"Oryx my Brother is the bravest thing I know. Upon Fundament he learned that we were the natural prey of the universe, the most frail and desperate of things. He thought about this carefully and he found a way to fix it. He made us strong. He will lead us into eternity. Oryx my Brother loves me and this love is war." - XXXV: This Love is War

For every day over the next few weeks, Kaedro walked into the med bay with Jade, Asher, Ikora, Cayde, and Fireteam Calypso so their Ghosts could continue working on healing Harley.

There was no sign of change for the first couple of days, but as more time passed, Kaedro began to see progress peeking through.

It started with Harley's feet. Slowly but surely, the Taken energy receded. After four days, the bottoms of his boots were clear of it. After ten days, his lower legs. After fifteen, his torso. Seventeen, his arms. And by the end of their last session on the twenty-first day, the Taken-ness seemed to have vanished completely from his features.

While he seemed to be fine physically, it had taken a toll on his armor, now patchy and eaten through in places. His cloak was nothing more than a tattered rag. Once his system was deemed free of the cloying Darkness, a med team arrived to change him into soft white scrubs.

Harley hadn't regained consciousness since day one. Now, he was hooked up to an army of machines to monitor his vitals, keep him hydrated, and other various things. The restraints were removed and sheets were placed on the bed, though he was still confined to the secure room.

Kaedro visited as often as he could between patrols, with Jade accompanying him most times. The Ghost gatherings had stopped after Asher had informed everyone that the corruption was gone. All that remained was to wait for him to wake up. And that was the hardest part for Kaedro — knowing that his friend was healed and his own body was all that stood in his way now.

Prism never left Harley's bedside. Instead, she hovered unsleeping next to her Guardian until Kaedro started making her power down at night.

Currently, Kaedro was seated in the same chair he always used. This time, Jade wasn't with him.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he surveyed Harley's sleeping figure.

"This always feels really stupid," he remarked, "All this time and I still don't know if you can hear me. I mean, Asher keeps sayin' something about how the brain can still process sound even in a comatose state, but you know I can't understand half the shit that comes out of that guy's mouth." He sighed. "Anyway, you've been asleep for twenty-eight days now, and I dunno 'bout you, kid, but that seems like long enough. You should just wake up now so I can tell you all the shit you missed… But I feel like you're gonna keep me waiting. Which I guess is fine, as long as you're not dramatic about it."

He glanced at the clock that sat next to the bed. "Well, it's gettin' pretty late so I'm gonna get going before they kick me out again."

He stood up, pushing the chair into the corner where it wouldn't get in the way, and walked to the door, only pausing long enough for one last comment. "See you tomorrow, kid."

With that, he turned out the lights and left the room.

Harley was in the dark.

Or maybe he was the dark. He couldn't feel his body. In fact, he couldn't feel much of anything.

An image flashed before his eyes — three-eyed with horns, the symbol of Oryx. And then Oryx himself was there, laughing as he pushed the orb of Darkness into Harley's chest.

Harley screamed as he felt his body dissolving, eaten away by the orb.

It was Dark again. It was cold. He was carrying a sword of ice as he led Taken through a starry portal.

Everything was hazy and far away. He could see what he was doing, but as though from the eyes of a spectator. He was watching from behind a wall of thick glass, pounding on it to no avail. He could see everything and nothing.

He watched as his friends ran — ran from him. And later, in the depths of the Moon, he sensed their fear and it delighted and disgusted him.

Then everything was bright. A bright so blinding that it stung, piercing his eyes like needles of fire. It was everywhere. He saw flashes of the Plaza, the City below. He felt hatred for it and wept knowing it was not him doing the hating.

Everything he felt and saw and did was not him. He was not him.

Flashes of Kaedro. Icy knives in his hands. Staring down the barrel of his own gun. Pounding against the glass in his mind, trying to reach Kaedro. To tell him to stop. To tell him to shoot.

A knife flashing toward Jade. A knife plunging into Kaedro's chest. His grip on Kaedro's neck. He wanted to let go. He wanted to squeeze tighter. Snatches of his friends' voices urging him to stop. He couldn't make himself listen.

Harley's eyes flew open and his heart stuttered as they were met with blackness.

It felt like something was pressing against his face, stealing the air from his lungs. A frantic beeping pierced his ears and he flinched away, head whipping around to find the source. The sound grew faster and faster. He couldn't see. The shrill beeping was all he could hear. Was the Dark coming for him again?

He twisted violently, throwing himself away from the sound. He landed heavily on a floor that was smooth and cold. A sharp pain ripped through his arm. The beeping ran together into one continuous shriek. He grabbed at his arm, feeling a warm wetness there. Forcing himself to his feet, he felt along the walls until his fingers ran into a switch that threw the room into a cold white light.

Harley took in the sterile surroundings, his breathing beginning to even out as he realized he was in a hospital room. The beeping had come from the heart monitor he'd been hooked up to. The pain in his arm and the blood that now streamed down his fingers was from ripping out his IV.

As the adrenaline that had fueled him ebbed away, he was abruptly reminded of how weak his body was. He stumbled back to the bed and sat down.

Harley's eyes found Prism asleep on a table beside the bed and he felt a sudden burst of relief. His Ghost was ok.

He sat there for a moment, slowing his breathing, still tired but unwilling to turn out the light.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting there when something in the room creaked. Instantly, Harley was alert once more, scanning his surroundings for potential threats.

A figure now sat on a chair in the corner — someone he'd only met twice before but wasn't likely to forget anytime soon.

The Exo appraised him with her cool blue eyes. "...It's been a while since we last spoke, Guardian," she said.

Harley opened his mouth to reply, his voice coming out raspy and hoarse. "Why now?"

Last time she'd appeared, it had been to warn him about the Black Garden. He hoped that wasn't why she was here now. He wasn't in any condition to seek out another threat like that.

She shrugged. "It was the right time… I hadn't originally planned on seeing you again until much later, but I felt there were some things that you should know." She leaned back in the chair, still watching him. "A war is on the horizon, Hunter. A war of many battles and many fronts. A war that will take more from you than anything you have encountered before. I cannot share details, but know this… your struggle will come in three parts: a truth, a betrayal, and a loss."

Harley coughed, trying to clear the raspiness from his voice. "Why… why are you telling me this?"

"Because it's something you need to know. This is important, Guardian. One day, when you're at your lowest and all odds stand against you, you must remember this moment."

With that, she rose to her feet. "Farewell, Hunter… I'm sorry our time together was so brief, but should you survive the oncoming storm, know that we will speak again."

Then she turned and walked into nothingness.

Harley sank back into his pillows. He'd never expected to see the strange Exo again. Why had she chosen to appear now, of all times? What had she meant by "at his lowest"? It was difficult to imagine ever feeling any lower than he felt right now.

He knew he would have to tell Prism about her warnings, but right now, his mind felt thin and stretched. All he wanted to do was sleep. So he relaxed into the bed and let his exhaustion overcome him.

Something brushed against Harley's arm.

In an instant, he bolted upright, lunging out of bed before his eyes fully opened. When his brain finally caught up with his actions, he found himself staring into the terrified face of a woman in hospital wear. Without even being fully awake, he'd managed to pin her against the nearest wall.

Harley let go instantly, staggering away from her. "I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't- I mean, I wouldn't- I'm so sorry."

He continued, apologizing over and over until a feeling of lightheadedness crept over him.

A hand settled on his shoulder with a feather-light touch. He flinched but tried to make himself relax when he saw it was another member of the med team.

"Alright, I need you to calm down for me," the man said, speaking slowly and clearly, "Can you put your hand on my chest?"

Harley nodded weakly, raising his hand. The man guided it to press against the middle of his chest. "Breathe when I breathe," he instructed, "Try to match me."

He nodded again. As the man began to breathe exaggerated, slow breaths, Harley fought to imitate him. The name stitched on the man's med uniform identified him as Ryan. Ryan's ginger hair reminded him a little of Fyr.

As Harley's breathing got steadier, Ryan glanced over his shoulder at the woman, who still wore a look of shock on her face. "It's alright, Isabel," he told her, "You didn't do anything wrong, Mr. Hayden's just a little distressed. He didn't mean to scare you."

She just nodded, looking slightly embarrassed as she excused herself and left the room.

"I'm not… distressed," Harley told Ryan, still trying to maintain the breathing, "And it was… it was my… fault."

"You weren't in conscious control of your actions," said Ryan in that same calming tone, "Everyone working in the med bay is trained to deal with reactions like that. Isabel's new here, which is why she froze up."

Apparently satisfied that Harley had sufficiently calmed down, Ryan let go and began checking his vitals.

Harley shook his head, bewildered. "I don't know why I reacted like that." Isabel worked here. She'd been trying to help him.

"It's completely natural," Ryan assured him, "You've been through a lot and someone touched you without warning… Speaking of which, I will have to take a look at your arm, if that's ok."

Harely nodded, holding out his arm. Ryan cleaned off the blood with a square of gauze before checking the wound.

"It's not too bad. I'd try to avoid yanking out your IV in the future, though." He swiftly cleaned and bandaged it. "Now, I'll have to ask you to get back in bed. It isn't a good idea for you to be moving around so much just yet."

Harley nodded again, getting back into bed. "What time is it?"

"Almost seven o'clock," said Ryan, nodding to a clock on the nightstand that had gone previously unnoticed.

"Thanks. And thanks for… you know…"

Ryan nodded. "Just doing my job," he replied easily, "I'll be back in later to check on you." He flashed a smile before leaving the room.

Harley just lay in bed for a few minutes, listening to the whir of various machines.

Next to him, Prism's eye began to glow and she rose off of the table.

"Harley!" His Ghost did a flip in the air before zooming over to nuzzle him affectionately.

He offered her a tired smile. "Hey, Prism."

"You're back! You're really back!" Then her voice shifted to something reprimanding. "How could you leave me like that?"

"I couldn't let the Hive get you!" he protested, "Who knows what they-" He coughed. "What they might've done."

"I don't care. I'm your Ghost, which means I stay with you. "

"If I made the argument that I saved you so you'd be around to revive me if I died, would you lay off?" he joked.

"Nope! I wouldn't believe it for a second. You're a wonderful Guardian, Harley, but planning ahead like that isn't one of your strong suits."

Harley sighed. "I guess not… So what's happened since I… left?"

"I wasn't involved in much of the action so that's a question you should save for Kaedro… By the way, I sent him a message and he's on his way here."

He smiled. "Kaedro's coming? That's-" He coughed again. "-great, Prism."

"You ok?" his Ghost asked, sounding concerned.

Harley waved her off. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit of a sore throat is all."

"That's good. No lasting effects, then?"

He shook his head. "Doesn't seem like it. At least, nothing so far."

Suddenly, the door flew open as Kaedro barged in. "Ace! Lookin' pretty good for someone who just spent a month in a coma!" His tone was light, but Harley could hear the relief in his voice.

"A mo- a month?" he demanded.

Kaedro suddenly looked sheepish. "Oh, no one told you yet. Uh, my bad… But you're back now and that's what counts."

"Yeah… You mind filling me in on what I- ack. On what I missed?"

"Well, let's see… Cayde sent me to get a stealth drive that he hid in the Cosmodrome. Oh! And I'm a Nightstalker now."

Harley's eyebrows shot up. "What, really? That's amazing!" He had yet to meet an actual Nightstalker.

Kaedro nodded. "Yeah, I'm still gettin' used to it. Real change from Solar… Anyway, Jade and I used Cayde's stealth drive to get onto the Dreadnaught and take out its weapon. Another fireteam helped us set up a transmat zone, so it's a lot easier to get on board now. We tried looking for you, but we didn't find you until we came back to get info from a crashed Cabal ship up there. Using their data, we were able to find a rupture. That's when we first ran into you."

There was an uncomfortable pause before he spoke again.

"We learned that only Ascendants could pass through so we went to the Temple of Crota and stole a piece of his crystal. That's where we ran into you again and brought you back to the Tower." He eyed Harley, hesitance in his voice. "Do you… remember anything from when you, uh, you know…"

Harley wanted to laugh. His memories of everything from Oryx taking him to waking up in the med bay were like Swiss cheese. Though, a few of those flashes came to mind once more. Knives in his hands. Kaedro pointing his own gun at him.

He decided not to mention it. "Not really."

Would Kaedro tell him about the flashes if he asked? Would he tell him about the knife Harley had plunged into his chest? He wanted to apologize for what he'd done but he didn't want to cause his friend any more undue pain by bringing it up.

"Oh… Well, anyway, we went back to Crota's throne world and used stealth tech from Rasputin to steal his soul so we could get through the rupture and kill Oryx."

Harley thought about it for a few minutes, trying to process it all. His mind felt sluggish. Parsing the details was hard.

He settled on saying, "Sounds like I missed a lot."

"Yeah. Don't worry, we'll catch you up soon enough, kid. When're you supposed to be out of here?"

Harley shrugged. "No idea."

"We'll be keeping you a few more days for monitoring," said Ryan as he entered the room, "But that's mostly just to be on the safe side. Your condition has returned to normal and, as far as we can tell, there haven't been any ill after-effects."

"Hey, nice!" said Kaedro, slapping Harley on the shoulder, "Sounds like you'll be good to go in no time." Then he sighed. "I'd better let you get some rest… I'll tell Jade to stop by sometime this afternoon. And real quick, before I leave… You might run into this Warlock named Asher Mir that's been working on your… case. White hair, grumpy expression, always takin' notes. Don't take anything he says, personally, alright?"

"Alright," said Harley, a bit puzzled, "Thanks… I'll see you later, then?"

"Later, kid." With that, the Exo made his exit.

Ryan checked Harley's vitals again. "Everything's normal. Just wanted to be sure… The unusual cases are always a bit tricky." Then he too headed for the door, reaching to turn off the lights.

Harley's heart skipped a beat. "You don't have to do that," he said hurriedly. Ryan paused, shooting him a questioning look. "I mean, it's fine if you-" He coughed. "If you leave the lights on." He tried for a smile. "Wouldn't want to inconvenience anyone who comes to check up on me."

"Alright," said Ryan, "There's a button on your bed if you need anything." With one last smile, he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Harley's eyelids felt heavy. "Dunno why m'so tired," he said through a yawn.

"Comas aren't like regular sleep," Prism told him, "And you've had a lot of excitement."

"Guess so… G'night, Prism."

A/N: Long time, no see my guys! It's been a while since I last updated, but that's only because I wanted to wait for my beta to look it over. Only the best for y'all. And as always, many many thank yous to EmeryldLuk for helping out with this story. Feel free to come and scream at me on Twitter or tumblr if an update is taking too long or if you have questions/comments/ideas for the series.

I hope you guys have been enjoying my Destcember stuff. If you're reading on this site and have missed the art prompts, they can be found under ArcaneGlitch on Twitter or Tumblr.

Btw, a warm welcome back to Harley! He's been through a lot, but he's back. And how many of you expected to see the Exo Stranger again? I always thought more should've been done with her in the game.

P.S. The link to my writing/art Discord server can be found here ( /tYmqd2k) as well as on both platforms. Everyone is welcome, even if you aren't a writer/artist!