Nicholas was travelling with his squad outside the city. The Vanguard believed that he should have some experience in the field even if it was only a little. He had already completed his training with promising results. Since Nicholas didn't have a ship, he had to ride with Maria since the others didn't have any room.

"Where are we going?"

"In what used to be called Germany. The city we're going to is called Berlin. It's full of Fallen."

"Fallen? What are they?"

"Sentient Lizards bent on the destruction of Humanity."

"Oh."

"They seek possession over the Traveler. They are extremely difficult for new guardians to dispose of, but I think you'll be fine."

"I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"Yeah, but hey, I got your back."

Suddenly Clara's voice sounded over the communication system.

"What about us?"

"Well, Nicholas is just a kid. He's also the newbie."

"You care for the newbie more than us?"

"He's the one that needs help with surviving. We're going after the Fallen after all."

"Riiight."

"Come on Clara. Don't be like that."

"So Nicholas gets to sleep with you for how long?"

"Don't change the subject!"

"I'm not, I'm just asking."

"Who I sleep with and for how long is none of your goddamn business."

"It is when he lives with us."

"No it's not."

Then Harold spoke up.

"Girls, am I right?

Clara and Maria shout at their consoles.

"Shut it Harold!"

"Alright, alright, don't get your panties in a twist."

A thought popped up in Maria's mind.

"Wait, what do you mean by sleeping, Clara?"

"Sex, duh!"

"Nicholas and I don't have sex at all. We just sleep in the same bed together."

Clara was silent for a few minutes.

"Huh. That actually makes sense."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, you don't like having sex with a less experienced guardian."

It was in this moment that Nicholas said something stupid.

"I've had sex before. I'm not as inexperienced as you might think."

Everyone was silent until Clara spoke up.

"Wow, and how old are you?"

"17, though I should be 18 on October 3rd."

"So when did you start doing the deed?"

"I shouldn't say."

"Fifteen? damn. Even I didn't start doing it at that age."

"I was pressured into it."

"Must have been hard to make a decision."

"It was, but my son Michael was born because of it."

"You must have been happy."

"I was, until I lost him."

Maria looked at Nicholas concerned.

"He was only a year old when he passed due to a case of Influenza. I was never the same after that."

"That must have been hard for you."

"Yeah, but you move on and try not to dwell on it. When we turned 17, Sarah and I got married as we had another baby on the way. It actually turned out to be twins. I lost Sarah a few weeks after the birth in a shootout with some local gangs. After that, I was sent on the assignment that led to my subsequent death."

Maria told everyone that they were at their designated area. They land their ships in a safe area and exit them. Harold and Clara look at Maria and Nicholas.

"Everyone good?" Harold asked.

"Yes," everyone responded.

"Okay, we should split up to cover more ground. If you see any of those bastards, you know what to do."

Nicholas wandered the city and found human skeletons in groups. He looks at Maria who shakes her head. He then looks back at them and notices the skeletons of small children holding onto their parents as they died. Maria walked up to Nicholas and rubbed his back trying to comfort him.

"So many dead. Even the children didn't survive."

"It's not your fault Nicholas. The Darkness destroyed everything Humanity built during the golden age. It slaughtered billions of people in the Collapse. There's nothing we could have done."

Nicholas sighs heavily and looks ahead before he starts walking. As they wander the city, they hear chatter from Fallen dregs as they run away. Eia appears to scan the various objects and consoles gathering information. Nicholas and Maria come to a ceremony where six massive Fallen are bound and held prisoner by their own. They didn't have any cloaks. As they watch the even unfold, Maria and Nicholas take cover and look listen to the Fallen speak.

"These guys are the Fallen?" Nicholas asked in surprise.

"Yeah, they're really ugly bastards, that's for sure."

Nicholas gets his sniper rifle into position and takes aim at a captain. Maria looks at him and her eyes widen. Nicholas pulls the trigger, killing a captain. Eight more shots ring through the air and embed themselves into the other captains' heads. Nicholas reloads his rifle and takes aim at the baron. He pulls the trigger nine more times hitting vulnerable organs causing the baron to slump the ground. Maria's eyes widen in shock as the Dregs and Vandals scatter. The six prisoners cut their bonds and look at Nicholas before disappearing. Suddenly Clara's voice echoes over the comms.

"What the hell did you guys do? The whole hive is awake now!"

Maria calmly and confidently responded.

"Nicholas killed nine captains and a baron."

"What?"

"And they were among our list of targets."

"So he just did part of our job for us?"

"Yep, though I have to know one thing."

Maria turns to Nicholas.

"How did you know it's weak points?"

"I studied before the mission."

"Oh."

"I just hope that their escaped prisoners don't come back to kill us."

"The Vanguard aren't going to like this."

"They aren't going to like what?"

"The fact that you saved any Fallen in the first place."

"Oh."

Maria and Nicholas leave the area and find a massive camp. They walk into the camp and find the corpses of several Dregs. When Nicholas sees a glint of silver in a trunk, he walks over to it and opens it. He finds a beautiful silver sniper rifle that had engravings on it. As he runs his fingers along it, he experiences a memory.

Flash

A young Nicholas sat in his room creating figures on his rifle. The figures were of cowboys roping horses. Once he was finished, he looked at it and called his parents into his room. When they saw it, they congratulated him and smiled.

Flash

Nicholas picked the rifle up and slung it over his shoulder. Maria walke dup to him and saw the rifle on his back.

"Found something you like?"

"It was mine in the first place."

"Oh. Alright then."

Maria smiled and continued walking with Nicholas right behind her. They explored the camp until it was nightfall. When the sun set, they heard Harold's voice over the comms.

"Did everyone kill their targets?"

"Yep." Maria replied.

"Good cause it's time to leave."

After the guardians use their Jumpships to travel back to the tower, Nicholas goes to their room and takes a long, relaxing shower. When he's finished, he comes out wearing Santa pajamas. He lies on his bed and falls asleep as soon as he gets under the covers. This causes Maria to giggle to herself. After everyone took a shower, they prepared for bed. Maria climbed into bed with Nicholas and fel him snuggle up to her. Maria smiled and wrapped an arm around Nicholas. She sighed in content as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.