I'm sure this will be completely fine. No reason to get excited about returning to Byzantium. Right?
Thanks for being here on this wild adventure with Hannah. And thanks to BrambleStar14 and Minaethiel for beta reading and making sure I do words good.
The Pyro and the Burnout
Written by TunelessLyric
"And I don't know what's got its teeth in me
But I'm about to bite back in anger
No amount of self-sought fury
Will bring back the glory of innocence"
-Sleep Token, 'Take Me Back to Eden'
Blizzard looked up at the base that had been her home for a year. And now, here she was, seven months after saying goodbye to that part of her life. She'd been a different person then. Happier? Hard to say when she thought about hours spent standing on the very edge of the roof she was staring at. When she saw the blank distaste in Jason's eyes in the break room. When she saw the pleased, soft look on his face when he woke up beside her.
She sucked in a breath when Firefly clapped her on the shoulder.
"Come on, Bliz. Job to do," he said, brushing past.
Exchanging a glance with Circuit, she followed him across the threshold. They had split off from the others only moments after touching down in the valley. Geist and Crosshair were off to put on a show at the anti-aircraft battery, while Falcon and Harper himself were on some private mission for Allen.
Which left Blizzard, Circuit and Firefly to make their way to the security room and office block.
"Well, this feels familiar," said Firefly, throwing a long look over his shoulder at Blizzard.
She flipped a middle finger at him, practically seeing his cheeky eyebrow raise on his reflective visor. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Do you want to do the honours?" Circuit asked sweetly.
"You know what? Fuck you, too."
At least they'd reached a point where they could laugh about her poor life choices.
"So, okay, fill me in. What's even worth recovering?" Since Phoenix had been gone for so long.
Circuit shrugged. "Redundancies. Back-up servers. Easy target for Shaw to give to his new CO when he knows it's strategically useless. I just work here."
"That's my line."
"Shut up, Firefly."
"I've never been to the server room," said Blizzard, cutting them off.
Circuit lifted his data pad to a terminal on the wall and the lock clicked open. He waved down the hall with an extravagant flourish. "Right this way, ma'am."
"He's just excited to see his boyfriend again," said Firefly.
"I'm pouting right now. Just because you can't see it."
"Boyfriend?"
"Erm. So I kinda built the thing from scratch on my own. Pet project to keep my hands busy after… you know."
Oh. Blizzard shifted her grip on her rifle, not sure what to say after trampling all over sensitive ground.
"It's fine." Circuit sighed. "I always figured this day would come and I'd have to take him apart again. Just sorta hoped it wouldn't."
They turned a corner and he had to swipe them through another locked door. The air was cooler in this hall, with the hum of fans behind every closed door. Blizzard's computer skills were laughable at best, but even she knew server rooms were kept carefully air conditioned.
The chilled hush suited her fine, and even Firefly seemed unwilling to crack jokes now that they stood outside a window, looking at column after column of black hardware with flashing LEDs. Circuit's helmet leaned on the glass and he didn't so much as twitch when Firefly laid a hand over his shoulder. Blizzard stood at his side. There was nothing to say. She had her obsidian monument outside, and he had this.
A blue light blinked on her HUD—the sign Harper and Falcon were ready. A second followed from Geist and Crosshair. Blizzard responded, leaving her best friends to their moment. Harper's light changed to green.
Circuit straightened, entered a code into the door panel, then stepped through. Firefly marched straight to a terminal on the far side of the room. Not knowing what to touch or how to help, Blizzard took up her position in the doorway, rifle to her shoulder and alert for movement. She tried not to listen as Circuit murmured to his software.
The wash of yellow dimmed behind her as, one by one, each LED flickered out. Firefly joined her a while later. Then,
"Good night, Isaac."
Circuit gazed down at a memory chip in his palm before slotting it into his data pad and stowing it safely in his pack. "Okay, Firefly."
His customary joking air was still painfully absent as Firefly prodded them out of the room, turned to face the columns of computers, and snapped his fingers. Blizzard slipped an arm around Circuit's shoulders and they started retracing their steps. She blocked his view of fire rippling through the dead server room.
Blips appeared on the edge of Blizzard's motion tracker. "Contacts."
Peace settled over Circuit at the warning. His chin lifted and he flexed his hands. His pistol came up as Firefly caught up to them, practically vibrating with anticipation.
Nondescript UNSC soldiers rounded the bend and immediately took a knee to make their targets smaller. Not that it mattered when Firefly launched himself into the centre of their formation. Circuit and Blizzard exchanged a rapid glance before she magnetized her gun to her back and followed in the wake of the pyro.
Crashing into one of the kneeling soldiers, Blizzard slammed a fist into his face. She swept a leg out, knocking another flat. Circuit pounced, putting two rounds in the woman's head. Blizzard spun, drawing her combat knife.
Another soldier stepped up, towering over her. She feinted left, right, refusing to stay still long enough for him to shoot on instinct. Flipping her knife into a backhanded grip before batting his SMG aside, she darted forward to dig the blade deep into his biceps. Circuit was there again, barrel to the soldier's forehead. Red mist on her visor. Swiping to clear her vision, she didn't see the fist that collided with the back of her head.
Stumbling, she went to her knees, blinking to orient herself as the hall lurched.
Firefly flashed by and metal shrieked.
Back on her feet, giving her head a sharp shake, Blizzard grabbed Circuit's arm and dragged him to the wall. She snatched the pistol from his hand and fired over his shoulder at the fresh squad coming into view.
Circuit sat, her rifle propped on his knee, and picked off another. She didn't take the time to celebrate his improved aim, instead loading a new magazine and crouching next to him. Their guns drowned out the end of Firefly's fight at their backs.
It was over in seconds. There was nowhere to hide in the empty hallway and they had the advantage of Firefly's jetpack closing the distance.
"Some welcome home party," Circuit said in the abrupt silence.
"On the roof." Geist's invitation was succinct as ever.
"Dealing with some stragglers," said Blizzard, climbing to her feet. "But on our way."
Firefly simply jogged in the direction of the nearest stairwell, eager to be on the move. Blizzard offered Circuit a hand and hauled him up before they followed.
Blizzard had been on a few slogs in her life. Running from Covvies, running to Covvies, running with Innies. She'd been in urban centres, in fields, and she'd been in deep, dark swamps. But as they ducked and dodged Freelancer patrols crawling through the abandoned base, she realized she'd never actually played defense in a military base before. If this could really be called that.
Chaos held court in the mess hall. In the gym. In the armoury. Rank-and-file soldiers in Freelancer grey and green traded volleys with Innies in brown and red. Fires climbed the walls and spread across the ceiling in the barracks. Twice Firefly had to turn them around to find another route, finding their path blocked by makeshift barricades or flames.
And once, he'd charged straight into a firefight, scattering Freelancer soldiers left and right while Blizzard and Circuit picked them off.
Once they reached the stairs themselves, Firefly simply took flight, spraying down enemies as he climbed. Resigned to their own two feet, Blizzard and Circuit found their ascent slow. At the second landing, the door slammed open and Blizzard's fist flashed out on instinct alone. Knuckles cracked into nose, sending a spray of blood arcing along the wall. She recovered first, pistol finding forehead while the stranger doubled over.
Circuit's humbler zapped and hummed somewhere to the left.
After that, Blizzard continued firing until her magazine was dry and her hand was numb. She stepped over the bodies without looking back.
So that's how, heaving down gasping breaths, she shouldered out onto the roof. Circuit all but tumbled out behind her, steadying himself on the door and letting out a low groan.
Geist and Crosshair didn't so much as turn to greet them, entirely absorbed in their own problems. Blizzard squared her shoulders, loaded a fresh magazine in her rifle, and took aim at the grey-and-white Freelancer firing at Geist.
For his own part, Geist split his attention between Carolina and the white mountain from the MAC facility.
"Did these guys ask you for a rematch?" asked Firefly, not even pausing to breathe as he tackled Carolina.
"Strolled in all casual like," said Crosshair. His rifle cracked only a moment later.
The grey Freelancer ducked behind a vent not an instant too soon. With Crosshair keeping him busy, Blizzard looped around the vent. As she neared the edge of the roof, she risked a glance down at the main yard.
Just in time to see a red-striped white shape slip through the front door.
She froze, suddenly uncertain as recognition shattered her calm.
"Hey, Bliz!"
She blinked, realizing she'd nearly spaced out completely.
"Now would be great!"
"Y-yeah, on it," she said, shifting her rifle a little more comfortably.
She shoved the longing and disappointment aside and stepped forward.
The Freelancer was still focused entirely on Crosshair. For a second, Blizzard hesitated. She used to fight for the same thing he believed in. In another life, she might still be on his side. And Jason's…
The Freelancer swung around, sniper rifle nearly touching her chest. She squeezed the trigger. He collapsed, blood leaking from his side. Scooping his weapon from limp fingers, she lobbed it off the roof. For a second, she stared at him. Who was he? Where did he come from? What had brought him here today?
Then he rolled onto his good side with a grunt. Spell broken, Blizzard brought the butt of her rifle down on the back of his head. The Freelancer went down and didn't rise.
She dropped his pistol over the side as well, taking the combat knife for her own. Rounding the vent again, she swallowed a string of swears as the stairwell door banged open and a fresh flood of soldiers bounded through.
"Firefly," she warned.
He aimed another kick at Carolina before slipping past Geist. Circuit stepped up to Firefly's shoulder and Crosshair's attention switched to the killbox directly below his perch on the battered shipping container.
Which left Blizzard to her own rematch with Carolina. The Freelancer's twin pistols swung around as Blizzard's opening burst went wide. She threw herself forward, rolling to her feet much closer, but still out of reach. In a fair fight, the Freelancer had reach, power, experience, expertise… Blizzard had no interest in getting into kicking range. Instead, she busied herself dancing from duct to vent to fan.
The Freelancer hounded her. She never broke stride, never passed an opportunity to shoot at her quarry and showed absolutely no sign of giving up.
Blizzard magnetized her rifle to her back to free her hands. She knew every nook and cranny up here. Knew it in the dusk closing down around them. This was her territory. She swung up and over a low wall, dropping down to a lower section. Seconds later, she heard her blue shadow land behind her.
"Yo, Bliz, where'd you get to?"
"Little busy, Firefly!"
She figured she had two seconds as she ducked behind a vent. Then she changed her mind and shimmied up the drain spout bolted to the corner. Carolina drew up short, helmet swivelling from fan to fan. Slowly, aching arms shaking, Blizzard leaned out and curled her fingers around the grate covering one vent. The Freelancer would figure it out any second and put a double-tap in her chest. One tiny squeak and it would be all over. But Carolina paced out a perfect grid, checking every single damn corner.
Blizzard got one foot on the grate, thankful for her short stature when the toe of her boot fit between the bars. She eased across from the spout, trying to figure out what her next move would be. She didn't dare risk her rifle, and the climb up the stairs had emptied her pistol. She still had both the grey Freelancer's knife and her own, but… as she watched Carolina turn back around, she couldn't bring herself to draw either.
She was being stupid, she realized, as she scaled the vent and scrambled over the top.
Carolina's head raised comically slowly. Blizzard half expected a double-take. But the twin pistols were starting to lift while that reflective visor stayed nailed to hers.
Still Blizzard didn't go for any of her weapons. It was as if her brain disconnected from her body entirely. Like gravity had shifted and she was floating away from the moment. Instead of doing literally anything that would save her skin, Blizzard stepped off the vent and dropped like a stone.
Like the lunatic she was.
The Freelancer crumpled beneath her weight and Blizzard got a faceplate full of shingles for her trouble. Her breath slammed out of her chest. Pain shuddered down her arm. Metal shrieked. She and Carolina tangled together, fists and feet flailing. Sky, roof, turquoise armour, sky again. It blurred together and Blizzard had no idea which direction was up, or who was on top as they rolled over and over. As they clawed for control.
Panic shot through Blizzard as Carolina fought one arm free of her grip.
Then there was nothing beneath either of them as they tumbled together over the edge. Blizzard's stomach dropped as the freefall grabbed her. For a split second, she felt relief. This made sense.
Her shoulder wrenched awkwardly as they jerked. The fall turned into a swing in midair.
"Are you fucking crazy?" screamed Carolina, one arm stretched overhead.
Blizzard glanced up, registering a grappling hook. She clung to the Freelancer's back with one arm while the other dangled useless. Her legs squeezed around Carolina's waist. A dozen quips went clean out of her head.
"Does this seem sane to you?"
"Seriously, Bliz, where are you?"
"Still busy, Firefly!"
"Can you wrap it up? We're outta here."
The Freelancer, for all her flexibility and strength, couldn't suspend their combined weight, reel in her grappling line, or dislodge Blizzard. And she certainly wasn't succeeding at all three at the same time.
Blizzard squeezed her legs even tighter and leaned back in time with their swing. She prayed Carolina wouldn't kick her in the head as she inverted. The ground was still a long way down.
Well, no time like the present.
"Catch you later, bitch."
Not the best as snarky battlefield shit-talking went, but it would do.
"What the fuck?"
But Blizzard had already let go. She tucked into a ball, shoulder sending out a shock of pain, and had enough time to hope her armour wouldn't fold like a tin can.
Gravel sprayed a thousand directions as she crashed into the ground. Rolling, she felt the air rush out of her chest for the second time in as many minutes. She heard a crack and felt something tear in her bad shoulder. Stars burst behind her eyes as her head thudded against the base wall. But she was alive. Wheezing—without use of her right arm and probably had broken several ribs—but alive.
"Blizzard?"
She touched her good hand to her visor. "Hey, Falcon."
He stood several feet away, staring blankly. "Where the hell did you come from?"
"The roof," she said casually, relieved that she could breathe properly again. Hurt like hell, but considering the circumstances…
He grabbed her good arm and hauled her to her feet. "Come on, we're leaving."
"Great news."
Later, she barely remembered the trek to Phoenix's Pelican. But she never forgot the grinding in her neck as she looked up at the roof and saw Carolina standing on the edge. Right where Blizzard once stood, thinking how easy it would be to simply step off.