Chapter Text
After our first successful mission to rebuild Rasputin, I take a few days to recharge. We’ve been in such a rush these past few months that Crow and I haven’t had time to spend just the four of us. We both felt we were missing out on the twin’s key moments.
“Did you hear back from anyone yet about dinner?” I look around the tree and see Crow helping Ari and Rory make popcorn decorations. Something we discovered was an old earth tradition.
“Shadow, Raven, West and Sáe have said yes. Artemis is a maybe, and I haven’t heard from Saint or Osiris yet.”
“They’re probably wondering how to respond. You included Amunet in the invite?”
“Yeah. That’s likely what’s throwing them off.”
“So we have four yes.” I nod. “Do you have any idea what to cook?”
“I was thinking of a ham roast. Simple and easy.”
“Classic.” I throw an ornament at him, and he laughs. “Now, now. You don’t want to teach the twins that, do you?”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t start,” Our laughter stops with a knock at the door.
“Did you?”
I shake my head. “I’m not expecting anyone.” I toss the empty box to the side and open the door to see Saint standing there. “Saint? Something wrong?”
“Oh no. I wanted to speak with you.” I move aside, and Saint smiles when he sees the tree and the twins walking around with Crow.
“Saint, to what do we owe the pleasure?” Crow asks.
“Osiris and I received your invitation.”
“Good. I was wondering if it got lost.”
“This is not a joke?”
“Of course not.”
“Amunet-”
“Is invited as well. She is your family, after all.” Saint looks to Crow for assistance regarding my attitude toward Amunet.
“She chose to invite her Saint. I had nothing to do with this.”
“But-”
“Amunet and I may never see eye to eye. Even before the events from last year, we fought. But you and Osiris are family to me, Crow and the twins. I can tolerate her for that.” Saint stands there astonished. “So, will you be attending?” I ask.
“We would be honoured.”
“Good. I’ll add you three to the list.” Rory runs to Saint, babbling his name.
“Will we need to bring food?”
“No worries. Crow and I have it all handled.”
“Then we see you next week.”
“See you then, Saint.” Crow escorts him out while I get dinner started. Crow comes up behind me once Saint is gone and rests his head on my shoulder as he watches the twins play.
“I still can’t believe they’re one.” Crow sighs.
“I know. It feels like just yesterday that they were still in their cribs looking at us with such wonder.” My mind stops for a moment as the thought of the baby we never got to meet floods my brain. They would be five months old at this point.
“Ruby?”
“Sorry, what?”
“I was asking if you wanted some help with dinner, but you seem to be troubled by something.”
“It’s nothing,”
“Ruby,” he grumbles.
I sigh in defeat. “I was thinking about the baby.”
“The one we lost.”
“The one I lost.” I correct.
“We lost. You aren’t alone in that, as much as you like to think.”
I shake my head. “They’d be five months old.”
“They would.”
“I just wonder-” I pause, and Crow takes my hand.
“You wonder what if.” I nod. “We can grieve. We will likely grieve for a long time. But we can’t keep wondering what if because nothing can change the past. We just need to keep moving forward.” I look back at my two healthy children and know Crow’s right. He was always right in a situation like this.
“You are everything I need when I’m feeling down.”
“I’m always here to make you smile.”
“Just smile?” I tease. I watch as his eyes begin to dilate. Both of us get lost in each other’s gaze that we forget about Ari and Rory for a moment till I feel one of them pull at my pant leg.
“Dada play?” Crow looks down to Rory, who holds a toy out to him. “Dada play, please?”
“I think your daughter wants you to play with her.”
He chuckles, letting me go and turning towards Rory. “Dada will come and play.” Rory squeals excitedly as Crow chases her. I laugh as Ari joins in, and the two gang up on Crow.
After dinner, as Crow gets the twins ready for bed, there’s another knock at the door.
“How popular are we today?” Crow jokes from the twin’s room.
“Very, apparently.” I chuckle, drying my hands before opening the door. It takes a moment to register who it is.
“What do you want, Amanda?” I scoff, blocking her from entering.
“Honestly I didn’t think I would even come here, but here I am.” I nod. “I got your birthday invite for the twins.” “
That was almost five months ago.”
“Yeah. I didn’t know if I’d be welcomed.”
“Crow was the one who wanted to send the invite.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Something about inviting my closest friend.”
“Wow,”
“He’s got a kind heart.”
Amanda looks over my shoulder to Crow coming out of the twin’s room. “Yeah.” She then shakes her head. “Anyway. I got Ari and Rory a gift, and it would be a shame to let them go to waste.”
“Gift-” I stop when Amanda moves aside, and my jaw hits the floor—two mini sparrows.
“I know they might be a bit too young for them still. But I started making the moment you told me about the twins.
“Amanda,” She waves me off before I can ramble out. “I’m sure they will love it. How fast do they go?”
“Not very. You should be able to keep up with them by walking. Didn’t want to give them anything too dangerous, you know,”
“They’re awesome, Amanda. Thank you.”
“It was nothing. Anyway, I know you’re busy, so I’ll just see myself out.” She turns to leave, but I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her.
“We should hang out soon. I miss you.”
She smiles, then her eye catches my engagement ring, and the smile falters a bit. “Yeah. I’ll get back to you on that. See ya.” Before I can say anything more, she takes off.
“Ruby?”
“Crow, could you help me bring these in?” He’s next to me instantly, and I watch his face as he sees Amandas’ gift.
“Wow.”
“Yeah, I know. Now come on.” We each take a sparrow, and thankfully, they are light. Then again, it seems Amanda brought them by herself.
“So it was Amanda at the door?”
“Yeah. Wanted to drop these off.”
Crow takes my hand and leads me to our room. I stand and watch as he gets a bath ready with bubbles, candles, and wine.
“What’s the occasion?”
“Does there have to be?”
I smile and undress, sinking into the warm water. Crow follows close behind and pulls me to his chest as we relax. It’s nice enjoying
the peace and quiet, but under the surface, I can tell something is bothering Crow. As I lean on his chest, he has his arm draped across me, but it seems his mind is elsewhere.
I lean forward, pulling from his hold before I turn to face him.
“Crow, love?”
“Hmm?”
“You’ve been rather quiet. Is something the matter?”
“Hmmm.”
I raise an eyebrow and grab both our glasses to put them down. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what Hmmm means.”
“Just thinking,”
“May inquire to what?”
“You won’t get mad?”
“How am I supposed to even respond to that?”
He sighs, sitting up. “Amanda visiting and dropping off gifts for the kids got me thinking.”
“About?”
“How everything between us went down. We all lost a friend that day, yet none of us have made any move to fix it.”
“No, we haven’t. We are all at fault for that. I can tell she wants to try and mend the fences, so to speak. But today, she saw my ring, and I watched the colour drain from her face.” Crow looks away, and I regret my choice of words. “Things will get better, Crow. Amanda knows the real you, and she knows you aren’t Uldren. She just needs more time to process it all. It’s a lot.” He sighs, falling back into the water.
“I just miss having a friend that didn’t know anything. When she was in the dark, it was easier.” “
But that also meant that it could have blown up in your face at any point.”
“It did.”
“Case in point.” I grab his hand, squeezing it. “Everything will work out in the end. Trust me. I’ve known Amanda since the day I rose.”
“I always trust you,”
“Perfect.” I lean forward and capture his lips in a lustful kiss, ending the conversation.
The next morning, we get back to work. Crow returns to running the Hunters for me as I get back to the H.E.L.M. to continue my work on Rasputin with Ana. I’m just walking onto the bridge when I hear yelling from Clovis’s room.
“He’s lying! That’s what he does. That’s ALL he does!” I recognize the voice right away. It’s Elsie. I rush over and see Elsie and Ana standing in front of the Exo.
“Clovis is the only one who knows how to reintegrate Rasputin with his subminds,” Ana replies, and they both nod, acknowledging my arrival.
“Did he tell you how? Or is he just dangling it in front of you so that you keep him around?” Hmm, Elsie does have a point. Ana looks to me for assistance, but I can’t argue with that logic.
“I remember a dinner that ended like this. Elisabeth, you haven’t changed a day.” Elsie glares at Clovis before turning back to Ana.
“Are you sure he has what you need?”
“I haven’t verified. But he—”
“But he’s the only hope left. As much as you’d like to deny it, Elisabeth, I’m the best you’ve got.” I take a step forward as Elsie looks like she is ready to kill Clovis.
“Go to hell. I’m here now. We should talk more — later. Without him around.” This last bit is directed at me, too. Elsie and Ana leave, leaving me alone with Clovis. Joy.
“I’m sorry you had to see that. They’ve always been very emotional. Why don’t we get don’t to business? I have found a solution to our submind problem. Your arrogant friend Osiris informed me of the “time wounds” on Mars. Windows into the past, worlds lost to time. And it so happens that Rasputin’s Mindlab is situated within such a temporal anomaly. Scans indicate that the Charlemagne submind data still exists within the wound’s projected time period. Copying it into the engram will provide code fragments we need to restore Rasputin. Go retrieve additional submind data, then return to the Seraph facility. I will guide you to the location of the new launch codes upon your arrival.”
“Just that? Don’t need me for anything else?”
Clovis scoffs. “We both know you don’t have the brain capacity for the full list of what I need.” My eye twitches, and my hand inched to my gun.
“I’ll get what you need.” I hiss back.”
“Good. You Guardian’s as such good little workers.” I hold my tongue and leave. Clovis is helping us. I just need to keep repeating that to myself, and I can get through this mission. I find Ana and Elsie still arguing in Ana’s makeshift office.
“Ana, why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“Because I knew you would react like this.”
“If you knew-”
“Elsie, I didn’t know what else to do.”
“I just wish I heard it from you and not Queen Mara.”
“Mara?” Elsie turns to me the moment I speak. “You’ve spoken to Mara?”
“I have. She informs me the Witness has gathered another Disciple.”
“Yes, Calus.” Elsie crosses her arms, and I see the gears turning in her head.
“I’ll help. That way, I can keep a close eye on Clovis.”
“We’d be glad to have you on our team,” I add, and Ana nods in agreement.
“What’s the current plan?”
“We need more submind data to rebuild Big Red. Problem is there isn’t many left.”
“Hmmm. I might have a clue.” I take a seat and wait to see what she has to add.
“Mara tells me the Witness’s soldiers focus on Mars and threaten the submind, Charlemagne.”
“I thought the Bray facility there was destroyed,”
“It was,” Ana confirms.
“The time anomalies that have plagued Mars brought it back,” Elsie explains, and Ana’s eyes light up.
“Then I’ll get my team and head there immediately.”
“Be careful, Ruby. We don’t know what else might lie beneath the facility.”
“I will. It’s nice working with you again, Elsie.”
“Likewise. Good luck.” When I leave the office, my team is already waiting for me.
“Heard we're going to Mars,” Artemis says.
“We are. You both ready?”
“Hell yeah.”
Our mission to Mars was easier than expected. The only issue is Elsie and Clovis arguing over the radio. I have a major headache as we make our way back to Earth.
“I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” I grumble. “
Your head?” Stell asks. “
Yeah. The headache from earlier is getting worse again.”
“Let me look.” I feel her hover around me as she scans then she is back at my side. “I found nothing wrong.”
“It’s most likely just the Bray family drama.”
“Sounds like it would make a great show.” I laugh at Stell’s joke, and she joins in. When I near the Launch facility in the Twilight Gap, I re-engage my radio with Ana and Clovis.
“I see the facility now,” I confirm as I descend.
“I’ve re-routed power to the launch security systems; we’re clear to commence today’s operation. Gain access to the facility and secure the launch codes.” Clovis says.
“One snag. Looks like the Hive have sealed the bunker entrance we used last time.”
“Okay, then, what’s the plan, Ana?”
“Head to the launch facility roof. We should be able to make an entrance up there.” I follow Ana’s instructions, which leads to a maintenance shaft.
“Really?”
“That vent connects to the bunker. Blast it off and head in.” Rolling my eyes, I get low and crawl through. It’s full of dust, and who knows what is left over from centuries of disuse. A shower is going to be necessary when I get home. Hmm, maybe Crow could help me out. My mind is off in its own world as I thought about what I would do after this mission, that I missed half of what Ana was saying.
“I remember Eris saying something about Hive using crystals to maintain their barriers. Take them out.” I look over to the crystals Ana spoke up and pieced what I need to do. The last crystal shatters, opening my way forward.
“Crystals, rituals...” Clovis scoffs. “This is absurd. That’s obviously an emitted Casimir field with—” Clovis’s rant ends abruptly, and I begin to wonder if I lost connection.
“I muted grandpa. You’re welcome.”
“Thanks, Ana.”
“No problem.” Without Clovis’s incessant groaning in my ear, I get through the facility faster than the first time arriving in the main hub.
“How long have I been on mute?” I start to laugh, and Ana joins in. I dispatch the two Hive wizards quickly, regaining access to the control room and allowing us easy access for the future.
“Security network is operational. I detect no changes to the underlying system architecture. I’ve secured the launch authorization codes, but it appears they are encrypted. Hm! This encryption method is... superb. I, ah... will need time to fully decrypt them. Any launch will need to wait.”
“Got it. In the meantime, I’ll ping some of the old decommissioned bunkers here to cover our tracks... Because I just got word that there’s a Ketch inbound. We don’t want to still be here when it lands.” And That was my cue to hightail it out of there.