Maxim poked the skin around his leg. It was still red and sore, but was almost fully healed. A couple more days, the doctors said, and he'd be back to going on missions. He'd left the infirmary after a week, and spent the rest of the month in his room, playing his games. He wasn't exactly excited about returning to missions, but he also wasn't upset. Over the last month the Commander had recruited a couple more people. Maxim met them briefly, as did everyone, as they were introduced to everyone. They were twins, Joe and Harold Sanders, they were identical twins, but it was easy to distinguish them, Harold's hair was the same sandy blonde as his brothers, but he had it cropped short in a small Mohawk, whereas Joe had his about shoulder-length. Harold also had several scars, the most distinguishing of which was a slash going from the corner of his lip to his left ear. They were part of a special forces before X-COM, though they never said which, and it had operated much like X-COM, a small, elite force, moving in for surgical strikes against weak points. Harold had been the explosives and close assault expert, he was a master with his shotgun, he even gave Aya a run for her money, and was almost as good as William with explosives, he was also taking the place of backup-leader. So if William is ever unable to go on an operation, Harold would lead the squad. Joe was a kind of support soldier, he was more versatile than the others, he was both the medic, and a soldier, he was not as good a medic as Keith, but he made up for that with his speed and ability with his rifle.

During the week that Maxim had spent in the infirmary he felt he had gotten to know Aya much better, she didn't tell him anything about her past, beyond what could be found by a simply google search, but he did learn one little tid bit of information, apparently, Aya wasn't her real name. He didn't know what her real name was, she refused to tell him, apparently, only 2 people in the world knew her real name, and they were people she had known her before she'd changed her name. She didn't plan on telling anyone apparently. When he'd asked her why she'd told him about it then, she'd shrugged, and said she knew she could trust him not to tell anyone else (which was true, Maxim always kept true to his word if possible, he didn't like lying), and she was running out of other things to talk about after spending almost a week with only Maxim for company. They'd played some games on his portable devices, and it was clear Aya had some natural skill at games, probably the soldier training, but she couldn't compete with Maxim's knowledge of games and their working's, so he beat her in every game they played (Maxim also never believed in holding back in games), she did especially well in fast paced games, where most things were done in a spur-of-the-moment way, but did horribly in the slower-paced, thinking-it-through games, she grew impatient at waiting, and made mistakes. The other's visited them every now and then, Karl most of all. Maxim and Karl had built up quite a friendship, probably because they were the only 2 who were regular people, who had been picked up, and put into X-COM by the eccentric Commander, so felt they needed to stick together, but they were also quite alike in personality too. Karl told him of the time he'd spray painted a shark mouth onto the skyranger, and Dr. Shen had made him clean the entire thing with a toothbrush as punishment. Karl was a lot more out-going than Maxim, but they got along, and were great friends, Karl even joined in with the gaming when Aya didn't want to, Karl was good as well, but still nowhere near Maxim's level. Keith visited often as well, sometimes it was a medical check-up (As he worked as a medic in the base as well as in the field), but he did also just visit to talk sometimes as well, they were friends too, Keith understood what he was going through, much like Karl, and talked to him about it, Maxim sometimes wondered if it was Keith that kept him sane through all this. The others were friends as well, but not as close as Keith, Karl and Aya. Except for Ryo, he still couldn't stand the guy. Ryo couldn't keep up with Maxim as a sniper on the whole, but, in terms of versatility, Ryo could also run forward if needed, but Maxim didn't fancy his chances at close range, Maxim knew they wouldn't replace him as a sniper, but he also knew there were some operations they'd take him on over Maxim, places where Maxim wouldn't be able to get a good view. Maxim knew that, and was fine with it. He wasn't worried about being replaced, which is where rivalries often occurred, it was just that their personalities clashed. Ryo had been and gangster, but was a rather strange one, he wasn't the stereotypical 'Ey, get a load of Johnny tight-lips over ere', he was more of a... 'do what we say, or you'll disappear' type, too, uptight, he wanted everything done to his standards, Maxim wore baggy t-shirts and trousers, rarely ironed, and Ryo wore a crisp, finely pressed suit. Ryo was constantly yelling at him for any slight, even when he was in the infirmary, and would stop by occasionally, bang on his door, and yell at him to 'GET OFF YOUR ASS' apparently Ryo didn't appreciate doing anything with your time, that wasn't preparing for the next fight.

"Hey, Max, you In here" he heard the voice of Karl as the door. Karl had started calling him Max a couple weeks ago, apparently Maxim was a mouthful. Maxim had a couple nicknames now, used by some of the members of X-COM, Aya called him Vampire, he was starting to not mind it anymore, it was just what Aya called him. Karl, Keith, and William called him Max, he had no idea when they started doing it, but it had faded in, and now they called him Max, he didn't mind, his friends at school had often called him Max when he was younger. The others still called him Maxim, except for Ryo, who called him a variety of "Nerd, Jackass, Geek" and a variety of other names, he didn't mind being called Nerd or Geek, he was one, and was not ashamed to admit it, it was the other names that annoyed him. Maxim imagined that if he was a bigger guy he'd have smacked him, but he knew Ryo could kick his ass with little effort.

"Yeah" Maxim called back, he paused his game and put the remote down as Karl walked in

"How's ya leg doin'" Karl asked

"Pretty good, it still stings a big, but that's about it. I'll be back to missions in a week"

"That's great, I hope you take over Ryo" Karl also couldn't stand Ryo, for much the same reasons Maxim did. He kept insisting they act more professional, the only reason Ryo didn't stop Karl from spray-painting the 'logo' after every mission, was because the others insisted he let him do it, and he eventually relented.

"Wanna play" Maxim asked motioning to the T.V

"Isn't that single-player?"

"I have more than the one game"

"I thought you were in the middle of something"

"Not really"

"All right then"

Karl stayed in the room for a few hours, they played games, told jokes, and generally 'hung out'

An alarm rang out. "Operatives, Keith Taylor, Karl Wagner, William Ward, Aya Haidar, Ryo Goto, and Masambe Digkale to mission control"

"Looks like I gotta go" Karl said, standing up

"Saved by the bell" Maxim laughed, pausing the game. It was true as well, they were playing a wrestling game, and Maxim had been 3 seconds away from pinning him

"I'll tell ya about the mission when I get back" Karl called over his shoulder as he walked out, chuckling lightly to himself

A few seconds later Maxim realized, they'd called Aya. He thought she was still in the infirmary. He pressed the power button, and run-limped out of the room (the leg still hurt a bit if he put his full weight on it).

Maxim got to the Infirmary and encountered the doctor, a short woman with long black hair. "Hello Maxim" she said, checking a tabled in her hand "You aren't scheduled for a check up on your leg until tomorrow"

"Hey Rebecca. I heard the announcement. Is Aya ready to got on a mission? I thought she was still in recovery"

"Technically, yes. But, you know Aya, she heard the aliens had struck, and insisted she be allowed to join in"

"Is that safe"

"She was fine. She'd healed up completely, she was more being kept off for observation than for any real medical reason"

"Oh. I thought she was still injured"

"Understandable, she has quite substantial facial scars from the burn, they'll fade a bit over the next week, but she'll still have those scars"

"Really?"

"Yes, unless she gets a skin-transplant to hide it, which, knowing her, she'll never see the need to. Like your leg, but more noticeable. And speaking of, since your here, and I don't have any patients, we might as well do your check up now. Hop up" she said, patting the bed

Maxim did as she said, and hopped up, rolling up his trouser leg to give access to the burn

"Does this hurt" she said, poking the edge of the burn

"Not really, a bit of a sting"

"How about when you walk?"

"It hurts a bit, I still limp a bit"

"That's to be expected, another couple of days and you should be fully healed. Best to keep the dressing on anyway though, if nothing else, it will stop it brushing against your clothes"

"Thanks doc"

"It's why I'm here. And, no offence, but, I hope I don't see you for a while"

Maxim chuckled, it was a joke she made with every patient, but Maxim and Karl were the only one's that actually found it funny

The group arrived back at HQ just under 2 hours later. They got off the skyranger wearing different armour, it looked bulkier, but he knew it was actually lighter than their previous armour, the Engineering team had been busy. Apparently they were planning to work on a new set of armour, with a grappling hook, but were prioritising the interrogation of the aliens for now, to find out what they know. Aya was the first off, she held her helmet under her arm, and Maxim got his first look at her face with the scar (There had been a bandage covering it while she was in the infirmary). It was a big scar, a massive burn on the left side of her face, mostly on her cheek, but also going up almost to her ear. The others following behind. "Hey, Max" Karl called as he spotted him "Ya gotta hear what Masambe did" jogging over to talk to him

"What'd he do?"

"He went toe-to-toe with a Muton"

"What do you mean, toe-to-toe?"

"He had a short wrestling match with one"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, his gun jammed when the alien was right next to him, so Masambe punched it in the face"

"That's awesome"

"Yeah, he ended up full on tradin' blows with it"

"Who won?"

"Aya shot it after a few seconds, so we didn't get to see the end"

"That's a bit disappointing"

"Yeah, it's too bad we didn't get to see Masambe knock out a Muton"

"Still amazing though, I wish I'd been there"

"You should've been, it was awesome"

"Was it anything special?"

"Nah, just the regular alien attack. We were at another take out place"

"Seriously? What have the aliens got against fast food"

"Maybe they're going there for the food before they attack"

"Imagine a Sectoid with a burger and fries"

"God that's perfect... I'm so going to draw that"

"Show me it when you're done"

"Always. I gotta go. See ya latter"

"See ya"

Karl jogged off to his room to get his paints.

"Hey, Vampire" Aya called from behind him

Maxim turned and saw Aya on the other side of the room, at the door leading to the armoury "Come here"

Maxim walked over, still with a little bit of a limp, he saw Ryo on the way, and they exchanged glares, but neither said anything.

"What's up?" Maxim asked as he got over to Aya

"Just come in, I've got something to show you"

"What is it?"

Aya didn't reply, and walked in. Maxim followed

Once they were inside Maxim asked "What's going on?"

Aya turned around, holding some kind of device in her hand, after a few seconds Maxim realized what it was, it was the plasma pistols the aliens used, which self-destructed upon death, It was in one piece.

"How'd you get that?"

"We took a Sectoid captive. I got this off it's arm on the way back"

"Why'd you bring me here then, just give it to Shen"

"I wanted to give it to you"

"What?"

"Shen would take it apart, and use it for research. But you can actually use it properly"

"I don't know how to work it"

"I worked that out on the way back, it's got a thing here, that goes in your palm, you squeeze it, and the pistol fires"

"Why don't you use it?"

"I've got my shotgun"

"I've got my sniper rifle"

"But if an alien gets too close, you have to use the lazer, and the plasma weapons are better"

"Won't Shen want it"

Aya sighed "Just take it Vampire, isn't it customary to accept presents when offered them?"

"Alright, thanks"

"No worries, I'd rather not have you die if an alien gets behind you"

Aya left before Maxim could respond. He just stared at the weapon in his hand, and wondered what was going on.

I just realized I'd never said this before. So, thank you for reading, and for sticking with the story so far.