The Red Moon Collection - 2 - Three Phantoms

Chapter 10

City of Q'oorin, Sharkeer

The turian female stood in the shadows for a long moment with the sights of her rifle locked on her newly arrived guests.

After waiting just long enough to make Will nervous, Tyrixis slowly lowered her rifle. "Where's the extraction squad?"

Corsin let out a sigh and slung his rifle onto his back. "This is it."

The female turian stepped out of the shadows and raised her chin as she eyed Will and Corsin closely. Will could tell they were siblings just by looking through the visor of her helmet. They shared the same gray skin tone with matching markings running across their faces: two parallel, maroon lines that ran from the center of their brows up to the top of the crests that adorned their heads. He looked her up and down quickly and immediately noted her intimidating size and stance. She was almost the exact same height as her brother and stood with the stern, militaristic stature that nearly every turian assumed. In her hands she held a rifle very similar to the one Corsin carried, though it appeared to have a few modifications. The sound of the nearby battle echoed through the large, empty room in which they stood.

"One human?" Tyrixis shook her head. Will couldn't tell if she was amused or irritated. "Are all Spectres crazy, or just you?"

"I'm glad I'm not the only one to ask that question," Will commented with a small grin.

Corsin stepped forward and motioned between Will and his sister. "Tyrixis, this is Captain William Hume. He and his crew are helping me with the mission I outlined for you in my initial message." The turian looked to Will. "Hume, this is Tyrixis."

"Doctor Tyrixis Rentarius," the female restated as she turned her attention to the human.

Will shifted his rifle to his offhand and stepped toward Tyrixis. "Nice to meet you, doctor." He extended a hand and looked to her eyes as she examined him cautiously.

After a moment of hesitation she accepted the hand and gave a formal shake. "Mercenary?"

"Almost," Will answered with a smirk. "But if you have to put a name on it..."

"He's been trustworthy so far," Corsin stated. "And you can get acquainted later. Right now, we need to move."

Tyrixis pulled her hand back to her side. "Move where? Didn't you bring a shuttle?"

"We had to land about a kilometer away and move in on foot." Corsin retrieved his rifle. "Hence our two-man extraction team. The rest of our people are guarding the shuttle while our engineer makes repairs."

The doctor shook her head. "Repairs?"

Will averted his eyes. "Yeah... we didn't entirely land. There was a bit of a crash involved as well."

Tyrixis let out an exasperated sigh. "Excellent mission planning as always, Corsin."

"Unforeseen complications can arise, Ty, you of all people should know that. You're the one who established a triage center in the middle of a battlefield." Corsin looked around the empty, cavernous room. "Speaking of which, where is the triage center?"

"Evacuated," she answered straightly. "A few hours ago when things started heating up in the park. I stayed behind to pack up as much vital equipment as I could."

Will raised a brow apprehensively. "How much equipment?"

Tyrixis motioned over her shoulder to the doorway she had entered through. She turned and walked back through the door as Corsin and Will fell in behind her. The door led them into a dim hallway with a few open doors on either side that had once housed offices and storage. At the end of the short hall lay five military backpacks propped up against the wall.

"These are all my essentials." She knelt down beside the bags and looked to each one.

"We're not going to be able to bring all of them with us," Corsin informed her. "Even if we could carry them all, we need to be able to move quickly."

Tyrixis nodded without argument. She was definitely military. "Understood." Her eyes shifted to each satchel once more before nodding decidedly and pointing to two of the bags. "These two will stay."

She grabbed the closest pack and slung it over her shoulders. Will and Corsin grabbed bags of their own and made adjustments to the fit to keep them tight against their backs. Will was far from comfortable and was sure that they pack would hinder his movement in combat.

"Here's hoping we don't attract hostile attention," Will muttered as he shifted his weight in search of balance.

Tyrixis gave him a sideways glance before looking to Corsin. "Let's go. I've been watching the situation outside and it's deteriorating quickly. I'd rather not find out what kind of weapons Narenthus Antarian is selling by being down the barrel of one."

Corsin nodded and turned to lead them back out of the doorway and into the motor pool. His limp was far more apparent with the additional weight that now hung on his shoulder. Will could see Tyrixis look down the bandage on his leg briefly before looking up and raising her rifle. Corsin and Will did the same, readying their weapons as they exited the hallway and turned to the open bay doors. The group came to a stop before stepping out into the street as Will opened his comm channel.

"Vayren, you there?"

"Affirmative."

Will glanced to Tyrixis. "We're on our way back. How are the repairs looking?"

"Eleena's language has become much less colorful. So I imagine it is coming along rather well."

Will grinned to himself. "Good. Has anyone else stopped by?"

"A small squad appeared a few minutes ago. They looked organized, probably loyalists. There was a small firefight, but they retreated."

"Stay safe. We'll be there in about ten minutes. Fifteen, tops."

"Understood. Vayren, out."

"We ready to move?" Corsin looked over his shoulder to the others.

"Lead the way," his sister replied.

The Spectre stepped out into the street and made a sharp turn back in the direction he and Will had come from. Tyrixis followed behind him with Will taking up the rear. He took one last glance over his shoulder to the battle roaring behind them, then pushed the image from his mind and turned his attention back to their objective: get the hell out. Corsin swiftly led the group to the closest intersection and crossed over toward the block where they had met the group of rebel soldiers. Will's heart sank as they rounded the corner. The dust and smoke from the artillery strike had settled, leaving the street barren save for scattered debris. The squad of hostiles at the end of the block were nowhere to be seen, possibly having been pushed back by the group of rebels they had seen advancing on them from their flank. Halfway down the block, where the door opened into the retail center that they would pass through on their way out, Will could see the obliterated barricade where the rebels had been holding up.

"Damn," Corsin muttered. "I was hoping that shell had fallen short."

As they approached, it became apparent that some of the debris that littered the destroyed barricade was that of the mismatched armor the rebels had worn. Will, Corsin and Tyrixis slowed as they neared the small crater at the center of the street. Will was about to turn away when he caught sight of a pair of boots protruding from behind the wreckage of the skycar that he and Corsin had taken cover behind. He deviated from their path and made his way to the set of boots to see that they belonged to the batarian that had directed them toward Tyrixis. The rebel's armor was relatively intact, but he lay limp and motionless.

"Tyrixis, is he alive?" Will called as he looked over his shoulder.

The two turians had continued onward to the doorway, but stopped as Will changed course. Tyrixis lowered her rifle slightly and stepped down from the door and over to where Will stood, staring at the batarian. She gave the body a quick look and shook her head.

"The shockwave from the explosive alone would have killed him." Tyrixis motioned toward the batarian's helmet and its shattered visor. "And if it didn't... he suffocated. The oxygen on Sharkeer is too thin to survive more than five minutes without a supplemental source."

Will stared silently for a few seconds. "Alright. Let's go."

He and Tyrixis turned from the body and climbed up the couple of steps to the doorway where Corsin stood waiting. Will glanced back at the crater briefly before raising his rifle and looking ahead to the objective at hand.

Most of the journey back to the crash site was made in silence as Will, Corsin and Tyrixis did their best to avoid being detected by scouts. They spotted four over the course of their journey, two that resembled rebels, as well as a pair of uniformed soldiers that wore matching, black armor with a red emblem emblazoned on the shoulder. Luckily, all three parties seemed to be oblivious to the squad's movements. As they exited the alleyway near the Kodiak's location the ever-present sound of gunfire grew noticeably louder. Corsin and Will shared a quick glance and nodded knowingly.

"The crash site is nearby," Tyrixis deduced as she looked to either of them.

Will raised his rifle as they pressed themselves to the wall of the U-shaped building. "That's right. And it sounds like that scouting party returned with some friends."

"The squad was under orders not to fire unless fired upon," Corsin added. "It sounds like our guests didn't believe that we aren't rebels."

Will stepped around Corsin to take point as they moved toward the corner of the building. To the left would be the street where "U" opened to and, by the sound of it, a less-than-friendly welcome. Will's finger lined up with his trigger as they neared the edge and the sound of an unfamiliar voice rang out through the gunfire.

"The krogan! Kill the kroga-"

The voice was cut silent as the sound of Vayren's rifle cut through the air. Will quickened his pace and came to a stop at corner of the building before peering around to assess the ongoing battle. A squad of eight soldiers was firing into the enclave where the Kodiak and the rest of the Hyperion crew was hiding and returning fire. Three of the soldiers were already on the ground, wounded or dead, while the other five shot from behind fallen concrete debris and the skycar they had arrived in. The entirety of the enemy squad wore the same black armor that Will, Corsin and Tyrixis had seen on the scouts they had evaded earlier. Will leaned back out of sight and looked to the turians.

"Eight targets, three down already. All exposed from our position," he reported.

Corsin nodded. "Good. I'm going for the other corner." He motioned toward the parallel street corner and a pile of rubble that covered it. "I'll try to move fast, but if they spot me just shoot."

Will and Tyrixis nodded as Corsin hugged his rifle to his chest and ran with his small limp for the other side of the street. As soon as the turian left cover, Will stepped out and took aim on the enemy squad. In the corner of his eye he could see that Tyrixis had dropped to one knee at his side and lined up a shot as well. They held their fire as Corsin reached the halfway point. Will's breathing slowed as he concentrated on keeping his aim steady and sure. Then, a fraction of a second before Corsin could reach his destination undetected, one of the soldiers looked to the side and made a quick double-take.

"Left flank!" The loyalist soldier shouted as he turned his rifle on Will and Tyrixis.

Before he could even take aim, Will and Tyrixis had shifted targets to their observant foe and unleashed a heavy burst. The turian rifle Tyrixis wielded roared deeply, like Corsin's, and with a slightly electrical tinge. Will would have loved to take quick glance at the weapon as it fired, but refused to take his eyes off the targets before him. Across the street, Corsin had rolled into cover and popped up into a firing position with the deft speed that could only come from performing the action thousands of times. His rifle exploded into gunfire a mere second after Will and Ty's, hosing the enemy squad with bullets. Their first target, the batarian who had spotted them, fell almost instantly to their combined fire. A second was killed shortly after as he looked to the side, startled, and was struck in the head by one of Vayren's shots. The others panicked. Two of the remaining three turned to run as soon as they heard the sound of enemies at their flank, while the third looked to the overwhelming enemies around him and dropped to the ground where he curled into the fetal position.

"Hold your fire," Will called into the comm as the soldiers broke from their position.

"Well it's about time," a familiar asari answered.

Will lowered his rifle to his hip and slowly stepped further into the street. The human in black armor continued to cower behind the shot-up skycar that sat idling a few dozen feet ahead. Corsin and Tyrixis pulled themselves to their feet and fell into position on his flanks as they approached the man.

"Why were you shooting at my squad?" Will asked as he came to a stop a few meters away. "You should know better than to pick a fight without knowing who it is you're aiming at."

The soldier jumped in shock and looked up to Will and the two turians. He fell onto his back and tried to scurry away while panting and mumbling incomprehensibly.

"The... the scouts said you were rebs," he explained frantically.

"We're not." Corsin answered flatly.

"I- I didn't know!" The man was clearly ready to beg for his life.

Will stared for a moment before nodding to the end of the street. "You gonna leave, or what?"

The soldier froze in surprise. After a few seconds he nodded and rolled over to push himself to his feet and scramble away. Will, Corsin and Tyrixis watched as he stumbled over himself while sprinting to the closest corner he could find and disappearing out of sight. Will loosened his grip on his M-15 and turned to his left to see the rear of the Kodiak and the rest of the squad standing and watching in amusement. Vayren had already collapsed and stowed his sniper rifle and was climbing to the ground from his perch as Will led Corsin and Tyrixis into the courtyard.

"No call to tell us about your little engagement?" Will smirked as the salarian approached the group.

"We were handling ourselves," Vayren answered as all four came to a stop. The salarian looked to the unfamiliar turian and nodded. "You must be Doctor Rentarius."

Tyrixis reached to her back and secured her rifle. "That's correct. And you are?"

Vayren must have noticed her militaristic mannerisms and stature as he straightened himself up appropriately. "Agent Vayren, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance." He extended a hand.

Tyrixis gladly accepted the hand and gave a formal shake. "Well met, Agent." She gave a sideways glance to Corsin as she retracted her hand. "Two Spectres? I hadn't realized the severity of this manhunt."

Will cleared his throat. "I don't mean to interrupt, but we should probably save the majority of the introductions for after we're out of the war-zone."

The others nodded in agreement as Will stepped past them and hurried toward the Kodiak. He looked to his side where Kallux still leaned against the wall with his cannon positioned to cover the entrance to the courtyard. Eleena was standing beside a piece of debris she had used as cover in the firefight with her arms crossed and hips cocked slightly as she eyed the newcomer cautiously. Will stopped in front of the asari and motioned to the shuttle.

"Are we ready to fly?"

"Starboard engine should be operating around ninety percent capacity." Eleena gave him a cocky grin. "And I managed to isolate the damaged systems in the port thruster. Should be able to squeeze out around twenty five percent."

Will blinked. "The port thruster is operational?"

"You didn't hire me just for my gorgeous, purple fringe," Eleena shot back with a wicked grin.

Will laughed lightly. "No, but it sure doesn't hurt. Where are Tul and Shansa?"

"Inside," Kallux replied from his firing position a few feet away. "Prepping the systems."

"Good." Will turned to where Corsin, Vayren and Tyrixis were talking quietly among one another. "Everyone load into the Kodiak. We're getting outta this place."

Corsin and Vayren nodded to one another before making their way over to Will with Tyrixis close behind. Kallux hauled his cannon from its firing position and secured it on his back as he walked to the open hatch of the Kodiak and jumped in. Eleena slid her SMG into its holster and followed the krogan as the doctor and Spectres reached Will. Tyrixis watched as the asari and krogan jumped into the shuttle without acknowledging her presence. With a small step to the side, Will motioned for the others to board before him. He looked up to the gray, bleak sky for a moment before reaching up to the bulkhead of the door and jumping in. Kallux hit the hatch control console as soon as Will had entered and leaned into the cockpit.

"We're aboard," the krogan stated.

Will moved up to the entrance of the cockpit as Kallux stepped aside and assumed his position on the troop bench.

"So, are we gonna get shot down again?" Will asked half-sarcastically as he leaned into the cockpit from the cabin.

Tul looked over his shoulder from the copilot's seat. "No. While you were gone I was bolstering the electronic countermeasure signals."

Shansa nodded. "And just in case that doesn't work, I'll be flying very fast."

"You know how to put my worries at ease," Will remarked with a smirk.

He stepped back into the cabin and took his seat on the bench, shifting uncomfortably as he struggled to stay on the seat with the medical bag still strapped to his back. The shuttle began to hum and rumble as the power initiated and pushed the Kodiak a few feet from the ground. Will reached down to buckle his safety harness as he looked around the cabin to be sure that the rest of the squad had already done so.

"Venting in the Hyperion atmosphere," Shansa reported.

The shuttle continued to shake unnervingly as Shansa checked over the active systems. After roughly fifteen seconds the belly thrusters exploded to full strength and sent the shuttle into a climb. Will gripped the harnesses that ran across his chest. Shansa looked back into the cabin briefly.

"Everyone hold on tight."

The shuttle's rear thrusters roared in defiance as Shansa pushed each engine to the maximum capacity that Eleena had locked them down to. The Kodiak jumped forward and into the sky with the nose rising upward to bring them away from the surface as quickly as possible. The same sound that had warned them of the incoming missile earlier began to sound, only to be silenced as Tul made a few quick adjustments on his electronic warfare panel. Will could feel the shuttle drifting to port as the much stronger starboard thruster ran at more than twice the capacity of its counterpart. Shansa ignited the small side thrusters on the port and forward corner to compensate.

"We're out of AA range," Tul reported happily.

"Good." Shansa had turned her attention to flying the crippled vessel.

The squad sat in patient silence as the Kodiak roared out of the atmosphere of Sharkeer and set course for the moon where they had safely hid the Hyperion. Will looked over to see Corsin and Tyrixis had chosen to sit next to one another. Through their visors he could see their mouths taking turns at moving, indicating they were talking over their private channels. Next to them, Vayren sat with his omnitool raised and concentrating on whatever data it displayed. At Will's side was Kallux and Eleena, both quiet and undoubtedly ready to be out of the cramped Kodiak that had crashed only an hour earlier. Will leaned his head back and shut his eyes as the shuttle made its way to the moon with surprising haste. He could feel the forward thrusters ignite as Shansa slowed their approach and lined up the Kodiak with the Hyperion's cargo bay door. The shuttle swayed gently as Shansa attempted to keep the cantankerous engines in line.

"Bringing us in," Shansa said calmly as the Kodiak slid into the airlock.

Tul tapped a few buttons on a smaller console to his right. "Reestablishing the airlock atmosphere." A hiss could be heard as air rushed into the chamber around them. "Activating decontamination sequence."

Will looked through the cockpit viewport to see the thick, white mist filling the airlock. Shansa locked the Kodiak's position momentarily and reached to her side to activate a few systems. They beeped for verification, which she very impatiently tapped to bypass. The series of vents on the ceiling of the Kodiak began spilling the decontaminating mist into the cabin. Will admired Shansa's clever solution for scrubbing the Kodiak after a mission. After a minute of allowing the mist to fill the cabin, Tul forced the inner airlock door to open and Shansa deftly guided the shuttle into the cargo bay. She settled the craft into position on its docking mechanism and shut down the thrusters with a satisfied sigh.

"Nicely done," Tul'Sorrin mentioned.

Will unbuckled himself from his seat and jumped to his feet. Kallux and Eleena stood with him and pulled off their helmets almost in unison.

"Can't wait to dig into that port thruster with some decent supplies." Eleena tilted her head to either side to stretch her neck.

"You can have at it in a few minutes," Will informed her as he crossed the cabin to open the side hatch. "First, I need everyone to group up."

He opened the door and dropped down to the cargo bay floor with a small grunt. He reached up and disengaged his helmet from the locking mechanisms on his neck, allowing him to pull the helmet from his head. He took a deep breath of the Hyperion's air and smiled as he looked back to the others as they filed out of the Kodiak and did the same. Will stepped back to give them room and tucked his helmet under his arm as one-by-one the crew formed a circle beside the Kodiak. He looked to each of them as they stood ready and waiting until his eyes fell on Tyrixis.

"Well, as you all can see, our mission was successful." Will held up a hand toward the doctor to introduce her. "This is Doctor Tyrixis Rentarius." He looked to her with a smile. "Welcome aboard the Hyperion."

The group shifted their gaze to the turian expectantly. She returned the look to each of them before glancing around the cargo bay briefly.

"Thank you, Captain Hume."

"I should probably do some introductions." Will looked to his immediate right where Kallux stood. "This is Raik Kallux, he's our..." He looked to the krogan with a grin. "Well, in the field he's our muscle."

Kallux smirked. "And on the ship?"

"Our heart, clearly." Will looked down to the next in line. "That's Eleena, our engineer and biotics expert."

The asari crossed her arms in amusement. "Oh, I'm an expect, now?"

"Just take the compliment," Will answered with a grin as he shifted his attention to the salarian and turian next to Tyrixis. "You've met Vayren and Corsin, of course. On your right is Shansa, our pilot."

The turian and human glanced to one another. Shansa smiled warmly as Tyrixis simply nodded in professional acknowledgment.

"And finally, we have Tul'Sorrin, our tech expert and strategist." Will nodded to the quarian with a smile.

Tyrixis looked around the circle and bowed her head quickly. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. If Corsin finds you worthy comrades, then I look forward to serving with you."

"If you wanna walk around the ship and get to know the layout or crew, feel free," Will said as he stretched his back. "But we should probably get you caught up to speed on the situation." He looked to the others and nodded. "Good work, everyone."

Shansa, Tul'Sorrin, Kallux and Eleena broke away from the group and walked to the armory to unload their equipment. Will looked to the doctor and Spectres and motioned toward the forward hall.

"Shall we?"

Corsin nodded. "After you, Captain Hume."

It didn't take long to bring Tyrixis up to speed. Apparently, Corsin had informed her of most of the details on the shuttle ride from the surface. Much to Will's surprise, the doctor was not flustered in the least by the fact that their target was a rogue Spectre. He wasn't sure if that was due to her apparent disapproval of Spectres in general, or her unwavering military professionalism. Either way, he had to hope that neither of the attributes would cause problems during the mission. With Tyrixis on board, Vayren, Corsin and Will agreed that they would set an immediate course for the planet Neidus, the location of Corsin's last lead on Antarian's operations. After finishing up with the surprisingly short briefing and informing Shansa of their next destination, Vayren excused himself to remove his armor, leaving Will and the turians in the bunkroom.

"Thrusters are live," Shansa reported over the comms. "Setting a course for the relay."

Will shifted his eyes from the ceiling back down to Tyrixis. "You're probably going to need a place for all this," he mentioned as he looked over the three bags of medical equipment they had placed against the wall.

Tyrixis nodded in affirmation. "Yes. Where would you suggest I store my equipment?"

He turned to the wall of bunks. At the far end of the row of beds was a locker that had been vacant since the crew had moved their equipment to the new armory in the cargo bay.

"Here." He walked to the locker and swung the door open to reveal the ample space inside. "The bed right next to it is free as well, if you want it."

She stepped up beside him and took a quick look at the shelving inside the locker. "This will suffice."

As Will turned to reach for one of the packs he caught a glimpse of Corsin out of the corner of his eye. The turian was staring at his sister as she looked over the bed that Will had offered her. Will paused before reaching the bags and waited for Corsin to shift his gaze away from Tyrixis. As he caught the turian's attention he motioned toward the bags and Corsin quickly picked up on the suggestion. He hurried over to Will, retrieved one of the packs and carried it to the locker where Tyrixis stood.

"Here. First batch," Corsin mentioned.

Tyrixis glanced to her brother and down to the bag in his hand. "Thank you, Corsin."

The Spectre nodded and set the pack to the ground as Tyrixis knelt beside him and opened the top of the bag to retrieve the first piece of equipment. Will smiled and quietly stepped out of the bunkroom and into the hallway as the turians began exchanging small pleasantries. He turned toward the cargo bay and walked happily through the door to see Kallux and Vayren at their respective workbenches looking over their armor and weapons. After a brief internal debate he decided to leave his armor on for a few more minutes and head to Eleena as she stood behind the Kodiak, taking notes on her holopad. Her eyes lifted to watch him as he crossed the room. A small smile appeared on her lips.

"So, how long is it gonna take to get this thing back to a hundred percent?" Will eyed the ravaged port thruster up and down as he came to halt in front of Eleena.

She lowered the holopad and shook her head. "Few days at least. I wouldn't recommend we use it until I can get everything running smoothly."

"No objections here," Will muttered half to himself. "Nice work on those emergency repairs, by the way."

Eleena slowly stepped around to the side of the Kodiak, eying the thruster housing closely. "Didn't you already compliment my work?"

"Got a problem hearing it twice?" Will smirked lightly.

"Not at all," she answered. The asari let out a small, disappointed sigh.

"Everything alright?"

She shook her head. "Yeah, yeah... I'm just gonna have to bust my ass to get this thing working anytime soon." Eleena turned to Will with a bittersweet smile and reached into the satchel of supplies that hung around her neck. "Which means I'll have to put a hold on reading until then." Her hand lifted The Martian Chronicles out of the bag just far enough for Will to see.

He smiled softly. "You're liking it then?"

"Only a few chapters left," she answered with a nod. "It's... fascinating, to say the least."

Will raised a brow. "How so?"

Eleena gently set the book back into her bag. "Human writing is just so... diverse. Themes, subjects, settings..."

"Asari literature isn't?"

"Well, it's not completely devoid of diversity." She leaned her shoulder against the Kodiak. "But the most popular asari works end up being either genres about romance or adventure. And it's not just the asari. Turians love their war stories. Salarians are all about intrigue and mystery." She shook her head. "But humans? You said that all these books you've lent me were 'classics,' right?"

Will nodded. "Most of them."

Eleena's face brightened slightly in excitement as he validated her assertion. "And yet they're all so different. You can tell a lot about a species by what they write about and how, and from what I've gathered, humans are very unpredictable." She grinned. "I like that."

"Well, as member and representative of the human race, I appreciate the compliment." Will grinned playfully in return.

The asari laughed lightly and stepped past him. "Well, 'unpredictable' is definitely a word I could use to describe you." She let out a regretful sigh and activated her holopad once again. "I should probably get back to work. This poor Kodiak is just begging for my attention."

"And I need to get out of this armor." Will gave Eleena a small smile. "Don't kill yourself trying to get the shuttle ready before we reach Neidus. It's just an abandoned factory... Shansa can always drop us off with the ship."

"Not listening!" Eleena answered as she turned to her workbench and reached for the closest blowtorch. "Now get outta here or I'll never get anything done." She glanced over her shoulder slyly with one eye.

Will chuckled lightly. "Well, when you put it that way."

Eleena gave him a quick wave as her attention focused on the data on her holopad. He stayed for a short moment and watched her with a small smile before turning to head for his locker.