So, the other day, me and some friends were talking, and someone eventually dropped a list of the background announcements that play in the background during the Zordoom level in Rift Apart, and among them was one that stated:
"Prisoners F19 and D12, please desist from holding hands during your transfer. It lowers staff morale."
And for some reason, this sentence fucking hooked me, because there is so much story behind this single throwaway line, about the love between two rebel prisoners that is so strong that they still manage to show their love for each other—even through such a small act as holding hands—even under the likely threat of severe punishment under the Warden's iron fist, and that is just so tragically beautiful that I couldn't not make a story about it.
So, now, here we are. Hope you enjoy!
"Hey guys, I could use some help over here?!" The brawny Fongoid cries out into the communicator mounted on her wrist, as her other hand held a very large machine gun, currently mowing down a current onslaught of Nefarious Troopers. "I'm getting swarmed right now!"
"Just hang in there, Ruthie, we've got someone coming in onto your position, you just have to hold out for a bit longer!" Her Resistance contact replies, her words nearly cut off as a Trooper tries to sneak up to Ruthie's side, prompting her to instead turn and punch straight through its domed head.
She then retracts her arm, letting the now-lifeless hunk of metal fall to the ground as she brings her wrist back up to her mouth, still shooting at the other Troopers, ducking behind cover while she does.
"And just how long is 'a bit longer', huh?!" She demands, turning behind her cover to place her back against the wall to reload. "I've got a goddamn horde of these dome-heads on my ass right now! If your guy isn't here in a minute, you're going to have to get me a bodybag instead of that beer after this shitshow's over!" She states sardonically.
"Ruthie, shut up, it'll be a minute, tops!" Her contact replies unamusedly as she slaps a new clip into her gun, and chambering the round before stepping out from the wall, and mowing down the few soldiers who were stupid enough to try and get closer during her brief reload. "We've got evac for the both of you coming in about five minutes! We need you both to hold out until then so you can get that drink!"
"I'm holding you to that, Harlin, or else I'm haunting your ass!" She cries out over the loud cacophony of gunfire from her own gun, still indiscriminately firing it into the crowd of Troopers, their numbers rapidly dwindling, but not enough that they won't be able to overwhelm her if her backup doesn't arrive, whoever they are.
And as she's shooting, among the flurry of bolts headed her way actually manages to land a shot on her arm, and she lets out a small cry before tracing down the unfortunate bucket of bolts that had the audacity to hit her, and makes sure to blow him up into smithereens before ducking behind cover once more.
She looks at her arm, and luckily sees that he only managed to graze her, so even though it hurt like hell, it wasn't anything a little nanotech wouldn't patch up, so she takes a small vial of the blue nanites and cracks it open in her fist, letting them flow into her skin, and the burning sensation of her arm quickly fades into nothing.
She then uses her other hand to wipe away at the blood on her arm, and sees that it's all patched up and good to go, thankfully, except for the fact that the healed flesh neglected to also fix her tattoo in the middle of her arm, which made the stargazer lily flower on her arm now have a large blank gap in the middle of it.
She clenches her blood-soaked fist as fury bubbles up within her, and swiftly reloads her gun once more before turning back around the corner once again with an angry determination written across her features.
"All right, you fishbowl-looking bastards are going to pay for… messing with…"
She trails off as the majority of the Troopers are no longer even looking in her direction, and instead are turned away in the complete opposite direction, each of them shouting something along the lines of 'get her!' as the sound of shooting and crumpling metal are heard.
Ruthie was initially confused in what the hell they were talking about, until she sees something flying above the mob of soldiers, and sees that it was in actuality a someone, with that someone in question appearing to be a white-furred Cazar, dual-wielding small laser SMGs in her hand as she leapt in the air, spraying down onto the Nefarious Troops with a grin while the rest helplessly try to fire onto her, but with her being too agile and easily dodging them.
She lands back down onto one of the soldiers, to which she swiftly takes out an explosive, and smashes his dome open with the butt of her SMG before throwing it inside of it.
"Special delivery!" She amusedly declares before gracefully flipping off of him, with him flailing about in fear as he desperately tries clawing at his own domed head to reach to the explosive, but to no avail, and the Cazar simply takes out a small detonator and presses the button, making him and all the other nearby Troopers explode into a large ball of flame before she begins running around the group, shooting at them with her SMGs.
Meanwhile, Ruthie, a little slack-jawed at the performance, had her gaze locked onto the Cazar, who appeared to be missing a chunk of her right ear, her face wearing a large smile as she blasted away at the Nefarious Troopers, constantly moving with a nimble and agile speed, jumping and flipping away to dodge their attacks, and even hopping on top of them as she does so, all the while her wide green eyes were filled with utter delight and excitement at the situation, calling out insults to the Troopers as they vainly attempted to shoot her.
And as Ruthie stood there, observing the entire scene in a stunned silence, couldn't help but feel… something towards that Cazar, ripping apart the soldiers in front of her with such beautiful ease and grace, as if it was but second nature to her.
And on top of that, as the Cazar's face was constantly illuminated by the blue muzzle flash of her twin weapons… Ruthie would be lying if she said she didn't find her cute as well.
"By order of the Emperor, cease your jumping, and remain still so that we may terminate you!" A Nefarious Trooper calls out.
"Well, on my order, you stay still so that I can blow you up even faster!" She replies, taking out another explosive.
Once again, she jumps onto the Trooper, and cracking his dome open with the butt of her gun, and slips the explosive inside before jumping off once again.
Or, at least, she tried to jump off once again, as the Trooper manages to grab her leg in the middle of the air, making her cry out in surprise as she dangles upside down, with another Trooper grabbing her arms from behind, preventing her from aiming her weapon.
"Ha ha! We've got you now!" He cries out triumphantly. "It's going to be almost too easy to shoot you now that you're still!" He says gleefully as he raises his blaster to her head while she struggles to break free out of their grips. "I hope the Emperor gives me a promo—"
He is suddenly silenced as a round goes through his head, and he falls over lifeless as he lets go of the Cazar's foot, of which she then swings her legs down, pivoting off of her hands as the other trooper held them, and kicks him square in the face, making him drop her as well before she finishes him off with her SMG, and looks over to see Ruthie holding her machine gun, its barrel smoking as she yells out.
"Why don't you goddamn tin cans pick on someone your own size, huh?!" She says, raising her gun once more. "Come on, now, I'll only bite a lot!"
And as she says that, prompting the rest of the troops to remember that she was there, too, and instead focusing back onto her, she and the Cazar's eyes meet, and they both give each other a smile and a nod before Ruthie resumes spraying into the crowd, and the Cazar running away from the group, right before detonating the explosive, sending another fireball through the crowd.
And so, for the next few minutes, they each work together to pick off the soldiers, with Ruthie taking down the brunt of them, and also getting the most fire as they focus on the one with the bigger gun, all the while the Cazar runs around, utilizing her distraction to easily pick off the rest of them, only having to dodge intermittent fire as the soldiers struggle to defend against their two attackers, surrounding them on all sides.
And eventually, after a few minutes, the last Trooper falls to the ground, sparking, and the Cazar stands in the middle of the large pile of scrap metal that was their battlefield, admiring their work with a smile, and flashing a thumbs-up to Ruthie, who returns it with a smile of her own, and begins to reload her gun once more as the Cazar jogs over to her.
"Man, that was so cool how you just tore those buckets of bolts apart like it was nothing!" She states excitedly as she reaches Ruthie, who places her gun down beside her, resting an arm on it. "And, thanks for the save too, by the way. I would've been a goner there for sure." She adds on earnestly, giving another smile.
Ruthie gives a small chuckle as she rubs the back of her head. "Yeah, well, I figured it's the least I can do, given that you were here to save my ass in the first place. Would've been pretty embarrassing if I just let you die like that if that were the case, huh?"
The Cazar giggles a bit too, and Ruthie couldn't help but think how even her laugh seemed cute as well. "I think it'd be even more awkward on me if I showed up to come save the day, only to just keel over in not even a minute. I'd at least wanna go out in a blaze of glory instead of strung up like a flag and shot point-blank by a couple of cheaters!"
"Yeah, that was some pretty poor sportsmanship on their part, I'll admit." Ruthie agrees, looking off to the pile of scrap where she was held up by those two Troopers, right before glancing back down to the Cazar, wearing a slightly apprehensive look on her face as she does so. "Are you, uh… alright, though? You didn't get hit or anything out there, did you?"
"Oh, uh, nah, I'm good, probably just some scraps from a few harder landings if anything. But, don't worry, this was nothing, I've been through a hell of a lot worse before, obviously." She says amusedly, flicking her mostly missing ear with her finger while wearing a smile. "But, erm… thanks for asking, though. Glad to hear that someone's got my back out there. Especially someone capable enough to do all of… this." She states, gesturing to the battlefield full of Nefarious' soldiers.
Ruthie gives a small shrug. "I mean, it's not like all of it was me, you were kicking ass just as hard out there, it was awesome to see. I'm glad to see that there was someone like you who was there to give me my backup. So… thanks for that." She tells her with a small smile.
"Anytime, I'm always happy to help those in need!" She responds with a beaming smile. "But, are you alright? Those tin cans were mostly shooting at you the whole time, after all, did you get hit at all?"
"Erm, yeah, they grazed my harm earlier, but I got some nanotech to patch me up just fine, I'm all good." She replies, leaning her arm over to show the spot in question. "Except for my tattoo, those bastards ruined it. Now I'm going to have to get it redone and sit under the needle for another few hours." She adds distastefully.
"Woah… that's a cool tattoo!" The Cazar says, leaning closer to look at it. "Pretty, too, with all of those neat colors! What kind of flower is it, then?"
"Oh, uh… it's a stargazer lily." Ruthie answers, admittedly taken aback by the flattering compliment, never having gotten such an eager reaction to it like this before, let alone when it's all butchered up from post-nanotech healing. "It's, erm… my favorite kind of flower."
"Wait, seriously? A lily?" She asks with a giggle. "What a coincidence, my name's Lilly, too!"
"Wait, really? Huh, I guess that is a funny coincidence." She replies with a chuckle.
"I think your tattoo just automatically gained a few points in my book, then." She states with a smile. "But, erm… what's your name, then? Harlin didn't really mention a name when he told me to give you backup."
"Of course, he didn't." She replies with a roll of her eyes, making Lilly giggle once more before she holds out her hand. "It's Ruthie. Nice to meet you, Lilly."
"Oh, what a nice name! Nice to meet you too, Ruthie!" She says happily as she reaches up to take her hand.
But before she does, Ruthie glances down, and her eyes widen as she suddenly retracts her hand, making Lilly tilt her head slightly. "Erm, what is it?" She asks worriedly.
"Oh, uh, I forgot I had my blood all over it from when I got hit." Ruthie explains with a nervous chuckle as she tries to wipe most of it on her pants. "Probably don't want to stain your fur with it, huh?"
Lilly chuckles. "It's fine, I've got it covered in blood so much already that I've got cleaning it out down to a science." She assures her, holding her hand out once more. "And besides, a little blood never hurt anybody, so go ahead and put 'er there."
Ruthie looks down to her outstretched hand, then back up to her friendly and smiling face, and back to her own hand, no longer dripping with her blood, but still a little wet with it. But then, she smiles a bit as she takes Lilly's hand, and gives it a shake with a nod of her head.
"I'm glad to hear that, then." She says with a smile, before it falters slightly as she registers what she just said. "Erm, about the whole 'you don't mind shaking my bloody hand' thing, and not the whole 'you've been covered in blood a lot' thing, that is."
Lilly chuckles once again as she retracts her hand, wiping it on her own pants. "Don't worry, I get what you mean. But hey, thanks to you, it's not my own blood this time, so… thanks again for saving me back there, Ruthie. I kinda hope that we can work together on a mission sometime, I thought we did pretty well together with all of those Troops earlier." She finishes with a shrug, once again thumbing back to the battlefield behind them.
Ruthie can't help but grin as she nods as well, perhaps a little too eagerly as she does so. "Yeah, same here, I'd love to have someone like you have my back out there to keep me from getting into sticky situations like just now. I hope we work together sometime, too, Lilly."
Lilly smiles even wider as she says that, and before long, they each unconsciously find themselves staring into each other's eyes, wearing content expressions as they both stand in the middle of the battlefield, their respective weapons held in their hand, and some blood smeared on the other, of which neither of them cared about, nor even even noticed as they were soon lost in the other's gaze.
But then, they are suddenly broken out of their thoughts as the sound of a ship cuts through the air overhead as their comms crackle to life.
"Alright, I'm here!" Harlin's voice says to them as the transport ship begins to lower. "Are you two good, anyone hit?"
"O-Oh, erm, no, we're just fine, Harlin!" Lilly replies back into her own communicator. "Me and Ruthie here are just fine!"
"Yeah, we both kicked their metal asses into next week!" She affirms, giving Lilly a firm nod and a grin, to which Lilly holds her hand up for a high-five, which Ruthie returns.
"Well, that's good to hear, but they've got some support incoming to kick our asses into next month, and that includes air support, so you two better hurry up and get aboard so we can hightail it out of here!" He replies as the ship finally reaches the ground, hovering just above it as the back of it opens.
"Got it! Let's go!" Ruthie says as she picks up her gun with both hands, and runs around the ship along with Lilly, and they hop inside, taking the closest seats lining the walls as Harlin immediately takes off, just in time to see another horde of Troopers coming just over the horizon, unfortunately a little too late to try and avenge their fallen brethren.
But as they fly off, Ruthie can't help but hold out her hand to them through the window on the back of the transport, middle finger extended.
"Take that, you goddamned dome-heads!" She cries out triumphantly. "Score one for the Resistance!"
"Yeah, suck it! Say hi to your stupid Emperor for us and tell him to suck it, too!" Lilly chimes in enthusiastically, also holding up middle fingers, but on both of her hands, waving them around before she and Ruthie look and each other, and burst out laughing while Harlin turns around from the pilot seat.
"Alright, I think we've lost them for now, and once we travel out of the system, we'll be as good as gone." He says.
"Sure thing, Harlin, thanks for the evac." Ruthie tells him as she and Lilly calm down from their laughing.
"Hey, I said you'd make it out of there, right? I knew you two would make it out of there."
"And I'm glad you ended up being right about that." She says with a nod before looking over to Lilly sitting next to herm and gives her a smile. "And, again, thanks for the backup, Lilly. I'm happy I get to live another day to stick it to the Emperor."
"Like I said, it's no problem. It was actually kind of fun taking out all of those Troops with you!" She replies happily.
"Yeah, I guess it was, huh?" Ruthie replies contentedly as they both lean back into their seats, enjoying the small moment of relaxation, a smile silence falling over them as they sit next to each other, exhaling small sighs of relief.
But about a minute later, Ruthie's hands begin tapping anxiously on her machine gun propped up on the floor between her legs, nervously glancing to Lilly next to her, appearing to be performing some mild cleaning on her SMGs next to her, and glances back to her gun, chewing her lip slightly before she silently takes in a breath and turns towards her.
"You know… me and Harlin were going to go out to Zurkie's for a drink later, since he owes me a beer." She begins, prompting Lilly to look up from wiping a smudge of oil of the side of her gun. "And I was thinking that, you know, since you saved my ass back there, that I owe you one, too, so if you aren't too busy or anything… do you wanna join us?" She asks a little coyly.
And as she internally braces for the answer, admittedly more than a little nervous for the answer, Lilly instantly perks up as she eagerly nods her head.
"E-Erm, yeah! I'd love to!" She answers joyfully with a beaming smile. "I'm totally free tonight, count me in!"
"Really?" Ruthie asks, feeling immensely relieved that she said yes.
"Absolutely! Hell, if anything, I think I owe you a drink for saving me earlier, so I've gotta repay that favor, anyways, right?" She replies with a shrug before looking away. "And, well… it'd be nice to learn a bit more about my new partner, right?" She adds.
"Wait, partner?" She responds with surprise.
"Well, we just said that we'd love to work with each other from here on out, right?" Lilly tells her before a small look of nervousness rests on her face. "Is… partner a little too strong?" She asks a little bashfully.
"No!" Ruthie cries out, making her lean back a bit with surprise, and Ruthie internally slaps herself for that reaction as she clears her throat, and rubs the back of her head with a chuckle. "Erm, I mean, no. I'd like that." She states more calmly.
She then reaches her hand out with a smile. "Partners?"
Lilly, now calmed down from her sudden exclamation—and a little amused by it, too—smiles as well as she takes her hand and shakes it. "Partners."
Once again, they each begin staring into each other's eyes, neither of them attempting to retract their hands as they both sit there, wearing beaming looks of bliss on each of their faces, mutually excited for this new future of them being partners together.
But then, they're broken out of their thoughts as they hear Harlin snickering from up front. "Smooth, Ruthie."
"Hey, you shut the hell up, Harlin." She says firmly with a scowl, pointing at him as he continues to snicker. "Why don't you pay attention to flying us over to Zurkie's so you can finally buy me that damn beer, huh?"
"Sounds good to me." He replies, absolutely unfazed by the intimidation in her voice. "And hey, I heard that Rivet ran into some trouble on her mission into Nefarious City today, so you know what that means!"
"That the Resistance lost again today?" She responds, raising an eyebrow.
"No—Well, actually, yes, I guess, but no. I'm talking about that she's going to be frustrated, and when she's frustrated, she blows off steam at the Battleplex, so we're going to be in for a show tonight!"
"Ooh, neat!" Lilly replies eagerly.
"Well, as long as you buy me that drink before you go and blow it all gambling on Junior's matches, I don't care." Ruthie says to him with a roll of her eyes, making him chuckle with a 'no problem' as he speeds up to Zurkie's, leaving her and Lilly to begin having an engaging conversation about each other's weapons to kill the time as they do so, eager to learn more about their new partner.
So, like almost literally everything I write, this ballooned into something more than I anticipated, as I planned on this entire story being a single oneshot, and yet, after writing about merely their first meeting together and seeing that it was almost 4K words, I realized that was a hopelessly optimistic goal, so this is definitely going to have to be broken up into chapters.
And, I only realized halfway through writing this that that it is currently Pride Month at time of posting, so I guess that this is a happy coincidence that I happen to be telling a love story between two women.
But, coincidence or not, I still feel as though that this is a great fic to say happy Pride Month to all of my LGBTQIA+ readers!
Until next time!