I do not own Gears of War or any of the characters.

Bad to Worse

Joseph stomped on the back of his shovel, lifting a mound of dirt and dumping it into the hole. One casualty wasn't bad. It was really good for an all-out assault by the COG. But that didn't make it okay. It was his brother. His pushy, asshole brother, who he had never really treated like a brother. He'd always talked shit. He'd always called him useless. Always insults. Always. Even their last conversations.

"So...he's really gone then?" a voice asked behind him.

Joseph turned, seeing Lizzie standing behind him. She had her armor on, though her helmet was off at the moment. Her face was slim and beautiful with bright aqua eyes and her brown hair, which was usually in a bun, let down and swept over her left shoulder, reaching to about halfway down the front of her armor. She wore a pair of orange, fire-resistant, insulated pants with the insulation stitched into diamond shapes, and a faded, brown leather jacket tied around her waist. Her left thigh was sporting a red tool pouch filled with wrenches, ratchets, pliers, and a hammer, and he knew from experience she had a magnet in the bottom to hold all of them in, along with a handful of sockets for the ratchet. On her right thigh was a magnetic holster for her Snub pistol. She wore work boots with armored shin guards with extra plating for the top of her foot, as opposed to the standard armored boots that came with COG armor, a pair of fingerless gloves with an armor plate on their backs, and a blue bandanna tied around her right bicep.

"Yeah," Joseph said, dumping in another shovelful of dirt. "He's dead. Jinn dropped a DeeBee on him."

"Are you okay?" Lizzie asked.

He swallowed hard and Lizzie stepped forward, pulling him into a hug. He tucked his face into her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her shuddering as he finally broke down. He hadn't allowed himself to cry. He hadn't allowed himself to really grieve at all. If he did that, he'd move on. But he couldn't let himself do that. He'd be betraying his brother if he just let him go like that. And yet, he couldn't hold it in. Not when Lizzie gave him that look. Not when she was able to see through him at a glance, and see just how broken he really was.

"It's alright," Lizzie said. "Let it out. Let it hurt."

"The...The last thing...I said to him...was that he was...useless," Joseph choked out.

"Hey!" Lizzie said, pushing him back enough to make him look at her. "Don't do that to yourself! Don't go there! Gary knew you loved him."

"How?" Joseph asked. "All I ever did was shit on him."

"Because He was your brother," Lizzie said. "That's how family is. No matter how you treat them, in the end, you're still family. You still love each other, and when it comes down to it, you'll always have each other's backs. Even if you never said it, Gary knew."

Joseph nodded, wiping his eyes and glancing at the half-filled hole. Gary's head was still visible with its hat, goggles, and mask, but he'd already buried the rest.

"Come on," Lizzie said, picking up a shovel off to the side and using the head to lift the handle of Joseph's for him. "Let's get this hole filled in and go have a few drinks in his honor."

Joseph chuckled, accepting the shovel. "If we're drinking in his honor, we'll be drinking that same shit he drank, in which case Reyna'll be scraping us off the ground by midnight."

Lizzie laughed. "Sounds like a plan."

Joseph laughed again as they began to fill in the hole, but both of their smiles slowly faded as they worked.

"You know, he'd been asking me about my opinion on dating between cousins for the last few weeks," Lizzie said, smiling wistfully. "He wasn't exactly subtle about what he wanted. how the hell am I supposed to give him a kiss now?"

Joseph stared at her for a moment before speaking. "You were planning to kiss him?"

"Well, he made it pretty clear he was interested," Lizzie said. "He didn't come right out and say it, obviously, but...and it's not like I've got people just lining up to ask me out."

"You would if you took your helmet off around people who aren't me and Gary," Joseph said, Lizzie snorting and rolling her eyes.

"I didn't really care that we were cousins," Lizzie said. "Really, it just seems silly to me to limit yourself because of something like that. A sibling's one thing, but a cousin's different. Especially when we're still on the brink of extinction from the Locust War and the Lambent Pandemic wiping out ninety nine percent of the human race. So...yeah. I was willing to give Gary a chance."

Joseph nodded, remaining silent for a few minutes. "It wasn't for him."

"What?" Lizzie asked.

"He wasn't asking because he was interested," Joseph said. "Sorry. He was asking for me."

Lizzie raised an eyebrow at him, smirking interestedly.

"I don't," Joseph said before she could ask. "I don't approve of incest, no matter how few humans are left. But even still, the last couple months, Gary was constantly hounding me to ask you out. He was practically obsessed with the idea of us being a couple."

"He probably got it from the way we usually talk to each other," Lizzie laughed as she and Joseph dumped the last of the dirt in.

"Yeah," Joseph grimaced. "We do seem to give a lot of people the wrong idea, don't we?"

Lizzie snorted. "Can't imagine why."

Joseph chuckled. It was true. Despite being cousins, ever since they were young they had a habit of using each other as flirting practice. And then as they'd grown more used to it, they had developed a bit of a habit of flirting with each other. It had actually gotten to the point that their uncle Clayton had sat them down and had a no dating talk with them. They had assured him that wasn't what it was, but the habit had stuck.

"I suppose we probably do usually take it a little far, don't we?" Joseph asked.

"Usually?" Lizzie asked. "Try always. Come on. Let's put these away and go have that drink."

Joseph nodded and they walked to a tool shed before heading to the remains of Joseph's house. The living room was destroyed, the walls separating it from both the kitchen and dining room were obliterated, resulting in debris scattered through both rooms, and parts of the building had burned, though the fire had been put out for him. After a couple of minutes of shifting debris, however, they were able to make it to his room where he kept two bottles of liquor he'd managed to have smuggled out of a COG settlement. He passed one to Lizzie, which she promptly opened as he reached under his bed and pulled out the small shoe box he hadn't been able to grab when he got his armor. He set it on the bed and opened it, pulling out a Lancer MK1 bayonet with a metal sheath and strap he'd made for it, the strap being small metal plates with a pair of metal cables run through them to connect them while letting them flex and move, then a metal clasp on the ends of the strap. He strapped the bayonet to his left forearm so that the handle was by his elbow and the edge was outward. Then, he pulled out an identical knife and sheath, except with the strap on the other side, strapping it similarly to his right arm. Then came two more that he strapped to the front of his armor's shoulder straps, these two's straps having magnets to keep them from moving around or coming loose. Next, he pulled out two that he connected to the back of his pants' belt, taking the ammo off of his metal belt and instead sticking them to the magnets around the bottom of his chest plate. He'd have done it earlier, but the ammo had already been on the belt so he hadn't bothered. Then, the last two bayonets' sheaths were entirely metal with powerful magnets and he stuck them to the outsides of his boots.

"You still have your collection?" Lizzie asked.

"Of course," Joseph said. "Do you remember how hard I had to work to get all of these? No way am I letting them go."

Lizzie chuckled. "That's fair." She watched as he pulled out one more item. A necklace made with a black cord with a sniper bullet's projectile as a pendant. "What's that?"

"It's a memorial necklace for Dad," Joseph said. "It's not the bullet that actually killed him, and it's not really from the Locust who shot it, but...it's the best I could do."

"I think it's sweet," Lizzie smiled as he pulled it over his head. "I think it's cute, just like you."

"Oh fuck off!" Joseph snorted, accepting the bottle she'd been sipping from and taking a swig. "Just because I'm not a fucking armored Thrashball defender like every other guy in Gog who all look like they have tiny heads doesn't make me cute."

"Of course not," Lizzie said, taking the bottle back. "It's your adorable habit of arguing that point every time someone brings it up that makes you cute."

Joseph glared at her before rolling his eyes. "You're lucky you're so beautiful or I'd hate you."

"Mhm, sure you would," Lizzie smirked. "Come on. I want to go meat the COGs that got my cousin killed."

Joseph sighed. "Go easy on them, alright?"

They walked out of the house toward the power station where the COGs and Kait were supposed to be working on getting the power back on. However, it was already getting late and they hadn't gotten it on yet.

"There you are," Lizzie said as the two of them walked in, both COGs turning toward her.

"Lizzie," Kait said. "Wait! It wasn't their-"

She stopped trying to warn Lizzie off as Lizzie punched both COGs squarely in the jaw, dropping both. Joseph sighed, shaking his head.

"What the hell!?" the white COG demanded as he and Del were standing.

"She's me and Gary's cousin," Joseph said. "Meet Lizzie."

"Shit," the white one sighed. "That explains it, then. Look, I'm sorry for his death, but Jinn wasn't here because we stole the Fabricator."

"Then why was she here," Joseph asked.

"She accused us of taking her people," Del said. "Me and JD definitely aren't kidnapping COG soldiers or civilians, so we have no idea what she's talking about."

Joseph frowned. "I see. Then I suppose I owe you an apology for punching you."

"Me too, I guess," Lizzie said. "It's still your fault, but not something you could control."

Both COGs nodded and Del went back to work on the Fabricator, which apparently was having trouble making a power inverter. After a couple tense minutes, JD cleared his throat awkwardly.

"So, if I remember talking to Gary right, you're their third cousin?" JD asked.

"What?" Lizzie asked. "No. We're first cousins."

"Oh, jeez," Joseph sighed. "That was a sort of...joke Gary came up with. We're first cousins, but she's the third one born, making her the third cousin."

"Oh," JD nodded. "I suppose that makes sense."

"Not really, but Gary was always a little weird about stuff," Joseph said. "How's the power coming?"

"Yeah, can we speed this up?" Del asked. "Reyna's mad enough as it is."

"I know, it just keeps crapping out!" Del said, then sighed. "This thing's been through a lot today."

"Yeah?" JD snorted. "Well it can join the club."

"It's almost done," Del said, just as Kait got up from where she'd sat in a window sill to eat an apple, walking to the door.

"What's up?" Joseph asked.

"Okay, JD, get on that switch," Del said, nodding toward the power inverter's slot and the lever beside it.

Joseph looked out the door with Kait just as something big, inhuman, and creepy landed about a hundred feet away from it then leapt out of view with a low growl. Joseph had only seen it for a second, but it looked like it might be reptilian, about double the size of a horse, and its stomach was glowing a bright florescent orange.

"Oh shit!" Joseph swore, pulling Kait away from the door, pushing her over next to Lizzie before shutting the door.

"What?" Lizzie asked.

"What was that thing?" Kait asked, just as the power came back on.

"Hah!" JD smirked, just as another of the massive creatures landed and jumped again, Joseph seeing it out the window. "Look at you."

"Guys, bigger problems!" Joseph hissed urgently.

"What's out there?" Lizzie asked.

"I don't know," Joseph said.

"Come on, admit it," Del was saying, he and JD completely ignoring Joseph and the others. "You lost faith in me for a second."

Just then, the machine JD had put the Inverter in sparked and the power died again with a low hum.

"Did you touch something?" JD asked.

"Guys!" Joseph snapped in a low voice. "There is something in this village!"

"What?" Del asked.

"If I knew that, don't you think I would have said?" Joseph asked.

Just then, there was a sound like gunfire behind the power shed, opposite the door, followed by more, quieter gunfire. Then, the screams started. They all turned toward the door and saw people running outside.

"Come on!" Kait said, moving to leave, only for the door to slam closed. She tried to push it open but it was shoved closed again, Reyna's face appearing in the window. "Mom?" She tried to push it again but Reyna again shoved it closed, this time driving one of her two knives down through the lock ring, trapping it closed. "Mom!"

"Kait listen!" Reyna said urgently. "You need to hide, and then you need to run!"

"What are you doing!?" Kate asked just as Joseph saw something walking up to Reyna from behind.

From what he could see, which was mostly a torso, it looked human, but it was almost double Reyna's height.

"Reyna, behind you!" Joseph warned, yanking Kait away from the door before she could be seen by whatever it was, covering her mouth before she could scream. "Fabricator!"

JD sprinted to it instantly, struggling to get it to work as Joseph released Kait.

"Stay quiet!" Joseph said. "Don't distract her from the fight!"

"Let me in!" a young boy shrieked. "Let me in!"

Kait sprinted to the window, just as one of the big things, whatever they were, shot past, taking the child with it. Kait screamed, grabbing the window and slamming her body against the door, but it didn't budge. Joseph turned to the Fabricator as blue light began to collect above it, forming the silhouette of a Boomshot before it began to form. Finally, after nearly a minute, it was finished and Joseph grabbed it.

"Kait, move!" He said, everyone diving for cover before he shot the door, the explosive round blasting it wide open.

Kait was the first one out, followed by Joseph and Lizzie, both of whom had their guns up instantly. However, the village was deserted. Whatever had been attacking was already gone, along with everyone from the village. Everyone but them. Kait was shouting for her mother but Joseph and the others imply looked around in silence.

"It was over so fast," Lizzie breathed, her Lancer hanging at her side. "What were they?"

"I have a guess, but..." Joseph shook his head, glancing at JD, who was kneeling beside a hand that he had just cut a small gold crystal off of. "What is that?"

"Some kind of crystal," JD said, holding it up.

"Oh fuck," Joseph breathed. "Shit. It's them."

"Them?" JD asked.

"It's the Locust," Joseph said.

"That's impossible," Lizzie said. "The locust all died. "They all got encased in those...yellow...crystals."

"No," JD said. "There's no way. Why now?"

"We need help," Joseph said. "Whether it's actually the Locust or not, we can't handle this alone."

"Agreed," Del said. "Guys that sounded like there were dozens of 'em. Hundreds, even. Like a...Like a swarm."

"Come on!" Kait shouted suddenly, sitting on a horse. "Let's get after them!"

"We have no idea where those things went," JD said, walking over. "Look...Jinn can help us."

"Jinn is trying to kill us," Kait reminded him.

"Kait, listen-"

"Hey," Del interrupted JD, now sitting on a horse behind Kait's. "You're not gonna be happy about this, but I know who should see that crystal shit."

"Damon Baird," Joseph said, climbing onto the third and final horse, pulling Lizzie up in front of him, wrapping his arms around her.

"I have someone else in mind," Del said. "Someone better."

"Jinn has people that can handle this," JD said.

"Like Baird," Joseph said.

"Who's Damon Baird?" Kait asked.

"He's a genius in the COG," Joseph said.

"Look, you know as well as I do-"

"Del, no!" JD snapped, turning to face away.

"-that he can help!" Del finished.

"Who's Del talking about?" Kait asked. When she didn't receive an answer, she spurred her horse forward and rode up beside him. "Hey! Can he help or not?"

"Yeah, he can," JD finally sighed. "The question is, will he?"

Kait offered him a hand and he hopped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and taking the reins. He spurred their horse forward and Del and Joseph followed.

"Who are we going to see?" Kait asked.

"My father," JD said. "Marcus Phoenix."

"Wait, you're Marcus Phoenix's kid?" Joseph asked. "Alright. This could work. Baird would still be better, but this can work."

Everyone remained silent and after a few minutes, Lizzie tilted her head back, helmet resting on his eft shoulder as she leaned back into him, drifting off to sleep. He sighed, wrapping an arm around her to hold her upright and settled in for a long ride.

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