AN: This chapter was modified slightly a few hours after its original posting as a response to some criticism. As originally written, it did not quite come across as intended. Updated again later after some further thought.

Chapter 14

Celeste brought her sniper up and fired, taking the head off one of the Vandals. Normally, the result of such a shot would be a puff of ether and a body on the ground. This time, we were in for a shock. A red orb of SIVA mites launched out of the body as it fell and streaked toward us. I reacted quickly, throwing my arms out to the side, the Void Light forming a shell of protection around us. The SIVA projectile hit the Ward of Dawn and erupted.

By then, the other Fallen had reacted and started to move. The Captain roared then teleported out of sight while the lesser Splicers jumped into action. It was quickly apparent that Dregs were not the only Fallen to whom SIVA had granted enhanced speed. There were other surprises in store as well. The group we had taken down before had not had a chance to return fire. We now saw what SIVA had done to the Fallen weapons.

Shock pistols fired, the energy dancing out of the gun in a zigzag pattern now, rather than straight forward like it should. The surviving Vandal opened fire with a wire rifle that seemed to fire in short bursts like a pulse rifle rather than the single shots we were accustomed to. The Shanks darted to the sides, quickly trying to flanks us and firing rapidly. Every shot splashed harmlessly against my Ward for now, but that would soon change.

"Well, that was a bit like kicking a hornet's nest, wasn't it," I muttered to myself, taking in the scene. Then, to the others, "Clearly the weapons are enhanced like their speed. Keep an eye out for that Captain as well.

"I noticed a flicker around the Captain right before it vanished," Celeste said. "Looked like Void shields."

"I can take care of that," Zillah replied. "The Captain is mine."

"Then we'll take care of the trash," I stated. "Ready?"

Celeste slapped her sniper rifle to her back and drew her hand cannon. "Ready."

I went left, Celeste split right. Thanks to the Blessings of Light, we both were still shielded briefly, which came in handy due to the speed of the enhanced Fallen. The Shanks pivoted in the air, firing at the two of us as we darted out. My shotgun spat buckshot, shredding the machines and dropping them. I heard the report of Celeste's gun, but could not check her progress. I was too busy trying to dodge unpredictable fire from the Dregs.

With the other Fallen's attention directed to the two of us, Zillah was able to go straight through the middle of them. She charged forward, leaping into the air to give herself a line of sight to the Captain. Everything was bathed in purple Void Light for a moment, then there was a small explosion as the Nova Bomb found its target.

I ducked behind a boulder to reload, slipping shells in as fast as I could. I also charged a magnetic grenade. Emerging from cover I flung the grenade, which stuck to the side of a Shank and exploded, destroying it and wounding the closest Dreg. I finished him off with a shotgun blast, followed by another for the next one. That put me in position where I had a clear view of Celeste.

She leaped into the air, flinging a smoke grenade that latched onto a Dreg, disorienting the alien. Her jump carried her into another which she dispatched with a quick slash of her knife. She rolled off of the corpse and came up firing her hand cannon, finishing off the blinded Dreg and wounding the Vandal. Unfortunately, she did not manage to put him down.

Where her rounds had struck, a red glow poured from the Vandal and wrapped around it. SIVA, defending its host. The alien roared in defiance and charged Celeste, swinging its wire rifle like a club. It smashed into her hand, and she cried out, dropping her hand cannon. The Vandal spun in one quick movement, swinging the butt of the rifle in a sharp uppercut. It struck her under her chin, harder than I would have thought possible. There was an audible crack, her had snapped back sharply, and she was lifted from her feet and thrown several meters backward. She did not get up.

"Celeste!" I yelled and brought my gun to bear.

Before I could pull the trigger, I heard the crack of a rifle and the Vandal flinched, turning its attention away from Celeste. It started to charge again as more rounds ripped into it before it fell dead. I glanced at Zillah, and the Warlock nodded. I turned and sprinted over to Celeste's still form. The blow from the Vandal had shattered the respirator of her helmet, exposing the lower half of her face. There was a smear of blood, though at that moment I could not spot the point of origin. Whisper had emerged and was flitting around her, the pieces of his shell spinning nervously.

"Is she...?"

"No," the Ghost replied in its soft voice. "She is alive, just unconscious."

"Can you do anything for her?"

"No," there was a note of desperation now. "I have tried waking her, but she is not responding."

"That Vandal was covered in SIVA. Scan to make sure none of that stuff got on her."

"Already did that. She is clean."

"What about you? Can you help her?" I asked, sensing Zillah approach from behind.

"I never mastered Solar Light," she replied, "I can't do it."

"Then we get her to someone who can."

I stooped down and hooked my arms underneath Celeste, lifting her off the ground. A cry sounded from somewhere nearby, echoed from the other direction. Other Splicers knew we were here and were hunting us.

"Elgan, get us out of here," I said, and the transmat took us.

…

The Iron Temple was closer than the Tower, but I had seen no indication of an infirmary there. Whisper stayed present, monitoring Celeste the entire flight back. Poor little guy was a nervous wreck. Not that I was doing much better, if I am being perfectly honest.

I have worked with other Guardians who have been severely injured. I have been there when other Guardians died permanently, their Light extinguished. Friends. Fireteam members. We all know it is a distinct possibility when we take the field, even if our Ghost and Light does make us feel invincible sometimes. This hit me differently than those did, harder in some ways. This must be what it feels like to lead a Fireteam and lose one. She was only there because of me and I should have been able to protect her.

Celeste was still unresponsive and her breathing was shallow when we reached the Tower. I picked her up again and Elgan transmatted up directly to the infirmary. The medical staff rushed her out of sight and I was left to wait helplessly in the lobby.

I sat and took my helmet off, placing it on the chair beside me. Closing my eyes, I leaned forward and covered my face with my hands, silently offering a prayer to whoever may be listening. My mind played out every worst case scenario possible, then began flashing to different memories over the years. Her resurrection. The first time she ran to me and hugged me. When she demonstrated her Dusk Bow and told me that she had chosen the path of the Void because of me, because her first experience with the Light was my Ward of Dawn. The strange pride she showed in her first scar.

At that moment, I hated the Fallen. I know many Guardians who had started developing some sympathy for them. Opted to use their proper name of "Eliksni" when discussing them. I had had a few of those moments myself at times, knowing what we have learned about their history with the Traveler from Variks. They would get no more from me if she failed to recover.

The sound of movement drew me back to the present and I looked up, thinking it might have been the medical staff. Instead, I was surprised to see Zillah standing in the room. She fidgeted, then strode across the room and took a seat across from me without speaking a word. She still had her helm on, so I could not even begin to guess what was going on.

"Thanks for coming," I said after several minutes of awkward silence.

"I had no where else to be," she said without conviction.

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't act like you don't care," I said. "The two of you might never be super best friends, but you wouldn't have come by if you weren't concerned."

"I didn't come here for her. At least, not directly. You're right, we don't get along and probably never will completely. But what happens to her, well, it... it matters because...," she trailed off and turned her head away.

"Because what?"

"Because it matters to you," she said, turning her gaze back in my direction. "You came out to check on me while you were on the Reef, regardless of what your reason for being out there actually was. No other Guardian I know would have done that. Certainly none of the Awoken. You were there for me, so I would like to be here for you."

"Thank you," I said after a moment of stunned silence.

"You're welcome."

We well into a less awkward silence then. This time, she broke it.

"I can't believe I had to actually say that out loud. You Titans really are thick-headed, aren't you?"

That brought a small chuckle despite the situation. I shook my head and stared at the unreadable face of her helmet.

"Solid plasteel. All the better to keep the bookworms safe," I replied.

"Well, good to hear you know your role as meat shield."

She crossed her legs at the knees, lacing her fingers together, hands on her stomach, and tilted her head to the side. I opened my mouth to reply, but came up with nothing. She let out a little sound that told me she was smirking beneath the mask. I just shook my head again and leaned my head back, looking up at the ceiling.

Zillah asked, "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Not at all," I replied.

"What is the connection with you two? It's clear there is a lot of history there."

"You could say that," I responded. "It's a long story, but I think we have the time if you want to hear it."

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't," she said dryly.

So I told her. About finding Celeste, about everything that I had just been replaying in my head moments before. I talked about missions we had worked on together and how my fear of something like today happening kept me from giving in to her requests to form an official fireteam. When I finished, Zillah rose from her seat and walked across the room, keeping her back turned toward me. Confused by the response, I was about to ask her about it when the doors to the patient area opened.

"Claney Beamard?" the nurse asked.

"Yes?"

"Please come back with me, sir."

I caste a glance back toward Zillah, but she still had her back toward me. Without a word, I turned back to the nurse and followed her through the door. She led me back to the room where they had Celeste. Her armor had been removed, and there were different monitors attached to her. She looked like she was sleeping peacefully.

"How is she?" I asked.

"As far as we can tell, she's fine," the nurse said, the words lifting a weight off my shoulders. "She has yet to regain full consciousness, but all vitals are good and there are plenty of signs of brain activity. I'd be surprised if she didn't come around very soon."

"Thank you," I said. "But why did you bring me back now if that is the case?"

"Her Ghost," the nurse said with a small smile. "He was insistent that you be present when she woke up. There's a chair in there, I'll leave you with her."

The nurse stepped away to see to other patients, and I entered the room. I sat to wait. Whisper peaked up out from beneath the covers and fluttered over to me. I held out my hand, and the Ghost settled to rest on my palm. I reached over and patted the top of it with my other hand like one would pet a small animal. We waited like that in silence for an unknown amount of time. The steady beep of machinery began to lull me to sleep, and I nearly nodded off when I heard a voice.

"Hey, old man."

My eyes snapped open and I looked up to see her smiling at me from the hospital bed. Whisper shot out of my hand and began flying in circles above her. She laughed and held up a hand, tapping his shell gently with one finger.

"Welcome back, kiddo," I said, feeling a flood of relief.

"I just needed a little nap, that's all," she replied, eyes taking in her surroundings. "Was all this really necessary?"

"Next time, can you at least wait until we're not in the middle of a life or death situation?"

"No promises," she said.

"I'll tell the nurses you're up, they'll want to know."

"Nah, don't bother them," was the response. "Let's just go, they'll figure it out."

"Go?"

"Yeah, back to the Plaguelands," she said, sitting up.

"I think not," I replied, putting a hand on her shoulder and pushing her back down. "I'll be going back, but you will be staying here for a little while."

"But..." she began to protest.

"No buts. You took a vicious blow, and you're going to get a doctor okay before you get back out there," I told her sternly, then softened my tone. "They'll probably just want to watch you for a day or so to make sure there are no lingering side effects. You scared me, kiddo."

"Promise me you won't go after Sepiks until I'm out of here at least," she said, pouty.

"I promise," I replied with a smile.

I patted her arm, then left the room to find the nurse. She came in and started talking with Celeste, and I took that moment to slip out. Celeste would probably be upset that I did not actually say goodbye, but she would get over it.

I strode back out into the lobby to find Zillah still there, having retaken her seat. I picked my helmet up and put it on then Elgan check our stores of ammo synths. Time for some payback.

"How is she?" Zillah asked.

"She'll be fine after she gets some rest," I said. "I'm angry and need to take it out on some four-armed aliens. Still with me?"

"Absolutely," she replied, getting to her feet.

"Good. Let's go."

…

AN

So the last chapter ended somewhat abruptly and was picked up immediately here. It was just me being impatient and wanting to get an update out and not seeing a better stopping point in the immediate future of the story. Of course, once I started writing, a natural stopping point came up and I would have only had to push a page and a half further. Oh well. What's done is done and cannot be undone.

Thanks to slender mane for the favorite!

Amberstar of Thunderclan – I am not a fan of unreliable narrators either, so that probably isn't the case. Probably. Uhm... *points* What in the world could that be?

Daydreamer B.A – Well, glad I don't have to do a full write up. The gist of what it would have been: Zavala confronts Lakshmi, Lakshmi denies involvement, claims Jaeger was not acting under orders. Zavala warns her, reminding her that he was the one who vouched for the FWC when it came time to replace the Concordat in the Consensus, and it would not be well for them if they were to lose his support. I probably could have spent more time on the reason for Zillah coming along in the previous chapter. These are the kinds of things a beta reader could help point out, I suppose. Instead it goes from my brain to the screen and directly to everyone to see what a hack I am. Yes, I have plans for her. Hopefully readers find those plans as interesting as I do.

Guest – I'm going to take that as, "I don't like that guy." lol Nice passion, Warlock.