Author's Note - Well folks we've reached a few crucial coming episodes. The good news, I have finished writing this tale and you should consistently get updates until the end. So no long hiatus. Promise. Bad news, we're going to lose people. Sorry not sorry folks, what can I say, I've written this story with different endings and only one complements the characters in the way befitting to them. So buckle up and hold on tight.

On another note, I have in my possession a fantastic image of Aidie and Wilks from the first chapter drawn by MyFantasiWorld. Will have to sort out changing the story title image so you guys can see it in all its wondrous glory.

Anyway, back to chapter nineteen... read, enjoy, and (ehem) review... Never been very good at subtle.

Chapter Nineteen – The Night the Village Fell

Burning, the village was burning. A light emanated from the buildings as smoke wafted into the night sky. The sound of screaming echoed through the air as the sea of Formers slaughtered their way through the villagers. The Nightmares paced ominously behind them slicing down anyone that escaped the wrath of the Lambent. It was a sight that would stick with Ollyvar Wilks until the day he died. The feeling of helplessness squeezed at his insides as panic rose inside him despite everything he did to maintain his composure.

Every single man, standing outside the destroyed gateway of the village, felt the same way.

"We're too late," the sound of disappointment in Archer's voice apparent as he felt his knees give way under him. Miles caught him before he dropped, supporting him on his uninjured side until he was able to stand again.

"Don't give up yet," he told him.

"Look at it Miles, my home is on fire," he gasped, steadying himself eventually.

The sound of gunfire rattled somewhere within the village, echoing along the streets. The villagers had refused to sit back and let these creatures take them down.

"You hear that Archer?" Wilks commented, "that means all's not lost that there is a reason to keep fighting."

It was this feeling of hope that kept Wilks going, despite how much the darkness wanted to suck him deeper. Even though the world was falling apart, humanity still fought for their survival. Who was he to give in if those he loved kept the fight going.

"I'm hoping you have a plan," Archer asked, straightening himself up and readying his weapon.

"Best to split up, assess the situation of the village before we launch ourselves in head first."

"I need to get to Angelo," Lem interjected quickly.

"Okay, Archer knows this village better than anyone, go with him let him take you where you need to go, work on getting that cure. Cam, I need you to establish if there any survivors and whether they've set up somewhere safe. Miles, with me. We'll clear our way to the harbour, meet in the middle and establish a point to defend from there. Are we all in agreement?"

"And these?" Lem offered his chained wrists to him, "I'm not going to be much use handcuffed."

Wilks indicated and motioned for him to lift his wrists up as he revved up the chainsaw to hack through it. Lem braced himself as sparks of metal spat out in response until he felt his arms ping free.

"Yer could have used the key," Cam commented from behind him.

"I left the key back with Professor Freaky at a temptingly out of reach position," Wilks responded with a smirk.

"He'll die out there," Lem replied with a sharpness in his voice for the first time.

"Well it's the least he deserves considering the pain and suffering he caused to all those people,"

"He didn't work alone. I am just as responsible,"

"And you're trying to make amends, do you want the cuffs off or what?" Wilks shot him a look.

"Yes, I'm sorry, but I can't help thinking that two wrongs don't make a right," Lem dropped his arms to his side, the severed chains clinking against his palms.

Wilks abruptly turned from him, doubling up as he vomited, another surge of Lambency reminding him again that they had control of his fate. He wiped the back of his hand over his mouth before righting himself.

"Remind me again why I am showing you any mercy," he grunted and nodded to Archer, "take him before I start regretting my decisions."

Archer gripped a hand around Lem's arm and tugged him away. Cam carefully followed, restocking the chamber of the pistol and casting a glance to Miles, who nodded to him in acknowledgement.

"See ya in hell bud," Miles responded with a wink.

"I'll be pouring the wine," Cam answered back as he jogged away from him towards the village.

Wilks glanced at Miles as they watched their squad disperse into the screams.

"Dare I ask?"

"Best not," Miles smirked unhooking his Snub from his waist and checking the bullets.

"We gonna talk about the look Cam gave you? He giving you nannying tips?"

"Because he trusts me to say the right things, hah, you know me better than that. All about honesty, me,"

"You're aware that Cam basically raised me, Miles. I know the kind of person he is, the tactics he takes to ensure you keep going. I've seen it all."

"So you're talking about..."

"Aidie," Wilks knelt on one knee to take his time reloading the magazine to his Lancer, clicking it back in firmly in place, "you think she's dead?"

"I dunno," Miles took the lead heading down the side streets, "you knew her better than any of us here, you knew her capabilities. But then at the same time, I think you're prone to over protecting something that doesn't need it."

"So you're saying it's my fault,"

Wilks stopped the conversation a moment to silence them, drawing himself to the walls of a building and peering around the corner. He turned back to Miles indicating the number three on his fingers. Miles silently nodded, unhooking a smoke grenade from his belt, stepping forward and rolling it down the street. He was starting to get used to one handed warfare. They pulled themselves back behind cover as the grenade beeped and burst forth a vast cloud of smoke. Wilks took his cue, surging forward and blasting Lancer fire at the Formers as they blindly charged towards him. Miles picked them off as they staggered past him.

"It's true I can mollycoddle," Wilks commented, after clearing the street, "when Tate was a recruit I used to protect him terribly. To the point that they nearly kicked him from cadet camp because they didn't think he was capable of coping in battle."

"Haven't learned yet then,"

"But she's different,"

"That's what they all say," Miles shook his head, "I met her for the first time just like you. This wild blonde scrap of a thing, kicking and screaming blue murder as she was slung over Cam's frigging shoulder. I saw the strength and defiance she had back then. Didn't realise that was your thing."

"Neither did I," he sighed, "maybe it's because of everything she's gone through I felt she deserved the best chance at life. I dunno."

"You know Cam thought you were going to blow your brains out," Miles hastily changed the subject as he took the lead down the next street.

"Love that he had that much faith in me," Wilks grumbled as he whirled round another corner to come face to face with a villager and her two small children. She screamed at the shock, reeling backwards against a wall. Wilks lowered his weapons to her, responding in a quieter tone, "it's okay, we're on your side."

She gave him a panicked look as she recognised the two Gears, "the village is burning, there are monsters everywhere. Please help."

"Where are the survivors taking cover?"

"The infirmary, I went to get my children but was cut off from the group,"

"Okay, come with us, we'll get you there,"

"And the plan?" Miles softly reminded, "I could take them."

"It's only a slight diversion,"

Wilks took point with the young villager and her children wedged between them. He slowed the pace to scout the route, uncomfortable with the slight vibrations under his feet. He stopped abruptly to cast a glance at Miles, who shared the same worried look. Before either could say anything, the ground erupted in front of them, and a huge Stalk burst through the street, spewing a mass of Polyps onto it. The woman tried to scream just as Wilks lunged backwards, hoisting the eldest child into his arms and grabbing his mother's wrist.

"C'mon run!" He ordered as they sprinted through the mass of scuttling legs. He felt her feet trip as she blindly stumbled through the destruction, weeping uncontrollably into her youngest child's shoulder.

Miles held back to unhook one of his grenades from his belt, lighting the wick and rolling it into the shimmering mass of Polyps. He turned to sprint away before the detonation blew him staggering forwards. He caught up with Wilks, twisting to fire at the incoming Polyps with his Snub. Wilks stood beside him with his Lancer, letting off shots with a child clung to his chest like a baby monkey. The woman opened her eyes long enough to gain an idea of their location, pointing in the direction of the infirmary.

"This way!" She cried out, making an attempt to rush forward.

"Wait!" Miles yelled, grabbing her wrist and hoisting her backwards as a Former appeared from the darkness and charged towards them.

She screamed, cowering behind him until the creature stumbled into a puff of ash around Miles' feet.

"You okay?" Wilks asked as he planted the child back down to his feet beside his mother.

"Please," she wept, "please get us to safety."

"We're nearly there," he rose to stand as a sudden faintness overcome him, Miles was at his side before he'd even realised he'd started looking woozy.

"You alright?" He asked him quietly, "you've gone white."

Wilks took a moment to swallow back the bile in his throat, "I'll be okay."

The woman watched him in concern, too worried for her life to consider what was going on with him.

"Take it easy now, Ol, I don't want you going full blown Glowie before we have a chance to get you back from this,"

Their next step was a cautious one. The woman kept close as they skirted around streets where the Nightmares lurked until they caught sight of the infirmary. This time she didn't rush ahead, she waited until Miles and Wilks had cleared the area until they made it to the front doors. She banged on the entrance in desperation, crying out to the occupants until the sound of the lock silenced her. The door opened, and the woman bundled her children to safety. Wilks let out a gasp. Sofie gave him a coy smile as she registered his appearance.

"Sofie, you're here?" Wilks couldn't believe what his eyes were allowing him to see.

"You certainly know how to pick them Ollyvar," she commented softly.

"How did you… Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm a tough cookie,"

"How many civvies are with you?"

"I think I have most of them, I lost track of a lot when the Polyps came," she responded as confident as she could muster, but he couldn't help notice a wobble in her voice. "There's something else Olly. I couldn't get to the boys in time. The Formers cut us off,"

"Where did you last see them?"

"Back at the school where the kids gathered for safety, most got out, the boys were left behind,"

Wilks nodded, processing this information, "And Tate, is he okay?"

"Let me worry about Tate," she sent him a thoughtful glance before edging the door shut, "you get the boys."

At the sound of the lock, Wilks gave Miles a look of relief, "Sofie's safe."

"Which means..."

In the moment it took for their guard to drop a Nightmare charged towards them, pitching his blade back in readiness. Wilks lifted his Lancer to protect himself as the Cleaver swung towards his neck. In the same breath, a shot sounded. The attacker lurched forward, as a bullet cracked his skull and seared through his brain. Wilks stood astonished as the Nightmare stumbled to a heap at his feet. Alarm bells rang in his head as he looked up to the roof overlooking the infirmary, his eyes beheld the woman he never thought he would see again.

"Could you talk a little louder, I don't think the whole of Sera's heard you yet," Aidie called down to them before dropping to a crouch, twisting swiftly and firing again at another unseen enemy from beyond their vision.

"If you weren't already flipping married to the girl I would have dropped to my knees and proposed to her there and then," Miles commented with a smirk, "you trained her well."

"Believe it or not, this was all her," Wilks marvelled, "plus everyone knows you enjoy spooning Cam at night."

Miles chuckled to himself, "In those bunks, I wouldn't be surprised if he braced himself every time I breathed."

Wilks approached the building Aidie had stationed herself, calling up to her.

"Aidie, how's it looking up there?"

"Bloody hot," she responded as she concentrated on reloading the Longshot, "the place is going to hell rather quickly Wilks. We've lost Burn, and I'm finding it hard to keep the men fighting without him. They're struggling to keep the fires confined, and the Polyps aren't helping matters."

"The boys were cut off Aide,"

She slowly lowered the weapon and turned to look at him, "the school's overrun Wilks. There's no way anything is getting out of there alive."

"Guide me there Aide, be my eyes,"

She nodded as she rose to a stand and picked her way across the roof to assess the route, Miles turned to his Sergeant.

"What are you doing?"

"We have to get those kids,"

"Yes I understand that, but what happened to the plan, clear down to the harbour? We could spend the entire night diverting to different tasks to save every person and end up losing the village."

"Look at it, the second we've cleared one street a Stalk erupts behind us. We're failing Miles. At what point do we stop and consider our options. When do we get the chance to get out alive?"

"I never considered it as an option Ol. This is our home, not the next place on the map before we uproot again,"

"So you want to fight for this? For these people?"

"Well, now I know that's the Lambency talking because the Olly I know wouldn't have considered any other option. For the chance for your family to have a home to grow up in, it's a no-brainer,"

Like a thud in Wilks' stomach, the word family hit him hard. The chance of a tomorrow. Then the sick feeling inside reminded him that he wasn't entitled to a future anymore. Not unless Lem got to Angelo in time and made him see sense to relinquish the cure. His future rested solely in the hands of Aidie, and he would do anything to ensure her protection.

"Aidie," he called up again, the sound of her footsteps on the roof thundered towards him until she appeared into view, "lead Miles. Get the boys to safety."

"And you?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"I'm going to be the idiot you know me to be,"

"Olly," her voice was quiet as she dropped to the roof and swung her legs over the ledge to look directly at him. She looked tired. Blood splattered her clothes, and he had no clue how much of it was her own. Her blonde curls spilled from their ties, a swirl of ringlets and waves now caked in the filth of warfare, "come back to me, okay."

He sent her a reluctant smile, "I can't make any promises."

"I mean it Ollyvar, remember the last time you tried to play idiot hero on me?"

"Well someone has to," he commented as he turned to walk away down the street.

She cursed to herself as she edged down from the roof, landing lightly on her feet and sprinted to him. She grabbed him by the arm to stop him, turning him to her.

"We're a team Wilks, don't take that responsibility upon yourself, not anymore,"

He hovered a hand over her momentarily, as if working out whether she was a figment of his imagination. After everything he had been through, getting his head around losing her and now here she was standing in front of him. His dark eyes darted over her, assessing her injuries. His brows furrowed as he fixed on the slash across her cheek from Burn's earlier strike. His thumb stroked across the stickiness, causing her to flinch at his touch. Both her hands clasped around his to pull it away.

"Easy there," she warned, "that one still smarts."

"What happened?"

"Call it working on my negotiation skills,"

"You need it dressed Aide that'll get infected,"

"Bah, I'll live," she brushed him off.

At her words he gave her a look that she didn't entirely understand, his dark eyes seemed on the verge of filling with tears. He swallowed as he awkwardly took her in and let out a heavy breath. She frowned at him. She could see him holding back from taking her in his arms.

"What the hell's going on?" she asked.

"You were dead Aidie," Miles responded, "they told us the women had slaughtered you. We saw their bodies, a lot of them,"

She suddenly understood now, the monsters she'd fled to protect the others had caused her to forget her role in the squad. She had assumed they had seen her escape. Instincts had told her to get the survivors back to the village. She realised now that she was wrong.

"Oh god, I'm sorry, I didn't realise. I saw the stalks and thought we needed to get to the village before the Lambent destroyed it."

Wilks turned from her for a moment. He clutched a hand to his head as an agonising seizure of pain jarred its way through his brain. His head throbbed, and his vision started spinning. He fought his hardest to hide it from her.

"You did the right thing," he struggled a response as normal as possible, "you thought about the practical implications, which is what I taught you. I just keep underestimating you. They told us you were dead and I unwittingly believed them."

"I had a few close calls," she commented, "but you know me, I'm a fighter."

She watched his body language, realising something was amiss. He took an immediate, almost drunken step away from them, staggering towards a building and lurching himself inside. She gave Miles a panicked look as she followed after him.

"Wilks? What's going on?"

He blinked back the pain, and as he did so, he felt his skull explode. His knees buckled from under him as he clutched at his head. His vision filled with a blinding white light. He let out a cry as his world spun under him and he was surrounded by darkness.

Aidie responded quickly to a situation she was unsure of, rushing forwards to catch him before his head had the chance to smash hard against a table. The momentum of his fall pulled her down with him. She grunted as she righted them both, propping Wilks carefully up against a wall.

"What the hell happened?" she asked Miles, who came to her side, gently tapping his cheeks to bring him round.

"He was injected with the Lambent Parasite,"

"What!" her brain filled with the images of the creatures outside, "you know that stuff turns you Lambent right? I've seen it with my own bloody eyes."

"That kid, Lem and the weird scientist ambushed him, thought it would give him the incentive to help them find the cure,"

"How is he not Lambent yet?"

"Because we've fought like mad to keep him hanging on,"

In an unexpected reflexive moment, he lashed out, his hands swung aggressively in her direction. She swerved to avoid his blows. She heard him wheeze a rapid set of hyperventilating breaths as a panicked whimper escaped his mouth.

"Miles, I can't see,"

Aidie caught Wilks' hands and eased them down to his lap, gently shushing him. She then placed one hand across his eyes, encouraging him to close them. Her other palm pressed against his chest to slow his panicked breathing. Miles watched as she leant close to her Sergeant and slowly counted out breaths for him, forcing him to shudder back the built up fear that had been rising inside him. Eventually, she eased her hands away, and his eyes remained shut, his breathing had calmed. He frowned at her in amusement, to which she shrugged a response.

"One of the tricks Cam taught me to help him cope with Wilks' nightmares, I figured this worked the same way," she brought the subject back to the more pressing, "so you say there's a cure. Where is it?"

"On a vial around Angelo's neck,"

She let out a semi-delirious laugh, "please tell me this is all an elaborate joke. That you and Wilks devised it one drunken night."

"I wish, why?"

"Angelo is a full blown Former now, saw it with my own eyes. He led the attack, ripped half the villagers apart with his bare hands. I don't know how you're ever going to get anything willingly from him again."

Wilks blindly lifted a shaking hand out and placed it on Aidie's arm as if to reassure her.

"If the Lambency doesn't get to his brain before we get that cure to him we stand a chance of saving him," Miles told her, "it hasn't been easy, we've barely kept him together."

"Can we slow it down?"

"We took Lem hostage to help monitor him. He's held it back well, but without an anchor, it's a losing battle, and it's getting rapidly worse."

She sat on her haunches to examine him, pressing her fingers along his wrist to measure his thundering pulse. Her palm on his forehead took note of his blistering temperature.

"He's burning up," she muttered, "he needs to get to the infirmary at this rate."

Wilks quickly grabbed her wrist from his head, "the hospital can't help me. I'm better off out here fighting to my last breath."

He made a conscious effort to open his eyes. Finding his blurred vision adjust to the darkness around him and the outline of Aidie sitting beside him with a worried look on her face. He lifted his hand to cover each eye to work out which one had failed him. He rubbed the one on the scarred side of his face.

"Should have known that would have been the first to go,"

She darted her finger backwards and forwards for him to follow, "there's still some movement, so you haven't lost vision completely. I'd suggest covering it to protect whatever vision you have left."

He half laughed at her as she wrestled with his pouch to pull out the roll of dressing, remembering the old days when she had last attempted to patch him up. Despite how futile he thought it was he didn't resist her, allowing her to pad around his eye and wrap it around his head. He relished her touch as her fingers worked their way through his hair, stroking against his skin as she attached the bandage to him.

"Do you still wear your ring?" she asked him casually as she finished.

He swallowed, one hand peeling back his fingerless gloves to reveal his bloodied wedding ring. She laced her hands through his and clutched her fingers around him. She let out a heavy breath to steady herself and fixed him with a look. Her words a gentle purr reflecting the honesty and affection she reserved only for him.

"The day I first met you I had no clue of the effect you were going to have on my life, this crazy overconfident idiot who was so broken that he didn't know how to process loss. Out of everyone from my home, you, this stranger offered a hand of protection to me. You taught me how to defend myself. You made me embrace the inevitable change that was coming my way. You gave me a chance to be more than just a breeding machine, to be a competent soldier you would deem worthy of fighting alongside you. The day you came back for me at Jacinto just as I had given up hope, ready to accept my fate, I decided there and then there was never going to be anyone except you. Despite how much you tried to keep pushing me back, reasserting yourself as my Sergeant for the sake of my training. And then this..."

Her small fingers felt their way around the ring on his finger, with his other hand he retrieved her COG tags from around his neck. He slipped them over his head and placed them in her palm. She played the gears between her fingers before finding her wedding ring, a small metal band that had been melted down to fit her. He clasped his hands around her own.

"Even then you did what you did to protect me, to save me once again from the monsters. I know you keep trying to convince yourself that you forced me into taking your hand, but I made a choice too. That cold frosty morning when you and I stood in that derelict church, freezing our asses off in front of the minister reciting those vows to one another, I meant every word of it. I never saw it as anything else. I spent a long time wondering whether I was worthy of our union, a scrappy wild girl who had spent half her life locked away from society. I gave myself to you as a promise of my intention to keep my word to become someone you would be proud of. Maybe that's why I've had such a hard time getting my head around this situation between us. You've always made your feelings clear to me from the moment we met. And I… I have spent way too long trying to deny them for us to function efficiently." She paused to let out a heavy breath as if summoning the courage needed to continue.

"For fear of sounding like a pathetic teenager, I apologise. But I'm not sorry for how I feel. I have wanted you for as long as you've wanted me. I suppose that's why it's taken so long for me to process what happened that day between us. I was in this weird situation where I had no clue where we went from there. What did I mean to you? Were you my Sergeant or lover? I knew I had strong feelings for you, even after everything that happened to Tate. Then that night you came to me, I realised then that I didn't care because, after everything we had been through, you would always be by my side no matter what. We made each other stronger."

Even though his world spun and his head throbbed, he felt the pain inside him start to subside. He reached out to her, gently running his fingers across her cheek and through her knotted curls to ease her to him. She didn't need any further encouragement as she leant forward and kissed his lips with her own, the heat from his body drawing her closer to him making her want to curl up beside him forever. She fought all her control to pull away, leaning her forehead against him.

"Olly I need you to fight this. I know you just want to give into the Lambency inside you right now. But you're stronger than this. We're going to get this cure, and you're going to beat this because you deserve another tomorrow,"

She rose to her feet, half turning away from him to hide the tears that defied her strength. Miles caught a look at her distraught expression that confirmed his worst fears. She sniffed back her momentary lapse in control and used her sleeve to wipe away the tears.

"Aidan," Wilks quietly called to her causing her to turn back to him, "I know."

She paused a moment, understanding the implications. One hand twitched protectively towards her stomach.

"How?"

"Back at that church," he huskily responded, "the flower. I meant to ask you back then, but it never seemed the right time. Then Cam confirmed my suspicions."

She glanced back at Miles who nodded in agreement.

"At the church?" She stuttered a breath, "If I had told you then, what would you have done?"

She turned to him and fixed him with a look he instantly understood, as the realisation dawned on him.

"Despite me wanting to send you back for your protection, I know you would never have left my side regardless,"

She thoughtfully nodded as she slowly made her way to the door, "sometimes you're going to have to trust that I'm going to do the right thing."

"What do you mean?" he asked, "where are you going?"

"I'm going to get the boys back,"

"No," Wilks grunted in a failed attempt to find his feet, "not alone. I won't let you go alone. It's too dangerous."

"Wilks you aren't going anywhere until you can stand. Miles can stay until you feel strong enough. Please don't write me off, I'll get the boys to safety. You have to trust me, I've gotten this far alone,"

Before Wilks could even respond she was out of the door and into the burning darkness outside.