Author's Note: So here I am dreadfully apologetic at my awful time keeping. How a month gone so quickly since I last posted I'll never know. Anyway, with motivation by my side and a stick to prod my proof reader, I am ready. And if you're very lucky I may even attempt to get another chapter out by the end of the month. No promises on that one.

Chapter Five - Consequences

"What did you do?!" Aidie hollered at Tate's door as she rapped against the wooden slats.

Tate drew the door back to her to reveal his heavily bruised face, broken nose and his arm in a sling. His eyes flashed in anger at her and she took a step backwards in shock.

"What the hell happened Tate?" she asked him, less threatening this time, "the last time I saw, you were taking your son to show Wilks. And now look at you."

"He send you to finish me off or what?" he spat back angrily.

"Shit Tate, I'm not that person," she looked his injuries over, "have you reported this to Cam?"

Sofie pushed her way to the door with the baby in her arms attached to her breast. Her ebony black hair tumbled over her semi bare shoulders and tired eyes half lidded. She was a darkly attractive woman and having four children had clearly only increased her allure. She had never particularly liked Aidie, their current encounter was no exception.

"You!" fury fired up in her eyes, "you have some nerve to come here after what he did to my Tate in the presence of my baby."

If anything, age had taught Aidie to step back and take in the entire scene before jumping to conclusions. Wilks hadn't spoken about the encounter so she only had his injuries and his mood to go by, clearly Tate had come off worse. Chewing her bottom lip before deciding her next step.

"Okay, let me get Cam and we can run through this step by step,"

She left Tate and Sofie bickering on their doorstep as she approached Cam's regular haunt, a local bar supplied with moonshine strong enough to put hairs on anyone's chest. Cam sat in his usual spot with Miles, puffing on a cigarette. Miles meanwhile regaled the locals with stories of their adventures in an attempt to attract the pretty barmaid.

"Cam," she hesitantly interrupted them. She had never really been in a position where she had to act on Wilks' behalf before, generally Wilks played the mediator in her defence. She had never known him to lose his temper for anything but a just cause.

"You okay kid?" Miles caught her approach first despite only having eyes for the barmaid, instantly sensing something was amiss.

"Nothing I can't live with Miles," she brushed off his concern with a suppressed shudder, "Something's happened between Tate and Wilks and I think we need someone to take control of the situation."

Cam nodded thoughtfully, "Has Wilks okayed this?"

She shook her head, "I left him in bed. He's in no frame of mind to handle this the right way."

Miles and Cam glanced at each other momentarily before they took to their feet. They followed her to Tate's abode where Sofie stood outside with her hands on hips waiting for them. She ushered them inside where they took in Tate's injuries in the darkened hovel of a room that smelled like baby and sour breast milk.

"Aidie told us there was an encounter between you and Wilks, I need yer to report the details," Cam ordered as he unwrapped Tate's arm to assess the damage.

"Look it's nothing, Wilks and I just had a punch up okay," Tate hesitated to divulge the story further in front of Cam.

"In my newborn baby's presence Tate!" Sofie interjected angrily as she pushed to the front to be heard. Aidie and Miles kept back to listen.

"Actually in Wilks' defence he did give the baby to a passing civilian before he flung the first punch,"

"He gave my child to a stranger!" she parroted angrily.

"So he hit yer first?" Cam asked, as if he was mentally taking note of everything.

"Why?" Aidie quietly asked from the corner, they all turned to look at her, she shrugged, "Wilks wouldn't throw a punch without a reason, we all know that."

"He must have been jealous of our gorgeous child," Sofie announced, picking her baby up from his crib and sending Aidie a direct look.

"He was angry because I told him I was going to quit being a soldier so I could be a father instead,"

The three Gears stared back at him surprise, "you what?"

"I've nearly died too many times to want to risk that for the sake of my children. I need to be a father to them more than I need to be a Gear to you,"

"I'm guessing Wilks didn't take that too well either," Miles added.

Tate looked to his old friends in search of some kind of sympathy from them.

"He tried to do the pep talk with me, said about the time he nearly handed his tags in when the Wretch attacked," Tate looked shamefully to his hands, "I told him it was always the Wretch with him. It was always his answer to everything. That's when he punched me."

"Oh Tate," Aidie softly berated from the corner of the room, "you really don't understand how much that Wretch affected him. He lost everything."

"Oh we all know what the Wretch did to him. You know nothing about it Aidie so shut up," Tate snapped back at her, it was a reaction she was unused to from him.

"I know enough Tate," she responded taking a step forward in defence, "I met a man on the verge of ending it when he came to the Compound all those years ago. He was a wreck because he couldn't even bury his bastard father. So don't you even start with me about what I don't know."

"Should have known she would have taken his side," Sofie sneered at her.

"Which is why I am here," Cam added firmly from his seat, "Aidie go stand with Miles please."

She quietly retreated to her place beside Miles, who reached out a hand to squeeze hers back in support.

"So he punched you because yer hit a nerve with him, was there anything else?"

"I don't know, perhaps I inadvertently dropped that he could have been a father now if it wasn't for the Wretch. But in my defence I told him we could share Sofie if he wanted children that badly,"

Miles face palmed in the corner of the room.

Cam slowly nodded taking it all in, they all awaited his response in silence. Eventually he turned to Aidie.

"We're not gonna need Wilks to make a statement," he started, "Tate, yes Wilks threw the first punch and he was wrong to do so as yer Commanding Officer. However I get the feeling that yer also played a part in antagonising him. I will have words with him later and discuss an appropriate plan of action. That being said am I also to presume that yer request to quit the service still stands?"

Tate nodded solemnly to him as Sofie interjected.

"You mean you aren't going to strip him of his title or put him in the brig?"

Cam stared unblinking at her for a moment before turning back to Tate.

"Yer understand the deal in place for us here are as soldiers, nothing more. The terms Burn lay down to Wilks and myself were five Gears to protect the settlement in return for the safe housing of Jacinto's fragmented survivors. If yer hand in yer tags yer need to go to Burn and negotiate an agreement for yer family to live here."

"Could you at least come with me to put in a good word?"

"I'm afraid not. I act under Wilks' leadership Tate. If he forbade any interference then I cannot assist you. As a civilian yer must act independently. See it as the first step in yer life as a family man and fending for yourself."

Sofie gave Tate an exasperated look, thrusting the baby in his arms as she stormed off to see to her other children who had started to make restless noises in their room. Refusing to acknowledge the others as she left.

As Aidie and Miles opened the door ready to leave, Cam remained seated. Tate frowned at him in confusion as he placed the baby in his crib.

"I still need yer tags, armour and any service weapons yer might have in the property."

"How am I supposed to defend my family?"

"I suggest you attempt to claim one from Burn whilst you negotiate yer new living arrangements."

Reluctantly Tate handed over his armour and his cherished Lancer then eventually unhooked his tags from his neck and gave them to Cam. He looked sadly back at him.

"I wish there was another way, but I have to do this," he told him quietly.

"The sad thing, Tate, is that there was another way," Cam responded firmly and emotionless, "we were yer family. If yer were struggling all yer needed to do was to tell us. Even Wilks would have supported yer in that."

Tate led them to the door as he watched them carry his prized possessions away from him. Sofie stood quietly behind him, placing a comforting hand on his back.

"Good riddens,"

Wilks lay in a heavy silence, berating himself for allowing his temper to take over his self control. He had turned to the one person who would have understood the pain he was feeling and instead he had overpowered her. He had ignored every part of his conscience and took her how he wanted. She even willingly allowed him, despite her original protests. He hated himself.

Eventually deciding to get dressed he assessed the bruises over his naked body. A dark blossoming bruise had appeared over his ribs and a black eye had developed over the left side of his face. The scratches over his scars were raw and painful and yet for everything he had done, they didn't hurt enough.

When he finally finished dwelling on his mistakes he made the decision to report everything to Cam. He had a lot of explaining to do, not only to him but to her as well.

Cam was in his room disassembling Tate's Lancer.

"Cam?" he hesitantly knocked on his door and let himself in.

"Sit," Cam ordered without even looking at him.

"Where's Miles?" Wilks asked, he didn't particularly want anyone else to walk in whilst Cam was laying into him.

"I have him on shift with Aidie," Cam turned to Wilks and gave him a critical look. Ever since Wilks' father's death it had come down to Cam to reel in Wilks whenever he had crossed the line. Wilks had respected him for this. Which was why Cam was the first person he had now turned to, he was one of the few people who would give him an honest opinion of how much shit he had gotten himself into.

"I'm assuming you're aware of the Tate situation," he started.

"I am and looking at you it seems as if Tate ended up the worst out of yer encounter,"

"I'm sorry," Wilks dipped his head guiltily, "he just... got to me."

"He was an idiot Ollyvar, but we've always known that," Cam leaned against the wall opposite and stared at him, "yer should have known better than to have struck him in the presence of his own child. Despite what he said to you. You were his superior, yer father should have taught yer that."

"I'm sorry Cam,"

"I am willing to overlook yer stupid actions on the basis that you were suffering from exhaustion, and we all know that Tate never times his announcements well. He handed his tags in and relinquished his position in the squad. We've left it to him to negotiate with Burn to request citizenship. Consider the issue sorted," Cam paused a moment closely watching his young Sergeant for his next reaction, " Aidan however is another matter."

Wilks' stomach lurched nervously, "What did she tell you?"

"Nothing," Cam responded, keeping his emotions to himself, "But her body language spoke volumes. What the hell were yer thinking Ollyvar? You are her Sergeant, she trusted you."

"No one is berating myself more than me believe me," he admitted.

"Good, but whatever yer doing isn't enough," Wilks looked up to see Cam's disappointed face stare back at him, "she came to us an inexperienced kid. She relied on us to protect her. She isn't Sofie. I know you've had feelings for her for a long time now and I never doubted that those feelings were mutual. But you never let yer frustration out on the poor girl. I don't know what was worse, the fact that she never said anything when she clearly looked distraught or the fact that she defended you when Tate gave his statement."

Wilks put his head in his hands, "shit, shit ... shit."

"Indeed," Cam watched the young man on the verge of falling apart in front of him, "she came to me to act on yer behalf."

"What do I do Cam?" he looked back at him completely at a loss on his next steps, "should I go to her and apologise. How can I fix this?"

"Ideally if you and she were lovers I would suggest to let time heal and step away for a while. As her Sergeant you've done something that may well have affected her trust. These consequences you need to deal with head on. My suggestion is to go talk to her, say yer piece, then, despite whatever yer think, do what she wants. A loss of trust is something that may never be won back if yer push her. You took away the control she had and she's going to want that back somehow. I highly doubt she'll want to see much of you for a while, so keep her on shift with Miles until she's ready for the next step. Let her come to you. Remember at the end of the day, we're a squad and we have to be professional if we are going to survive."

Wilks nodded in agreement, "I am so sorry Cam. I just... I can't even excuse my actions."

"Ollyvar," Cam told him firmly as he looked guiltily back up at him, "yer went through every class needed to be a soldier and you excelled at it. They never taught yer how to be a decent human being, you needed to learn that along the way, mistakes and all. If she cares for you as much as I think she does she'll forgive you eventually. Now suck it up and be the man I know you to be."

"We need to talk," he quietly uttered behind her.

Aidie had been in her usual spot in the church tower, watching the Stalks and taking notes whilst Miles walked the perimeter. She pulled back from the sights on her Longshot and turned to look at him. He struggled to read the emotion in her eyes as she blinked back at him.

"Do you need anything Sergeant?" her voice was cold.

"I'd like for us to talk,"

"No, not now," she visibly shrank back from him turning her back to him in defence.

"Please don't do this to me Aidie," he stopped himself from reaching out to her, "we need to discuss about what happened."

"No we don't,"

"As your Sergeant I owe you an explanation,"

"No Wilks, we aren't doing this now," he couldn't help but notice the wobble in her voice, "I don't want to talk about it just yet."

He sighed, feeling his heart sink, "Look I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you like that. You are the last person I would ever want to hurt."

"Get over yourself Wilks," she snapped suddenly with a sharpness he was unused to, "it was just sex. I'm a big girl and it's not like you and I haven't done it before. We've slept next to each other for about two years now. What were we expecting, that we were going to remain celibate for the rest of our lives?"

Wilks had seen this young Gear grow from an inexperienced teenager to the woman who stood before him now. He had guided and taught her every step of the way, but this was the first time he could honestly say he didn't know the girl in front of him.

"Aidan I..."

"Wilks," she warned, "I told you I wasn't ready to talk about it."

"I just..."

"Wilks," she approached him, eyes filled with hurt, and placed both of her hands firmly against his chest to push him away, "you were my best friend, my closest ally. What happened between us was something I had never planned or expected. I don't know where we stand anymore and it scares me. And the one person I could usually turn to talk to about it I cannot. This is something I need to process on my own now."

He nodded feeling his heart break inside, "Do you think we'll get through this?"

"I hope so," she moved a hand to the scars on his face and smiled slightly. She had been the only woman that had overlooked his scars and he had always loved her for it, which was why this was getting painful for him to endure, "it might be a good idea if we kept our distance from each other for a while."

"I'll see if I can negotiate with Burn to see if he can assist us on watches,"

As he turned to walk reluctantly away she called after him.

"Ollyvar," she rarely called him by his whole name, "I will always have your back. Regardless of what happens between us."

A week later Tate decided to scale the steps to the tower to make his announcement. He had kept his distance from the others mostly because he had been so busy trying to plead his case to Burn, who had opted to remain awkward. Now he was ready to seek out his old squad and give them the news.

As he reached the top he caught sight of Archer who had perched himself on the tower wall chatting away to his companion, whilst slugging on a carafe of moonshine. He searched around till he discovered Aidie lying on her back watching the stars and blocking out Archer's chatting.

"Can we help?" Archer asked protectively, pulling out his knife as if in threat.

Aidie tilted her head back to gaze upside down at him, "Archer it's Tate."

She rolled over onto her belly and shuffled so she could sit on her haunches.

"He's a civilian now, no need for him to be up here," Archer responded gruffly.

"Actually I only wanted a quick word with Aidie," Tate spoke quietly, finding himself already alienated from his old squad.

"Quick word away," Archer flicked his hand as if he meant very little to him.

Aidie sighed, she shook her head as she scrambled to her feet and plodded slowly over to Tate.

"You're gone less than a week and I've got that brute for company every night now," she exclaimed as she led him back down the steps to the streets below, "I miss you."

"I hear you and Olly aren't talking either," he commented, despite everything that had happened Tate had in fact missed his squad's companionship, although he would never have admitted it to them or Sofie.

She nodded, "we've got some things we're trying to work through."

"He's an idiot if he walks away from you,"

"Actually, it's me, I'm the one doing the walking," she admitted, "anyway, you wanted a word?"

"Yes I wanted to tell someone in case you guys were wondering where we were going." He looked relieved and excited, "we're taking the kids to be officially named at the sacred Allfathers birthing ground a couple of days walk from here. The midwives are leading a couple of other women who will birth their children there too."

"Sounds like riveting stuff Tate," Aidie couldn't hide the sarcasm in her voice.

"Not my personal choice either but Burn said I needed to embrace their civilian life and Sofie really wants the children to be honoured by the Allfathers so I thought this would be the biggest gesture. I kind of owe Sofie big time considering everything I've put her through lately,"

"You really do love that insane psycho,"

"I guess I was the lucky one that she fell for me,"

"Well you guys look after each other and I'll see you in a few days," she wrapped her arms around him and embraced him gently.7

The Nightmares tracked the small group of young women as they were led to the sacred grounds ready to bare their young. The Commander sent scouts to assess the scene and they opted to bide their time. They picked their victims and worked out their plan.

It would be easy pickings.

Slowly and silently they surrounded the grounds, the Commander took a step back allowing the Leader to take control. He drew his huge Cleaver from its sheath and lowered his Locust skull over his face. He dragged the blade in the dirt as he soundlessly loomed over the sleeping women. He stood in the centre of their victims' camp and let out a loud rallying cry as his group descended on the screaming women in unison.

The next thing Tate saw was a blade slicing towards him.