the baritone hum of Jax and the tenor warbling of Mordenna right outside. Hearing Eliza's tone following up, it seemed they met and were talking. How nice.

Wait. Her brothers were coming.

The Assassin shot up in her bed, fumbling for her armor pieces. She couldn't let them see her like this! Not to mention how it would inevitably seem to have Eliza coming out of the Infirmary in the morning! Of course, Fal-Mai knew that putting her armor back on was a lost endeavor—without either her other arm or an extra set of hands, she wasn't going to succeed. Mildly frustrated, she let one of the pieces clatter to the floor as she flopped back in bed, throwing her cloak on.

Just in time, as well. The door to the Infirmary opened once more, and Mordenna was quick to announce them. "Sis. On one hand I'm here to make sure you're alright. On the other? Eliza. I have some questions."

Oh, no. Fal-Mai wound her cloak tighter around herself. She appreciated her brother's concern but also knew the questions he wanted to ask and she didn't really have answers to them. Still, she could hear her brothers walk over. Mordenna threw the privacy curtain back, but with her so deep in her shroud, he was left searching for her. His eyes quickly landed on her discarded armor and they almost bulged out of his head as he gestured wildly. "Sis! My questions continue to mount and I can only hope you're decent under that cloak!"

She'd say something, but with her cloak as thick as it was, it'd most likely hide her voice as well. Wasn't like she wanted to appear in front of the two of them in just her undersuit, anyway—she felt like she was naked. Thankfully, Jax filled in for her. "I would not think our sister one to make a move so brazen, considering her naivety to love. I... hesitate to even summon the line of thought, Mordenna but do you think she even knows about—"

"Mouth, shut, shut it now!" For good effect, Mordenna clamped a hand on Jax's mouth. "Ok. You've got a point but never bring that up again. Alright so that's off the table, thankfully. But still—the whole night with Eliza? Fal-Mai, you sneaky motherfucker?"

Her face warmed and she quickly gathered the blanket around her, moving to cover herself with it. When she was covered from the neck down, she uncloaked. "—would you begrudge me for needing security after yesterday's events?"

While she meant it lightly, what Fal-Mai said seemed to resonate in Mordenna and Jax. Mordenna dropped his hand from Jax's mouth and rubbed the back of his own head, while Jax collected himself. "Perhaps not," he began, "which is why I was attempting to halt our brother from coming in and interrogating you about it. Clearly my efforts failed."

"Well, hey, begrudge me a little levity and the chance to pester our sister over our mutual love for the Commander." Waving that off, Mordenna moved on. "Still, to answer your question? Not at all. Think I'd need a sleeping partner after that, too—if I needed to sleep at all. But, yeah. I meant to come back and visit you yesterday, but I got caught up talking to Bradford, then apologizing to Jax, then hanging out with Jax... you get the picture. By the time I'd freed myself of all that it was late enough in the night that I figured you'd be sleeping or at least trying to rest. So I exiled myself to the Workshop to kick on Wiki's repair/reboot sequence."

It sounded as if Mordenna had quite the productive day. Still, the knowledge that the two fought because of her came back to her and she looked to the side, face falling. "I... must still apologize for lashing out at you, Jax. It was uncouth of me. I had only been focusing on my own suffering and had neglected to think on what I was saying before I said it."

Jax came over to her side and crouched down to her eye level. "I wholeheartedly forgive you, sister. While it did sting, I took my time to disengage and mend my feelings. Admittedly, I also got caught up reconciling with Mordenna and was unable to check in on you again yesterday. I apologize for any worrying or stress that may have caused."

Fal-Mai shook her head. "As the two of you have no doubt surmised... I was in favorable company. I'm simply glad that I did not do any more damage than I thought I did."

"Yeah, well," Mordenna interjected, leaning on the railing of the bed, "we're tough nuts to crack! All those years with the Elders have gotta be good for something, am I right?"

Mordenna's inclination to joke about his very real trauma and abuse always mystified Fal-Mai. If she were in his situation, she didn't think she'd have the spirit to be joking at all... or even continuing to live. The thought of it sobered her.

Her expression must've been apparent, as Jax frowned. "Brother, perhaps joking about the Elders isn't the wisest."

Fair of Jax to protest about that, but... Fal-Mai looked to him properly, searching his face. Did he still revere them, knowing that the wounds they inflicted upon his siblings were no longer just emotional? With that question kicking the back of her seat, her voice lowered. "Brother? I... I do not ask this for seeking conflict. I know that twenty years with the Elders would very much color one's outlook of them, for better or for worse. But—they've taken from me. Do you still think...?"

She let her question hang, the millions of ways it could end clogging her throat. Jax met her gaze for a second or two before looking away. The tension in the air could be cut with a knife as he stayed silent, presumably in thought. Finally, he closed his eyes, eyebrows pushing together. "I... I no longer think of them as gods," he began, voice forcing "them." "My regrets now are no longer of not having done right by them, or leaving them to join XCOM, where my health was more assured, along with yours and Mordenna's." He opened his eyes as he stared mournfully at nothing in particular. "But.. I fear I am fractured, as myself. There are still parts of my being that cry out at my 'demonization' of them. There are still parts of me that mourn for betraying them even as I watched an agent sent from them mutilate you. Do not mishear me; I denounce them. But until I am unified in my hate for them... can you really accept me as a brother?"

Fal-Mai could feel her shoulders slump. It was morbidly gratifying to hear Jax so thoroughly against the Elders, but to also hear him fearing over a fracture of his self? It called to Fal-Mai, and she shuffled over, leaning against him. "It is perfectly reasonable for you to still want to idolize them," she began. "They twisted all of us."

"Hey," Mordenna softly interjected when she said that, but she had a point to make.

"Even you," she responded. "They not only made Jax and I revere them, they warped all of our senses of self. As he has said, parts of Jax still cling to them even after all he's seen of what they've done. You think of yourself as nothing more than a weapon and their treatment of you has driven you to a deep depression. And I..." She took in a deep breath. These were her siblings. She could be open. "I still hold myself to Helena's standards of perfection. Once I had my wits my first thoughts were of how imperfect I was with a part of me removed. It took quite a lot of reassurance to know I was not lesser for the loss—but even so, I cannot claim to have fully moved on." She turned her attention to Jax again. "With all of that said? Of course I accept you as my brother, Jax. How could I not...?"

Jax's face fell and he brought Fal-Mai in for a hug. "I... I-I sometimes forget that I am not alone in my suffering. Please forgive me for my mistakes."

The words Jax said thrummed in Fal-Mai's mind and came back to her in her own voice. Desperately, she freed her lone arm and hugged him back. Before she could speak, Mordenna came over and brought the both of them into his arms. "Ain't mistakes," he said, taking the words out of Fal-Mai's mouth, "Elders isolated us from each other. Of course we'd think of ourselves as islands. Well, if it needs to be said, I'm saying it now; it's not like that anymore. We've got each other, as corny as it is! Don't forget it. If not for the sake of being 'good guys,' then for getting better."

Jax nodded shallowly, sparing an arm for his brother. "I will try my best to remember that, brother. It simply escapes me, sometimes."

"It is hard to remind ourselves," Fal-Mai added, "when we were so used to questioning our own feelings. But we should regard it as resolute fact."

"Yeah." Mordenna patted her back—and from the sounds of it, Jax's as well. "We fight, we get pissed at each other, but apparently that's just what families do. Think the important part here is that we make up and acknowledge that we'll always have each other."

There was a quiet moment of agreement as the three Chosen soaked that in. Fal-Mai herself wanted to commit it to memory so she always knew where to turn. Eventually, however, it seemed Mordenna himself tired of the silence. "Good god that was cheesy. Who's writing this after school special script?"

Jax and Fal-Mai gently chuckled, all of them leaning away from each other as the group hug broke. Fal-Mai would've responded, had she not realized that freeing her arm also meant that the only thing holding up the blanket had been removed. As she worked in a flurry to pull it back up, Mordenna shook his head. "You've got your undersuit on, obviously. Ain't like we're seeing you in your underwear."

Fal-Mai huffed. "But it is the clothes I wear under my armor. Is it not the same?"

"Surprisingly, no, but I'm sure our brother here could make a good case for the taxonomy of it—"

"Oh," Jax interrupted, planting a hand on his hip, "so now the argumentative rube is going to pin the love of debate on me?"

"You can bet your ass on that!" Mordenna stood up. "Honestly I think we should move this discussion somewhere. I vote the Workshop! I have a Codex to revive and Fal-Mai here needs to stretch her legs."

With the prospect of covering herself with the blankets forgotten, Fal-Mai's mouth settled into a line. "... even if I am not in my underwear, I am not traversing this ship in my undersuit. I was recommended to rest, as well."

"Hey, I'm not gonna ask you to run a marathon in the Workshop—and all else fails, Jax can carry you again. Or I can! You're hilariously light. As for the armor..." He rubbed his chin. "I was about to say 'just put it back on' like an insensitive asshole, but I understand the stumbling block in the way of that."

"Please." Jax shook his head, moving to retrieve her armor. "There are no stumbling blocks to be had. I will assist you, sister."

"And dress me like a child?" Maybe she was being petulant like one, but the notion embarrassed her.

"Fal-Mai, I don't know how many times I gotta say this," Mordenna said, gesturing to her, "but you've only got one arm, until I can do anything about it. Things that were easy before will be hard or impossible now. Let us help you out—besides, it's not dressing you. Medieval knights from fuck-knows-how-long ago often needed an extra pair of hands to get into their tin cans. This ain't 'getting you into your clothes' so much as it is 'getting you ready for battle.'"

"Besides." Fal-Mai watched as Jax levitated her chest piece into the air with a hand made from his psionics. "If you wish, I need not touch you at all."

Well, that made her feel slightly better. She really did want to spend more time with her siblings, and spending all day in a bed didn't sound like too enriching an experience, even if it would be better for her. She sighed. "Fine. I will direct you."

The process went pretty smoothly, Fal-Mai had to admit. Jax's phantom hands assisted her as she got back into her armor. At some point, Mordenna seemed to get an idea and wrote something down in his notepad again. Eventually Fal-Mai was suited up and Jax lowered the railing on the other side of the bed for her. Still, she was nervous as she sat on the side. Jax caught her hesitation and offered his arms.

She shook her head. "I... I would like to try, first." Nodding, Jax stepped to the side. Taking in a deep breath, she eased off the bed and slowly moved to stand. Without the weight of her right arm, her balance felt all off, and she wavered on the spot.

Mordenna was quick to come up to her good side, and she planted a hand on him out of reflex. "Woah there, Bambi. There are treadmills on the GTS to get your physical therapy moving. Probably best to just let one of us handle the walking for you."

Fal-Mai gave another sigh. "And give off the image that I am unfit? And let the rest of the ship have the impression that I must be ferried around?"

"Honestly, fuck the rest of the ship." Mordenna jabbed a finger at her. "You're injured and clearly not feeling for balance right now. Until I can get you your new arm or you get used to walking without it, let us help you, ok? It's not like we get the chance often."

"Mordenna is correct." Jax eased a hand on her shoulder. "Far be it from us to baby you, but... you are the youngest, and our only sister."

How much was she going to concede because of her injury? She knew she wasn't exactly in fighting shape, but it almost seemed as if they were babying her. Still... she could tell it was an expression of them caring. She wasn't feeling the best and they wanted to help. She... trusted them, nowadays. This wasn't her year at ADVENT where such an offer would only be to humiliate her. Fal-Mai relaxed slightly, leaning against Mordenna and throwing her good arm around his neck. "I will concede, I suppose. If only because you seem so eager to pamper me."

"And the thousand things I'm offering to make for you didn't express that fact? Jeez, Fals. Jax, grab her mask and go in front of me. You'll be my door man."

As instructed and while chuckling, Jax picked up her mask and pulled the curtain fully back. Meanwhile, Mordenna secured her in a princess carry, his own balance being thrown off for a moment as he overcompensated and nearly flung her. "Jesus! Fals the Darklance is heavier than you. I think the Darkclaw might be heavier than you. I know that's part of Helena's grand design," he said, obviously mocking the statement, "but I'm never getting over it."

"Lighter weight means lesser tracks," she justified, but knew how ridiculous her light bodyweight was.

"Where have I heard that before?" Jax mused.

"Hey!" Mordenna followed after him as he went for the Infirmary door. "I didn't know at the time they made you a beefcake to overcompensate for the degeneracy they thought you'd have and then undercompensated for me! I didn't ask to be as brittle as Odin's ego!"

Jax merely laughed, holding the door open as he went through, letting Mordenna and Fal-Mai exit the Infirmary. It seemed to still be morning on the Avenger—there was hardly anybody in the halls, which Fal-Mai was thankful for. Not everybody needed to see her in her current state. Even as her mild embarrassment continued, she was happy that her brothers cared so much for her, now. It was practically night and day compared to the beginning of the year. Was a positive space and a caring Commander really all they needed to be better people...? If it was the case, Fal-Mai was happy. She wasn't born to be a cruel killer. It was simply her situation. Her brothers weren't going to be arrogant and spiteful forever—it was the Elders' mistreatment that made them so.

Mordenna's voice broke her train of thought. Seemed her brother couldn't abide by silence. "So. I've been thinking."

"Oh no," Jax replied, and Mordenna sped up a bit to punch his arm.

"Shut the hell up, you hunk of smug. Anyway, as I was saying, I've been thinking. I know I proposed it a while ago, but considering Liz is about to head to the Black Market from what I gleaned of the coordinates on the Bridge and I need to go on a shopping trip while nobody's looking... I think you guys need new duds that I can provide."

Didn't Jax protest to that last time? He looked like he was about to, again, and he crossed his arms. However, when he spoke, Fal-Mai's expectations didn't stay intact. "... I believe that would be a good prospect. Despite how parts of me protest, I need to begin to distance myself from the Elders. This marked vestiment does not do my image of repentance justice. About the only thing it conveys is their anger and willingness for cruelty—and as much as I would like to keep it for that, I'm fascinated at what you might come up with, brother."

"That's the spirit!" Mordenna sounded genuinely excited at that. "Jax, like I mentioned, I'm thinking WAR Suit. But like, instead of being fitted for a heavy weapon on the wrist, I'm thinking something shoulder-mounted. EMP rockets? I gotta get you something to help take down robots that don't take so well to psionics."

"Hasn't XCOM fashioned something to the effect of 'Bluescreen Rounds?'"

"Yeah but that's the easy way out. And I don't do easy. Hell, it doesn't have to be EMP rockets. Maybe I could rig a back canister that feeds your minigun whatever rounds you want with an external power source and converter—or just something that stores a fuckton of grenades for you. Variety! Really just depends on what you'd like to focus on."

Jax "hmm"ed. "... I believe I'd be more confident in the belt-fed ammo you propose, until I start training with teleporting grenades. Even so, I might favor simple heavy ordnance more."

"Ain't a problem you can't solve with more gun. I like the way you think, you madman. That reminds me, I need to find out what your upper tolerance for weight is. Right now it's 'theoretically infinite' and I don't like working with theoreticals. Maybe I could hand you my girl to start."

Jax paused. "I do not see how carrying Eliza will prove anything."

Mordenna sputtered while Fal-Mai almost giggled. He spared an arm to point at Jax. "You know what the hell I mean you pompous watchtower!"

"Turnabout is fair play."

"Like hell it is! Shut up, you've lost your talking privileges." Turning to Fal-Mai, he went back to grinning. 'What about you, oh sister of mine? I think letting you pass through walls would be a hilarious prank to play on ADVENT—and a grappling hook would make you even more mobile than you already are."

Well, she would appreciate the extra mobility. Something about the grappling hook stood out to her, however, and she wondered if she should be entertaining what she was. After all, it was one thing to use it to maneuver. It was another to take a leaf out of her former enemy's strategy. "... could you, perhaps, modify it to be similar to the Skirmisher's? I will admit, I admire their ability to position themselves around their enemies."

"Oooh, good idea, good idea." Mordenna bobbed his head. "I'll have to see about making it so that you can grapple enemies to yourself—I don't doubt your strength but with your low body weight I might have to look into, I don't know, retractable spikes for your boots to keep you in place. Flinging yourself at enemies, though? Totally doable. In fact..." Mordenna tilted his head. "... I might be able to implant it into a battle-ready version of the new arm I'm gonna cook up for you. If you want it faster I can just make a gauntlet like mine and rebalance it with you in mind—might even slap a blade on top of it if you wanna go full Skirmisher."

"Of course. I have no shame in admitting that I was impressed by their ingenuity while I served the Elders, though I would not admit it at the time."

"Hell, nothing like learning from your enemy. Reminds me that maybe I should make my own Reaper mask at some point. Not like Volk can fuckin' stop me." He leveled a look at Jax. "I'm granting you speaking privileges so I can ask again about touching up your gauntlets. Sorry if it seems I'm pestering you about it, but you essentially told me 'maybe later' about that and your armor and you changed your mind about the armor—"

Jax held up a hand, silencing Mordenna. "I do so dearly hate to tell you 'maybe later' again, but as grand as an idea as having Templar gauntlets sounds—how will they react when they witness me using them on the field?"

"Fuck the Templars too!" Mordenna hopped a little, as if to emphasize his point. "The minute they let a Templar on here and let Lily have the blueprints to upgrade their gauntlets they concede the right to not have them duplicated."

"And turnabout would not be fair play with your own guns?"

"See, I'm not stupid enough to either let anyone else mess with them or have a physical or digital blueprint on hand. Got it all here in the ol' noggin. But to answer your question, obviously not. Besides. It's you. I'll break a few rules."

Jax smiled back at them, then looked ahead as he walked. "How touching, brother, that you're willing to gain the ire of the Templars to upgrade my arsenal."

"Besides again," Mordenna continued, returning the hand he was using to point to Fal-Mai as they approached the Workshop, "you're like, a master of construct psionics. If you start making blades and shields out of the blue, well, you could do that all along! You just never did."

As if to entertain the point, Jax lifted his arm. Sure enough, a Templar-like blade lanced out from the back of it. He let it fade before he went for the door. "Hm, a fair point. I suppose the modified gauntlets would just make it easier. Consider my answer 'yes.'"

"Hell. Yes. God I have so much to do and it's great! I don't think you guys know how much I love busywork."

Jax merely shook his head as he continued grinning, opening the door to the Workshop. The inside was standard, with the additions of SYN at his charging station—powered down—and Lily, working over what looked like a nearly-completed Chosen minigun. The sight of Lily made Mordenna give an indignant noise. "Lily Shen! I thought I told you to go the hell to bed last night!"

"And fall behind you?" Lily looked as if the very notion was absurd. She also looked like she was approaching Eliza-levels of bags under her eyes. She nodded as she regarded the rest of the Chosen. "Hey, Jax. Hey, Fal-Mai."

"Greetings, Lily." Jax sauntered right over and inspected the almost-finished gun on the table. Even to naive eyes like Fal-Mai's, it wasn't hard to see that Lily was inspecting Jax in turn. "I see the progress on my new armament is going well."

Certainly was. The whole framework was done for it and all that was left was plating—exposing the barrels underneath. The styling was very much Mordenna's and looked in line with the rest of their weaponry—there even seemed to be a slot for a belt magazine. Mordenna was already planning for the backpack? Lily blinked a few times, gesturing back at the unfinished weapon. "Yeah. Few more days and it'll be done. Honestly, I've never worked with a project like this before. At this point the number of Elerium Cores powering it is making me nervous—and that number is 'anything above one.'"

"Clever use of heatsinks and shielding means the weapon won't blow up in his hands, at least," Mordenna filled in. He walked over to one of the benches and looked to Fal-Mai. When she nodded, he gently put her in a sitting position and resumed speaking. "Even have a psionics-guard in it so that use of your powers near it won't be a bad idea. Sadly means that if you somehow manage to charge your psionics into bullets you won't be able to do it with this gun. I'll make you a new one if you turn out to be able to do that. Half for the spectacle."

"Sadly, I have not devised such a tactic—and hardly think I ever will. That would require great telekinetic projection to even reach half the speed that bullets travel at—or seem to, anyhow." He shook his head. "I am proficient at telekinesis, but not that proficient, I will readily concede. You would have to consult Maria."

"Maria?" Lily tilted her head. "I thought her thing was healing psionics."

"Healing and telekinesis. You can specialize in multiple areas if your ability is great enough." Jax gestured grandly as he was known to do as he exposited. "Maria was a Priest born of the Gatekeeper strain, one rarely-used as they moved over into Sectoid for the unit. Once it was seen that they did not require units with such firepower, they shifted the genetic component to one more accessible and less costly. Maria, however, was a Priest I specifically commissioned a year after I had been Ascended. She, along with her ADVENT Soldier and Gatekeeper roots, also has Berserker in her veins."

Lily, for one, looked absolutely speechless. Mordenna, however, snickered. "Oh, why am I not surprised? Only you would ask for a Gatekeeper/Berserker hybrid for your right hand... woman. Explains her height and build, at least. Makes me wonder how psionically adept Berserkers and Mutons could be."

"A question that could be answered in the Psi Lab," Lily followed up, "now that we have some on board. Mutons, at least. Didn't spot any Berserkers with the Queen."

Mordenna shrugged. "Might be a thing for their society. Honestly, I bet Wiki would love the chance—" He stopped up in his sentence, smacking his head. "Right! Was in here for a reason. As much as I love shooting the breeze with you guys, I have a Codex to bring back to life. If you'd excuse me..."

Fal-Mai didn't realize, but she was sitting at a Workbench that had a Codex brain on it, with a blueprint under it and a Elerium Core next to it. Mordenna sat down right next to Fal-Mai, patting her on the shoulder as he fished out a cord behind the brain. He hooked one end up to the core, then did a double-check over the brain. "Yo. Lils. You didn't mess with this, right? Just making sure."

Lily and Jax seemed to have launched into a conversation of their own, and had drawn closer. Lily shook her head. "Nope. Heeded your instructions and left it alone, as much as I wanted to bring her online myself. Still, it's kinda more your field, considering who they came from."

"Yeah, pretty much, even if I don't want to be connected to that wrinkly bastard."

"Sorry."

"Eh, don't think much of it." Mordenna set the brain back down on the table. "Honestly, if I get the chance? I wanna make a few Codices of my own. Would be nice to have a few zippy assistants when I need them. Just wish I knew how. Hell—don't shoot me, guys, but it'd be nice to have a less hostile, more friendly version of the Network at my fingertips."

Something about that unsettled Fal-Mai, and she decided to make it known. "You would revive the ADVENT Network?"

"Like I said, don't shoot me. When I say that, I mean a version of it not used to control hundreds of thousands of near-mindless soldiers. I mean one that's essentially a communications server. I can pull files off of the Avenger whenever I want without needing a datapad, Wiki has a bit more integration, I'm sure Schro would like it too—and hell, anybody who can hook up to it can basically use it as a messaging system. More personal and direct than the comms we have."

"Honestly..." Lily rubbed her chin. "... it sounds like quite the idea. I agree with you—I've dealt with hacking into the ADVENT Network before and it's nothing but a mess of hostile code."

"Tsch, don't get me started."

"Hopefully I won't. But if we could have some version of it—maybe based out of the Shadow Chamber, considering we're already using it to 'ping' enemy units on the field—it might make things easier for us."

"Sure would!" Mordenna finally hooked up the cord to Wiki's cortex. The light blue light inside began to glow. "Want me to float it by the Commander eventually? She's..." Fal-Mai watched as Mordenna's confidence drained. "She, uh. Hm. Good point, me, try thinking of that earlier. Dumbass."

Fal-Mai blinked. "What's the matter, Mordenna?"

"Being hooked up to the Network against your will for twenty years won't do you favors, is what I'm guessing," he began, massaging his forehead with a hand. "She might be ok with it in theory but now I'm wondering... if she has a bad reaction to being in an unconscious state on her back, what the hell will being hooked up to a diet Network do for her?"

Oh. That was a fair point. She could see why it wouldn't bother Mordenna—it seemed to have never been against his will, and he didn't seem uncomfortable about it before this point. But, as he said, Eliza had been put into it unwillingly. It could very well drudge up terrible memories. Fal-Mai took in a deep breath. "I believe there could still be merit to it. Perhaps if you pick apart what the 'feel' of the Network was? If nothing else, you could simply not put her on it."

That made Mordenna think for a second, but when he was done, he nodded, looking a lot less like the wind had been punched out of him. "Yeah, that's a thought. I guarantee you the Network felt the way it did due to how it was set up. If I can make a new Network and both streamline it and make it more user-friendly, I think it might feel different enough to Liz that it won't cause a problem. And yeah, like you said, simplest option would be to just not hook her up." A small smile came back and he nudged Fal-Mai in a friendly manner. "See? This is why I bring you down here. You've got a fresh, simple perspective on everything."

Jax chuckled. "For as many words as you put to it, you are simply calling her naive."

"Shut up! She doesn't have to know that!"

Fal-Mai straight up giggled at the exchange, even knowing that it was essentially what Mordenna said. The levity of it was enough to make her feel happy, and it seemed Mordenna was also elated at making her smile.

As she simmered down from her laughter, she watched as Wiki's brain slowly lit up more, even the eye-lights beginning to glow. It caught everyone else's attention as it zipped a foot to the side on the table, then back. When it streaked a few feet into the air, Mordenna caught it and grabbed the core to make sure it didn't yank on the cord. "Woah there, Wiki, easy. Slowly."

If Wiki could hear him, she wasn't listening. The brain zapped out of his arms and onto the minigun, then onto the floor, bringing the Elerium Core with it without dragging on the wire connecting it to her brain. Finally it returned to its old spot on the table and slowly began to hover, glowing brighter. With a flash of blue that made Fal-Mai cover her eyes, Wiki was standing on the table when she put her arm down. The Elerium Core was still dangling from her head, but it was completely darkened. Her pose was like the one she took when she teleported all of them so long ago back. She hung on it a while, then looked around at the group. "Uh. This... isn't the Ascension Facility. Did I do that good of a teleport?"

Muttering something about deja vu, Mordenna stood up and did her the favor of unhooking the spent core. "No, Wiki. You did the teleport well, but I have to break this to you; it pretty much killed you."

Wiki was silent for a second. "You're. Going to have to forgive me if I don't understand? If I'm dead, then—"

"—I resurrected you. Pretty much like I did SYN." Mordenna shook the core at her. "Took a long while of diagnostics in the Shadow Chamber to search your banks, and then repairing you from the blueprint you had on board, then a powerup process I thought would take longer. But, you're here. Welcome back to the land of the living, Wiki."

"Oh." It took one more second for it to truly settle in, but when it did, Wiki flickered out of sight. When she came back, she was hugging Mordenna. "... thank you. I. Truly don't know what to say. This wasn't in my parameters, and all. You didn't have to..."

"Oh, please, I did." Mordenna patted her back. "Besides, it'd feel lonely around here without our favorite Codex."

Wiki gave a giggle, then looked around. "It's nice to see you're all alright, at least!" Unfortunately, right after she said that was when she saw Fal-Mai's distinct lack of an arm. She immediately deflated. "Oh. I didn't. I didn't see, I'm sorry—"

Fal-Mai held up her remaining arm, almost waving it off. She didn't want to guilt Wiki, but it did sting a little, to be reminded. "I will indulge you with the story later. I forgive you for your unfortunate platitude."

"Alright. Thank you." Something seemed to occur to Wiki, as she turned to Mordenna. "... what all did you see, roaming around in my head?"

"Eh, not much." He shrugged, sitting back down comfortably. "Some of the old world data you'd gathered. I was just looking to see if there was any repair files you had kicking around."

She rubbed her chin, stepping down from the table. "So... you didn't go a few entries further?"

"Nah, not particularly. Didn't have reason to."

"Well, that makes it more poignant for me to offer something in return for literally bringing me back to life, at least." Wiki leaned on the table. "Corner me later and I think I have something you'll be interested in."

"Oh? Bribing me with information?" Mordenna grinned. "What a grand prospect! You certainly play with fire, Wiki."

"Hey!" She crossed her arms. "I'm not bribing you. Like I said, I feel like I need to say thanks. Just... ask me about it later. For now..." She looked over the rest of the group. "Different colors, a new gun, your symbols are gone... how much happened while I was out?"

"You pretty much summed up a lot of it," Lily answered, gesturing with a tool. "These guys went under minor wardrobe changes courtesy of Mordenna, and we're making Jax a minigun because why not? Oh, yeah." She pointed at the door to the basement. "We might've also picked up alien royalty while you were 'asleep.'"

Wiki paused. "Seriously?" When everyone nodded, she looked between them and the door a few times. "... I'll be back. Eventually." With that, she teleported out of sight, though by the way Mordenna's head moved, she was cutting a path right to the basement.

He shook his head. "I'd almost feel bad for 'em, 'cept I know Wiki's first concern is gonna be preserving all of their history, which I'm sure they'll love." With an expert throw, Mordenna chucked the disconnected core sans the cord over to an open crate in the Workshop. That done, he stowed the cord away. "Right! Lily, you keep working on the 500 Sermons per Second. I'm gonna start work immediately on an arm for Fal-Mai. Going right to the top of the list with it."

Jax cocked an eyebrow at the name. "Will I have to call it such?"

"You're already calling the Heretic Eradication Rifle the Disruption Rifle. Quite frankly, I can't stop you from not rolling with the kickass names I give things."

Shaking his head, Jax regarded his future weapon for a second. "... perhaps I can give it a small revival in calling this the Eradication Cannon."

"Sure, but like, Canon. One 'n.' You don't even have to pronounce it differently."

He scoffed in good nature. "I'll consider it."

"Do it and I'll be happy. For a little while, at least." Mordenna stowed the blueprint on his table and dragged out a new one, retrieving what looked like a specialized pen for it. "Alright. Fal-Mai, here's what I'm looking at—before I can start on your arm, I need to work on a system that takes signals from the nervous system to manipulate machinery. I'm not talking 'you think about wanting to move your arm and it moves,' I mean 'you move your arm and it moves.' No trying to force it, I'm talking natural control like with your remaining arm. For that I might need to intrude on your spine to get a good connection. Any objections?"

Fal-Mai shook her head, sitting more properly so she could watch Mordenna work. Already he seemed to be drafting a design. "Ok, great. Probably gonna pull you in at some point to make sure the damn thing will read your signals correctly. Could experiment on myself, but you and I have different levels of dexterity—no offense meant, of course, I just want to make sure the arm works 100% for you. After we get all that squared away I'm gonna start on the arm's design. Skeleton work first, then a period of you just using it around the ship before you get to fighting with it. Work out all the bugs and make sure it's not gonna freak out on you in the middle of a heated moment. You dig?"

Honestly, it sounded like a long process, which demoralized Fal-Mai somewhat. From the way Mordenna had been talking about it, he made it seem as if all he had to do was make her a replacement arm and then that was it. But, she understood something like making a fully functioning, mechanical arm would take some time and wasn't exactly technology she'd ever seen before. The fact that Mordenna was willing to go through this at all was what she held onto and appreciated. "I... 'dig.' Could I be able to put in my own suggestions for the design?"

"Of course! It's your arm, after all." Mordenna continued to work on the blueprint. Behind them, Jax and Lily had lapsed into a conversation about... sculpture? "I might ask you to hold off on any suggestions for the combat version for now—oh, yeah, should probably say this; you're getting two different arms. One for lazing about the Avenger, one for slicing people up on the field. So if you have anything you want for the domestic one, feel free to tell me."

Well, she had a few ideas. "Tactile feedback, for one."

"That goes without saying!"

"Still." She thought for a second. "Padding on the palms."

"Honestly, our materials provided, I might be able to make the whole thing padded. Depending on what I do for the joints, maybe not around there to avoid the uncanny valley, but I'll look into it. Anything else?"

"Fingernail-like protrusions?"

"Ooh, wouldn't have thought of that. Should I copy the length from your other hand?"

"If you'd please."

"Got it. That it?"

There was... one more thing, but Fal-Mai was wondering if she should say it. It would make the arm look more complete, but it also would echo her origins, and link her to the Elders. She supposed she could ask Mordenna for a second opinion. "... there is one more request I might have, but I am unsure of it."

"Hey, hit me, I can do more than you'd think."

"It is not a matter of feasibility—I imagine it is very well within your means. It's simply..." She sighed. "You haven't ever seen any of my skin below my neck, have you?"

"Nope! Would like to keep it that way until I start attaching your new arm. Never saw you in any of your PR outfits, either."

"Not that it would have mattered then," she bitterly muttered, "considering the makeup... I digress." She rubbed what was left of her right shoulder. "... around my joints, due to the amount of Ethereal DNA I possess, my skin is darkened as if I had their muscle degeneracy. I was conflicted on asking for it to be mimicked on my new arm for the way it would link me to them... and yet, not asking for it would make me rather asymmetrical. I was wondering what you thought of it."

Mordenna stopped in his blueprint drawing, tapping the end of the pen against his chin. "... if you ask me, muscle degeneracy isn't exactly a thing linked intrinsically to those wrinkly fucks and for you it's more skin coloration than anything else, y'know? Like vitiligo. And vitiligo is pretty neat, if you ask me. That's just like, targeted reverse vitiligo without any of your melanin dying. I'd be fine reproducing the pigmentation on your domestic arm."

Fal-Mai relaxed, nodding. Perhaps she had been overthinking it a bit, but like Mordenna said to her, she appreciated his perspective. "Thank you, Mordenna. It had been worrying me."

"Don't blame you. Elders have given a lot of stuff bad names nowadays. The amount of things that give me a bad taste in my mouth because of them makes me sick, fittingly enough." He went back to outlining the device. "Now, is that it?"

"As much as I can think of now, yes."

"Fantastic! I'll file away your suggestions for later when I get to designing it. For now, I'm gonna be expediting work on this. Until this ship touches down for the Black Market, of course."

Fal-Mai blinked. "Are we going this soon?"

"Well, with all the new passengers we just picked up, yeah." Mordenna rolled his free wrist. "When Jax and I saw her coming out of the Infirmary, Eliza told us as much. He, Bradford, and I are gonna be accompanying her over there while she negotiates with the Baroness."

Despite herself, Fal-Mai felt as if she was being left out. She knew precisely why she wasn't going to be attending, but even still... Her expression must've been clear, as Mordenna patted her back. "Hey, look, I want you to come along, but you really do need to sit back for a bit. Get your strength back and rebalance. We'll keep Liz safe and I'll tell you all about it when I get back, ok?"

She nodded, still somewhat melancholic. "Alright." With that, she watched Mordenna as he worked, the sliding of his pen and the low drone of Lily and Jax's conversation behind them taking up her hearing as she watched Mordenna work.


Who would've known a good night of sleep could make your day better?

Granted, Eliza knew that pretty well. She got to terms with that the minute she started having night terrors. It had just been so long since she had a proper rest that she'd almost forgotten what it was like to be well rested. She half-thought she needed a buddy to sleep with more often, but she wasn't touching that line of thought with a ten foot pole.

Still, the extra restfulness meant she was feeling great. Once she'd stopped by her room to change into new clothes and freshen up, Eliza had spent her time doing her usual rounds on the ship—checking for correspondence from allies, getting updates on research progress, and making sure her stowaways were integrating smoothly. The last one was new, but it just felt like it was part of the job.

They were coming in to land, however—Bradford had secured the earliest possible slot with the Baroness and with the course they charted, they'd be right on time with their schedule. Just to make things run as well as possible, Eliza was already making her way to the Armory. As always, they were going to land at a distance and then make the rest of the trip with the Skyranger. While she didn't take the Baroness to sabotage them, it was simple caution. Never knew what could happen around the Black Market, after all.

As early as she was, it meant that she arrived to an empty room—save Jolene. Firebrand was leaning against the landing gear of the Skyranger, helmet already on. Eliza approached and she nodded to her. "Commander. I always think you're damn crazy going in there yourself, you know that?"

Eliza chuckled. Jolene had a strange way of expressing her concerns, and Eliza could see right through it. "Hey, I'll be going in concealed as always—and I wasn't trained with my weapons for nothing. Things will be fine."

"Still doesn't strike me as the right thing to do to send the head of our operation out there for negotiations. Can't you do this over the phone?"

"You know what the Baroness is like."

"Yeah and I still think she's gonna pull something." Jolene shook her head. "You're the Commander, so I suppose your word is law and you know what you're doing. Just try not to get your head sniped off your shoulders, right?"

"Please. If Mordenna didn't do it while he had the chance, I don't think anyone will."

"Speaking of him!" She pointed at Eliza. "Tell him to stay the hell away from my bird. I'm happy he's on our side and all but the Skyranger's my territory. If I want him messing around with it I'll damn well ask him. I can maintain and fly this girl myself."

Eliza grinned. "Alright, alright. You know he's just trying to help out—or at least, he's interested in tinkering with it."

"That's exactly what I don't want him to do." Firebrand crossed her arms. "Don't tell anyone this, but this girl's old bones. I'm basically keeping her up to date with bubblegum and a prayer, and some well wishes from Shen. All it would take is one idiot—a well-meaning idiot, I know, but an idiot still—to sneeze on the internals and she'd fall apart."

"Don't tell me that, I have to ride in it, Jolene." Eliza put her hands out, signalling she still got the point. "But, nevertheless, I'll let him know it's off-limits."

"Thanks, Commander." She nodded to Eliza. "Go get your duds on. I'm gonna warm this bird up."

After bobbing her head back, Eliza split from Firebrand as she stepped into the Skyranger. In the Armory, there was one suit of armor that was set apart from the rest. Eliza took out her custom-fitted Wraith Suit, slipping it on over the lower-profile uniform she'd chosen for today. The grappling hook she didn't think she'd see use in—it was the walking-through-walls aspect that was meant for her, just in case she got into a bad situation. Her pistol and Clint's Boltcaster were coming with her, and she was quick to tuck her hair into a face-concealing helmet. The armor pressed against her front safely, and was padded in certain areas to conceal her true identity. Eliza was just another one of her soldiers in this getup—callsign Seraph. She leaned against the railing, waiting.

Wait she did, until she heard the door to the Armory open. Her three companions entered—Jax, Mordenna, and Bradford. When the two of them looked over to her, she could see momentary confusion on the Chosen's faces. Mordenna was the first to figure it out, chuckling. "Nice getup, Commander. If I couldn't see the party glow around you I'd think you were a soldier I never bothered to log."

"The name's 'Seraph' to you," she responded. "That's what it'll be down on the ground until we get to the Baroness's abode."

"We've got her in this outfit to protect her anonymity," Bradford explained as he walked down, the Chosen in tow. "Like she said, she's Seraph outside of the Avenger, refer to her with male pronouns, and say she doesn't talk much. Strong, silent type."

"Acting is in my nature." Jax came up to her, looking over her armor. Was always nice to get eyed up by eye candy herself, in Eliza's opinion. "Something as simple as changing referred pronouns is trivial."

"Yeah, hard to fuck that up unless you're a dick." Mordenna leaned on the railing that Eliza was. "So, what's our debriefing?"

Eliza cleared her throat. "Bradford leads our group until we're accepted into the Baroness's business room. After that, I come to the front and assume my proper role as Commander. She's one of the few outside who knows about me personally. Jax, Mordenna, the two of you are bodyguards. Don't acknowledge anyone else unless they start threatening us, firing at us, or the Baroness starts talking to you."

"That's essentially it." Bradford got his trusty shotgun—modded within an inch of its life, naturally—and returned to the group. When the Chosen followed by getting their weapons, he continued. "Eliza will be doing the negotiating. Try to keep the comments to a minimum—that means you, Mordenna."

"Oh, heavens, I'll try," he shot back, hand on his chest.

Eliza rolled her eyes, knowing the gesture was lost behind her obscuring helmet. "C'mon, boys. We got the queen of the Black Market to deal with." Eliza shoved off of her lean on the rail, walking towards the Skyranger. Judging by the footsteps behind her, everyone was following. She had practice in falling into line when it was Bradford and two of her trusted soldiers. This would be just another outing for her.

Still, it always felt somewhat strange to be the one loading up into the Skyranger. With Bradford here with her, the chain of command fell to Tygan on the ship—but hopefully, nothing would need him to step up to his role. Eliza took her spot at the front of the ship, visualizing herself quieting down as everyone else came in. She was Seraph. To that end, when the ship was taking off and Mordenna tried to include her in the banter, she held up her hand. She'd have all the time in the world to do it after talking with the Baroness. Hell, she could do it on the way home afterwards.

The ride over was filled with exchanges from the boys next to her. Soon enough, the ship came to a hover, and the lights in the cabin glowed red. "Convoy Seven, you're cleared to exit the Skyranger." The back opened and the cords trailed out. Thanks to the occasional drills she did to keep herself in shape, it was easy to slide down the cord with her squad and fall in line behind Mordenna and Jax as Bradford took the lead.

The Black Market itself was an interesting place. Eliza could tell it used to be a military bunker out in the middle of relative nowhere—plenty of underground room hollowed out and used for the trade. However, unless Mordenna wanted to start setting up his own stall and hawking his wares, the main entrance wasn't what they were looking for. Bradford lead them around the side and towards the back entrance. Two fully-armored guards stood at it—and one of them snapped their head up at Mordenna. "You. Hell do you think you can show your face around here?"

"Ah, boy." Mordenna rubbed his chin at the guard. "Let me search my memory here... ah, right. September of 2028?"

"Damn right. Fuckin' took a chunk of my ear out. Want to apologize for that, asshat?"

"Relax." Bradford leveled a hand at the guard. "The Hunter is with us now. We're here on business with the Baroness. Probably shouldn't keep us waiting."

"Whatever." He gestured to Eliza with his gun. "Keep seein' you with this party—it ain't weirdin' you out that you're working with this goddamn beanpole now?"

Calm as can be, Eliza simply shrugged her shoulders. Meanwhile, Mordenna shook his head. "Hey, leave Seraph out of this. Guy doesn't get paid enough for this."

"Betcha your Commander doesn't pay him at all."

"Well, hey, you'd be right on that."

"Alright, alright." The other guard shook his head, tapping rhythmically on the door behind him. "Not going to keep the Baroness waiting."

Normally, this would be the part when the door would be unlocked and opened from the inside. A few seconds passed, and both of the guards looked towards the door. "Fucker probably fell asleep again," the first one grumbled. He took some keys off of his belt and undid the lock on the door. "Don't know why we have the secret knock when Ray's passed out half the time."

The guard was halfway through opening the door and saying "get in there, guys" when a gunshot rang out from the inside. With exclaimed curses, they were the first to rush in, followed by Convoy Seven. By the time they passed the entry hall and into the main room, a familiar mag shotgun kicked, and everyone stopped in their tracks.

The room was pretty huge, with monitors in a few places for communications with the market below. A desk sat in the middle of the room with a tasteful, fake palm tree in a pot next to it. Wires ran across the ground, but were guided around the rug in front of the desk with two chairs aimed at the latter. One of them was upturned, the other shoved to the side. Standing on top of a now-headless body with a smoking Shard Gun was the Baroness.

She was bald—and chose to be, as she'd told Eliza once. "Gave people nothing to grab onto in a fight." She was brown with vitiligo across her left arm, standing a head under Eliza with a somewhat stockier build. A scavenged military outfit was what she was wearing, along with a huge pair of shades that hid her eyes. Her bottom lip had a jagged scar that ran to her neck, and she looked up at her company. "About time! You guys just missed the party. Greg, Johnson, which one of you let this fucker in?"

Both of the guards shook their heads. "Didn't let anybody in other than Convoy Seven here," the second replied.

The Baroness sighed, reaching down and searching the body of her would-be killer. A conventional pistol was still clutched in their hand, and she brought up the other, revealing a patchwork grappling hook. "Well, here's your problem. I love those skylights but if it's attracting assholes like this they're probably not worth it." She threw the arm back down, clicking her tongue at the mess on the carpet. "And all on my new rug. Does anyone know manners nowadays?" She turned her head to a corner of the room. "Ray!"

Out from behind one of the server towers crept a boy who was late teens at best, clutching a pad. His hair was light blond, curly, and almost white, and he was about as thin as a stick. Ray was pale like he'd never seen the sun in his life, and even in his shock he seemed to have a permanently sleepy expression. "Y-yes, ma'am?"

"Log a 'Daniel Winters' off our Shit List—considering I just killed the bastard." She turned to the guards. "You boys wrap him up in the carpet. Up to you if you want to let the main marketplace know some poor fool tried to kill me and ended up getting his. I want one of you to go see Jericho about getting me a new rug. Either way, take out this trash, if you please. We've got guests."

With that, the Baroness stepped off of the body and the rug. The guards went to working moving it and then rolling it up, dragging it out of the room. Ray himself was tapping down a few things on the datapad, letting out a shaky breath. The Baroness's would-be killer must've invaded while he was in the room.

The head of the Black Market looked to Convoy Seven, crossing her arms. "Apologies for the mess—had a walk-in that had to get walked on. Once Ray's scampered we can get down to business." She leaned, looking around the Chosen before she seemed to land her eyes on Eliza, smiling. "There's Seraph, hiding in the back! Once my boy's out of here you can take a breather, alright?"

Eliza offered a nod, knowing that not even Ray, the Baroness's secretary, knew of her identity. Once Ray was done taking down the info, he scurried out, giving a smile and a nod to the squad. The Baroness let out a sigh, cocking her gun and then returning it to her desk, sitting in her chair. Eliza came up to the front with Bradford, correcting her chair before sitting in it. Bradford remained standing, leading Mordenna to come up and steal his chair, lounging in it.

The door closed behind all of them and she gestured to Eliza. "Alright, now, let's make sure you didn't cheat me out of my favorite Commander."

Finally, Eliza chuckled, taking off her helmet and handing it to Bradford. "I'm here, Baroness, in the flesh. Y'know, if you want better self defense—"

"Oh, cram it, cutie." The Baroness waved it off. "You know I prefer the kick of a mag weapon to any of those plasma deals you've got going. Unless ADVENT tries to storm this place—and they'd be suicidal if they did—about all I need is a good gun against fools."

"If you insist."

"I sure as hell do. Now, first things first." The Baroness leaned down below her desk, coming up with what looked like a basket of cookies. "Fresh baked, courtesy of a girl going by 'Amy G.' She wrote out the rest of her last name, but all I'm getting out of it is a 'Gu.' Maybe an 'x' in there? Whatever. Seems you got a fan down below."

Eliza smiled, taking the gift. "Wouldn't be the first time, though I'm happy I'm getting something fresh. Will have to share this with the others." She passed the basket off to Mordenna. "No eating them."

"Tch, I'm not a fan of sweets, Commander." Mordenna looked in the basket. "What are these, peanut butter? Yeah I'd only eat them if they were fudge or something. They're safe from me."

"Better be," the Baroness replied. She came forward to lean on her desk. "Before we get to proceedings, what the hell are you two doing here? The Hunter I understand, but tall, dark, and wrinkly?"

Jax scrunched up his nose at the classification, but Mordenna just shrugged. "Bodyguards. I got a new job, as you can see. Won't see me here anymore batting for them."

"Well, good for you. Guess this means I'm out of my second highest dealer of ADVENT intel?"

"Eh, not if Liz here lets me off my leash every once in a while. And she has! If we're in the area, might see me show up solo to procure some stuff."

"Letting the Hunter outta your sight, O'Leary?" The Baroness shook her head, leaning back. "Eliza, Eliza, Eliza. Knowing you, you've got the Assassin slinking around here somewhere."

Eliza smiled. "That's for me to know and for you to eventually find out."

"Playing hard to get, huh? Well, we'll see how that bites you here." She gestured to Bradford. "John here says you're wanting to secure some extra foodstuffs and textiles. Ain't that right?"

"Sure is." Eliza clasped her hands together in her lap. "We've recently come into a lot of new allies and need what we can get along with our usual restock."

"Mmm. You're already taking enough to feed a whole damn ship. Can't imagine who you've got up there." Lazily, the Baroness tapped a screen near her, then turned the monitor around. It was blurry, but the photo was of their battle at the mouth of the cave. "ADVENT radios went berserk yesterday. Absolutely ranting about some 'rouge elements' they needed to take out. Went real quiet after that. You know anything about that, gentlemen?"

Eliza was about to respond, but Mordenna beat her to the punch. "Oh, y'know, where ADVENT goes, we follow. You know XCOM's the number one stopper of retaliations, yeah?"

The Baroness looked over her glasses at the Hunter, revealing bright, brown eyes. She then looked back to Eliza. "Gonna let this joker talk over you, hon?"

She shrugged, sitting back. "It was essentially my answer. I'm fine with Mordenna talking over me occasionally, especially when he hits the nail on the head. The joker part, however? Not contesting that."

"Well, if that's your answer..." She turned the monitor back around. "Suppose that 'haven' you rescued got so happy they joined you. That's a lot of mouths to feed. Be a shame if you couldn't do it."

Ah, here was the pitch. The Baroness always went in cold, and she could see Mordenna about to say something, but Eliza held up a hand. Eliza put an arm on the table. "It would be. Such a terrible shame... why, if I can't feed them, the whole operation shuts down."

"Damn shame. Don't see how I care."

"Oh, Baroness." Eliza rested her head on her arm. "I do love swinging by here. The gifts, the conversations... and all of the intel I get just burns a hole in my pocket. We're awfully messy on the field—hardly have enough room for all of the assets we have to pick up after ourselves. Imagine all that going to waste if we have to just disappear!"

She could only imagine the expressions on Jax and Mordenna's faces behind her as she danced with the Baroness. Said woman gave a "hmm," tapping her fingers on her desk. "Mm, yeah. Can see why that might suck a tad. But you're big kids now, XCOM, and we all know big kids don't share..."

"Not if we think we're gonna have our toys taken away." Eliza leaned over forward, supporting her head on a hand. "But if you wanna play nice back, we'd be fine bringing out our good games that we didn't let you see before. And you've been playing nice for a while."

The Baroness sat in silence after that, the quiet only helped by the humming of machinery and the low dim of the Black Market below them. Finally, her facade cracked and she laughed, shaking her head. "Alright, alright, I was just giving you shit anyway. You know you've got me wrapped around your finger, Eli. Just bump up the intel pay a bit and I'll see about getting you some of our finest grub on offer. Those materials, too."

Eliza grinned, sitting back. The art of the deal... "Get us enough textiles and I might sweet talk my new tailors into making choice pieces that might be high in demand. Although..." She looked back to Jax. He and his brother were, frankly, baffled. Though, sensing he was about to be addressed, Jax collected himself quickly. "That's up to Jax, here."

"Is it, now? Thought you called the shots." Still, she looked over to him, appraising him. "So, you've got the people with the skills to make what we need, huh? I got a list of clothing that's high in demand—mostly underwear. If you promise me you'll be returning with shipments of it, I can sign you up for a larger portion of the textiles that run through here—provided you let the market have the profit. Deal?"

Jax considered it a moment. Then; "As you should know, what you are putting into this venture will mean what you are getting out of it. I will accept your terms, so long as the highest quality fabrics and materials are routed our way."

"Wouldn't set myself up to fail unless I was a few notches dumber, wizard. I'll be doing what I can. And you." She turned to Eliza again. "I want you in here more often. Do you know how long it's been since we've sat down and had a chat? I can't keep you here long in case that idiot had friends with similar ideas, but next time I'm kicking Heidi into making the best coffee they've ever put out and we're taking an evening to ourselves."

Eliza chuckled. "My job keeps me busy, B. Although, Bradford over here wants me taking more breaks. Perhaps you'll get that chat sooner than you think."

"I'd better. John, you keep up your good work. Might have something extra for you the next time you're in if she's here quick enough." The Baroness leaned over and started typing away. "Quote me for what you need, Liz." When Eliza did, she threw up her eyebrows. "Damn. Got enough room in that limo of yours?"

"They're in there, alright." Eliza was glad everything went well, at least. "Would be surprised how much space shoving everything under your bed gives you."

"Leave it up to Lady Rosetta here to make it work." When she caught someone's expression, she smirked. "What? Ms. Mysterious over here never tell you her middle name?"

"Eliza Rosetta O'Leary?" Mordenna shook his head. "What a name, Commander."

"Elizabeth Rosetta O'Leary," Eliza corrected, "but nobody outside of family calls me Elizabeth."

"Fair point. Anyway, I've got the order down to the jockeys, along with your extras. The list of what we need is included in there too. Don't use it all in one night, alright?"

"Of course." Eliza stood up. "Always a pleasure doing business with you, Baroness."

"Always great having you in, Liz—and come back, you got that? Need to see that pretty face of yours more often. Bring the Chosen if you want—pretty sure we've got a kids playroom in the front."

"Unless you've got crayons and a coloring book," Mordenna snarked, "I'm screaming the whole time."

"Mm. I'll see about that. Consider yourselves free to pick up your goods."

With that, Eliza took her helmet back from Bradford and put it on. They went back through the entry hall, where Ray was already sleeping again. It was... interesting being out in the field. Had been a long time since she did it regularly, at least. If she wasn't so damn important to XCOM, she could see herself doing it more often. But, for now, she'd take the lead regarding everything.

Speaking of her job, there was a mission upcoming that they needed to tend to, but the details were... tricky. Rampaging through a city center wasn't exactly an ideal situation for XCOM unless it was life or death. She was planning to send out Mordenna and Fal-Mai to handle it, but now? She had to wonder if she needed to put it on hold. Eliza didn't want to—it was the mission from Volk, and apparently they had a songbird who was about to divulge how to track down the Avenger. Couldn't let that wait so long. Though... perhaps she could still do something about it.

She shook her head as they went to the main entrance. She'd think it all over later. For now, she just wanted to be home.