Chapter 19: The days at Spirit get harsher...

"...gurgh...sta...it...," Gabriel mumbled, turning her cheek away from the curious finger that was poking at it.

"Ansel!," Vignette hushed, picking him up under his arms away from the sleeping blonde. "Gabriel had a long week. We should let her rest, kay'?"

"But I. Want. To. Play!," he whined. Vignette closed the door to Gabriel's room- well, it was more of their shared room at this point, and sat him down at the dinner table. He swung his legs idly off the edge of the table, looking around the apartment with bored eyes.

Vignette couldn't blame him. He was a ten year old kid, probably experiencing living above ground for the first time in a while, although she has yet to ask. After they had returned from the shopping trip down in the tunnels, Gabriel and Vignette had immediately collapsed in their bed. Somehow they had the strength to take a shower before they did so, done out of habit whenever they would return home.

Meanwhile, the child named Ansel, was surveying and searching through his foreign environment, scavenging for bits of food and toys, creating a mess which Vignette had to clean up when she woke up. On a Saturday too, of all days. She had planned to drop off the parts to Sophie the scientist today, and just spend time with Gabriel indoors. It had been a while since they did anything together, considering Gabriel was training hard to become a soon-to-be ADC operator.

Vignette folded her arms at the boy sitting on the table.

"Goodness me...I guess I can play with you then."

"Noooo way! You're mean! And boring!"

Vignette sputtered. "Bor- excuse me?"

"I wanna play with Gabriel! I wanna play with Gabriel!"

She pressed the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on. She was worried she might get angry towards Ansel if he kept this up.

"Fine! Fine, whatever! Go wake her up then!," she let out.

"Should...I have said no? Shut up, do I look like a mother?"

Ansel flashed a large smile before he jumped off the table and ran towards the room. Vignette was surprised a bit at how quickly he dragged a chair over to the door so he could climb onto it and turn the doorknob.

He immediately began shaking Gabriel awake, inciting tired moans from the girl.

"Gab! Gab! Gab!," he repeated excitedly.

Surprisingly, Gabriel rolled over and gave a small smile towards the little boy, although she was grunting in post-training tiredness. It seemed as if she was appreciative that the first thing she heard in the morning wasn't her drill instructor yelling in her ear.

"...hey you...," she whispered, opening her arms out wide so that he could jump under the warm sheets with her. "Errrgh...what is it...? Where's Vign...?"

"Let's play! That game you showed me last night- it has a two-player mode!"

Gabriel sighed. "Ahh...play with Vign. Im...ma...sleep..."

"Nonono...I...erm..."

Gabriel was about to drift off back into slumber, when she heard the familiar voice of her girlfriend whisper for Ansel to leave her alone. This motivated her to open her eyes and look up from under the covers, at the purple haired girl who was holding two mugs.

"...mornin'...," she grumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"Go back to sleep Gab," Vignette whispered. "You need to rest."

Gabriel sat up, yawning and taking a big stretch. Vignette could've sworn she heard at least four bones give a satisfying crack. "Gr...ah...that hit's the spot..."

"You seem to be in a good mood," Vignette giggled, sitting down next to her futon and giving her a cup of coffee.

"Ahh...you have no idea...how good I feel right now...," Gabriel laughed. She took a sip of the coffee and was surprised at the fact that it was sweet, which Vignette knew that it was how Gabriel took her coffee. She felt extra happy, considering sugar was a rare commodity these days.

"Is that so? You don't want to sleep? How...responsible of you?," Vignette responded, equally as happy as her partner.

"Of course I want to sleep. I just wanted to see your face, that's all. Man, is it a good sight to see."

"S-Stop that."

The two looked at each other awkwardly, no doubt remembering the make-out session they had during Gabriel's birthday party, clear as day.

"Vign...can...you do me a favour?," Gabriel asked, setting the cup down.

"Course."

"Can you uhh...massage my back for me? Drills got me all fucked up. Bonus points for my arms."

Vignette felt her heart flutter as she looked at the blonde, looking up at her with puppy eyes. She told Ansel to eat his breakfast in the living room while she adjusted herself so that she could massage Gabriel's back.

She kneaded out the knots and stiffness through her thin pyjamas, trying not to pay attention too much at the sounds of Gabriel's moans of satisfaction. Vignette jumped in embarrassed, nervous and horny shock as she heard her name be moaned when she firmly pressed down on the muscles near her hip.

"Vignette...~," Gabriel moaned, her chin resting on her folded arms. "Ah...!~ Right there..."

"G-G-G-Gabriel White," Vignette whispered, trying not to be heard by Ansel. "I see what you're doing, and I..."

"Ah...huh? You were saying? Don't stop...that feels really good."

"N-Never mind."

"Maybe it's just my horny imagination. There's no way she could be in the mood right now. Not after that hellish week," Vignette thought as she massaged Gabriel's legs.

There was no talk after that, only satisfactory noises from Gabriel. Vignette slowly got into a meditative state of sorts, focusing on trying to please the blonde as much as possible by massaging every single muscle on her body. It wasn't too difficult, considering years of military training defined Gabriel's muscles extensively, making it easy for Vignette to locate where to massage. There were also bullet and knife scars on her skin which Vignette saw after she rolled up her pyjamas to get a better 'feel'.

"I remember this one...," Vignette thought at the scar on the back of her right thigh. "Idiot...why do I let you go outside again?"

"Oi. You're making me feel self-conscious," Gabriel joked when she looked back, wondering why the massaging stopped.

"Sorry. But you're such a reckless little loli, you know that?"

"Hm."

Vignette smoothed out the muscles on Gabriel's calves. "You've been through a long week, so I think it's best if you just...sit back and relax today."

"Okay. Sounds good. But don't we have to deliver something to Soph?"

"Well, I was planning to do that myself but..."

"I'll go with you. What are we going to do about the kid?"

Gabriel sat up, stretching contently, while Vignette looked down at the ground in thought.

"Well the orphanages are always there. It's not like either one of us or anyone here could take care of him."

"Vignette...stop with the sad face. It wasn't your fault. He pulled the gun on you first. You acted in self-defence."

"I know. I know. I just can't shake off the thought. I mean...if I hadn't entered the tunnels at the time on that day then..."

"Then they would've both starved to death. You did the right thing. I promise."

Vignette rested her forehead on Gabriel's chest.

"...thanks Gab. I mean it," she whispered.

"E-Eh...? Quit being so sappy. Come on. Let's get outta here," Gabriel chuckled with a faint blush on her cheeks which Vignette caught a glimpse of. In that moment she remembered who Gabriel once was: the lazy, irresponsible slob of an angel, and compared it to now. With each day that passed it was as if the fire in her eyes grew brighter, motivating her to work hard, take insane risks and go where no-one dared to go.

Vignette was pleasantly surprised when she turned around from getting dressed and looked down at the futon. The bed sheets were neatly folded into a square resting on the middle of the crease-free mattress. It seemed as if Gabriel was working on autopilot and didn't even realise she did that as she got dressed with a dazed look in her eyes. Of course, she eventually caught wind of Vignette's goofy smile.

"W-What? Something on my face?," Gabriel awkwardly said. She tried to keep her usual deadpan demeanour but her tone came out sounding like a giggling schoolgirl.

"Nothin'. Working on autopilot I see?," Vignette responded, pointing at the futon.

"Oh...heheh...might as well."

Gabriel proceeded to jump on the futon as Vignette tugged on her arm trying to get her to stop. Now the bed looked like it belonged to Gabriel.


"Gab Gab! Sieh dir das an! Look!," Ansel exclaimed.

"Ser what now? Oh. Would you look at that..."

Ansel clumsily ran to the playground and sat on the end of a seesaw, beckoning for the blonde to sit on the other end. Vignette took a quick, candid picture of the two as they played on the seesaw, it's hinges squeaking loudly from it's lack of use. Several passer-by's who were walking around on the street lingered their gaze on Ansel, which Vignette understood to an extent. It was rare for children to be seen in Spirit Base, as most of them were shipped somewhere much safer, away from the conflicts of war.

It was even rarer for them to not only be outside in the dangerously freezing cold, but also laughing without a care in the world.

"Hahahaha! My butt's stuck to the seat!," he laughed.

"Come on now," Gabriel said, walking towards Vignette. "We've got an appointment, remember? Don't want to miss that."

"Okay!"

Ansel walked beside Gabriel, holding her gloved hand like she was his mother.

"He's...really taken a liking to you, hasn't he?," Vignette stated.

"I guess so. Looks like you aren't much of a mother after all, huh? I could've sworn you were the motherly-type in this relationship but..."

"Wha-relationship...?! M-Mother? A-Am I the father then?," Vignette blabbered. She was just now imagining that she was married to Gabriel and had a child.

"Maybe. Which means...you're gonna have to be on top from now on."

"Oh my God. There's a kid here missy."

The trio walked up the stairs into what seemed to be a university-style building, except the windows were boarded off with some kind of plastic material. Gabriel knelt down and took her coat off of Ansel, and he quickly scurried away, to explore the building.

"Ansel!," Gabriel called. "Over here bud! Down the stairs!"

They walked towards the science laboratory which was in the basement of the university complex. The hallways and rooms they passed were somewhat clean, although there were puddles of water here and there from the ice that was melting from the building's heaters. People in lab coats walked past, some even kneeling down to say hi to Ansel. It was like he was a breath of fresh air, a glimpse into a brighter side of humanity, away from the fighting and the threat of starvation and the intense work.

"Ansel! Stay close to us, kay'?," Gabriel said. He nodded excitedly, and the trio opened a glass door which led into a large white room, filled with complex machines, and ten or so people working on them. Vignette dropped the heavy bag on a table before walking up to a certain scientist and punching her in the arm, causing her to drop her tablet.

"Ow! The fuck?!," she yelped, causing everyone to look over.

"You asshole. What was that about the tunnels being completely safe?," Vignette complained. The other scientists realized that it was just two friends having an argument and returned back to their work.

"Sorry. Didn't know. It was empty the last time I went. Fuuuck...you punch hard man..."

"This thing better work. Or else."

"Reeeelax. Depends on if you've got the right shit or not," Sophie deadpanned, walking past Vignette. "What's up Gabby Wabby. Oh, and who's this cutie?"

She knelt down and pet Ansel on the head. "D-Don't touch me!"

"Aww...aren't you a cute one. What's your name love?"

"Ansel," Gabriel replied, knowing that he wouldn't tell her. "We uh...found him. In the tunnels."

"Oh damn...his...parents?"

Gabriel remained quiet, fiddling on with her assault rifle that was dangling off her hip.

"I see. Don't worry little guy. If Vignette got what I told her to get, then you'll be eating lots tomorrow," Sophie stated confidently as she scrounged through the duffel bag. "Oh fuck yeah! Ceramic matrix composites!"

"How exactly would you do that?," Gabriel asked as Sophie was geeking out over the contents of the bag.

"Well, uh- oh I think I'll need this...umm...we're basically gonna modify seeds to grow in irradiated soil."

Gabriel blinked in surprise.

"You see...there are...two main problems with food production right now. The first being, it's waaay to cold for anything to grow. The second, is that the soil is heavily irradiated thanks to nuclear fallout. So, we plan to modify a variety of common food crop to use radioactive isotopes like strontium 90 or caesium 137 to not only protect them from the cold, but also as a energy substitute for sunlight. Plus, they'll soak up all the radiation for us."

"Sounds...complicated."

"Trust me, it is. But...if this works, we estimate they'll produce in a short period of time, maybe a month or so."

She walked over to a gutted machine chassis with the duffel bag, and began tinkering with it.

"If this works...you have no idea what this will do to the war effort. We wouldn't have to fire off a single round, and our enemies would simply starve to death."

"Unless they find a way to do the same," Vignette interjected, looking around.

"Riiight. I guess so..."

The mad scientist quietened down, getting into a deep concentration as she tinkered with the machine; so much so that she forgot that her three guests were still there. Gabriel was the first to speak up.

"Welp. Allllright then, I guess we'll be going now," she said, startling Soph. She removed her head from the inside of the chassis and laughed awkwardly at them. "Free day off and all..."

"Christ, sorry about that. Really. I get into a mental rut sometimes and..."

"No, it's fine honestly! You child prodigies can be as eccentric as you want. Whatever puts food on the table, right?"

"Right. Wanna...have lunch together and catch up? They're serving gourmet oatmeal today."

The three all simultaneously nodded at the mere mention of free food, and followed Sophie to the elevators, making idle chit-chat about their lives and what they've got going on. Sophie was talking about her latest projects with her team, one of them being new polymers to protect them against the cold. They got off the elevator at the fifth floor, which was the mess hall, and lacking in people for such a large space. There were more people frantically typing away on their laptops than there were people eating, although there was little to eat anyway.

They each got their meagre bowl of oatmeal and sat down at a table closest to the window.

"Seriously Gab. I'm talkin' better heating, more efficient power usage, more strength, whatever. I'll make that shitty exosuit act like its next-gen," Sophie said, continuing on about their conversation about what gear they're using on the field.

"That sounds great. I'm gonna be getting a new one soon, so maybe Vign could wear this one?"

"Eh? It looks cool and all, but I'm not going to be seeing combat Gab."

"Three words. Built. In. Heating."

"I'm sold. Hand it over."

Sophie looked out the window, at the frozen over city. "Wow...my little Gab...an ADC operator? Incredible..."

"Yup. I sure put your nihilist ass to shame, don't I?," Gab quipped as she spoon fed Ansel.

"Fuuuck off. What about you Vign? Anything interesting happen with you?," Sophie asked.

"Eh..not really. I've sorta just been watching Gab do her thing," she replied. She hungrily scoffed down her entire bowl of oatmeal.

"Oh? No ambitions or plans for you?"

"Course I have those. It'll...come true eventually. I guess."

"Watch out Gab. Soon she too will realize that life has no meaning. Then you'll have to deal with two of me."

"Hm. I'm gonna guess nothing interesting happened with you then? Still no boyfriend?," Gabriel shot back.

"Nope. What's the point. I'm tired of having everyone I love die the moment they step outside of my house. Maybe I could make some kinda...drug or something..."

"You know, I can see why you think life is meaningless with that mindset. You just don't want to risk anything."

Sophie felt the tension in the conversation and looked out the window again. She looked back at her bowl and pushed it towards Ansel.

"Here you go kiddo," she said. "You need the energy."

He could barely sound out 'thank you' before he stuffed his face with the wet goop like it was the tastiest thing in the world.

"Do...you believe in God Vign?," Sophie muttered, leaning back in her chair, causing her long, black hair to spill over.

Vignette looked at Gab, only to be met with a somewhat uninterested stare. "Um...yeah. Of course. D-Do you?"

"I don't know. Hard for me to say. I'd be inclined to believe that if he did exist, God wouldn't believe in me..."

"Been thinking about life I see?," Gab asked.

"...something like that. As much as I find it...enjoyable to create all this shit, I still can't shake off the feeling that it's all for nothing, you know? A million years backwards or front, who the hell will know or care about what I do? What any of us do?"

Sophie leaned over the table so that she was closer to the blonde's face. It was as if she was analysing her, trying to get inside her mind.

"You're the only exception to this, Gabriel. Why do you do any of this? Why even bother? Is it for God? I'm sure you're aware that there's great pain ahead of you."

"I am very aware, idiot," Gabriel muttered with her eyes closed. "Is little miss Sophie jealous of me? Sounds like it."

"Anything but. It's more like curiosity."

"Hmpf. Well, if you need to know so badly, I guess it's because...umm...well. I actually hadn't thought about it. Why do I do this?"

Gabriel looked up in contemplation.

"I guess...it's because I think human beings are incredible? Like...we can handle anything that comes our way. And...and it'd be a waste to not live up to our potential, ya' know? And...I have people to fight for."

"Who?"

"Please don't make me say it. You already know who."

Vignette looked down at her lap in embarrassment. Sophie looked around at some other scientists who were packing up their stuff and leaving the mess hall, signalling the end of their break.

"Back to work for me then," she declared as she stood up. "What about you guys? Planning on having a nice family outing or no?"

Vignette took a quick glance at Ansel, who was balancing his spoon on his nose. "We're about to head off to the orphanage. See what they think about...our situation."

"Aw man. I feel bad."

"Same here. But we just can't. We're soldiers."

"Completely understandable. Talk to you later guys," she said, waving goodbye. As they waved back, Ansel stuck his cheek on the cold window to get a better view of the fighter jets flying overhead.

"Woah...Gab! Look! Planes!," he yelped. They whizzed by, causing the cutlery to shake, before the sounds of short bursts of machine gun fire could be heard in the distance. The view from the cafeteria allowed them to see smoke bursting off the bridge in the distance. Soon after more explosions and small arms fire were heard, causing Gabriel and Vignette to jump up from their seats.

"What the hell?!," Vignette exclaimed. "G-Gab?!"

"I don't know either," she replied. Her radio crackled to life as air raid sirens began roaring to life, and the skies were filled with tracer rounds and smoke. "Oh no...oh no why now..."

They quickly ran out of the mess hall with Ansel on Gabriel's back, and ran down the flight of stairs. They had practiced this scenario a countless number of times during training, which was to get equipped as quickly as possible and to report to their superiors.

"Gabriel! Which way?!," Vignette yelled as they ran across the street. She followed the blonde through a series of alleyways as the air raid siren and the sounds of gunfire were still roaring in the distance. Soon they were on the main road, dodging the soldiers and trucks going the opposite way, where the main conflict was happening.

Alongside a couple hundred other soldiers dressed in their casual outfits, they all rushed into the barracks to retrieve their gear, while Gabriel ran into a nearby building to drop off Ansel. She tucked him underneath a bed as she handed her his handgun back.

"Remember...," Gabriel panted. "Safety off, hold the grip tight and squeeze the trigger. Make sure to warn them first, okay? We'll be back before you know it."

"D-Don't die," was all he stammered back before she ran into the barracks. She barged into a separate section of the barracks, specifically reserved for the members of the Alex Defence Company, and was greeted by her leader who was stuffing magazines into his vest pockets.

"Morning!," he laughed with a dark undertone. "Usually we don't hire recruits who haven't completed their training but..."

"What's going on out there? And where the fuck is my med bag?!," Gabriel frantically complained as she equipped her gear.

"Over here rookie. You'll be riding with us today. Just follow us and get us back up if we're shot."

"Our mission sir?," Gabriel asked as she replaced the battery in her exosuit.

"Support JSDF on the front lines until further orders."