Warning: Suicidal Tendencies and Self-Harm via reckless behavior. While it's kind of a gray area due to the character in question being a Guardian, I think a warning is warranted all the same.

All I want is to see you smile

If it takes just a little while

I know you don't believe that it's true

I never meant any harm to you

~ Fleetwood Mac, "Don't Stop"

Wolf's entire body is aching from exertion. His side throbs from where a Raider's crossbow bolt had torn right through him. Blood drips from the wound, soaking his greaves, boots, and the hard ground below.

He thinks Ghost shouts at him to get to safety, that he needed healing, but he can't. Not yet. There's too many hostiles on the field. He can't put Ghost in danger.

A grenade arcs towards Wolf's position and he dives out of the way with a curse as his cover is quite literally blown. His side screams and his vision starts to swim and darken. He's losing too much blood. Wolf drags himself towards more debris and grips his wound tightly.

Ithurtsithurtsithurts!

Wolf grits his teeth and forces down several deep breaths, each one rattling his lungs more painfully than the last.

"Wolf!" Ghost sounds desperate now, and guilt starts to swell inside of the Hunter before he quickly pushes it down.

"It's..." Wolf coughs and blood splatters the inside of his helmet. "It's too dangerous!"

He can feel his body shutting down, the pain overriding every sense in his body, but he can't. He can't. Bullets fly around him. Any second now, they'll throw another grenade to try and force him back out of cover. With his body failing him, there won't be much else he can do. And then there will be no one protecting the precious notes and equipment that could hold the key to saving Misraaks.

He can't fail. Not again. Never again.

The pain in his side intensified and Wolf's heartbeat continued to thunder. He closed his eyes and latched onto that pain. He tightened his grip around the wound and could feel his focus following suit.

He could feel. He was still here. Still alive. And he had a job to do.

Wolf let out a cry of rage and pain as he threw himself over the debris. Arc light sparked to life in his hands, forming a long dagger, and he hurled it into the center of the approaching Scorn. The creatures screamed as electricity coursed through them. Wolf stepped forward and vanished, flickering back into existence where the dagger landed in the blink of an eye and swung the blade, cutting through any Scorn that survived the initial attack.

Meanwhile, his vitals continue to plummet.

Throw.

Step.

Blink.

More Scorn die, either screaming or using their final moments to try and take out their killer.

Step.

Blink.

Silence.

The only thing Wolf can hear is the sound of his blood rushing through his head, what little he has left, anyway. He can hear Ghost screaming at him through their mental link, a mixture of pleading and directing every insult the little robot can think of towards the Hunter's intelligence.

Wolf doesn't know when he winds up on his knees. He feels sick to his stomach. He feels lead filling his limbs.

"That's it!" Ghost snaps. "I'm coming out, whether you like it or not!"

"No..." Wolf coughs. "Too dangerous..."

"Wolf, listen to your damn Ghost!" Wolf winces, having forgotten that Crow was running dispatch. "The remaining Scorn are retreating, you can relax."

Retreating. Not dead. Retreating.

That's not good enough.

Wolf forces himself to his feet and stumbles towards the mobile research lab, which had thankfully been spared the onslaught. He hears Ghost phase into existence next to him. He feels the pain start to fade away, the dizziness begins to dissipate, Light flooding him and healing his wounds.

Then he hears it. The bone chilling sound of an approaching Screeb.

Wolf's head snaps towards the noise and sees not one, not two, but three of the damn things approaching the...

No!

If Wolf were thinking clearly, he would have used one of his Strand darts or Stasis shurikens to kill one of the approaching Screebs, detonating it and thus causing a chain reaction that would kill the others before they got close enough to the research to do any real damage.

Wolf wasn't thinking clearly. He wasn't thinking logically.

He grabbed Ghost with one hand and readied a grappling dart with the other. He threw Ghost in one direction and the dart right into the path of the Screeb. Ghost screamed his name as Wolf propelled himself towards the creatures–

And gasps back to life.

Wolf bolts upright and quickly looks around, trying to get a handle on his surroundings. The research table is in one piece. The Light flooding Wolf's body fades out and he looks over to see Ghost closing his shell. The Hunter lets out a breath that he doesn't even realize he's been holding. "Are you okay?" he asks anyway.

Ghost doesn't respond, instead glaring at him.

"What?"

Ghost just turns from side to side, mimicking a headshake.

"Okay, that's the last of them," Crow says, his voice strained. "For real this time. And I think we have everything we need. Right, Eido?"

"Y-yes," Eido stammers out. "W-We do..."

Great. Now he's gone and upset Eido too. Can he do anything right?

"How did we do?" Ghost asks.

"Interesting results. But I'm not sure this is what we're looking for." Wolf feels his heart sink before Eido quickly adds, "This data is valuable for future research, though!"

"Are you speaking with the Guardian?"

Wolf bites back a curse. Busted...

"Yes, Father," Eido replies carefully. "They just finished a valuable experiment."

Misraaks cuts her off, his voice deepening into a harsh growl. "You are wasting his time! The Guardian should be scouring the system for Fikrul! Not hunting down dead ends."

Wolf speaks up at the same time as Eido. "It's fine, I offered to go."

"Father, he volunteered. It's okay, he wants to help you. I think–"

"SHUT UP! I did not ask your opinion!"

The comms go silent. This time, Wolf cannot stop the silent curse that escapes his lips as Eido chokes back a sob. Even Crow is stunned into silence.

Wolf quickly gathers himself. "Misraakskel, please don't take this out on Eido. This was my idea, not hers."

Misraaks doesn't seem to hear him. "Guardian, release me from the grip of these machines!" he roars. "Free me from this mechanical bondage so that I might visit my WRATH upon the false Kell! Release me!"

"Misraaks!"

Crow's voice, short and firm, seems to snap Misraaks out of it. "Release... Me..." The Kell of Light takes a deep, shuddering breath. "I... I'm... Eido, I..."

"I know, I know." Eido sounds like she's barely holding back tears. "You just– You need to rest. Just rest."

"I... I'm... I'm sorry."

The line goes completely dead for a moment. No Misraaks. No Eido.

"Crow, can you..." Wolf's voice trails off.

Crow instantly understands. "I'll take care of her," he says. "Hurry back."

"Copy that..." Wolf sighs.

"And Wolf? There are much more efficient ways to take out Screebs. Just saying. See you soon."

Wolf winces. As friendly as Crow sounded just now, he can't help but think that a conversation is going to be happening, one he's not entirely ready for.

Though judging by the way Ghost's gaze is burning into Wolf, Crow is about to be the least of Wolf's worries.

I'm back, and I now know where I want to take this story. I'm going to note it's going to get better before it gets worse. I'm probably going to breeze through the rest of Revenant as we all know what happens in Act 1 of Heresy and I want to get to that and how Wolf handles, or in this case, doesn't handle it.

It goes without saying that Wolf has some pretty awful coping mechanisms here. Rest assured, he will get the help he needs by the end, but please, if you are feeling hopeless or in crisis, don't hesitate to talk to someone. You are loved, you are important, and most of all, you are enough.