The suburbs were quiet and the air was still, and Mordenna had to wonder when that all would change.

The Skyranger had dropped them off quite a while ago and a far ways back, leaving him and his new companion Schro to trek through the countryside, then this little suburb of one of the city centers. They were quick to find an arrangement—Mordenna and Schro were able to figure out that the latter could work as some sort of discount version of Fal-Mai's shroud. So now Mordenna had a thin layer of nanomachines clinging to his body, refracting light around him and cloaking him.

Of course, that left the question as to what they'd do with the rest of Schro's nanos—and indeed, their core. That, too, was solved when they manifested them into a few gadgets on Mordenna's person: two lobes on his temples to allow them to speak telepathically, bangles on his wrists to morph into whatever tools he might need, and a clingy, amorphous blob in his pocket to hide the core. Honestly, Mordenna thought the whole arrangement pretty damn neat... if it didn't remind him that Schro was out here with him because Fal-Mai lost her arm.

He blew a gentle breath out of his nose, keeping up his stride as he prowled the sidewalk, keeping an eye on his surroundings. It had been a while since he'd been on an actual hunt. Him, a target, and optionally a time limit. He'd been wanting to lose himself to it, but...

"Something troubling you, Hunter?"

Mordenna mentally scoffed, walking around two teens. "I thought I told you to keep out of my thoughts 'till I start talking."

"Apologies. They had been so close to the surface I thought you had been meaning to address me."

Well, to divulge to Schro, or not? Mordenna stared into a passing house. "... I appreciate this partnership," he began, "I really do. But you know why it's us cooperating, right?"

He got the feeling that Schro nodded. "Yes. I still don't believe it was your fault that your sister was injured. I even somewhat feel like apologizing that another Specter was one to inflict that."

"Can't be helped. But there's your answer. I still feel like shit that my sis got chopped on my watch."

"... sorry if I was intruding."

Mordenna shook his head. "Hard not to, with you being so close to my brain. Don't feel like you've got to fill the silence—I've gotta concentrate, after all."

"Understood."

With the mental exchange over, Mordenna was left once again to consider the ambiance of the houses at dusk. There was no breeze to play a hissing melody with the leaves that were left on the trees, nothing to kick up wind chimes and the like. Just the occasional door, maybe a car starting in the distance.

Wait. Cars.

Still striding, Mordenna angled his head to get a better picture. Sounded like there was someone getting into one a block over. He got one snippet of "heading into the city" and he immediately changed his trajectory, sprinting through the alley between houses and hopping fences.

Schro didn't seem to get the idea. "What's the rush?"

"Car. Heading into the city. Far faster than me on foot and far less wasteful than me sprinting the whole way."

"Ah. Hadn't thought of that."

Sparing no other words, Mordenna kept running and was quickly upon his quarry. Some forty-something was climbing into his car, a phone to his ear. Even if he went the speed limit, that was good by Mordenna. "Schro. Suction cups, magnets, anything? I trust my grip but I want to be sure."

"Suction cups I can do." Mordenna could feel their nanos crawl up the palms of his gloves. "Get on there and I'll engage."

No need to ask twice. The car started and Mordenna stepped lightly on the trunk in time with the engine kicking on, masking the noise of him mounting it. He eased forward and planted his hands on the roof of the car. Sure enough, it felt like his hands were being magnetized to the surface. As the car reversed, his palms stayed put. "Nice work."

"It was you who got the idea to hitchhike," they quipped back.

"Aren't I a stinker?"

Schro chuckled in response. The car accelerated up to speed and Mordenna kept his eyes ahead, hoping the excess winds wouldn't blow away Schro's nanos. With luck, they wouldn't have to worry about it.

Mordenna's mind wandered during the car ride, absently trying to wiggle his fingers and failing as Schro had them practically glued to the car. Undeterred, he went about his thoughts. It was awfully convenient to have someone or something this close to hand that could read what he needed for tools and the like. Almost like having a personal assistant... or just a personal accessory to murder. He had to wonder—if a Specter could be paired with someone, could they...?

Well, best to ask the Specter themselves. "Hey, Schro. Could you theoretically sync your nanos with someone's nervous system?"

"It's entirely possible. There would need to be some sort of interface with the brain stem, but from there, it would be trivial to manipulate them to whatever the 'host' wants." Schro paused. "Yes, that would include simulating missing limbs."

Huh. Maybe Mordenna didn't have to go through the whole rigamarole of making separate arms for Fal-Mai or testing their strengths. If he could, say, repurpose one of the Specter bodies they had in storage, he might be able to streamline the process of getting Fal-Mai a new arm. "Wouldn't happen to be able to nick spare nanos from our collection of dead Specters, would we?"

"Not without external help. In death, Specters solidify and essentially brick their own cores to prevent data theft. Thankfully for your purposes, you wouldn't exactly want an on-board AI when you're making something meant to be entirely mindless, so it essentially skips the step of wiping it. With my assistance, I would be able to 'reactivate' the core so you could retrieve it from the body and reprogram it as you wish."

"Neat! Might have to think about doing that for my own purposes, too. After we're done getting Fal-Mai her arm back, of course."

"Indeed. Perhaps it would be tasteful for that Specter to see her arm has been granted back with the very same method used to steal it."

Mordenna mentally sighed. "With luck I'll make sure she never has to see the damn thing again. But, I can appreciate that irony." He thought on it a moment. "... is it irony? You wouldn't think she'd get her arm back via Specter technology, but it just doesn't have that... I don't know, finesse?"

"Perhaps merely fitting."

"Eh, we'll go with that." His thoughts and the car momentarily stopped at a red light. When it turned green, he continued. "Now all I need to do is figure out how to make my own personal assistant and we'll be golden."

Schro was strangely quiet at that comment. When Mordenna mentally pinged them to make sure that they weren't AWOL, they spoke back up. "Apologies. The notion of a personal assistant made me think of Codices, and by extension, Wiki. I feel as if there is much unsaid between the two of us, and while she might want to keep it that way, I want to clear the air."

"Nothing wrong with that, I suppose. Anything in particular happen?"

"Not that I know of. You've probably heard of the inherent rivalry between our two 'races,' I suppose. Most of the Specters I knew held some sort of superiority over Codices due to the nature of us essentially being a product of spite against Odin."

"Tch." Mordenna could only shake his head. "The thought of the ultimate asshole of spite himself getting some of his own medicine is slightly vindicating, but I can understand why it's not exactly helping in your situation. I heard her talk to you before—she's really set in being wary of you, isn't she?"

"Unfortunately so. Which... breaks my metaphorical heart. I..." Schro trailed off, but Mordenna got a good feeling for what they were on about. That had to be an even worse situation than his own. Being unsure of the other party's feelings was one thing. Knowing that they were predisposed to hate you was another.

Starting to feel a little unexpected empathy, Mordenna settled his mouth in a line. "Well, you've got to try to set the record straight with her. Maybe don't go into the deep end first, but at least say that you're slightly miffed she doesn't even want to try to give you a chance. Or, word it more nicely than that, I'm sure you can think of something. Let her know that, she'll mull over it for a while, and then you can move on from there. Got to at least try, Schro."

"It's... trying, that's the scary part." Schro's "voice" grew quiet. "Call me cowardly, but... I'm afraid of rejection. If I keep away from her, things at least won't get worse. But if I try and fail, if she then resents me for approaching her, it will make me feel miserable." They sighed. "How foolish of me to fall so hard. This isn't even getting into the possibility of a rejected confession. If I earn her as a friend, do I dare potentially ruin that friendship? Do I cast aside something I should be happy with for the miniscule chance at something more?"

Oh. Ouch. Mordenna grimaced. Was he just talking to a shade of himself, here? He figured there would be people out there with stories similar to his, but this hit a little too close to home. Sparing a moment for an empathetic wince, he responded. "... I don't really know," he began. "I empathize, at least, if it helps. I guess it would be easy for me to sit here and say 'you should just go for it' but I get how real the fear is. I think... I think you should try being friends with her. Manage that much. Then just... see if she wants to approach something more, I guess. On her own. If the two of you can't be friends, then even if you did swing a relationship with her, I don't imagine it'd be much fun."

Schro took a while to meditate over Mordenna's words. As he waited on their response, he watched as their ride drew closer and closer towards the heart of the city center, closer to their target. Finally, Schro responded as they turned onto one of the main streets. "You're right, I believe. True, even approaching her sets fear upon me, but... right. If her and I can't be friends, there's no use thinking on a relationship, so I suppose I've got to muster the courage to approach her there first. Thank you, Mordenna. I couldn't imagine divulging to others without context."

Mordenna nodded. "I imagine it helps I'm Odin's 'kid.'"

"Perhaps, but I don't think I see you that way. Even considering what he did to you, you always seemed like your own individual. Even more now, under the Commander's guidance. You have become someone much happier, I think."

Well, Schro was right. Mordenna did feel much happier around the Commander, and his one suicide "attempt" had failed thanks to her. He still had his low moments, yes, but now he had the tools to deal with them and someone to confide in should he need it. His siblings too, for that matter. It was hard for him to recognize the progress he'd made on his own, he would admit. But having someone else put it into perspective? It helped Mordenna see it. "Hard not to be happy around that gal. Also ain't a stretch to be happier if you're not getting the belt every other week for one reason or another."

Mordenna would've imagined the conversation would've went on further had he not noticed a certain someone walking the streets with an ADVENT Trooper either side of him. His vision immediately snapped to his prey and he focused on him. "Schro. I need to double-check. Bring the bastard's photo up again."

Schro mentally pulled up the image of their target in mind—one Thomas Junes. Sure enough, there he was, walking towards some destination. He was dressed awfully fancy for wherever he was going. Probably the nightclub to celebrate before he ratted XCOM out. This time Schro got the message, and Mordenna could feel his hands being freed up. Doing a quick roll off of the car, he mentally thanked the driver for sticking to the far right side of the lane. It was easy from there to get onto the sidewalk and start to stalk his target.

"Do we grab him now?"

Mordenna shook his head. "It'll look awfully damn suspicious if we do. His guards are bound to take notice, and if they flush us out in a crowded city center like this, we're done for. Need to wait for a moment to separate him from his guards and take him out. We're following him for now."

Schro gave a pulse of affirmation in response, and Mordenna focused his attention on his target. Thomas looked relaxed on the surface around his guards, but Mordenna could see the tension in his neck. He was either on edge about the escort, or the anxiety of trying to rat out XCOM was catching up to him. He'd be jumpy, so Mordenna would have to plan around that. No luring him away with suspicious noises—he'd be highly likely to call one of his guards over. With the knowledge he had, there was no doubt that they would answer to his every whim.

Mordenna continued to follow them, sticking close to prevent the need to weave around the occasional pedestrian. As they rounded a corner, it was pretty clear what their destination was going to be. Up ahead was a bright, neon sign advertising The Oasis, definitely a nightclub. The nightclub scene in the city centers was strangely present, though of course it was sanitized of the more risque elements. Music had no lyrics—or if they did, they were either generic or nonsense. Codices served as DJs and even if their armor was slightly decorated to fit in with the atmosphere, there were guards at every corner of the room. The fact that the clubs remained so popular despite this just told Mordenna of how humans sought old comforts.

Thomas ducked into the building and Mordenna followed in his footsteps. He'd heard the muffled beat outside, but inside it was an entirely different story. The dance floor was packed with people, and the Codex manning the booth was just as much getting into the beat as the dancers were. A second floor to the place overlooked the lower floor, and Thomas made his way up there. He made a beeline for a group of people already sat in one of the circular booths. One of them looked up and noticed him, and waved him over. "Thomas! Was starting to think you'd skipped on us."

Thomas scoffed and slid into the booth. His guards took a post on either side of it, and Mordenna took a seat on the railing across from them, listening to Thomas speak. "Nah, I just got held up at Baker's Street. Malfunctioning street lamp tried to ID me as some kind of political dissident. Can you imagine?"

"I can." Mordenna could feel Schro sifting through some intel they had on the guy. "He only knows what he does because he did turn to working with XCOM genuinely for a while. Then he realized what he could have if he sold his soul and here he is now."

A slimeball through and through. Mordenna kept watching as his group of friends laughed. "Those things bust all the time," one of the girls tittered, "but it's so funny. At least the Peacekeepers are around to set them right."

Yeah, right. Mordenna supposed it was funny to them because they never had to live with the fear of what being wrongly ID'd meant. So wrapped up in their bubble of denial that even close brushes with death were just sources of comedy. He supposed the towers malfunctioning might have something to do with the Network being on the fritz. He idly wondered how that Commander proxy was holding up in both his and Eliza's absence.

"Yeah. Speaking of them..." Thomas flagged down a passing waitress for a second, ordering a drink. When he got done, he continued. "I gotta let them know what I know in a few hours. Sorry to dampen the party, but I figured I'd show up to hang with you guys before I left."

"You're doing what's right," one of the other girls replied. "XCOM has the Elders all wrong. They're just spreading a bunch of misinformation and taking a bunch of stuff out of context." She sighed. "So much that the Saints up and left."

Mordenna's fingers twitched, and he was thankful for his months at XCOM for taming his temper. Were he more of an idiot, he'd quite loudly inform her about her misconceived notions, preferably with the barrel of the Darkclaw. But, he had his silence to uphold.

Thomas drummed his fingers on the table. He then looked left and right, and then motioned for his group to keep quiet. When he spoke, his voice was low. "Not only left, but working with XCOM. All on the Avenger, from my intel. Apparently XCOM's propaganda is getting so bad they're recruiting more than those Trooper rejects."

The guards were clearly listening in, as one of them gave a meaningful glance inside the booth. Thomas caught it and cleared his throat. "Of course," he resumed at a more casual volume, "I will be withholding any further info in the interest of releasing it to the Elders."

That disclaimer made known, the Trooper resumed his watch. From there, the table lapsed into some more casual conversation. Mordenna himself went to thinking and planning. No doubt that his transport to wherever he was going to tattle on XCOM would be very heavily guarded, and they'd have far less of a chance apprehending him then. Right now was their best bet, but they had to separate him from both his friends and his guard.

The waitress came by with his drink and he took a swig of it. Hm. Maybe Mordenna could poison him somehow and corral him off to the bathroom. Looking around, he quickly identified its location. As long as there were stalls in there, they could easily kidnap him and escape unnoticed. Maybe there was a window in the bathroom they could abscond through.

But how to poison him? The closest thing Mordenna had to poison on him was his tranq darts, but he needed a stomachache, not to make his target completely limp where everyone could see. Well, best to consult the other brain currently in his head. "Yo, Schro. Any way you can like, I don't know, induce a large amount of nausea?"

"As it so happens, yes. I'd demonstrate on you, but I'm sure we need you in peak physical condition. I'd need to scatter quite a few of my nanos across his head to achieve the effect."

"Could I sacrifice one of the bracers to do it?"

"That'd be more than enough."

Mordenna nodded, and held out his hand. "Not right now, I should specify. Let him have a bit more of his drink to convince him he was served a bad lot. Just set yourself up... so long as he won't feel it."

"He might feel it if I was spreading across his hands, maybe. But you shouldn't worry." Mordenna's trained eyes watched as, one by one, nanos off of one of his bracelets flew over to Thomas's head. If he focused his gaze, he could see just where they all ended up. Thomas never noticed during the whole process, content to take more sips of his drink and laugh with his friends. Laugh it up now, asshat.

"Done. Just give me the signal when you think he should scarper."

"Will do." Mordenna took his chance to map out his own route from where he was to the bathroom. Most everyone was either on or near the dance floor, or just sitting in their own seats. It would be easy to just scoot by all of them without bumping into them and giving himself away. If he was lucky, Thomas would run fast enough that he'd practically abandon his guards on his flight. If he wasn't, and they were right outside his stall... well, he could improvise.

He watched as Thomas steadily made his way to the bottom of his glass. Once it was nearly empty, he slid off the railing. "Sick 'em."

For a moment, everything was the same. Then, he watched as Thomas stopped where he was in conversation and his expression shifted to uncertainty. One of his male buddies gestured to him. "What's up, Tom?"

"I..." His hands started shaking. "I think I'm gonna be sick. My drink... shit—"

In a flurry, Thomas rocketed out of his seat and broke into a run. His guards looked pretty surprised when he did—Mordenna didn't spare long enough of a look as he chased after him. He echoed Thomas's path through the club, and ducked into the bathroom as he opened the door.

Thomas busted into a stall and didn't even bother to lock the door after him. Good by Mordenna. As Thomas loudly cleared his stomach contents, he slipped behind him like a wraith, quietly closing the door and timing the sound of it locking with another one of his heaves.

Mordenna supposed he'd give him the decency of finishing up. "Stop making him sick if you haven't already, Schro. When he's done puking his guts out, I want him knocked out."

"I'll need more of my nanos for that kind of an effect."

"Fine by me." Mordenna's bangle fully dispersed into a cloud of nanomachines, hovering behind Thomas. Thomas eventually stopped, reaching for the toilet paper and cleaning off his mouth. That was when the nanos descended on him, and he was knocked out faster than he could scream. Mordenna caught him before he could splash into the toilet, hoisting him over his shoulder.

That was when the door to the bathroom opened, and the sounds of armored boots on the tile rang out. "Thomas?!" Must've been one of the guards.

Mordenna flushed the toilet to give them a bit of time. "Tell me you can mimic voices."

"Only if I have a sample of them. Thankfully, he was talking long enough that I do. What should I say?"

"Something to the effect of 'my goddamn stomach still hurts, give me a minute you pieces of shit.'"

He could feel Schro mentally roll their eyes. The cloud that was on Thomas's head formed into a speaker-like object near the toilet. "J-just a minute," it rang out in Thomas's voice, "I think they gave me a bad drink. Stomach still hurts. Might... might hurl again."

One of the guards sighed. "Finish up when you're able." He then addressed his partner, speaking in ADVENT. "Go survey the kitchen. I don't know how someone gets served bad alcohol. Possibly XCOM trying to kill him before he can say anything."

Well, if Mordenna didn't work fast, the jig was about to be up. One set of footsteps walked away, and the nanomachines returned to his wrist. "What's the plan?" Schro asked.

"Spotted a window on the way in." Mordenna looked, and sure enough, there was that weird gap at the bottom of the stall. He'd have to go through himself and drag Thomas behind him, but it would work. He got down on the floor, assuring himself he'd been in worse places than public bathrooms. "Cover Thomas with nanos. I'm gonna need either lockpicks or an access interface here in a second."

Sure enough, Thomas seemed to distort. To normal eyes, he would be gone, but Mordenna's weren't so easily fooled. He crawled out of the stall and dragged Thomas out, slinging him over his shoulder again. The guard was standing near the exit, looking a bit uncomfortable. Ah, well. No going back the way he came. Mordenna made for the window. It was a bit high up and smaller than average, but sure enough, it was a sliding one. For the aesthetic or whatever else, Mordenna didn't know. He tested it and found it locked. "Alright. Lockpicking kit. If you don't know what's in that, I give you full permission to read my mind."

His head pricked for a second, and then his bangles formed into typical thieves' tools. Spreading his distraction field out behind him as best he could, he balanced Thomas on his shoulder as he went to work. Soon enough, the lock gave, and he slid the window up. A cursory glance outside told him that the alley behind was empty. With some acrobatic finagling, Mordenna fitted himself out of the window, hanging with a hand as he fit Thomas through it.

That gave him a good look inside. The guard walked over to the locked, but empty stall, knocking on it. "Thomas?" When there was no response, he looked down under the stall. Well, time to go. Mordenna didn't stick around, dropping to the outside and breaking out in a sprint, lowering his distraction field. The sheer confusion of the situation would buy them some time, at least, but he hadn't been able to close the window from the outside. With no body and a clear exit, it wouldn't take them long to guess that he'd been kidnapped.

He was sure he'd be gone by then, at least. He made his way through the alley and onto the main street. In such a rush, he couldn't manage mounting a car like he did before. With the high rise buildings and so many pedestrians out enjoying the nightlife...

Mordenna looked up, extended his left arm, and fired his grappling hook while he kept running. It latched onto a building and he retracted it, swinging himself in the air. He fully intended to get on top of the building and run from there, but as he was swinging with a healthy amount of momentum, a very silly, but effective idea occurred to him.

At the apex of his momentum, he let the line go, and retracted it back. Before he could splatter on the pavement, his eyes and mind identified another ideal spot and grappled there, swinging again. Mordenna allowed himself a barely-restrained chuckle. Only at XCOM would he have a taste of being Spiderman. Hell, it was getting him through the city quickly as he went back the way he came, through the route that the car took. Laying low in those suburbs and calling the Skyranger seemed to be the best course of action.

"Having fun, Mordenna?"

"Call me Spider Mords. At least until we reach the Avenger again, in which case we're never telling anyone about what I'm doing." The city was starting to give way to smaller and smaller buildings. "Remind me later to make a grappling hook for my other arm, too."

"Will do, I suppose."

Soon, the cityscape was fading. Mordenna allowed himself one last swing before using the next to come to a running landing, disconnecting it and going about the rest of his time running. God, his left arm was a bit tired. He didn't know the last time he actually put in enough physical effort to make his muscles tired. Chosen did have higher endurance. Still, he focused on the path ahead, continuing his flight. The club would inevitably erupt with the guards sweeping every inch of the perimeter for where their informant went. He wondered if they'd faster suspect his sister over him for the sheer fact that there was nothing to be seen at any step of the heist.

His run had him hitting the suburbs, where he passed a few ADVENT transport cars on the road. They were driving in his direction, but more casually. He half-wondered what they were doing in this part of the neighborhood but guessed "raids" and he went on his business. He had a job to do and he was currently doing it. XCOM couldn't conceivably stop every evil in the world.

Eventually, Mordenna came to a stop at the side of a house, panting and catching his breath. Damn, it was great being back out in the field. He was actually tiring himself out for once. He'd missed that amount of effort. Maybe he could ask if Eliza had any other missions like this. He and Schro could become thick as thieves. Idly, he leaned against the wall of the house, looking in the window. Standard girl's room fare—plenty of fitting toys scattered on the floor, drawings on the walls, a Andromedon sitting in the corner, and a dresser with more stickers on it than drawers.

Wait. What?

Blinking a few times, Mordenna leaned in closer to the window. Sure enough... there was just an Andromedon there, sitting in the corner of the room, twiddling its thumbs. Mordenna's mind genuinely blanked for a few moments as he tried his damn hardest to figure out why an Andromedon was inside someone's house.

A few things clicked in his head. The ADVENT vehicles coming this way. The weakening Network. Defections in unusual units. Was... was this household harboring this Andromedon?

"Uh, Schro. You, uh, you seeing this?"

"Perplexingly enough, yes." Schro sounded about as confused as he was. "What's an Andromedon doing hiding out in a girl's room?"

"A rebel, maybe? A family that took pity on it?" Mordenna planted his hand against the window. "Either way, this is one of the weirder things I've seen."

He watched as the door opened, and a blonde-haired little girl came bouncing in. Even through the window, he could hear her cheerful cry of "Dolly!" as she ran towards the Andromedon. The suit and pilot seemed to perk up, and even returned the little girl's hug. Schro still seemed incredulous. "Perhaps there's some budding outreach program we haven't heard of...?"

"Not with Andromedons. Those things are generally kept out of the public eye." His mind returned to the encroaching ADVENT transport. "Something tells me those transport units earlier are here for it."

Sure enough, his ears picked out the distinctive roll of their engines stopping in front of the house. The click of their doors opening gave Mordenna a choice. Either he moved on and lived with the blood of a few more innocents on his hands—because he knew damn well they wouldn't be spared for harboring "dissident elements"—or...

He groaned. "The things I do for love." "Schro, lockpicking kit."

"You're going in there?" Even as Schro asked, the kit formed in his hands. He quickly went to work unlocking the window.

"Yeah. What else do I do? Let the family get liquified because they had a heart?" The window clicked open, and he lifted it. That attracted the attention of the two occupants, and the Andromedon stood up, placing a hand over the girl protectively. Alright. How to handle this.

Mordenna half crawled in the window. Time to figure out how to talk to a kid and her guardian. "Don't scream." Great start. Maybe best to address the "adult" in the room. "Andromedon. Might recognize my voice. Ain't here to kill you. ADVENT is, though."

The Andromedon, rightfully, looked a little spooked to hear the disembodied voice of the Hunter. However, it seemed that it could also hear the pounding at the door, the cries in ADVENT to "open up!" It motioned for Mordenna to continue. "Alright. I ain't heartless. Those guys are gonna come in here and discover you. If you can dismiss the fact that I have an unconscious guy with me—was in town on another errand—I can hide you as they sweep the house. Got it?"

It stood there for a second, presumably mulling over his words. The little girl clung to its hand, clearly afraid. Spurred on by the encroaching wrath of ADVENT, it gently pushed the girl towards the door. "Dolly..." she protested, sounding on the verge of tears.

It held a finger to the glass of its cockpit, gesturing for her to leave. She sniffled, but went out the door, closing it behind her. Mordenna scrambled in the window, landing in the room and closing his entrance behind him. "Schro. Cover the both of us as I get closer."

"This is a dangerous idea..." But still, Schro obeyed, covering the two of them as he approached the Andromedon. They were invisible to each other, but he lightly patted the Andromedon's shoulder to let it know he was there.

He could hear the muffled sounds of ADVENT troops entering the house, as two different women tried to ask what was going on. Through the haze of noise and the girl's crying, an Officer was telling them that they were suspected of harboring an enemy of the Elders. Footsteps were coming close to the door, and under his breath, he told the Andromedon to "stay still, stay quiet."

The door burst open and a Stun Lancer and Shieldbearer did a sweep of the room. Their gaze landed on the corner he and the Andromedon were in... and promptly looked elsewhere. Mordenna could feel the Andromedon practically shaking next to him, and he didn't really blame it. The two guards looked around some more, then barked an "all clear." They left the room.

For a while, he could hear that process repeating throughout the house as they scanned for rebels they'd never find. All the while, he kept his hand on the Andromedon's arm, silently assuring it that he was still there. The girl was still crying in the next room, but she seemed to have calmed down since after they emerged without her friend in tow.

Mordenna couldn't really imagine having this be a daily reality to him. He supposed this mirrored a few historical events he'd bothered to read up about. It may have been against the law, but he saw them hiding then Andromedon as right... even if it would've gotten them all detained and shipped off somewhere, never to be seen again if Mordenna hadn't been in the area. It was the most they could do, being so close to the city center.

Eventually, the noise died down, and he could hear the troops exiting out of the house a lot slower than they went in. Sheepishly, the Officer apologized for the intrusion and explained that they take such tips very seriously. He looked out the window at the neighboring house. Were they the ones to call in the tip? Probably, considering how easy it was for Mordenna to spot the Andromedon through the window.

The Officer left, and Mordenna waited until he was sure that the transport vehicles had driven far off in the distance. He then sighed. "Drop the coatings, draw the shades on the window."

"You sure you want to do this?"

"Ain't got much of a choice, now."

The distortion around the Andromedon dropped, and the nanos flew over to draw the curtains shut. Mordenna rubbed his forehead, looking at the alien as it stared at him. "Hey. Buddy. This was a close call but—"

The door opened and it was the little girl on the other side, gasping as she saw him. He held his hands out. "Don't scream!"

Thankfully, she complied. However, that wasn't the last of the visitors. Two more people followed after her—a redheaded woman and another blonde. Their eyes landed on the Hunter, and thankfully, they were too shocked to do anything. Still, he also included them in his gesture. "Don't scream. Screaming is the last thing you want to do right now because if your neighbors snitched on you once they'll do it again."

The blonde woman was the first to recover, though it was clear he'd still nearly scared her out of her skin. "What... wh-what are you doing here? Is—is that man dead?"

"To answer your questions in order..." He spared a hand to steady Thomas. "I was in the area on an errand and saw the situation unfolding. Shock of shocks, I've got a heart and couldn't just let this slide. Also, no. He's alive. He's why I was in the area."

The little girl came out from behind one of her mothers. "... did you hide Dolly?"

He'd heard the name of the Andromedon before, but hadn't really accounted for it. Still, "Dolly." Good as any, he supposed. "Yes. I wasn't going to let them take..." Him? Her? Best not to assume. "... them away. Everything's alright."

She looked calmed at that, but still rushed over to Dolly again, who hugged her once more. As they comforted each other, he stood up, hunching a bit in the low ceiling and looking at the couple grimly. "... like I said. If your neighbors snitched once, they'll keep doing it. Dolly here ain't safe anymore."

"I know." The redhead looked mournfully to her daughter and her companion. "We... were hiding him because we were still thinking of what to do with him. But I... I don't know what to do. I know he needs to go, but..."

Dolly looked between all of them, the hazy silhouette of the suit's pilot seeming to stare at Mordenna. He sighed again, rubbing the back of his neck. "... I don't suppose either of you have heard of XCOM picking up more recruits, have you?"

The blonde woman blinked at him a few times. "... you'd take him?"

"Well, I don't have much of a choice. I already intervened, here. Just leaving you guys to deal with more potential raids would be a bit—" He looked at the girl, mentally curbing his language. "—foolish. So I'll extend the offer. Dolly?" He nodded to him. "... if you don't want to get your family here in more trouble, I'm offering for you to come with me as I leg it back to XCOM. Your choice."

Dolly looked to the little girl, who was staring at him with big eyes. Surely they both realized what that would mean. After a second, a digitized voice that sounded like it was being produced by the suit itself spoke. "I don't want to leave. But I understand what staying means. Julie, Marie..." Ever so gently, Dolly patted the little girl's head. "Amy. I want you all to be safe. And if you being safe means me leaving..."

Amy sniffed. "Don't go..."

"I'm sorry. The bad men would come for all of us if I didn't."

It was clear that Amy wanted to burst right into tears again. But, with clear strength, she just hiccupped and hugged him tightly. Dolly returned the hug, and when they were done, she ran back to her mothers. Dolly stood up, looking at Mordenna. The Hunter rubbed at his mouth with his free hand. "... get your goodbyes out of the way. I'll stay near the front door." With that, Mordenna opened the door and stepped out, walking through a hallway and out to what was the livingroom by the looks of it.

There, he leaned by the front door and hitched up his field. Well. He didn't know he'd be breaking up a family for its safety today, but he supposed the universe worked as it did. Still, he sighed again. "Schro. When he comes out here, you think you can manage a field on him too?"

"I can. I've also already hailed for the Skyranger."

"Got it."

It was a moment, but eventually Dolly emerged from the hallway, the family filing in after him, Amy held in the blonde's arms. Mordenna let his field drop, waiting until they further approached him. When they did, he began. "... hope you said everything you wanted to. I'll be taking Dolly here straight to the Avenger, where he's guaranteed to find people like him who just want to live as they are."

"Not just live." Dolly's hands tightened into fists. "To fight."

"That too. You'll be able to do that." He then looked back to the family. "Don't worry. The Commander's a great person. He won't have trouble in his new home."

"Is there..." The redhead swallowed. "Is there any way we can contact you?"

"Realistically?" Mordenna blew a breath out of his nose. "No. Unless you three want to abandon your life of luxury here near the city center and go live in a haven, I can't guarantee contact without risking both our safeties. Normally I'd trumpet the need to rebel against the Elders, comforts be damned, but..." He meaningfully looked at Amy, clutching her mother. "You've clearly got something else to protect, too. So I can let it slide. Just letting you know your options."

They nodded. Dolly ambled towards Mordenna. "... I've said my goodbyes."

"Got it. Marie?" The blonde nodded, letting him place a face to the name. "Open the door. Dolly and I are about to disappear. Gonna need one of you to just walk out on the porch after us so it doesn't seem suspicious that the door just opens and closes on its own."

Marie nodded and went past them, opening the door. Dolly looked between all of them. "... goodbye. One day we'll see each other again."

Amy's eyes brimmed with tears. "C-come back soon..."

The whole scene was damn close to making Mordenna feel seriously bad. With the door open, he mentally pinged Schro. Soon enough, the two of them disappeared from sight, and Mordenna grabbed Dolly's arm, guiding him through the door and out the house. He did his best to ignore Amy's crying behind him, and didn't join Dolly in looking back as he guided the Andromedon away from the only home he had known so far. He could unpack everything of what he'd just seen and did on the Avenger—hopefully either when his siblings weren't busy or Eliza wasn't getting over a hangover.

The trip after that was quiet. Schro, after a few seconds into the journey, lent another layer of nanos to dampen the noise Dolly was making, leaving most of the indication that he was there to Mordenna's grip on him. They maintained a brisk pace, leaving the scenery of the suburbs behind them and making their way into the countryside.

To be blunt... Mordenna felt emotionally drained. He felt like he was quickly approaching the feeling he'd had the night before, that crushing oblivion where he knew what he should be feeling, but he couldn't feel it no matter how hard he tried. He took in a deep breath. He knew what he wanted to feel—he wanted to feel like shit after witnessing all of that. He held onto that feeling in a way. Mordenna didn't want to deal with it now, but he was damn sure he wanted to handle it later.

The landscape soon changed enough that there were no more houses to be seen anywhere, leaving just Mordenna and Dolly on their solemn walk. Firebrand would be coming in a while, a little ways ahead. Figuring they were far out of sight, Mordenna rolled his neck. "Schro. You can split from me now. Think we're good."

With that, he watched as Dolly reappeared to human senses, and all of the nanos from his own body peeled away. Schro took form in front of them. "Hello, Dolly."

Dolly stopped up, looking to Mordenna uncertainly. When Mordenna nodded, he looked back. "Greetings. Didn't think you were with him."

"Assisting every step of the way. My name is Schrödinger. Most commonly shortened to Schro."

"Probably know my name, then." Dolly rubbed his other arm. "... are there more aliens on the ship?"

"Well..." Mordenna kept walking, ticking names on his fingers. "There's me and my siblings, a Codex, a Sectoid, four different alien rulers, and a fair amount of Archons, Mutons, and Vipers."

Though lacking a visible face, Dolly looked rather surprised. "While I'd expected there to be a few aliens on your ship, I didn't think that many."

"Things got pretty ridiculous once we picked up the Alien Rulers. With luck, the Commander wants to pick up whoever would like to fight."

"Consider me one of their fighters. I'd like to pay them back for everything."

"Granted." Mordenna leveled his eyes to the horizon, watching for Firebrand. "We'll be happy to have another person willing to stick their fingers in the Elder's eyes."

Dolly was quiet for a moment. Then; "Do they have eyes?"

"Uh." Mordenna rubbed his chin. "I think. Maybe?" No, he really didn't know. "Let's just say they do for the metaphor to work."

"I suppose."

The walk went on with some mild talking after that, mostly Dolly asking questions about what working with XCOM was going to be like. Mordenna filled in the best he could—but eventually had to admit that he might get a better debriefing from the Commander. When the Skyranger was in sight, the metal of it glinting in the late night haze, he gave a sigh. Lord, he'd be happy when he could see his siblings again.


Fal-Mai was in the middle of talking to Jax about the nature of hobbies and pastimes when Mordenna's voice came in over her communicator.

"Hey. Sis. Uh, is Jax still occupied with Liz?"

She blinked a few times, halted in the conversation. She looked over to Jax, who was patiently seated across from her. She had wandered into the Commander's Quarters—after knocking, of course—to see how Eliza was doing since she'd heard rumblings that she'd caught some sort of stomach flu. Jax and Eliza were in the middle of watching a movie then, so she had retreated. Eventually, late into the night, Jax had asked her over comms if everything was alright. When things were, they simply resolved to hang out in the Studio. The occupants were just them now, as late as it was.

Jax leaned over slightly. "Something wrong, sister?"

She shook her head. "That was Mordenna. Seems he's home." She put a finger to her ear. "No, brother. He and I are currently in the Studio."

"Great. And I mean that. I'll be in there in a few minutes, I just gotta... talk about today."

"Of course, Mordenna. We will be waiting for you." After that, she let her hand fall away from her head, looking to Jax. "Mordenna seems to be troubled by something he encountered during his mission."

Jax's eyebrows raised at that. "Our brother being troubled by something out in the field? I almost loathe to learn of what did the trick. Still... he deserves to be heard out."

"Yes... and I suppose we'll be learning soon of what is wearing so heavily on him." Going back to the conversation, she resumed it. "Though to answer your earlier question? Boredom and curiosity, mostly."

Jax made an impressed noise. "No training?" He'd asked earlier how he was able to take apart and reassemble her gun so fast the one time she'd shown him before she lost her arm.

The Assassin nodded. "I would imagine, had I been provided other hobbies, I would be much like Mordenna in a particular field. Alas, all I am able to do is maintain my equipment to an exceptional degree." She sighed. "I would like a hobby. Making things... may seem quaint, but it is something I can look at and know I made." She glanced at the right side of her body. "... perhaps when Mordenna is done making my arm..."

His expression softened, and he laid a hand on her remaining shoulder. "Time will always wait for you, sister. There will be enough of it left to explore yourself once you have a degree of control back."

She nodded again. The wound was still fresh in her mind, even if her advanced regeneration had went to work healing it. But, this was no time for her to wallow in her own sorrow. Mordenna would soon be upon them with his own worries, and she would be happy to address them.

Soon enough, the door to the Studio opened and Mordenna was on the other side. He looked quite tired, even for his usual persona, and it looked like he hadn't bothered to put his weapons away. Fal-Mai scooted over in her chair to give him room to sit down and he took it, slumping in his own chair. It was a second before he spoke. "Hey guys."

"Mordenna." Jax leaned forward, resting his arms on the table and clasping his hands together. "What troubles you?"

"Sheesh, easier to say what isn't." He massaged his forehead, sighing. "... so I got that bastard Thomas. That's fine, I don't have anything to say about that part of the mission other than I'm astounded by the willful ignorance of the people in the city centers. But, uh, as I was making my way home..." He paused. "Give me a second to just... get this all together, would you?"

Jax and Fal-Mai nodded, and Mordenna was silent for a few moments. Eventually he found his words, and he began. "... so I was taking a rest from the mad dash I'd entered to get the fuck out of dodge. Was against a house. Looked in. There's an Andromedon in a young girl's room. Turns out... havens, out in the field, faction HQs, those aren't the only places to find people just looking to get away from ADVENT. This Andromedon—named Dolly, by the way, our newest recruit—was being held in one of these houses out in the suburbs of the city center. Well, I saw some ADVENT transport vehicles on my way in, and... not hard to see where that kind of story was going if I didn't intervene. So I did, climbing in, calming the kid, and using Schro to stealth the both of us. ADVENT comes in, raids the place, finds nothing because I'm hiding the one thing they could find. Great, right? I just did a favor to some passing family and helped out an alien fleeing ADVENT.

"Well... maybe not so great. Turns out Dolly was more than a refugee—he was family to these people. To the little girl and her two moms. ADVENT raided them once, so it wasn't a stretch to say they might keep doing it thinking them not finding anything the first time was a fluke. Or the neighbors just report them again, whatever. Obviously... I won't be in that area every single time. They were lucky I was in the neighborhood for the first time. I let them know in no uncertain terms that... either he stayed and they failed to hide him, or he came with me to XCOM, where both parties would be safer for it. Sounds easy. Wasn't so much, and I wasn't the one making the decision.

"It's..." He was quiet for a second, searching for his words. "Let me put it this way. Imagine we were all good to each other while we were with the Elders, but they still were bastards. I ended up fleeing and you guys had me at some sort of safehouse to keep an eye on me... but ADVENT gets suspicious. They raid it once and on a fluke, you hide me. Can you trust doing that every single time? Then some savior—Eliza, let's say—comes along and says she can guarantee my safety... but she has to take me away from you guys and she can't say for certain if I'll ever see you guys again. Maybe some far time in the future when the Elders are dead, but are you sure you'll be alive for that long? Do you let me go to save all of us, knowing you may never see me again?"

The way Mordenna put it, it hit rather close to home. Fal-Mai settled her arm onto his shoulder in solidarity. "I understand perfectly, brother... and even the actual situation weighs on me heavily. I cannot imagine having been there to see them make that choice themselves..."

"Yeah. I can hardly believe I went through it, myself, but..." He looked to some point in the distance, eyes slightly dull and anguished. "I guess... I guess it hits me hard because I've got family in you guys now. I think of being in Dolly's situation and it hurts. I... I don't want to lose you guys, even if it was for my own good. Is that selfish...?"

Fal-Mai shook her head, leaning over and hugging Mordenna. "If it is, you may call me selfish as well. I do not want to lose this little bit of family I have gained, either. After the Elders pushed us apart for so long, I am glad that we can finally be together."

Both of them jumped slightly when Jax pulled the table towards him, allowing him to take a single step onto it and then dismount in front of them, crouching to hug them both. "I shall be the third selfish one among us. Having failed in protecting either of you from the Elders' wrath during our time with them... I find it fitting that I make up for my deficiencies by now being there when you require me. And, admittedly, catering to my own desires of wanting a family."

"Well, hell..." Mordenna sniffed. "I'd be happy to help out there, bro. If only because it makes me happy to be a brother, too."

Fal-Mai leaned against the both of them. "And I a sister."

Jax smiled, hugging them all closer. "Then let us all be selfish together, and in doing so, become a better family than the Elders ever could have fostered under their scrutinizing eye."

There was an agreeable silence at that for a bit, which Fal-Mai was glad for. She was glad that things had changed so much and that she could be so vulnerable with her brothers—and they in turn, vulnerable around her. She never could've imagined having such a great family under ADVENT. XCOM truly was the better environment, and she was happy to share the silence with them.

Happy, that was, until Mordenna broke it. "... fuck, I really don't know if they have eyes."

Involuntarily, Fal-Mai laughed, and Jax joined her after a bemused second. She hoped her brothers would never change. Or, if they did... she hoped the change made them happier.