Chapter 12

"Are you sure racing off like that is the best idea?" Elgan asked. "What do intend to do, exactly?"

"I don't know 'exactly'," I replied. "I'll figure it out when I get there. Let me worry about that; you just get the clearance and make sure the ship is ready to go. I'll tell Celeste."

He blinked at me and did a pretty fair imitation of an eye roll before disappearing. I paid for the drinks, silencing a mental grumble when I realized that Aasim-7 had left without paying. I guess when you save the entire human race a couple times, you expect not to have to pay for things anymore. Dibs on the next Earth-shaking monstrosity.

I briefly considered just going and not dragging Celeste into it, but I didn't feel like getting slapped again anytime soon. Not wanting to compete with the music or share anything with the dancers, I tapped her on the shoulder and motioned an exit before heading toward the door. Behind me, I heard her tell the other two she was leaving, which was met with sounds of disappointment. She caught up quickly and we left the bar behind. Entering the hangar area, I cast a glance at the Future War Cult meeting room, but saw no sign of Lakshmi this time.

"Sooo... where we goin'?" Celeste asked. "The Iron Temple?"

"Not yet. Elgan got a hit on that Hunter that took a shot at me; he showed up in the Reef. I'm heading that way. I figured if I left you in the dark, you'd just track me down and smack me again."

"You're probably right," she responded, "though I might just hit you anyway. What are you thinking?"

"Not loving the lack of faith everyone is giving me right now," I muttered. "I'm just going to have a conversation with him."

"Titans tend to use 'conversation' as a euphemism for punching people," she retorted.

"I'm not going to punch him," I told her, which earned a skeptical look in response. "Probably. Can you imagine the blow-back from the Awoken if two Guardians decided to throw down on their turf? Now, are you coming along, or not?"

"Yes," she said, "I'll go. Someone has to keep you out of trouble."

I shook my head and gave an exasperated sigh.

"The Invictus is prepped and ready," Elgan chimed in as he materialized over my shoulder. "I want to formally verbalize my objection to this excursion."

"Noted," I told him. "And the five dollar words don't suit you."

"I just wanted you to know how serious I was," the Ghost replied. "Plus, I'm a highly advanced construct. You don't know my verbal capabilities."

I opened my mouth to reply, but closed it again. An argument with him would solved nothing right now. I accepted a datapad from one of the dock workers, checking the status of the ship, then handed it back. Everything looked good. Celeste opted to ride with me, so Elgan transmatted both of us aboard. I guided the ship out of the hangar slowly, pulling away from the Tower. I plotted a course and we set off to the home of the Awoken.

Once in orbit, the NLS drive kicked in, and I settled in for the time it would take to travel to the Reef. I couldn't shake the little bit of doubt that had crept into my mind thanks to Celeste and Elgan. What was I going to do exactly? Ask why he felt the gear was worth shooting another Guardian for? Ask what the War Cult was planning to do with it? I doubt he would answer either question. Zavala said the Vanguard would deal with the War Cult, and I believed him. I just hated the idea of not responding in some way. And maybe I did like punching things that shot at me, so Celeste might have a fair concern.

Lost in thought, I barely noticed the passage of time and was slightly surprised when it was time to drop back to relative speeds. Cutting off the NLS drive, I was greeted by the hulks of the Golden Age relics that made up most of the territory of the Awoken. I had only come out this way a few times and was always struck by the grandeur of the ships that had been destroyed here. So many people fleeing the Darkness during the collapse had found their end out in this place.

Guardians might be more welcome at the Reef than they were in the past, but there were still limitations to what the Awoken allowed. One docking bay at the Vestian Outpost, for instance. I guided the ship toward the single entry point, letting Elgan take over and finish bringing it in once Celeste and I transmatted down to the landing.

The general atmosphere was much more somber than it had been my last visit. Of course, that was before Oryx arrived. Before they lost their queen. Life goes on, and the Awoken were still moving forward, but the wound was still fresh.

"Any new information on the whereabouts of our friend?" I asked Elgan.

"Nothing new to report. His ship is still docked though, so he is here somewhere."

Not very helpful. He could be just about anywhere. The best place to start would be the two most obvious possibilities, The Prison of Elders and the Trials of Osiris. The Trials would be easy to look into. They were broadcast alongside other Crucible matches so I would be able to find a listing of participants. For the Prison, I would have to speak with Variks, the Loyal.

I found a public terminal, and checked the Trials docket. I saw a few familiar names, but no mention of Jaeger. Disappointing. That would have been the easiest way to deal with the situation, arranging a meeting where a violent confrontation would have been expected. Of course, that would also have required me to have a third person along with us.

That thought reminded me that Elgan had said Zillah was here at the Reef. I resolved to check in on her before leaving. Now, however, I had a Fallen scribe to talk to. If anything that happened in the Prison was made available for public consumption, I was unaware of it. Variks would be the only one who knew what was going on in his domain.

I made my way to where the Fallen operated. I knew a number of Guardians who were fond of the scribe, but I had yet to get overly comfortable with the alien. He had proved his loyalty to the queen time and again so I had no reason to question him, but I was still uneasy dealing with him. Simple prejudice perhaps, but every other creature I had seen that looked like him had tried to kill me. Even succeeded, temporarily, a time or two. Variks turned to look at me as I approached. He cocked his head, his four eyes narrowed, and made an odd chittering sound.

"Come closer, Guardian," he said. "Your scent is... curious. You are troubled, yes? Perhaps I can help."

"Yes, I hope so," I replied. "I'm looking for a Guardian."

"Lots of Guardians here," Variks replied. "You yourself, for example. Specifics would be required."

"Right. This Guardian is a Hunter name Jaeger-10." I held out my hand and Elgan appeared. He projected an image of the Hunter for Variks to see. "I was wondering if he was currently fighting in the Prison."

"Jaeger-10?" Variks repeated the name back slowly, then adjusted his stance, leaning in to look at the picture. "I do not know the name. This Guardian I have seen, but he has not come looking for the Prison of Elders."

Variks eyes drifted from the picture of Jaeger over to Elgan. The Fallen's mechanical upper arms moved as if he was considering reaching out to the Ghost, then thought better of it. He straightened back up and took hold of his staff with all four hands. I tried not to feel too disappointed that the obvious leads had not panned out.

"Thank you, Variks," I said, then turned away, with Elgan taking position over my shoulder.

"I am Variks of House Judgment," the Fallen said to my back. "You have a disagreement with this other Guardian, yes? I can help mediate. See how I help you, Titan."

I stopped and cast a glance back over my shoulder, considering the scribe's words.

"I'll keep that in mind, Variks."

Two strikes. With no real certainty of how to proceed, I contemplated my next move. Wandering around aimlessly would get me nothing but frustration. Celeste had disappeared somewhere among the Awoken and Guardians who made their way in the marketplace-like setting of the dock. I could not afford to let the Hunter slip away, but I was going to have to be patient.

"Elgan," I said to the Ghost, "I want you to stay out here. Keep an eye out for Jaeger and call me if you so much as think you catch a glimpse of his shadow."

"And what will you be doing while I am lowering myself to the level of security camera?" Elgan asked.

"I'm going to check in on Zillah. Do you know where I can find her?"

"Checking," the Ghost said and went silent for a moment. "Found her. She has a room in a Guardian accessible area. Put on your helmet and I'll mark it on your HUD."

I stuck out my hand and he transmatted my helmet into it. Gripping the helmet, I put it over my head. Seconds later, the familiar destination marker appeared in my view.

"Thanks, Elgan. See you soon."

I followed the marker through the dock area, then entered into a corridor. Not counting the Prison, this was the furthest I had ventured into the outpost. I was grateful for the navigational capabilities of the Ghost, otherwise I would probably find myself hopelessly lost wandering through near identical hallways.

I rounded a corner, and the marker finally came to rest on a door. Zillah's home here on the Reef. I'd been so caught up in everything that had been happening that I had not taken the time to give a second thought to Elgan telling me she lived out here. I knew plenty of Guardians who spent a lot of time here, but none that had taken up residence. For the first time I wondered what would have driven her to take such a step.

I had been forced to change my armor since last seeing her, so I removed my helmet again. No telling how she might react to an unknown Guardian showing up at her door. Then again, I doubted I was exactly her favorite person. She might not react to my face any better than a stranger's. Only one way to find out.

Tucking my helmet under my arm, I knocked on the door with my free hand. The metal on metal sound of my armored fist rapping against the door echoed down the empty corridor. I shuffled uncomfortably from one foot to the other and waited. After several seconds with no response, I began to wonder if she was in. I took a step back and considered turning away, when the door finally opened.

Zillah stood in the doorway blinking sleepily. She wore casual clothes, and her hair was still pulled up in the same type of messy bun that it had been on Venus. Her amber eyes seemed to take a moment to focus, then recognition flashed through them. I was not sure precisely what I thought was going to happen, but I was still caught off guard by her reaction.

She stepped aside and motioned me in.

I stepped through the threshold and took in my surroundings. The first room was set up as a living room, though very sparsely decorated. There were no photos or decorative pictures to be seen. Unsurprisingly, there were several bookshelves, all heavily burdened. A simple couch and table were placed to one side of the room. There were two openings that led to other rooms, but I could not see into them from my vantage point.

The room itself was a mess. There were papers scattered around the room. Many of the books on those shelves were shoved in haphazardly. There were a number of empty bottles near the couch that I assumed to be some sort of alcoholic beverage based on the smell, and dirty dishes were on the table. The spartan decor was not a surprise, but the mess was.

Without speaking a word, Zillah sat on one end of the couch and gestured toward the seat on the other side. I strode across the room and took the proffered seat and placed my helmet on a clean spot on the coffee table. The couch groaned under the weight of my armor, but we sat quietly. Zillah barely even looked in my direction, mostly staring off at an indistinct point in front of her. Finally, she broke the silence.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice little more than a whisper.

"I came to see how you were doing," I replied, which caused her to snap her gaze to me.

"Liar," she spat.

"Excuse me?"

"You did not travel all the way to the Reef just to check on me," she said. "No one would do that. So I repeat the question, what are you doing here?"

"You're right," I said, measuring my words carefully, "that is not the only reason I came all the way out here. But it is why I came to your door, no ulterior motive."

She seemed to accept that answer after mulling it over.

"Fair enough," she said finally. "Well, I'm doing just peachy, as you can clearly see."

"Yes, it looks like it. What's going on?"

"You have to ask?" she questioned. "You were there in that Hunter hole too. I know you were infected."

"Yes," I stated with a wince.

"Then you know what it felt like, having your mind invaded like that." She turned to me then, amber colored eyes locking onto mine, more raw emotion behind them than I seen in the short time I had known her. "But you might not really understand. I am a Warlock. My mind is my sanctuary. To have it laid bare and toyed with by some unthinking machine was unendurable.

"As devastating as that is," she continued, "that it was such a violation is only the half of it. I have already been struggling with my control, my connection to the Light. Recently, I have had to work to strengthen my mental capabilities and focus. This... thing, this transmission, stripped away every piece of control I have fought to build. It made me feel weaker than I have felt since first being reborn. Can you grasp that, Titan?"

"I won't pretend to totally know your feelings," I replied after a pause, "but I can understand some. I'm sorry I failed you so completely."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, seemingly surprised by the response.

"You and Scott-20... well, mostly Scott, brought me along to provide protection for the expedition. We all ended up infected and scattered to the winds."

"Don't be ridiculous," she said. "You couldn't have known about that. No one did."

"Yes, and that includes you," I replied. "You could not have prepared yourself for that type of attack either, so quit beating yourself up about not being strong enough to block it out."

She seemed taken aback by that.

"Maybe," she responded, turning her eyes away from me again.

"Now it's my turn," I said. "Why are you here?"

"This is my home."

"Don't be pedantic," I replied. "Tough for a Warlock, I know. Why are you at the outpost? Why are you living out here?"

"It's a long story," she said with a sigh. "It's just... It's where I feel I need to be. Or, I should say, it felt like it. Now? Now I don't know if I belong anywhere."

"Does this have anything to do with what you were working on when we were on Venus, in that 'Hunter hole' as you put it?"

She nodded and closed her eyes, reclining fully against the back of the couch. At first I thought that was the end of it. She had already revealed more personal information than I had suspected she ever would.

"I was looking for the queen," she said quietly. "I thought I had a lead, that I could find evidence about what had happened to her with the Taken there, but it was a dead end. Finding out what happened to her was my one chance to be..." She trailed off and put her hands over her face.

"Accepted," I finished.

She nodded again and rose to her feet. She stepped across the room, standing with her back to me for several seconds before turning around. When she did, her barriers were back up. She wore the same face, the same mask, she wore when I first saw her. Distant and cold.

"I'd like to be alone now," she said. "Thank you for stopping by."

I stood, picking my helm up off the table and tucking it under my arm. We looked at each other for a moment, then I strode toward the door. I stopped halfway through the open door and cast a glance back over my shoulder.

"We'll be here for a little while," I said. "You know where you can find us."

She did not respond. I fully exited the apartment, and the door closed silently behind me. After a brief hesitation, I turned to head back to the dock. As I walked through a t-shaped intersection in the corridor, I caught a flash of movement out of my peripheral vision. Before I could respond, something crashed into me and slammed me against the wall. The collision knocked the wind out of me and my head banged against the wall, causing me to see stars. Before I could recover, I felt the blade of a knife press against my throat.

"I knew if I hung around here long enough you would show up," a familiar voice hissed.

My eyes finally cleared and I saw the face of Jaeger-10. His metallic features were clinched tight. The knife was held in his right hand in a reverse grip, emerging from the bottom of his fist so that a simple flick of the wrist could slip my throat. What he said finally registered and I felt a moment of confusion. I thought I had been the one searching for him.

"What are you talking about," I choked.

"I lost track of you on Venus, after you were infected," he said. "I couldn't find you, but I knew if I watched one of your friends, you would come eventually. I thought about targeting the pretty little Hunter, but she had disappeared as well. The Warlock was sufficient, as luck would have it."

The thought that he would Celeste as some sort of bait sent a flare of anger through me. I brought my arms up quickly and jabbed the palms of both hands into his chest, sending him backward. He was caught off guard by the sudden movement and was late in trying to swipe his knife. The Hunter dropped into a crouch, his eyes narrowing.

"Seems I touched a nerve," he stated.

"Stay away from her," I said, fists clinched. "Whatever problem you seem to have with me, settle it with me."

He laughed at that, an odd wry sound that completely caught me off guard.

"You have no idea," he said. "Of course, I didn't that first time I saw you on the moon, either. Pure happenstance. If I would have realized then, I would have put a bullet through your Ghost."

He shift his weight on the balls of his feet, and I could sense that he was preparing to leap. I readied to meet whatever he threw at me, Void energy charging in my hand. He sprung and I swung at where I assumed he was going. He twisted in mid-air to avoid the punch, slashing out with his knife, avoiding the metal plates and slicing into the thinner layer beneath the armor. I brought my arm back around, attempting to backhand him, but he ducked the blow and darted backward.

He waved the knife back and forth with a grin, his arm moving like a cobra prepared to strike. Suddenly, he flipped the knife over and his hand flashed outward. I was barely able to get my arm up, gauntlet deflecting the blade as it flew toward me. A second knife appeared in his hand as the first struck the ground.

Just then, two Awoken came around a bend in the corridor. They froze when they saw us. The knife Jaeger had been holding suddenly disappeared somewhere in his armor and he stood straight before giving them a small bow.

"I should have known that this would not be the end," he whispered loud enough for me to hear. "We are fated to meet elsewhere, you and I. No matter what I do, it seems I cannot change that."

With that, he gave the same salute he gave on the moon and vanished in the familiar shimmer of a transmat. I picked up my helmet and the Hunter's knife. I placed the helmet back on my head, and slipped the knife into my belt. I managed to find my way back to the dock with only one minor wrong turn. As flustered as I was from the encounter, I counted that as a minor miracle. Elgan flitted over to me as soon as he saw me emerge.

"Jaeger's ship just headed out of the hangar," the Ghost told me. "I never saw him out here beforehand."

"That's because he wasn't out here," I replied. "He was busy attacking me in the hallway. He trasmatted out from there."

"He attacked you?" Elgan asked, shell twisting in consternation.

"Yeah. I'm fine, thanks to an unexpected audience arriving. He made some odd comments about fate and then took off. Any sign of Celeste?"

"I have not seen her since before you left to visit Zillah," he said. "I have heard no sounds of alarm, so I assume she is doing a better job of staying out of trouble than you were. Please tell me you are done chasing this Hunter."

"Apparently I don't need to," I responded, rubbing the back of my head where it struck the wall. "He seems to be following me. Plus, we're destined to meet at some point, according to his ramblings."

"Good," the Ghost said. "Let the crazy Hunter take all the risks. So, what do we do now?"

"We could visit the Iron Temple," I answered. "I would imagine it is an amazing sight."

"Seconded," Celeste's voice chimed in as she was suddenly standing next to us.

"I am getting so very tired of Hunters habit of just appearing out of thin air," I muttered under my breath.

"The Iron Temple?" a third voice spoke up.

I turned to see Zillah standing at the same entry to the dock I had passed through minutes before. She was geared up, having changed from the leisure wear she had no earlier. The iciness in her eyes replaced with the spark of curiosity. A Warlock with unknown information. I smiled in spite of myself to see her.

"Yes," I said. "Apparently while we were on Venus and then out of our minds, Saladin named a new Iron Lord and reopened the Temple for Guardians. Care to take a look."

"Absolutely," she responded with a nod. "Lead the way."

Feivel appeared over her hand, and she disappeared. I nodded to Elgan, and he transmatted Celeste and I back aboard the Invictus. Once we had clearance from the Awoken, we plotted our course back to Earth.

…

AN

Order and Chaos – Qui Iudicant - I'd actually forgotten their love for the number 7. Happy coincidence. Pre-Vanguard Ikora could make for interesting stories. You might want to focus on some of the ones you've got now first though. There's a certain Cabal Guardian who I haven't noticed anything new from in a long while... hint, hint. As for knitting, maybe Zavala finds it therapeutic? Something that doesn't require a lot of deep thought but does require focus, a lot of repetitive motion. I've made a few costumes, and usually hand stitch stuff because sowing machines hate me. I find sewing tedious and can only handle so much, but at the same time, I can see where someone might find it relaxing.

Daydreamer B.A – Yeah, I like the live action trailers, but if I recall correctly, it was the Titan who was given responsibility. "You killed HIS son?" "Yep." As much as I love my Titans, I like my idea better. And besides, there were five other people there, three of them COULD have been the guys from the trailer. Destiny vagueness for the win!

Amberstar of Thunderclan – Thank you. Almost had a Batman V Superman moment there when you said Sierra... "Why did you say that name?!"