A/N: Hopefully this is the last chapter I'll write on my phone, I've gotten my tax refund, now I just need to find a decent laptop. Hope you all enjoy anyway.

Team FRST stepped off the bullhead and began walking through the forest towards the White Fang facility.

"We'll be here if you need us." Coco's voice said through Francois's earpiece.

"Roger that, I'll call if things go south," Francois replied, switching his earpiece to his Intelligent Situation Analytic Computer (ISAC) in order to monitor his team more closely.

They made their way through the forest until they came to the clearing where the facility was.

"Alright, just as we planned. Rufous, start working your semblance and get some rain and fog down there to cover their infiltration. I'll stay up here and use the night vision setting on my scope to keep you covered and alerted if I see anyone coming your way. Tiffany, keep your gun loaded with knockout rounds for now, and use them only if absolutely necessary. Silver, keep close to Tiffany, and keep an eye out for what I can't see. If you get discovered, fire a dragon's breath in the air and we'll come help pull you out. Everyone ready?" All three teammates nodded, "Then let's do this. Rufous?"

Rufous's eyes closed as he started working his aura through his semblance. The sky became overcast and began raining. The moisture from the rain mixing with the warm air of the forest quickly causing fog to form.

Silver and Tiffany slid down the hill in front of them and took off for the facility, knowing that Rufous couldn't do this forever. Francois watched ahead of them through the green tint of his scope.

Francois watched as Tiffany and Silver methodically moved through the facility from shadow to shadow, quickly planting their charges at the base of each 88mm cannon. Francois calling to warn them if a guard was coming too close.

"Francois, do you read?" Silver asked through the radio.

"I'm here, what's up?"

"Primary objective complete, requesting permission to move to secondary objective; obtain intelligence on enemy operations."

Francois thought for a moment, weighing his options, it wasn't required, but intelligence was always appreciated.

"Permission granted, but know this, you two will be on your own inside the facility, my scope can't see through walls," He replied.

"Understood sir, we'll bug out if we see too many."

"Be careful, both of you. Francois out."

Francois watched as Silver and Tiffany snuck into the main building, then continued to look around the perimeter, hoping that none of the White Fang saw them.

"Boss, come in!" Silver said frantically over the comm.

"What is it?" Replied Francois, worry creeping into his voice.

"Secondary objective complete, you're gonna want to see this when we get back."

"Alright, get out the there before-" he was cut off my gunfire erupting over the comm, followed moments later by an alarm klaxon that could be heard across the entire facility.

"Shit!" Francois cursed as he got up, "Rufous, let's get them out!" He then switched his comms over to the Bullhead, "Team CFVY! We're gonna need some help getting out of here. How quickly can you be here?"

Coco's voice answered him, "Pilot says five minutes, he's gonna dust off, then head down to pick you up from the main gate."

"Negative! Area is too hot! Have him pick us up at the tree line. I don't want to give those heavy guns an easy target!"

"Understood, Coco out."

Francois switched back to ISAC. "Alert, heavily armed hostiles approaching," the computer said in his ear.

Francois took off at a dead sprint towards the facility, Rufous staying close behind. As they got to the gate, he pulled Midnight Hour off his back and cut down the two guards in his way.

As he passed by a small guard shack, he heard glass shatter next to him and suddenly felt a large weight as someone landed on his back, knocking him to the ground.

He heard Rufous yell something, followed by the report of Rapier Wit being fired, the rounds striking the enemy on Francois's back.

Pushing the fallen enemy off him, Francois got back up and started running towards the door that Silver and Tiffany had gone into. Upon arriving, he found the reinforced door locked.

Channeling his aura to his muscles, he activated his semblance. He wound up and kicked the door as hard as he could, knocking it off its hinges and sending it flying inward.

Silver and Tiffany stood at the end of the hallway in front of Francois, Silver firing dragon's breath down a separate corridor to his right.

"Guys! Let's go!" Francois yelled down the hallway.

Tiffany and Silver disengaged and ran down the hallway towards the rest of the team and out the door.

"Silver, flash down that hallway, now!"

"Way ahead of you!" He replied, channeling his aura into a point of energy in his hand, throwing it down the hallway. It exploded in a flash, leaving the enemies in the hall temporarily blinded and deafened.

Taking the opportunity, Team FRST ran back and out the main gate, trying to get to the tree line, but as they exited the main gate, they saw what awaited them, a contingent of White Fang soldiers, all with weapons drawn and ready.

It was four on about forty, Francois didn't like the odds, but he realized he didn't need to win, just hold out for a few minutes until CFVY arrived. Realizing that they may not even last that long, he reached into his pocket, pulled out the emergency detonator to the charges, and hit the button. A fireball erupted behind them and the ground shook with the concussive force.

"Stay close and watch each other's backs. We need to hold out a little longer!" Francois called out as the soldiers in front of them charged.

The first line arrived and the battle was on. Francois began swinging his sword around, trying to attack and defend from every angle. Clangs, gunshots, and sounds of electricity from next to him told him that the rest of the team was engaged.

A minute or so later, Francois heard ISAC in his earpiece, "Alert, partner down, aura levels critical."

"Shit!" He said, backing up towards where Tiffany lay sprawled on the dirt, "Silver, Rufous! Form up around Tiff! We need to hold out a little longer!"

The second he took to yell instructions cost him dearly, as he turned back to the fighters in front of him, a war-hammer smashed him in the breastplate, knocking him backwards into a tree trunk.

His earpiece buzzed again, "Alert, aura levels below ten percent, recommend immediate disengagement."

Ignoring the earpiece, he continued to defend, trying desperately to hold out until his backup arrived.

"AHH!" A scream suddenly erupted from his right and Silver fell to his knees. Francois knew he'd never make it in time, so he threw Midnight Hour at the White Fang member rearing back to decapitate Silver, the blade found its mark, embedding itself into the assailant's chest.

His triumph was short-lived, now defenseless, the fighter with the hammer struck him again in the breastplate, this time knocking him over and draining what little aura he had left. With no strength to stand, he thought of Jonathon, the one he loved the most, as the hammer-wielder prepared for his deathblow.

Suddenly, a low-flying bullhead roared overhead, momentarily drawing the attention of the White Fang combatants.

The lapse in concentration proved fatal to the maul-wielder. Out of nowhere, a large blue blade, uncanny in its resemblance to Midnight Hour, burst through his chest from behind. This was immediately followed by minigun fire that ripped apart the woods around them, taking out several enemy combatants.

"Yatsu, grab Tiffany and Francois. Fox, help Silver. Velvet, help Rufous. I'll cover your escape, let's get them outta here!"

Francois let out a sigh as he felt Yatsuhashi lift him off the ground with a grunt. Gunfire erupted again as more White Fang members appeared and Coco engaged them. Francois felt a bump and then was laid down on the deck of the bullhead that Team CFVY had arrived in.

"Coco! They're in, let's go!" Yatsuhashi yelled out the back.

Coco continued firing, backing up towards the bullhead and finally jumping in. "Punch it!" She called to the pilot.

The pilot obliged and lifted off, flying back towards Vale.

After a minute, Francois sat up and looked up at Coco, who was smiling down at him, "Looks like we saved your butts this time. Guess that makes us even for what happened back at that oasis in Vacuo."

He smiled back, "I guess so. Though we didn't keep you waiting nearly as long. Tell you what, how about dinner and I'll call it even."

Coco's smile grew even wider, "Lunch, you pay. Shopping afterwards, and I'll pay for the armor repairs."

Francois nodded, "Deal."

She sat down next to him and took off her shades, her playful demeanor leaving. "Are you being serious right now?"

Francois nodded, "Yeah, I am... Coco, we almost died down there, and it made me realize that sometimes, life is too short to worry about 'what ifs'. So, why the hell not, I'll give it a shot with you."

Coco leaned her head onto his shoulder. "Glad you finally came around."

He looked over at Tiffany, "How is she?"

Fox, attending to her, looked up at him, "She'll be alright, she took a pretty bad hit to the back of the head from what appears to be a club or a mace. The bad news is that she's gonna need some stitches and she's probably concussed. Good news is that there's no blood or cerebrospinal fluid coming from her ears, so she should make a full recovery."

Francois let out sigh of relief and laid back down, glad to hear that his partner would be okay. "Silver? Rufous? You guys alright?"

"Yeah boss, I'm okay, a little beat up, but I'm fine. Silver took a bad hit to the back of his knee, but he can still walk."

"I'll have a doctor examine it when we get back to Vale, hopefully it's only a sprain or a bone bruise and I'll be back to kicking White Fang ass in no time," Silver said as he checked Silver Slugger.

He looked back to Coco, "What's ETA to Vale?"

"About an hour, why?"

"Wake me in forty-five minutes." He said, closing his eyes and nodding off.

A/N: Okay, so there's a teeny bit of shipping here with Coco and Francois. But I promise, the "date" will not end up with them getting together. So for those of you hoping for some Francois x Coco lemon, you'll be disappointed.

See you all in the next chapter, love you all.

Johnny