8. In Which they Get the Hell out of Dodge

He lead her through the early morning jungle, first back to the cave they had made camp the night before so they could gather their belongings. The warlock stared at the dismantled vex head for a few minutes before he shrugged and left it there. Nicole figured he had no more use for it. She kind of felt bad about thinking him a child when he had been carrying that thing around. At the same time, he could have said something. He could have told her what he was planning.

As he lead her back through the forest, Nicole realized that he really had no reason to talk to her either. She had been quite awful to him the previous day, and he had turned around and comforted her in a moment of weakness.

She wasn't sure what to think of him anymore. The terrible story he had told her, and the obnoxious talkative childishness that he had acted with since she had met him conflicted so heavily with the quietly intelligent purpose he carried himself with now. Maybe the difference was that he had a mission that would challenge him. He was choosing not to rely on her to save them, like so many other young guardians did. They often got paired with a higher ranked guardian and the moment things turned sour, they would look to her to save them. But Aydin wasn't and she respected him for that. Even if he was an asshole, immature, and dumb.

He had found a freshwater spring sometime in the night. How he had spotted thing in the pitch darkness was beyond her, but the little cave he lead her to had a warm pool of bubbling water. It leaked down the rock walls and collected in natural troughs around the walls. Her helmet did a quick chemical analysis and found that it was as fresh as Venus had to offer naturally.

She gratefully drank. The warlock was behind her messing with his armor, but Nicole was so happy to have something besides the recycled water her armor gave her that for a moment she couldn't care less.

She washed her face of the sweat and grime clinging to her skin. The pool in the center was heated by volcanic veins but the water leaking the walls was from the outside and was pleasantly cool. She enjoyed the short wash, wetting her hair and neck to alleviate the humid heat that was already beginning to sweep through the jungle now that sun was up.

Nicole heard the warlock hiss and finally looked over at him. He obviously didn't mean to make the noise, and whatever he was doing, he was trying to be discrete about it. When she looked, their eyes met. He gave her a small smile, almost apologetic then turned back to the warm pool and played with water uselessly. Which Nicole found even stranger considering he hadn't even bothered to remove his gloves.

It looked like he was just wasting time until she looked away, but now Nicole was curious. This dumb warlock was full of surprises and now she was watching for them. Something in the back of her mind, a voice that sound both like Ikora and Cayde at the same time told her that she should have been watching him in the first place.

She climbed to her feet and walked over to where he was sitting, crouching down by the pool at his side. She didn't look at him at first, watching him from the corner of her eye. She washed her hands and face in the warm water, even though she had just done it in the colder troughs by the wall. The warlock was visibly pouting beside her.

"Okay, what?" he asked after a minute. "Can't you go wash over there or something?" He flicked his fingers at her, sprinkling her shoulder with water.

She shrugged without looking at him, playing coy for a moment. He was going to tell her what was wrong, even if she had to pry it from him. She was beginning to figure that he didn't escape quite as unscathed as he acted from his run in with that minotaur.

He suddenly straightened, sitting up and plopping back on his butt, crossing his legs in front of him and facing her directly. "Alright, look. I lied about T-Tarios. I just wanted to see you re-react. More how you would react." The stutter was back, and his face had turned a bright red. He crossed his arms around his chest, and refused to look at her.

Nicole sat up a little straighter, looking at him finally. She tilted her head at him, trying to encourage him to continue. She wasn't sure why he was telling her this of all things, but she wasn't about to stop him, either.

"I didn't ruin his reputation. I didn't spread a silly rumor. Th-that was just- I was just being dumb, t-to see how'd you re-react. I did- It was because of me he didn't g-get into the fireteam he wanted, though. B-but that stupid rumor was- I know that's why you hate me now."

Nicole had underestimated him, and she felt bad for that. She was back to square one, back to knowing very little about this warlock but after how he had helped her that morning… She wasn't so frustrated now. If he had told her the previous night that he had been lying about the rumor story, she probably would not have believed him. She accepted it now, however. That surprised her a little, how quickly she just believed that. After a moment she decided that his stuttering had something to do with it. When he was lying or just talking, he spoke smoothly. But telling what she could only guess was a personal truth, and he got nervous.

What trust issues… She touched his knee to try and get him to keep going but he seemed to have clammed up after that. He refused to look at her now, his face still heated with embarrassment. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

That made him look at her. "Hey, don't go off acting all exasperated with me," he snapped at her suddenly. "You c-called me friend, remember?" He spat the word like it was a curse that had honestly offended him. "Then when I test that, you react like everyone else. And proceed to treat me like shit for t-two days. You and I aren't friends, so you're not allowed to act all frustrated when I refused to talk feelings with you."

She glared at him. She wasn't allowed to be frustrated? How dare he try to tell her what she wasn't allowed to feel. And to top that little outburst off, he decided now of all times to be openly hostile, when she was there actually trying to be nice.

"Don't think I don't know your deal," he continued after a short pause, matching glare for glare. "You lose your fireteam and now you run around pretending to be people's friends only to bail on them, so you can go back to your little pity party."

Nicole was flabbergasted for a solid couple of seconds before she could get her brain to work again. How dare you! You know nothing about me! You know nothing about what it's like to lose your family! She punched him, as hard as she could. She knew better than to aim for the fragile face, but he could stand a bruise on his shoulder. And Traveler knew he damn well deserved it.

She wasn't expecting his shoulder to squelch when she hit him, nor really the noise he made in response. He ducked sideways, turning his shoulder away from her even before she was finished recoiling, rolling with the hit the best he could.

For a second she was too angry to care that she had just found his problem. But the situation hit her again. They were stranded, without their ghosts, and the warlock had managed to get himself hurt. Like a real idiot.

She took a breath, closing her eyes. He was not the first person to get angry at her for how she dealt with her loss. He certainly was not the first who said those exact words to her, and she doubted very highly he would be the last. It still hurt, and it still made her angry. But she was above this. She was above him.

He had helped her avoid a full blown panic attack that morning and she was trying to be grateful. He was the one that had come up with the solid plan to get their ghosts back (at least she hoped it was solid. So far she just knew that he had figured out how to get the dome down, but that was better than nothing). And he was right about the way she had been treating him. He had no right to act the way he did, but neither did she.

He had moved away from her, going to the other side of the pool and stripping his chest armor off. She could see the wound even around the undershirt. Their armor was made of self-mending material, stitching itself back together with Light. The undershirt was not so lucky. The black material had been torn and it had turned into an oily shimmer where it stuck to his shoulder.

He was trying to ignore her, and Nicole thought about ignoring him. He didn't want her help, and he wasn't trying to make her feel bad. He was just trying to clean his own wound. She sighed, quieter this time. He had helped her, and they were in this together. It would only prove him more right if she left him alone. She had been mean to him, especially last night. And he had been kind when she had panicked. The least she could do was try and return the favor.

Besides, she had a small med-kit on her belt that she kept just in case. She stood and approached him again, despite the glare she received. She made a soft 'pshh' noise at him to try to get him to knock it off but all it earned her was an even nastier glare, if that were possible.

So she held up the little bundle of gauze and disinfectant she had pulled from her belt. He paused, his glare becoming a little less heated in the face of her peace offering. After a moment he looked away and back at the armor pieces he had piled up near the water. Then he reached his hand out to take it but she held it up, wagging the finger of her other hand at him.

"What?" He asked, his voice softer now. It still held the edge of anger, but it was a little closer to gentle tone he had captured her with that morning.

Nicole would never admit it but she wanted to see that side of him again. That gentle confidence, benevolent intelligence. Nothing like the erratic little asshole he had been to her mostly thus far. She'd seen it before in him. She saw it when they had sat in the Tower pavilion and talked. When she had saved him from the titan, despite his stuttering, she had seen that remorse and kindness he was trying so hard to hide. But that morning had been the first time he had blindsided her with it, and it was that version of him she was interested in. She hoped that was the Aydin that was trying to hide beneath this annoying asshole demeanor. If that was the real him, then she was determined to pry it out into the open, because then he wouldn't need her to be his friend. There would be a hundred other guardians that would flock to a warlock like that.

Nicole was good at that sort of thing. That was why the vanguard liked to assign her mentor missions. She was good at bringing out the good side of everyone. Both combat wise, and emotionally. She usually prided herself on doing it without getting herself involved and using the natural drift of people to keep herself separated.

It's worked for her these last two years. This warlock would be no different, even if he wanted to pretend he wasn't. Even if he truly believed he was.

There was a long moment of silence between them, Nicole waiting, and Aydin assessing her. The first thing she needed to do was get to bottom of this damn trust issue he had. He was so young, it had to be a leftover personality quirk from who he was before he died. That happened sometimes, but guardians could outgrow it as they became their own person again. She hoped that by helping get past that, it would open up the good side of him she had seen that morning.

She was actually a little surprised with herself. This sudden desire to help him was a little weird for her, especially after she had felt about him not even yesterday. But she just couldn't get it out of her head. The way he had touched her cheek, spoke to her as if he just knew it was going to be okay. And his eyes…

She shook herself from her thoughts just in time to watch him sigh and let his shoulders sag. He looked away from her and to the water. "Whatever…" he pouted, but his defenses were down and Nicole took that as a cue.

Davion had taught her simple medical skills. How to patch a small wound, how to set broken bones, stuff like that. She had gotten plenty of practice back in the early day when the whole fireteam would go out looking for human settlements to protect or lead back to the City. They would be gone for a month at a time, searching the wilderness for small patches of life in a land ruled by the Fallen. Some of her happiest memories were made on those missions. She never had to do this on a guardian, and it had certainly been a long time since the last time she had patched someone up like this. But it came back to her quickly. The warlock was a good patient. He kept still, and except for the occasional grimace, didn't complain about the pain. The wound was fair sized. It had bled a lot earlier but it had slowed by the time Nicole got to it. She cleaned it and wrapped his shoulder.

She patted him when she finished and sat back. He didn't say anything at first, instead going for his undershirt and putting it back on quickly. He fiddled with his armor for a moment before shrugging, rolling the newly bandaged shoulder experimentally. "Uh, thanks. I guess…" He said quietly, his face turning red again.

She gave his shoulder another little encouraging pat.

"We should get going soon."

She nodded in response.

He finally looked at her, a weirdly confused look on his face. "Look, I don't know what you th-think you're hoping t-to achieve but stop it, okay? I think I liked it better when you were being mean." He huffed. She suspected that he had more to add to that but couldn't find the words anymore. Nicole just smiled at him. Poor, confused warlock. He was a challenge for her, and she finally came to terms with that. And by the Traveler, she looked forward to beating him.


"What made your guardian name you?" Ghost had never really thought about it before. Nicole had never given him a name. But that wasn't really something that affected him. That was a choice the guardians made.

Verz was next to him in the little burrow. The soil was damp, roots of old dead trees blocked out a lot of the light from the outside. The two ghosts had been hiding together underground since the dome went up. They could hear the sounds of the vex above them and the distant hum of the dome, but not much else.

The warlock's ghost spared him a glance, before training its optic back on the outside. "Aydin has always been strange about names. He thinks they are very important."

"Why 'Verz' though? It's kind of a strange name, don't you think?" He wasn't really asking out of curiosity, to be honest, but more as a way to start small talk. They had been hiding here since the dome went up and they realized they couldn't transmat back to their guardians. Neither ghost had said much to the other that entire time.

For a moment Verz didn't reply. It buzzed and spun it's shell in a way that felt almost irritated. "That was the name my guardian chose for me. I found no personal problem with it so I allowed him to give it to me. I never asked him why he chose that one in particular." The answer seemed mechanical when it was finally given, almost rehearsed in a way.

The other ghost was quiet for a time after, not entirely sure how to reply to the tone. It found both ghost and its guardian perplexing and irritating in the way they seemed to be hiding something. A rehearsed response to hide a truer meaning, perhaps? Or maybe just being bonded with a silent hunter for so many years, her natural paranoia had rubbed off on him.

"So your guardian doesn't have a steady fireteam, huh?"

Verz made that annoyed little buzz again, this time louder. "No, Aydin is very picky about who he considers his friends." This time the tone taken was almost tired and ironic.

The other ghost spun its shell. "Nicole is like that too," he replied, understanding the tone completely. "I've been trying to get her to connect with another guardian for two years. She lost her fireteam and just kind of lost her nerve in a lot of ways."

"I know."

"You do, huh?"

"Aydin is nosey. When she was assigned to spy on him, he went through her records and found out everything he could about Foxwell."

The other ghost spun his shell in stark surprise. "Wait, you what? But those files are only for the vanguard. Classified to other guardians, right?" He was going to be mighty irritated if guardians were allowed access to such things. It would have made his life so much easier if they could just read up on other guardians.

"Yeah," Verz replied a moment later, entirely nonchalant. "But Aydin doesn't really care."

"Well, if they're classified, how'd he get into them?"

"The cyber security the Tower uses for its systems is child's play, honestly." Verz said it with such an air of snobbish superiority the other ghost was nearly instantly annoyed by it.

"So you've been invading other guardians' privacy."

"Yes," it replied flatly, not an ounce of remorse.

"That's so nice of you," he commented sourly.

"Aydin is paranoid. He likes to know what other's intentions are and if he can't figure out what you want at first glance, then he will look at what's behind the curtain."

There was a pause, one ghost watching the other. "Nicole's pretty paranoid too," he commented. "Part of the reason she has a hard time connecting with others these days."

"What is she afraid of?" Verz asked after a moment. The snobbish tone was gone, and it asked as if honestly curious.

"I don't really know anymore. I think she's afraid of being alone. But she's already alone, so who knows really."

"Maybe she's afraid of losing people. Again."

"Maybe." The ghost paused for a moment, contemplating the state of his guardian. "I just worry about her. She needs someone. She can't keep doing this alone. She might seem strong and independent but it's all a ruse. She's still not over what happened to her. And I just want her to have someone who will stand by her when she inevitably has to face her fears."

"Then I hope you find someone." Verz commented after a moment.

Disappointed that Verz refused to take the hint (because he knew the warlock's ghost was being oblivious on purpose), Nicole's ghost buzzed loudly and plowed on. "What about your warlock? Why is he such a loner?"

Verz didn't answer the question right away, instead remaining silent, their optic turned away, watching the light that streamed weakly into their little alcove.

"Verz? What about-"

"I heard you the first time."

There was another beat of silence before Nicole's ghost spoke again. "Verz." It was much less of a question now, and more an insistent demand.

Again silence, but after another brief pause, Verz buzzed loudly in exasperation. "Alright look, you belong to huntress so you wouldn't understand, but warlocks have secrets and Aydin is no exception. You could probably say he has more secrets than your average. And secrets means we have to be careful. And while I appreciate your proposal, it's not ever going to be that simple. We can't trust anyone, got it? We can't trust other ghosts, we can't trust other warlocks, we can't trust the factions, regardless of what Lakshmi says. We can't trust the city council, consensus, or vanguard. Especially the vanguard. And the last time I checked, Foxwell reports directly to one or more of those parties, so by extension-"

"You can't trust us," the other ghost finished.

Verz bobbed in the air, mimicking a nod. "I'm sorry, truly I am, but that's just how it is. For the moment anyway."

There was a pause in the conversation as the hunter's ghost contemplated what he had just been told. "For the moment," he echoed quietly. "What do you mean, 'for the moment'?"

"I mean, 'for the moment'," it replied cryptically. The other ghost was about to get really irritated if it planned to leave it at that, but it elaborated a moment later. "Maybe in a few months. Right now, things are a little crazy." It said this in such a world-weary tone, the other ghost couldn't help but be suddenly curious as to what 'secrets' could be so important. "Things will blow over soon enough. And maybe by that point Aydin will have as better idea of what he wants to do with his talents."

Again silence fell between them. Finally the hunter's ghost spoke again. "You know, secrets are easier to bare when you share them." His voice was quiet, almost as weak as he knew his argument was.

Verz just laughed at him, and said nothing more on the subject.


Nicole quickly discovered that the warlock's helmet was a treasure trove of useful information. He told her in no short order that he had his own navigational suite that was completely independant of the ghost. Of course, the ghost enhanced a lot of it by feeding him additional information through the neural link, but Aydin was far from helpless by himself. Whereas Nicole had been navigating the good old fashioned way, using the sun as her guide. Aydin thought that was entirely archaic but also impressive because he would not have thought about that.

He was being very serious about all this. Finally, it seemed, the absence of his ghost was starting to get to him. He had stopped that incessant babbling that had seemed to follow him like a swarm of flies all up until last night, instead leading her through the jungle on a path only he seemed to know. It was slow going. The grace he had managed to muster in the dark of the night before was all but gone now; he stumbled over seemingly everything.

The first conduit he lead them to was hardly guarded. Just two harpies and a goblin. They were dead before they even knew they were under attack. The warlock fiddled with the machinery for a moment, before a bright white glass ball the size of a human head popped out like a gumball. He promptly smashed it against a nearby stone, shattering it.

"On to the next," he told her.

Word of them must have spread through the collective mind. The next conduit was heavily guarded. Three harpies with shields, a minotaur major, and a small collection of goblins. Aydin wasn't much use in a fight as Nicole quickly found out. His shoulder was hurting more than it probably should be, throwing his already poor aim off even further. Thankfully, Nicole's skill more than made up for his shortcomings. After the brief battle, Nicole was the one who took the orb and smashed it once Aydin relieved the machine of it.

They stepped back out into the Venus sunshine, Aydin rubbing his shoulder. "Now we wait," he said to her silent question.

They traversed the jungle some more, avoiding the minotaurs that now roamed the thick vegetation hunting them. Aydin's shoulder was slowing him down. The wound had been good sized and had bled a lot by the time Nicole bandaged it. All the walking around, the heat of the jungle, and the fighting was putting a strain on him he just wasn't used to. Nicole knew what it felt like to have to carry wounds. That had also been a part of her training.

They found some more caves to hide in as the morning passed into the afternoon. The warlock rested for a while, Nicole stood watch. She began to wonder just how long they would have to wait for the dome to finally come down, when suddenly the air began to shudder.

It woke the warlock from the nap he was taking in the back of the cave. He came to stand beside her at the cave entrance, and together they listened as the hum in the valley changed pitch then fell away a few seconds later. Nicole smiled, grabbing his good shoulder and shaking him lightly.

Several long seconds passed, but after only a short delay, Nicole saw the flash of light, feeling as if it came from behind her eyes and all around her at the same time. It felt like a part of her was returned, the familiar and comforting Light of her ghost, merging with her own energies, and the hum of his voice. He spoke no words to her, but she could feel his relief as strong as her own.

Beside her, Aydin's shoulders sagged in obvious relief. Verz appeared in physical form beside him, giving the other guardian a scan, clicking unhappily when it found the wound. It started chittering at him, half words and broken phrases, some of it not even english. Their half mind speak, which Nicole was starting to find a little cute.

He really did it, Ghost. Aydin did it.

There was a surprised little ping from the ghost. "A first name basis? What happened between you two?"

She gave him her memories, letting him see the damn vex head, his plan to free them, her near panic and his sudden warm support of her. And her own sudden determination to see that gentle and intelligent side that this crisis had brought out.

Her ghost gave a happy ping in response, but underneath she could feel his unease. He usually didn't try to cover his emotions from her. It was nearly impossible. She almost questioned him on it, but the warlock tapped her shoulder, bringing her out of her head and back into the current moment.

"We should leave now, right? We accomplished our mission. I really don't feel like fighting off hoards of Vex."

Neither did Nicole. She was exhausted, ready for a hot meal, a shower, and her own bed again. His wound was healed, but the warlock's shoulder still sagged in exhaustion. She nodded, spinning her hand in a 'wrap it up' motion.

The two ghosts responded and in a flash of light, both guardians were transmatted out of the venus jungles and back to the safety of their separate ships.


"So they tried to separate you and your ghost?" Cayde was interested enough to be serious for once.

"I don't think it was on purpose," the warlock answered. "That's just how it happened."

"I've never heard of those barriers being impenetrable, even to ghost transmat."

"It was sealed. There was no atmospheric movement on the inside. No way in and no way out."

"An attempt to quarantine, perhaps?" Ikora offered.

The warlock shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Anyway, we got our ghosts back and bugged out. No point in staying. Our mission was completed to specification."

The debriefing was coming to an end and Nicole couldn't have been more grateful if she tried. She really wanted that shower. The warlock was doing most of the talking, so Nicole was content to sit in her corner and listen as he recounted the events of the last two days.

Ikora and Cayde were the only vanguard present. It was rare that she would debrief directly to them, in person no less. But she wasn't about to start questioning them. She was old enough to know better than to imply Cayde was wrong, or try to understand why Ikora did the things she did.

Ikora suddenly closed the log book she had been scribbling in, the sound of it a signal that the meeting was over. "Thank you both for your time and skills. Rest, you are dismissed. Foxwell, if you would stay for a moment more please."

Aydin stood, then looked over at the huntress once Ikora finished. Nicole looked back at him, meeting his gaze evenly. She watched, with some interest, as his expression ranged from confusion, to some peculiar knowing look that seemed to settle somewhere between anger and sadness. He looked away from her, making a point of leaving her without so much as a goodbye. He looked hurt somehow, and she wondered if he had forgotten for a moment who she was working for. She found it interesting that he would act betrayed. Wasn't the vanguard supposed to be on his side, too?

Somewhere in her mind, originating from the ghost, she could feel a whisper of a memory itching at her. A dark little earthy cave with roots hanging down blocking out the light. We can't trust the vanguard. It echoed for a moment, feeling like another presence in the room. She knew the vanguard couldn't hear it but she still looked at them, almost waiting for them to react.

It had sounded like Verz.

"So Foxwell, you've been chained to our annoying little friend for a few days now. Got two whole days with just the two of you. Any first impressions you'd like to share?"

Her ghost hesitated. He blipped uneasily from inside her head, the memory, one of his, itching at her. She shook her head, annoyed at him, and forcefully summoning him into the physical world.

If the vanguard noticed the hesitation, neither of them said anything. The ghost glanced around for a second, before they agreed on what to say. It was more of an acceptance on the ghost's part. Nicole promised him she would be asking what this odd behavior was all about. But now was obviously not the time.

"He's harmless. Annoying, paranoid for no reason. He think this is a big game. So he likes to play tricks. But otherwise, he doesn't seem to be any kind of threat. Uncomfortable in his skin, perhaps, but who isn't at that age?"

"Have you learned anything about his disappearances?" Ikora asked.

"Yes, actually. He's a scavenger. And there is a lot of salvage. Some of it is worth quite a bit. He may want to keep it a secret because he doesn't have the skill or the confidence to do active combat bounties for glimmer and other resources. He is capable, however, of being a tactical consultant."

"He's hiding a salvage yard? What about the Fallen?" Cayde asked, sounding almost incredulous.

"Apparently Fallen can't swim so he's been searching sunken shipwrecks off the coast, North America, on the eastern seaboard."

There was a collective sigh of relief in the room. Nicole found it a little curious. They actually thought he might have been doing something bad?

"And the Fallen?"

"Little Fallen activity in that area. There was one, we had eyes on it at one point. Aydin's rather fondly named him 'Harpoon Guy' because it apparently tried to spear him with a harpoon or something. Aydin is not strong enough to kill it yet, but the Fallen didn't seem too inclined to start a fight. It just wandered around, trying to scare us, I suspect. Didn't even get that close, to be honest. We've come down to a theory that Aydin wishes to kill it himself once he is strong enough, as a goal to work toward."

"I suppose that's admirable," Cayde commented. "Sounds like a warlock, though. Gotta do things the hard way."

Ikora didn't respond to Cayde's small jab, instead plowing on into her next question. "His paranoia, do you know anything about it?"

Her ghost glanced back to her for a second. "We are undecided yet if it stems from a bad experience, perhaps during training or his journey back to the City, or just a leftover personality quirk from his last life. Obviously we have no idea what kind of life he lead before, and phantom memories can occasionally persist through the first year of life." The ghost did an approximation of a shrug. "In other words, no. We have no clear idea yet. We need more time."

"And your current assessment of him, for the record?" Ikora opened the book on the table again, poising her pen to transcribe Nicole's response.

Again, ghost and hunter shared a glance, silently agreeing on what to say. Nicole still had questions, and she knew her time with the Warlock was not over. She wanted to personally train him, after all. Someone with his lack of skill, she didn't feel like trusting anyone else with that kind of job.

"We didn't find anything suspicious about him that didn't have a reasonable explanation," her ghost said finally. "He is young, and already has a distaste for City politics. But I don't think it will become a threat. His connection to Osiris could be an asset if we don't alienate him. And besides all that, I really do think he just needs more time to get accustomed to this life. Nicole would like to personally train him. With confidence in his own abilities, he will surely thrive."

There was silence for a while. Ikora scribbled quickly, finishing soon after. She closed her book again and tucked it in her robes. "Very well. We appreciate your assessment. We will have you two run one more mandatory mission together. After that, we will leave it up to you to train on less strict grounds. We will want a report once the last mission is completed. If you intend to train him, we may ask for additional follow up, but seeing as it will be voluntary, do not feel forced. Of course, any training commission earned will be given regardless of the guardian."

Ikora had that look in her eyes like she was thinking of things that really had nothing to do with the present. They were satisfied with her work, and they believed her. She nodded upon her dismissal, saluting her vanguard leader and leaving the room.

She smiled as she left the room. It felt good, doing the right thing. Whatever had happened between the warlock and the titan, it had created some bad blood, and Nicole knew she would have to get down to the bottom of that in due time. For now, she was just proud that she managed to single handedly save the warlock from being in some deep trouble. He had been practically condemned, and the damn idiot wouldn't take anything seriously.

She had a lot of work cut out for her, but it felt good to have a task. Of course, she would have to remember not to let him annoy her. He seemed really good at that, but they had been good upon leaving Venus. The look he had given her when he had been dismissed gave her the feeling she may have taken a step back with him, but she was good at worming her way onto people's good sides.

It was in the elevator down to the residential block when Nicole remembered the odd memory from her ghost. What had that all been about?

He pinged discomfort at her again. "Just something Verz said when we were hiding together," he replied from inside her. He gave her the memory, the elevator fading away briefly to the feeling of being very small in a very cramped space.

"We can't trust the vanguard," echoed in her head. Verz, sounding annoyed and world-weary. Of course that little ghost was good at sounding annoyed. "You belong to a huntress so you wouldn't understand, but warlocks have secrets and Aydin is no exception. You could probably say he has more than your average."

The memory faded away, the elevator door opened with a ding. What kind of secrets?

"Fancy warlock secrets?" The ghost's guess was as good as hers.

Osiris secrets maybe?

"Like I said, fancy warlock secrets."

She nodded to herself. Probably something like that. I'm sure it's nothing to be terribly concerned about. We just have to gain his trust and I'm sure he'll tell us when he's ready.

"And I'm just going to assume that that 'gain his trust' spiel and how happy you are to be helping him is all a one way street, right?" He said with such irritation that Nicole couldn't help the smile. Her ghost knew her too well.

I don't plan to get attached. Train him, open him up, get him a fireteam, fade from his life when he's too busy to remember little ol' me.

"Just like everyone else…" the ghost sighed. "Sometimes I wish someone else would work as hard for you as you do for other people."

Nicole smiled again. It was a nice sentiment. But she had already had that. She had those kind of people and she lost them. You didn't get chances like that twice.


Afterword: I am so, so, so sorry! Okay, so my life kind of backfired a little. I moved out of my apartment, and then I had to find a job, then I just didn't feel like writing. And just. Yeah. Shit happened. And I know its been four months but hey, a new chapter! Finished the Venus Adventures, but I've run into a small plot hole I need to fill in so the next chapter will not be out next week. Actually, just expect the next chapter 'eventually'.

Reviews...

Guest: Yes

DivineEnigma: Glad you like it, and right now. :)

Ch33kiChaps: The romance is coming. Hold tight. This story is gunna be pretty long, and we've only just gotten through phase one, so. Also, right now.

F1REST4R, oozak12, spacedolphin, steel2-0, and the other guest: I'm glad you guys enjoyed it, and I'm so sorry for the long wait. Here's hoping the next chapter won't take so long.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorite'd, and subbed to alerts. You guys are the best, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter!