Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I felt the glass shattering around my metal shoulder as my vision was suddenly forced to a rough forty-five degree angle, watching shelving and what pieces of the now ruined metal door were taken with me as I was thrown across the room. As I landed I felt something pop in my chest, no doubt one of my ribs, only for something to follow me barely a second after, landing right back onto my chest and immediately popping whatever had popped out of place back into place. The agony made my vision simultaneously brighten and darken as my body began to move on auto-pilot against the assailant that’d taken hold of me. As my vision blurred, I felt my arms moving on their own, something was coiling about but I didn’t feel it. Must’ve been one of my false legs.

I heard a quiet crack as my right hand, glimmering at the knuckle joints with the metal digits that had replaced it, was thrown forward and collided with something. Hard. My vision blurred further as I desperately tried to remain present.

There was a time before all of this war and invasion happened that I’d often thought how amazing it’d have been to be like those heroes in the media. Video games, movies, comic books, all of it looked so.... Awe inspiring. And that’s what I thought, for one stupid, childish moment, when I saw the news broadcast. Aliens invading, cities burning, people turning into bugs and zombies, whole stretches of road filled with abandoned cars. And here I was, twenty years later, the action hero I’d always dreamed of being. No one told me it was a shit role.

I watched mindlessly through my own eyes as my body worked. I muttered words to myself, auto-pilot taking over as I heard my own voice repeating the mantra that’d been practically ingrained into my being since I was a child. I’d always had these problems. “Breathe in.... Count to five. Breath out.... Count to five.” The words were near ghostly in their delivery. I felt our bodies roll, a constant struggle as I made for my utility knife at my hip, only to get lunged at with a set of nasty looking fangs. Both hands were needed to keep it at bay, the audible hissing, the bubble of acrid poison. This was it, I was between the poison and the fangs and I was going to be forced to choose one. Evidently, as I was there, I’d had a different plan. I blinked as my metal hand slipped back just barely an inch, balling into a fist, and I was lost back in my memories.

I sat with my dad, binging movies and eating junk food all throughout the night. We’d just gotten permission from mom to spend the first day of my weekend staying up and blasting through the entire series we’d wanted to finally sit and watch. She joined us for the first few, but tapped out citing a need to get ‘Beauty Sleep’ though I knew in my heart it was just her way of letting me make more memories with my father. He was always so absent for long periods of time. I damned his job when I was that small.

I was torn from my thoughts as I heard something buckle in my left leg, no doubt a servo had finally given way from the constricting length of muscle that was currently coiled around it. Thankfully, the false limbs were replaceable. Which was a good thing considering the position I was in. Metal fist crammed into the gullet of a Viper, currently choking on the harsh corners of the steel digits. A .45 pistol was held in my left hand, held just far enough away from the Viper’s right eye that the built in safety functions wouldn’t interfere.

How had I gotten into this position? I’d just stopped to see if there was any fuel and left over forever-here snacks. Doubtful, they’d have long since been snatched up, but you never knew nowadays. Most people were too keen on living than scavenging old gas stations. I felt my mind wandering again, eyes locked onto the Viper’s as she struggled to make any sound with the limb holding her down by the tonsils. Did Viper’s have tonsils?

“Hey.” I started, gaining no attention as she continued to struggle beneath me, that tail had long since crushed my prosthetic, the sparks from behind telling me I probably wasn’t going to be repairing it anymore, not unless I had a lot of scrap and time. “Hey.” I said again, a little louder, but those crimson eyes were fixated on my firearm, not me. I was getting annoyed more and more by the second. The danger had caused my condition to flare up, despite the mind, body and muscle memory saving itself.

So I raised the gun up and pulled the trigger, a loud pop sending my ears ringing and causing the viper to seize in place, hands that’d been clawing at my thick leather sleeves stopping their action, though the awful squelching pained gags didn’t do much to steady my already wavering thoughts. I was going to need to make a medicine run again. “Hey.” I said through now clenched teeth, pain ringing in my head. Her eyes were trained back on me as I brought the gun back down, though now farther away than before. “I made a stupid mistake doing that to get your attention, alright? Bullets are hard to come by. So I’m not going to give you another warning shot. If you understand what I’m saying.... Tap my arm once.”

There was a pregnant pause as I waited. And waited. It was like I’d put a request into google through eight different VPNs on two bars of service. By the time her eyes stopped searching around for a sign of a way to either escape or dismount me she must’ve realized both her options and the question I’d asked. And I received a single tap on the metal limb. “Okay, good, that’s a good first step. Now, Miss Viper, I don’t want to die today and you’ve already crippled me. I need some assurance you’re not going to kill me if I don’t kill you. Do you understand?”

Another long pause before a hesitant single tap sounded. “Can you speak English?” Another single tap, though this one slightly more snappy in response. “Okay then. I’m going to pull my hand out of your gullet now. If I get even a sniff of that acrid poison, I’m shooting you. If I see that tongue of yours come out even to sniff the air, I’m shooting you. Until the moment I feel that my life is no longer in danger, you are under threat and my mercy, do you understand?”

There was a raw defiance in her eyes that sparked and I heard my false leg pop. There went the hydraulics. Now it was irreparable. My lack of flinching must’ve spoken volumes as I delicately brought the muzzle of my pistol closer, tapping the side of her head with it. “If that tail moves from where it's coiled, I will pull this trigger. Do you want to add anything else to that list of do not’s?”

There was no response. “Are you ready to have a nice friendly conversation then?” While she did tap this time, it was more of an aggravated slap.

Good enough.

I pulled my pistol back as I leaned up and away, pulling my now spittle and phlegm covered hand from her mouth. A grimace followed me up as I shook the metal digits in a vain attempt to clean them. The viper hacked and coughed, signs that I knew from experience weren’t related to that poisonous build up.

The throat will shrink before inflating to the desired size then the head lurches forward in the motion to fling the venom. First the eyes get misted, instant watering and perhaps even instant blindness if directly hit. Then the lungs burn, and if you’re lucky you haven’t breathed enough to get it in your blood, though it barely takes half a breath of the stuff. If you aren’t lucky, well...

I blinked, coming back to reality as the viper was slightly panting beneath me, clawed fingers no longer gripping my arm, but still clinging to the jacket. No doubt she figured moving at all at this point was lethal. “Do you need some water?” There was an angry hiss that escaped her, even as my hand came back and around to show my canteen. As I shook it, the half full sloshing of liquid caught its attention. The hands twitched and I stopped my hand. “Answer me honestly, and I’ll give you the rest that’s in here. Should be enough to wet that long whistle of yours.”

It made no reply other than a single fingered tap on my metal arm. “So, tell me, snake. Are you here because you’re hungry? Or because you’re hunting. Because I don’t see a reason for you to be out this far away with no others in sight.” I asked. I saw the viper’s eyes glaze over for a moment, suddenly blinking and looking between me and the water. Its lips and mouth quivered as sounds emitted from its throat. I closed my eyes briefly in annoyance. “Okay, we’ll make it easier on you. Are you part of a patrol, a scout?”

That earned me a very vigorous shake of the head, watching that snout of hers turn briefly into a blur might’ve been amusing had we not moments ago been wrestling one another for control. My eyes briefly glanced around the Gas Station, finally able to get some kind of a look at it. She’d ambushed me the moment I stepped the threshold so I hadn’t a moment to really get my bearings. But now only partially in danger, I noticed things. The windows were deliberately plastered with old paper of whatever kind. There was a pile of what looked like cleaning rags and old cardboard that might have been a bed. And a duffle bag that was on its very last legs, torn and full of enough holes I could make out boxes with the ADVENT language labeled ‘Rations’ on it. It looked more like she was barely surviving here rather than stationed or scouting. And then I looked back down at her. She wasn’t even in uniform. Or armor. She wasn’t in anything, actually.

Huh. So that's what they look li-

I bit my tongue to ground myself before gently starting to ease off of her. “Just so we’re clear here. You attacked me first, yeah?” There was a reluctant nod. “Did you think I was... Resistance?” A shake. “Xcom?” Another shake. I raised an eyebrow. “Then why are you out here, all alone, ambushing me in a decrepit gas station? Unarmored and unarmed, no less?”

I saw her mind work in place, jaw shifting as she finally croaked out a handful of rasping words. “A-Abandoned. No more squad. No more duty. Don’t want fight. Want to live.” came the soft, if not mildly uncomfortable, reply. "Thought you'd kill. Just wanted to.... Knock out. Put elsewhere. Interrogate incase more."

Curious. A voice that’s a cross between a dog with its vocals clipped and a leaky air hose. Must not talk much.

“And how do I know if you’re telling the truth?” I finally asked, quietly steadying the sidearm at her nose before it happened. I heard the tiniest squeakiest voice.

“F-.... Fuck... The.. .Elders?” I blinked. Is that what they sounded like? I’d have laughed had the situation not already been so ridiculous.

“Well then.” I started. “.... I’m going to get off of you now. Can we both promise not to kill each other?” It was a tentative question. There was a small, weak nod. It was only when I started to get off of her I noticed how lithe she was. Not like the commandos I’d fought before, or even seen for that matter. She looked almost.... Emaciated. Frankly, it was terrifying she was able to crush my leg in this state, but at the same time it made sense. She went for the easier, more vulnerable target. Had she gone anywhere else, I might’ve been able to escape her in this withered state of hers. “Ah. But before I do, let go of my leg. And this is yours...”

As I heard the sliding of scales on old tile, I gingerly brought the canteen around and carefully laid it on her chest as I began to ease off. She held perfectly still, but I saw those eyes locked onto that metal bottle like the predator she was. I felt the old loose tiles of the gas station floor jiggle at my other boot as the tail pulled away. I barely managed to even flop backwards onto my butt before she was on the canteen, sitting up immediately and ripping the cap off to take gulping pulls from it. Each glug from the bottle made me realize how desperate the alien must’ve been. Her ‘lips, if you could call them that, were pressed against the opening and made a soft low whistle as air was pulled in as the water was sucked out.

I blinked as she eased downward, breathing heavily in relief before gulping one last time and staring at me. Her eyes flicked down to the canteen, then my gun and finally back to me. I looked at the gun myself, if only for a second. “..... If I put this away. And you try to kill me...” I raised up my metal hand, clenching it hard enough the left over gunk in the joints squelched. “I’m not pulling it out of you twice.”

That’s what she sai-

“Okay.” A much less ragged voice came. I blinked again. And gingerly went to holster the sidearm into my coat, right under my left arm. 

“Do you got a name?” I asked and was met with a very slow, calmer, shake of the head. She was clutching the canteen to her chest like it may’ve been a shield. Or possibly fill with more water on its own if she willed it hard enough. “Figures.... Do you... Have a moniker? A title? Rank, designation?”

The Viper paused, turning to move towards its pile of equipment. Out of reflex, my hand went right back to my pistol, though I kept it holstered. Her hands went straight up as she heard the rustling, timidly turning to look at me. I felt a pang in my heart. Those eyes. Those pitiful, knowing eyes. As the soft plastic of my palm rested against the groove of the handle, I once again felt my mind whisk away, barely registering the world in front of me.

I was nineteen, my dog, Buck, had to be put down. He’d gotten so old his liver and kidneys were giving out, but he kept pushing on for my sake. The old bastard was eighteen. He practically helped raise me. He didn’t want to go, and I didn’t want him to either. Three days. That was all the time my old man gave me. My Mom had to bargain with him just to let us have that. Three days. Then it was goodbye.... I still remember the muffled pop. I never forgave him for that. I cried for days. I still keep his name tag on my car keys.

My hand slowly slipped from my holster, onto my lap. My eyes had left her, going down to look at my metallic hand that’d gone for the pistol. There was still spittle greasing my digits, sticking together with wet strings of glop. It smelled horrible. It was only after a moment that I realized I’d gone into my head again. I blinked as I saw the ground shadow briefly and looked up, noticing the viper had gone to grab two things. One, she held by the foregrip, a plasma rifle, though it looked battle damaged enough that it’d lost whatever charge it may have had. And the other was a piece of a shoulder plate. She dropped the gun in front of me and then held out the armor piece.

I raised up my busted leg and awkwardly kicked it out to tap the gun. “.... No ammo? Or busted?” I asked, my hands coming up to pinch the shoulder plate and look at it.

“.... damaged.” She whispered, slithering back and away from me. “Couldn’t fix. No parts.”

“Damn shame, that. For you, at least. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that’s what would’ve hit me instead of you had it been working.” I heard some response from her that barely registered in my still ringing ears as I glanced at the piece of metal. It was scratched and gouged, like it’d been actively ripped and torn off. I barely made out the handful of signifiers. “..... Twenty-Two..... South. Detainment Unit? You were a snatch and grab?”

She said nothing, looking away.

Looks like this is one of the luckier ones to run into. Detainment units are meant to be non-lethal. Probably why I’m even alive. That must’ve been why she went for the leg. Trained to capture, not kill. That thinking must be ingrained after all that time. I remember first seeing the news reports on the TV before signals petered out. People being dragged out or in a lot of cases, carried.

“....... Alright, Twenty-Two.” I started, going to grab onto a nearby broken down shelf to start pulling myself up. “I’d like... To do two things. First, Thank you, for not killing me. And Two.... I apologize for sticking my fist in your throat and a gun to your face. I usually try not to fight dirty like that.”

The apology seemed to catch her mildly by surprise. As I leaned up against the shelving, I couldn’t help but stare again. I could see her ribs. Her spine in her tail and along her back. She wasn’t going to last much longer like this. It wasn’t my problem. This wasn’t my snake. This wasn’t my job. At this point, shooting her might’ve even been a mercy. Better than starving to death or something coming along and tearing her apart in her sleep. It was only when I caught her looking down at my busted, bent leg, shivering as she looked at it, that I felt something deep in my heart again. Was that regret on her face? Surely not.

I barely managed to keep myself from reminiscing this time as I leaned away. “It’s a fake leg.” I said, going to grab my pants sleeve, awkwardly pulling it up and over the now bent and sharp edges to reveal the metal components.  “You didn’t hurt me outside of a handful of bruises and maybe a broken rib. Got a mean tackle.”

The realization seemed to give her a bit of peace. We sat there for several more minutes, neither wanting to say the next thing and neither wanting to have to decide for the other. But I was losing sunlight. And no doubt, I’d be losing more if I stayed here any longer. After a moment I decided. “.... So. You busted up my leg, now you owe me. Do me a favor here, yeah, and I’ll do my best to forget our little scuffle here.”

The statement caught her off guard, her eyes immediately narrowing and her posture tensing. I carried on, leaning away from the shelving as I attempted to put weight on my busted limb only to nearly crumple. My hands barely caught myself.  “Think you could get me to my car? I can drive with one foot, but... Getting there and in it, might be rough. It's the tan van out there by the pumps. The... Not broken pumps.”

It was a simple request. A test of the waters. Frankly, it was a ludicrous amount of trust I was putting in this starving snake. She could break my neck and eat me for all I knew, not that there’d be much of a meal. But the way she looked at me, the soft relief that filed away behind those big red eyes. She cautiously slithered over to me and I extended an arm. Her head carefully slipped under my right arm and settled my hand on her shoulder, one hand tentatively holding my wrist and the other around my waist. And just like that, it’d become clear. We’d been at one another’s throats because we’d both seen a threat. Then we’d both steadied our hands because neither wanted to kill anymore. It was a strange thought and an even stranger sight, to see her carefully maneuver to help me hobble out of here.

As she helped me out to the parking lot, hopping on my one good leg, we scooted over towards my car. It was a large beige van that I’d refurbished over time, looking relatively normal save for the heavy-duty bumper protectors I’d installed on the front, along with the hood having a bit of extra metal I’d salvaged from an old ADVENT cruiser. Just in case some idiots tried to pop my engine while I was going somewhere or making a get away. May not hold up under withering gunfire, especially not plasma fire, but it’d eat a few shots. She helped me all the way to the side where I leaned against the car after a moment.

I grabbed the big sliding door and swung it open. The inside was stocked up with various foraging supplies and outfitted with a jury rigged portable charger. Kept my portable devices well powered and even gave me a way to charge my own battery in the field. Among the various tools and supplies were a few open crates and gas cans. I pulled away from her and sat on the van’s floor, grunting as I looked down at my leg. I pulled my pocket knife from the pants pocket and gently pulled the blade out to begin to cut away the fabric. The pants were already ruined on this side. As I pulled it away, I found the damage that’d been done. The knee joint was completely out of place, the thigh piece was nearly in an S shape and the calf was looser than untied shoelaces.

A soft sigh escaped me as I stared at it, going to lean back into my truck and grab a small tool kit that I saved for this exact situation.

Well not viper related, per se, but in case of limb destruction.

I pulled the pants up the last half inch I needed to find the connecting plate and promptly went about disconnecting it. I had exactly One spare leg. And it was at home. But this one was kaput either way, but it might still be salvaged for pieces and repairs if any of it still was in decent shape. As I pulled the leg off, the Viper never moved, watching in fascination. I eyed her a couple times, even asked her for a helping talon once to keep a wire from twisting on me. Eventually, the leg came off, leaving me with an exposed connector’s plate and warped limb. I tossed it into the back of the van before looking at her.

“.... So.” I began once more, catching her attention as she had begun glancing around the insides of my car. “Do you have anywhere to go? Anyone you’re trying to find or meet?”

She said nothing, looking away down the road, as if trying to decide if there even was an answer. I scratched at my chin, feeling the scruff. “.... You’ll die out here, you know.” She whipped around to glare at me, as if to say ‘I know that’. “No food for miles that’s not wildlife. And without a gun... and in your condition. Maybe a week. Two, if any of those rations I spied have actual food in them.” The glare hardened only to start to wet as she turned away in a huff, head low as she slithered back to the gas station.

Good job, prick. Only sentient thing you’ve talked to in the last five months and you made her cry. Only an alien that’s not killed you on sight and you put a gun in her face, told her she was going to perish and explained how it was going to happen. I grimaced at the thoughts, moving my hand from my chin to the back of my neck. I felt something bubbling in my chest, a painful ache that only grew as I watched her slink back to the door, staring at the now blatant opening. You can prevent it, you know.

I felt my heart skip a beat at the thought. A hundred different scenarios ran through my mind and eventually, against my better judgement, I called out. “You can come with me, if you’ve nothing else.”

I saw her whole body stiffen and jerk upright. My own body tensed on instinct, seeing what little muscle she had prepared to either sprint away or turn to lunge.  “Or stay here. I certainly am not in any condition to make you do one way or another. I got a plot of land I’ve been living on the past couple years. Got a garden, some basic crops, and a good dozen chickens. It’s not a big place, but it’s a lotta work for one cripple.”

I spoke, as if trying to convince myself more than her. I couldn’t place exactly why or what I was offering. Maybe it was adrenaline still filtering my thoughts, maybe it was my inability to go a day without slipping into my memories like a kind of reverse amnesiac. Maybe I was just lonely. In truth, there was only one fact that stayed with me more than anything. Killing wasn't my job or duty anymore.

She turned and stared at me. And then slithered a bit closer. And then closer still. She moved until she was standing well above my head. Had it not been for the slowly wearing adrenaline causing my now aching body to become racked with exhaustion minute by minute, I might’ve been grabbing for my pistol again. “Why.” Was her single, rasped word.

“Starving to death is a rotten way to die.” Was my plain answer, though not exactly my reasoning. Not that I even knew. “You might be an alien. You might be something that I fought and killed people around me. But that’s not a good way to go out. And as I said before... You didn’t kill me. You had the upper hand, even now you still do. But instead of fighting me, you chose to go back to surviving.”

I could see the cogs grinding away in her mind as she seemingly chewed on the thought. “..... How far?”

“Hour by car, maybe two if night hits.” I replied.

“What want in return...?” She snapped back.

“Don’t kill me and do a handful of chores everyday for the food and room I’m going to offer you.” I calmly offered in return. “That’s a start, at least.”

“Is some resistance trick? Xcom waiting? Are you scout?” She finally accused, jabbing my chest with a pointed finger hard enough I winced.

“I had my fist in your throat and a gun to your face, if I wanted to have killed you I would have.” I said firmly, grabbing her hand and gently shoving it back to her chest. “I’m done killing, snake. You or anyone else that I don’t have to. Unless you intend to fight me to the death, I’m just as happy to leave you here as I am to offer you a chance at living your life.”

She glared at the words I ended with, but her eyes slowly softened. “.... Don’t call me that.” She managed to get out, softly spoken. “Call what said before. Numbers. Less... degrading.”

“So is that a yes then....Twenty-Two, was it?” I asked, swinging my still attached leg into the van. She looked down and away. “..... You got twenty minutes to pack your things and get inside. And if you find anything in plastic wrapping with colorful wording on it, bring it here.”

She canted her head at me in a quizzical way. “If you do, I promise you the best damn meat stew you’ll ever have.” That seemed more than enough to spark an interest, moving slightly faster than before. Even as I watched her wiggle away, I felt a sense of ease growing through the building anxiety. This was either how I died or at least saved one more weary soul. Both are preferable options to my false limbs getting me killed. At least this way, I might have someone to watch my back.

Might . Assuming she’s even staying in the morning, if she’s even there in the morning. For all I know she could just steal food and water and leave without hurting me. Not the worst interaction, I suppose. Better than dying. Better than killing her.

As I scooted through my van to find my way onto my driver’s seat, I saw through the passenger window the Viper dragging a small foot locker and her duffle bag over. The locker made an audible clank as it landed in the back, sliding back to the far wall before the duffle bag was thrown in and Twenty-Two slid into the rear, her whole form gliding up like some kind of watery magic trick. She clearly eyed me with some amount of disdain and plenty of distrust. Brave of her, really, even considering this as an option, much less doing it.

I turned my head and pointed to the door. “Slide that into place and we’ll be off. If you think you can fit up front, you’re welcome to the passenger seat. Maybe slide it all the way back....?” I offered as I grabbed my keys, the handful of metal and trinkets clattering loudly as I pulled them from their hidden compartment in the roof and jammed them into the ignition. It was that same point where I went to look in the rear view and nearly jumped out of my skin as I saw two massive red eyes peering at me from it. My head turned quickly to see her nose to nose with me. “..... Uhm....”

I felt the wet fleck of spittle hit my nose as her tongue whipped in and out, tasting the air around me. My nose scrunched up before she seemingly relaxed. “.... You smell... Earthy. Like plants, dirt.”

A statement that made me relax in turn. Not by much, considering there was a, god knows how heavy, tube of scale and muscle sniffing me. Licking at me? “... Thanks.” I turned and offered her a hand, the gesture almost lost on her before she seemingly remembered human customs and timidly took it. “The name’s Gustave. You can call me Gus.”

“.... G... Goose... Tahv?” Was her soft reply, miming the word without speaking it again a few times, clearly realizing she’d not gotten it right. I raised an eyebrow and without much warning, a chuckle bubbled up from my throat and a warmth crossed my mind.

“Goose, huh? Now that’s a nickname I’ve not heard in a long while...”

Chapter Text

I didn’t know what the mission was for, or didn’t remember. I didn’t even remember how I’d gotten there. I was laying in a pool of a Muton’s and my own viscera. He’d torn off one of my legs, followed by stomping on the other. Ruined my hip, lower spine and wouldn’t have stopped there if I didn’t jam a grenade into the open space of his missing mask. My arm disappeared  then, gone with most of the skin and muscle, maybe even some bone. My head only survived because my other arm covered it, facial scars notwithstanding. I’d blacked out after the blast, I barely have the memory of waking up in a medical bay only, what felt to me, moments later. Must’ve been hours, if not days.... There were so many tubes.

I jerked in place, startling the Viper that’d been dozing behind me. I looked left and right, checking my mirrors, then the rearview. The backroad, off the highway. Despite myself, I’d recognize the debris that was scattered along the area. There was no missing it, the broken down sedan missing its entire front with two skeletons bifurcated within. The myriad of military vehicles that I’d salvaged for spare parts, reducing them to shells of themselves. Finally, the massive wooden sign that spoke more fear to those without the know. “CHRYSSALID NEST” with a hastily painted skull and crossbones. Universal signal of death.

It was all fake, nowadays at least.

But my passenger must’ve noticed, feeling my jacket suddenly become strained as I turned my head to look at her. Her eyes tracked the sign as we drove past, head slowly turning to look at me, asking the silent question. When our eyes met I let out a sigh. “It’s false.” I said plainly. “Or at least it is now. That’s from the initial invasions, years ago. The sign just never got taken down because no one knew if it was really safe out here, eventually no one was around to care. I never took it down because it keeps folks out.”

The van listed, feeling myself shift in my seat with the somewhat sharp turn I’d taken, making the Viper grip my arm even tighter as she slid behind me. “Easy there. I might not have flesh and bone under these coat sleeves, but I’m not totally impenetrable. You made that clear.” I half joked, earning me a resounding silence. “..... Not much of a giggler, are you?”

Silence. My vision shifted back to the road with a bit of exasperated breath escaping through my nose.

“Or a conversationalist. Cool... Cool cool...” I muttered to myself. I felt something shifting again, taking my eyes off of the road one more time to see her idly squeezing my mechanical bicep through my sleeve. I raised an eyebrow and she must’ve sensed my gaze as her hands snapped backwards, fingers curling into themselves as she held her hands at her chest. “... If you’re curious, you can... Y’know. Ask. I know you can talk.”

Her eyes turned away, head and neck following afterwards as her posture shifted to hold onto the passenger seat instead. An intense crunch and a sudden jolt of the van stole my attention back to the road, veering in place with a faint screech of tires. My gaze snapping to the mirrors on the side. A grunt escaped me as I hit the brakes and halted the van. “God damn it.... Not again...” I mumbled, cranking the shift into park, turned off the car and rolled down my window. I pulled myself partially out, squinting to see if I was right.  I couldn’t make it out very well from where I was, in this dim sunlight, everything had been cast into shadows from the trees and wrecks.

As I sat back inside, I opened my door and felt two things wrong with this situation. The first was the fact that I was missing one of my legs. I didn’t even have anything to carry myself around with and I sure as hell wasn’t going to risk reattaching the busted up limb I’d removed. It’d be more a burden than a help. The second was the ever growing worry in my new passenger’s eyes. I calmly raised up a metal hand, waving it to get her attention. “Oy, don’t worry.... I just... I just hit an animal, is all. I’m gonna go make sure it's dead. And if there’s anything salvageable from it, I’ll butcher what I can and bring it with us.”

That seemed to catch her attention. Dead animal and butchery seemed to both be words that triggered an instinct. I saw the hood of the viper seemingly wave in place. It reminded me similarly to watching a manta ray back in the aquarium. And just like that my mind started to feel hazy, even as I watched my limbs start to move and my own voice said words I didn’t quite hear.

Ma took me into the city to see the local aquarium exhibit. I always loved the sea, but I never learned how to swim, I was always terrified. Big boned and tall, I felt that I was a stone waiting to be dropped in. Despite that, I always adored the fish and creatures within. I especially loved the eels, the way they moved any direction they wanted never failed to make me smile. I wonder if the cities the Advent put up have zoos or aquariums? Probably not with the sudden purge of most animal life.

I blinked hard, watching the Viper sift through my belongings along the meager containers and shelves I’d mounted to the walls of my van. My arm was extended, pointing to the back wall. The words came back to me as I returned to my own mind. Licking my lips, I restated. “Uh, sorry. Not that wall, the back back. The storage on the floor. There’s a collapsible crutch in there and a heavy duty sack that should be mostly clean.”

The viper diligently listened to the command, slithering to the back of the van and faster than even I could find it, she pulled out both of the requested items. Slipping over, she passed them to me quickly, as if I’d just told her we were going to Disneyland. I nearly slipped away again had it not been for that soft, rasping voice of hers that returned after the last hour and a half of traveling. “...E-Eat?”

I looked at her as I undid the locks and reassembled the crutch in my lap. “.... Eat- oh, the carcass out there?” She nodded rapidly. “Well... Yeah, we’re gonna eat it, if it’s any good at least. I gotta go and check it out, make sure there’s no parasites on it and that the bowels weren’t ruptured...”

“Check! Check fast!” She hastily spoke, grabbing at my seat and gently shaking it. It really only occurred to me after a moment's annoyance that she was still likely starved. Her eyes glimmered like gemstones at me as she thought about the food. The only reason she wasn’t out there herself was because I’d locked the doors. The soft rattling of the sliding door had not gone unnoticed as I saw her tail tip curled around the handle, jerking it hastily but gently enough to leave it unbroken.

“... Right... Right, alright. If you’ll give me a moment, I’ve only got one leg you know....” I grumbled, though my annoyance wasn’t at her any longer, but my own inability. The more we interacted the more I felt myself looking at her far and away less like the monster I knew and fought and more just like the desperate soul she was in the moment. Almost like a stray dog. My mind went to buck again as I felt my foot land on the ground with a rattle of metal. The crutch came around and out and I started hobbling towards the corpse.

I heard the frantic skittering in the back as I saw her nose poking out the driver’s side door causing me to turn in place and wave a hand at her to get back in. “Other way! The other way, S-...Er... Twenty-Two! I’ll unlock the door, damn it!” I hollered, making her flinch partially before sliding back in. I beeped the keyfob in my hand, hearing the doors unlock with that dull click. And it was like one of those prank boxes, the door sliding open and out popping a near twenty foot long snake. She was shockingly graceful as she came out, hurrying after me as I made my way to the body.

It was just a wild buck. A healthy one too, though a bit on the smaller side. My lips turned to a frown as I looked at its wrung neck, twisted completely around and both antlers cracked and broken in multiple places. Its ribs were sunken in as well, meaning I hit it while its head was likely down. It must’ve been grazing and then, as the saying goes, ‘Deer in Headlights’. My idle thoughts were cut short as I heard something coiling up behind me, a deep guttural hiss slipping into the air. Skin crawled and instincts told me that a predator was getting ready to pounce, even causing my hand to slowly move to the utility knife on my belt. My head turned to see, what I assumed to be a great snake bearing down on me, but rather was just a large serpent staring intensely at the body.

She wasn’t even looking at me. She wasn’t even trying to go after it. She was waiting, and rather patiently at that. Restraint was evident on her face as I figured she’d likely not seen this kind of thing before, if she was a soldier after all, much less a policing unit. No doubt, a part of her mind was contemplating what was safe to eat, given what I’d said before exiting. I wiggled my nose. “.... You got any strength left in you?” I asked, snapping her from her own mind this time. At my words, and the assumed implications, she hurriedly nodded. “Well, do me a favor then, it’s already been a minute, I gotta skin and gut this thing before the bowels start leaking into the rest, just in case I ruptured something in there.”

“Then... eat?” She asked, hope and urgency coating each word. I quietly chewed on my lip. And then nodded.

“Yeah. Help me get this thing cleaned and I’ll cut you off a heavy chunk right here and now, just for you.” The moment the word ‘You’ had left my lips, she zipped past me like she’d done in that gas station, that incredible speed making me flinch. She’d grabbed the buck by its hind legs and hoisted it up right into the air. Her arms trembled some, but it was clear desperation and hunger were fueling her plenty. “Oh jeez, not..! Twenty-Two, a lil lower! I have to sit, y’know? I just needed you to help me maneuver it!”

There was an awkward silence as I saw the deer slowly lower to the ground, though the viper behind it didn’t reappear. Was that embarrassment...? I shook my head, I didn’t have time to think about it. I slid down my crutch until my butt hit the ground and pulled my knife from my belt. I’d done this plenty of times helping out the cooks as a soldier, it was near second nature. I had to skip the skinning part for now. I could trim it up later. A clean slice here and a small cut there was all it took, the sound of guts plopping onto the asphalt made my grimace only more unpleasant, though evident the smell of the fresh blood only titillated my companion by the sounds I was hearing. I peeked around the corpse to see the viper with its eyes screwed shut and mouth so firmly shut I could’ve sworn her lips had pulled themselves inward.

Soft puffs of hissing air escaped the nostrils on her snout, hood quivering with anticipation. Now I felt bad. “Uh... I need you to keep that thing aloft for just a few more minutes, but uh...” I looked down at the gut sack, carefully cutting just a small opening in it. The organs were still good. The liver might not be a bad start. I cut a healthy looking lump from the organ before carefully bringing it around. “Here. Don’t eat my hand or nothin’, but this might ti-”

While my metal limbs had no actual feeling in them, they had sensors to tell me when I was touching something and give me a handful of indicators. So as I watched that big yellow head snap over my hand with the meat held in its palm, I was mentally blasted with the same sensory overload from when I crammed my hand into her gullet. “........ Tide you over.” I finished, watching her pull her head back off of my hand, leaving a mix of spittle and gore squished into the folds of my rubber and metal hand.

The swallow that followed sent a repulsed shiver down my spine. I figured she could eat raw, but a part of me had hoped they could at least.... Chew somehow. I guess any teeth beside their fangs hadn’t been given. At least none I saw, though I hadn’t looked very hard. Her eyes trained back on me, tongue flicking out rapidly as her pupils dilated in my direction. “.... Keep that deer up for just a few more minutes and all the organs are yours... Deal?” A yellow blur of a nod was my answer. My thoughts pulled me away again as I tersely and quickly went about cleaning the deer, occasionally pausing to toss a lump of ruined meat or organ to the viper assisting me.

Biology was always my worst class. I hated dissections. It was always frogs, rats or something else small and defenseless. My teacher assured the class none of these creatures suffered, but it really didn’t help. Always before lunch.... Most of my peers didn’t seem bothered. They always made me cut them up. Told me my handwriting was too terrible to take the notes. That my hands were steadier than theirs. While they weren’t wrong, I resented that fact.

Before I realized it, I’d chopped up the carcass well enough that it’d started to finally get dark. Haunches, steaks, flanks and whatever else I could scrounge from the corpse I piled into the bag we’d brought, the now bloody sake dripping occasionally with what little blood got taken with. Thankfully, atop this unintentional haul, the viper before me looked.... Pleased? Happy? Certainly lethargic. She had a visible lump that was where her stomach started, I assumed at least if she was at all similar to earthly serpents. She’d certainly had a feast for herself, consuming every bit of flesh I deemed ill fit for consumption, eating almost every organ save for the intestines and a few others. “Feeling better?” I asked, getting back onto my crutch. A slow nod was what followed. “Good. I’m glad. Means when we get home, you can get right to bed, yeah...? Do me a favor and take up that bag and put it in the passenger seat. I don’t want it dripping onto any electronics back there.”

She lazily nodded, slithering over to grab the bag. She occasionally had to pause, putting a hand over her mouth before continuing on. A soft puff of air escaped my lips. “I told you you were eating too fast....” I scolded, wagging a finger at her as she didn’t even deign to give me a response.

As I got back into the car, turning it on and settling in, I turned to see the Viper having immediately curled into a semi-circle, stretching out so her stomach wasn’t squished and she could still lay on the tip of her tail. Her eyes were dozing off, even as the car began to move. It was... endearing. I had to stop myself, shaking my head hard and quietly slapping my face with a bloodied, metal hand. A mistake I immediately regretted. I was going to have a nasty bruise tomorrow, my own hiss of displeasure mutely escaping my lips.

She’s a goddamn ADVENT soldier, you twit. Just because she’s placated right now doesn’t mean she’s not dangerous. Remember what Pa always said. ‘A Lion’s only tame for as long as you feed it’. A soft sigh whittled down my ever depleting energy. Maybe Pa was right. Maybe my heart is too soft.

The rest of the ride was quick, shocking enough. No beasts or alien critters sprung from the shadows tonight. No bandits either. Not even a stray traveler. Which was good. I didn’t want to have to explain the massive serpent with a full gut in my back seat and a bag full of raw meat. As we got to my humble home, I found the place as I’d left it. A one story building with a cellar and what could only very generously be called an attic, though really it was not more than a storage space with just enough room for ventilation and whatever boxes I put up there.

Beside it was a simple looking barn on the smaller side of things. It was really more like a garage, for what I used it for, though I did use its space to store animal food occasionally and whatever else I needed to keep rain off of. Among other things, it held a lot of important tools and machines. Not least of which was something I’d been maintaining for the better half of my time surviving since arriving at this little abandoned homestead. I cranked the car into park again, turning off the engine. I left the lights on, if only because it was properly dark now and turned in my seat to find the viper still cozily passed out. I felt bad thinking about waking her up, but what other choice did I have?

I grunted and leaned around the driver’s seat, going to plant a hand on her scales, blinking as I felt words flit across my mind. Smooth. Soft. Tough. Like hard leather. I thought. I knew what scales felt like, at least from memory. Regardless, my touch alone didn’t seem to wake her. She must’ve truly been dead to the world. Or.... I blinked, a shock of worry crossing my mind. I shifted harder in my seat, twisting and using my one leg to stretch myself over the console to give the snake a hearty slap on her, what I assumed to be, hip. The action alone barely caused her to stir. A low, moaning hiss escaped into the air. A relief washed over me.

“.... I fucking told you. Stomach ache. Figures....” I sighed. Grabbing my crutch, I didn’t really have many options. If the viper wasn’t going to get out of the car, I only had a few options. One was to leave her here, the other was to force her awake somehow and the last was to just get started on my nightly chores and see if she’s awake by then. I chose the last option, going to throw the door open, taking the keys with me. I left the doors unlocked so if she woke up, she could at least go about getting herself situated. My first point of interest was to get my other leg and get myself back to bipedal status. I began to hobble towards the barn with a string of grumblings following me.

Chapter Text

Pain.

That was the first thought that ran through the viper’s mind as she slowly woke up. Her eyes were screwed shut as she clutched at her belly, whimpering quietly to herself. The human had told her multiple times to steady herself, but each time he threw a chunk of meat to the side, she simply couldn’t help it. It was the best thing she’d had since being disconnected from ADVENT. As one eye slowly creaked open, she began to remember where she was. The dull grey interior of the vehicle greeted her, along with the myriad of boxes and shelved crates that were bungied in place. The scent of something new crossed both her nose and her tongue as she slowly came to rise. It smelled.... Earthy. More than the human did. Looking around the vehicle, she noticed it was empty of anyone else. The bag of meat was still there, though the thought of going for any more made her stomach churn with displeasure. It was already fighting to keep her massive meal tucked inside.

Weeks of eating nothing but nutrient paste and calorie sticks hadn’t exactly prepared her for a properly hearty meal. A soft rise in her throat made her clasp a hand over her muzzle and force several heavy swallows to keep everything down. Water. Water would help immensely. Noticing that the door to the driver’s side was open, she turned and tested the sliding side door. It clicked open with no issue, allowing her to finally escape out into the world. She stretched just enough to release some tension in her body and looked around the land. The place was extremely- the word eluded her. Humble, that was it. At least compared to some of the homes she’d raided before in her memory.

A quiet frown laced her lips as she shook thoughts of people screaming and resisting her. She hated it, in hindsight. The sights made her shiver, thinking of how they must’ve felt. Their only sanctuary, invaded, ruined and taken away from it. She usually never saw those prisoners again. The cool air brought her back, forcing a small shiver from her whole body. Her head lifted to look around, switching between the darkened household and the illuminated barn. The sound of metal on metal clattering, followed by the soft voice that was slowly becoming more and more familiar.

Sliding across the earth, she slithered over to the open door to hear the man that’d brought her along. It occurred to her that the man seemed rather unperturbed by her presence. Wary, surely, but there wasn’t an ounce of fear in his scent. Though that might’ve been because he smelled of earth, plants, oil and metal mixed with that leather jacket of his. Eyes blinking at the sudden brightness, she poked her head in, finding him sitting on a stool and currently trying to reattach a limb. That was right. He had false limbs. But now that she’d gotten a good look at him, it was even more clear why his scent was so bizarre.

Going from top to bottom, the man had dark scraggly long, wavy hair that curled at the ends. The mop mostly covered his face, shadowing the stubble growing along his chin and the pale amber of his eyes. His face, from what she could see with his hair in the way, was scarred quite heavily along one side going down to his neck. He’d removed the heavy leather long coat and the hoodies garment beneath he’d been wearing, along with the gloves leaving him in a filthy, formerly white, T-shirt that clung to his body and loosely hung from his very mechanical limbs. Each one metal, arms and legs, all the way up to his shoulders and hips. He’d removed his trousers that he’d torn at the gas station, the ruined garments tossed into a nearby metal barrel leaving only a pair of very loose undergarments covering his waist, though one of the sleeves was pulled up to reveal the port he was trying to socket his new leg into.

“God Dammit all! Of all the nights you choose to be finicky, it’s the one with a fucking viper sleeping in my van!?” He growled at the limb, holding it up and shaking it violently in front of himself for a few seconds. He laid it across his other leg, hand coming up to rub at his pale face, pulling his hair back as his digits traveled upwards. He looked so weary and even perhaps a little sad? His brow was deeply furrowed and in this light, she could more easily see the scarring. Clear shrapnel covered from where she could see his throat start all the way up to where his left ear would have been. A metal plate was there instead, seemingly permanently affixed.

Realization started to dawn on her, old training videos and debriefs filling her mind from the past. She remembered hearing about it through rumors and whispers among her sisters, stories told from their heavily modified units. The ‘Thin Men’ as they’d been dubbed by humanity.

Mechanized Infantry . Though in this case, she was not thinking of the APC’s and weapon mounted vehicles, but rather those of the X-com forces, and her own people’s, that’d chosen to have their bodies altered to be able to operate and control massive mechanical bodies, often outfitted with extremely heavy equipment and weapons. Her heart began to race once more. X-Com. He had to have been an X-com soldier to have this much augmentation, even more to the point that his limbs were detachable and replaceable. The pounding in her chest had begun to move to her mind, doing nothing to hold her dinner within her. The rise in her gorge was barely contained as just so briefly, words flashed into her mind.

“I’m done killing, snake. Unless you intend to fight me to the death, I’m just as happy to leave you here as I am to offer you a chance at living your life.”

A chance. Done killing. Her heart slowed as she tried to think on this with what little she had to go on. Her head peeked in a bit more, looking around the barn as she did her best to make no noise. Though she didn’t really have to try very hard to make herself quiet, the man was cursing and clattering enough on his own that she could’ve sneezed and he’d not have heard. Nothing caught her eye outside of a few piles covered by tarps and a lot of what looked like straw bales stacked near the back, neatly tucked away in the corner. No technical equipment, no massive mechanical bodies to pilot.

Pulling herself out, she took a huge breath of fresh air, slowly, to calm herself. If he was a former X-Com he wasn’t nearly as aggressive or intimidating as she’d assumed they’d be. As it exited, she glanced around the place again.

In the moonlight, between her proper vision and her heightened sense of smell, she could pick up a few different things. The smell of upturned soil coupled with a bit of an acrid odor could have been this ‘Garden’ he spoke of, turning her head to look at the sight of a few budding plants beside fully grown ones, at least she assumed they’d grown. Quiet clucking and the occasional quiet crowing came from what she could only assume was one of these ‘Chickens’ he’d spoken of, another turn of her head allowed her to spot a small structure that had a small door on the front along with an elongated box attached to the side. A handle on top made her think it was a secondary way to get in, but that it made no sense for a human’s anatomy. Maybe the chickens were more sentient than she assumed?

Finally, she turned and squinted, looking around. A long, thin wired fence stretched along the sides, creating a border. Very poor defenses. If he were to get raided by ADVENT, or even other humans, this would not be very good cover or even deterrent. A single vehicle could obliterate this obstruction and allow everyone in. Will need to fix that.

That thought startled her briefly. Fix it? In her mind, that implied she was going to stay here. Before the thought could get any farther, she felt a hand tap her on the side. The speed at which she spun, baring fangs and claws, would have been enough to scare off the toughest of resistance officers and grunts, though those meager terrorists weren’t anything compared to the X-Com units often endured in her experience. This man, much to her assumptions, was no different. He was standing on his own now, in his undergarments and shirt with his coat over his shoulder and a raised eyebrow. “Good to see a viper can recover from a bellyache faster than a person. Were it me, I’d be bitching all evening.”

He had some kind of tool in his hand that came to a sharpened point. A screwdriver, though an old manual one. His lax nature no doubt came from the idea he’d at least have a chance of escaping her, should she have chosen to attack him. The thought soured in her mind, her posture deflating as her lips sealed, fangs tucked and lowered herself until she was eye level with him. She should say something. An apology, perhaps? No that really wouldn’t do. Without much thought, as she saw his lips start to open. Quickly, she turned her head and pointed. “Fence. Bad. Weak.” Her throat ached with each word.

Being dehydrated and then the coarse, sharp edges of the man’s mechanical fist had really hurt her vocals, even eating earlier had been a major discomfort. Had her gluttony not spurred her on, she likely wouldn’t have eaten through it so easily. His eyes blinked, brow furrowing as his vision followed her finger. Her eyes turned back to him, though she kept her arm extended. She saw his eyes flicking from point to point along the fence before she saw the corners of his lips twitching upward. “It’s not bad for its purpose, Twenty-Two. It’s just meant to keep other animals out of my land and stop them from eating my chickens.” He explained, looking back up to her.

She felt her hand slowly lower. “... N.. .Not... For defense?” She asked, tilting her head as his own shook.

“Not at all. I don’t have a reason to put up a whole barricade. Too many resources needed, too much work, too much maintenance. If I need cover, my home and barn can do that well enough. Besides, I got plenty of metal odds and ends I could shove against walls for protection in a pinch.” He explained further. His hand went to drum against his metal leg, briefly shifting his jaw. “But enough of that. You look like shit, and no doubt need your rest. You’re not going to be back at full strength for at least a week, maybe two, but I know a few easy recipes that’ll be good for your gut and fill you out.”

“F... Fill... out?” She rasped. A nod followed as he began to walk around and away from her towards the building.

“It means to put some muscle and weight back on you. You’re practically skin and bones right now.” His voice, his tone, his scent. Everything about the man spoke volumes of calmness. Perhaps the fight they’d gone through made her seem less of a threat. A thought that bristled her pride and made her shoulders straighten. But as she looked down over herself, how boney she’d become.... Maybe he had the right to consider her less than a threat. Her posture promptly slackened. His voice carried again, drawing her head up. “Oy, scales. Are you coming inside or are you gonna book it off into the grasslands?”

She blinked. And then blinked again. With hesitancy and caution she slid forward, following him towards the porch and then up into the house, watching all the while as he unlocked and swung the door in. Lights were clicked on, shoes were taken off and his coats hung up. He held up a hand to her to make her stop as she began to enter. A dreaded feeling started to bubble up before he reached out of sight. And then produced a long, rectangular cloth. It was a faded series of colors that vaguely resembled what she recognized as a ‘Beach’ from memory. He held it out to her, an expectant look on his face. Timidly, she took it.

“Wipe off your uh.... Belly? Tail? If you see dirt or much on you, brush and wipe it off, yeah? It’s not the prettiest of homes, but I wanna keep it clean. Once you’re done with that, come on inside and be sure you lock the door as you do.” He said, giving her a small wave. His eyes stayed on her for a moment as he walked away before he fully turned to head into an open area of the building, turning on more lights as he went. “Oh and turn off the lights in that hallway when you’re done! Switches are on your left!”

Twenty-Two was shocked. Was she just suddenly a tenant? A guest? A sheer discomfort bubbled in her stomach. This was too good to be real, the previous handful of humans that’d found her were either just normal civilians living on the outskirts who screamed and wailed or resistance fighters who tracked her down, yelling about boots and coats. Her lips began to tremble as she looked at the ratty towel. Could this truly be real? Was this just some greater awful scheme? To lower her defenses only to torture and hurt her as some kind of revenge plot? She couldn’t bear the thought, fists curling and balling the cloth in her hands before she felt something dripping down her face.

Ah. She was leaking from her eyes again. Crying? That’s the word. Humans did that a lot when she was arresting them. Was this what they felt every time? This terrible, awful gut wrenching emotion? She couldn’t help but feel herself start to sink into the floor until she hit the side of the door frame. The sound must’ve alerted the human as she heard a set of steps come back down the hallway before they picked up in pace. This was it. He must’ve realized she’d caught onto him. She was already so tired, so exhausted from the previous struggle. Her belly ached, her throat stung, her head pounded. Even if she did fight back, it’d simply prolong whatever was in store for her. At least the meal she had before was at least bountiful, even if it now sat like rocks grinding in her stomach. She prayed that it would be quick and painless.

“O-Oy? Oy, you alright there-” His voice paused, she couldn’t take it. She didn’t want to see what he might’ve had. And when she felt that cool metal press against her shoulder, she flinched and flinched hard, curling into herself. “H... Hey, easy there, look, there’s nothing in my hands.”

She didn’t want to risk it, eyes locked onto the colorful cloth. It wasn’t until she saw a set of metal digits coming around into view, empty, that she felt even a tiniest spark of hope drip into her mind. Her eyes slowly tracked his hand to his wrist, then his arm, eventually settling on his chest where she saw his other hand, also empty. Her eyes listed away from him, looking down towards his feet, or rather the pedals that acted as feet, and all that was there was what looked like an old shirt, splayed out and open with a series of pearly buttons along its open seam. “Twenty-Two?” his voice cut through the air, near a whisper. What was that in his tone? Concern? Worry?

Hesitantly, eyes blurry with moisture, she slowly looked up at him to see a furrowed brow and a frown but no anger behind his eyes. Her lips quivered again. It had to be a trick. There wasn’t a possibility in her mind that this human before her actually cared about her. And yet.... A metal hand came up as he slowly rose. “Sorry for startling you, I uhm... Forget that these things are frigid at the best of times.” His digits wiggled as he spoke of them. “Look, if you don’t feel safe here, I’ll get you a bag and some things to go off with. I got plenty of bug out bags that’re just laying around empty.”

She swallowed dryly, looking down at the cloth. She knew liars. She dealt with them often. Their hearts beat faster, their skin moistens, a very specific odor escaped them as they spoke mistruths. And yet still. She wet her throat as best she could before speaking up. “Why.... Helping?” 

The question seemed to almost strike him. Like it itself had weight and had reminded him of why he was here, hand out and home offered. His hand clenched and unclenched as he grasped for the answers. His eyes searched her for a moment before that vaguely distant look crossed his face. It unnerved her each time she’d seen it so far, but it did not seem.... Cruel. It seemed lost. Like he’d suddenly walked into a fog and couldn’t decide where he was. His back straightened and the hand came up to scratch at his chin, thinking.

Eventually, he blinked hard and his hand ran up to his scalp to scratch. “Look, Twenty-Two. I’m not going to bullshit you. I’ve fought against ADVENT most of my life. As you probably already assumed, I’m not full of metal just because I like the stuff. But you don’t seem like ADVENT. Or at least, not anymore.”

He crouched down, squatting quick enough she heard the whirl of the servos in his limbs. His elbows rested on his knees and he looked at her, squarely in the eyes. “Because right now, I don’t see some giant, man crushing serpent that wants to kill me. All I see is a desperate, weakened fellow who’s starving, thirsty and probably hasn’t had a good night’s rest in weeks. But I also know that I can’t make you stay. So... The choice is yours, if you want to have a roof and a hot meal in your belly for the next while, you’ll have to trust that I don’t have any harmful intentions. But if you don’t trust me, and it’s a lot of trust to give, I know.... I won’t stop you from leaving. All I’d ask is that you let me give you some stuff to at least keep you going for a time..”

Her head dipped down and back to the cloth. Her grip had loosened as he spoke. Food, shelter, even company was what he offered at the risk of her trust. Or she could continue as she is. No armor, no firearm, just her crate and duffle bag, both of which were too heavy for her to heave along now. Neither sounded entirely flawless or safe. And yet....

Her head tilted downward and she brought up the cloth, wiping her face with it before turning around to start hurriedly brushing away the dirt and mud that clung to her underside. When she was finished, she flowed upward and offered the cloth back to him. And in return a small, welcoming smile was given as he carefully folded the cloth over his arm. “Well then. Come on, I’ll show you the room you’ll be staying in. It’s not got a huge bed, I’m afraid, but I’ve got a couple of spare mattresses that were in storage in this house when I found it.... We can pull them out together, tomorrow, and get you set up comfortably.”

It took all of the effort she had, sliding into the house and carefully shutting the door before the Viper realized that she was so terribly tired. Exhausted, even. Her whole body was trembling, all the way down to her tail tip, like supports in a building starting to give way. The stress, the worry, and now that the choice had been made.... What was this? Relief? It felt so nice, even as she slid forward and hit the door. She didn’t even hear the man calling her name he’d given her as she slumped to the floor. 

Chapter Text

Two whole hours, that’s what it’d taken me. Two hours of figuring out how to drag a god knows how heavy twenty something foot long snake to the bedroom he was going to show her. It was a rather blank space, I’d removed most of the things within from the previous owners. Not gotten rid of, just in case they were still alive and came back, sitting comfortable in the attic. I’d gotten her into the room just fine, but getting her into the bed proved to be the real challenge. My limbs were meant to be as strong, if not more so, than I was before my augmentation, though it meant little in the case of this wiggling, deadweight tube of meat and scale that seemed to slip from my grasp no matter what I did. Frankly, I was shocked she hadn’t awoken during all of this commotion. She must’ve truly been exhausted to have collapsed like this.

It didn’t matter in the end as I’d gotten her into the bed easily enough, leaving most of her tail on the ground over the edge at the foot of the bed. Heaving my own breaths with exertion I didn’t know I was capable of with my mechanical limbs, I took a moment to study the viper for just a moment. It truly was odd, the choices that’d been made when they were created. A shapely body that in no small way resembled a person, a chest that, for all intents and purposes to the mind and eye, was distinctly womanly. But what caught my eye the most were the patches of missing scales across her body. At first I thought perhaps she was shedding, but closer inspection revealed puncture scars. Gunshots, most likely. A few others decorated her body, thin long ones, larger surface level ones. She’d clearly been through the wringer as some of them didn’t even seem that old. But I was assuming based off of human biology and recovery.

Regardless of my observations, it occurred to me that I shouldn’t just ogle in the dark at my now guest. Made me feel like a creep and I didn’t know how long she’d be staying here, but the less reasons I had to feel more guilt than I already did, the better. I went to the closet and pulled out a pair of blankets, tossing one over her form in the bed and awkwardly going to tuck the other under her large tail and wrap it around it like I was attempting to make the world's lamest, biggest snake burrito. A Snarrito. A Snurrio? A Snaito... All terrible. Terrible enough, in fact, that as I got to work tucking her in, I felt my mind slipping back to familiarity, much to my chagrin.

Thirteen years old, looking at my younger sister who was laying in her bed, tossing and turning. She had a terribly high fever at the age of five and Ma had told me to watch her carefully while she went to get the doctor and call my Pa. He’d been at work when she had collapsed in the kitchen. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. So I sat beside her, humming a song that Ma always hummed to me when I was sick. I hummed and changed the wet cloth on her head to keep her cool where it counted, wiping her neck down with a spare rag and making sure she didn’t pull the covers off. I remember praying it was just a nasty cold or a flu, something she could fight off. By the time Ma got back, I’d sang my throat raw, but my sister had long since stopped crying in her sleep and her fever had broken, if only slightly. I remember bawling my eyes out when the Doctor told me how good a job I did.

As I had returned to reality, I’d found myself sitting on the edge of the bed, very faintly humming a soft, familiar song. My eyes welled for a moment, the sudden thought of my sibling and where she might be hurt a part of my soul that’d not had a chance to surface in sometime. And here I was, feeling it return because of some damn serpent. I’d kept humming the soft tune, feeling the words and rhythm return to me after so very long. And it may’ve been my imagination, but the tune seemed to have helped the poor thing sleep. The weary expression she’d worn before had relaxed and now she was laying with her lips just slightly apart, tongue slipping out with each exhale. Standing up, feeling plenty like a creep now, I went to the door and closed it shut.

Time to go and scrub down and get to bed. Tomorrow’s going to be a long.... Long day.

Sleep did not come easily to me. No matter how long I laid there, eyes shut and head comfortably sandwiched between two pillows. I did eventually find myself dozing off, sleep almost no different from the times I found my mind slipping into memory. I recalled during the dream the doctor telling me about the condition, the white lab coat she wore while the engineer paced around, fascinated by the explanations.

“It seems that the trauma from both your extensive surgeries, augmentations and damage you sustained have all caused some very dramatic neurological anomalies. Ones, I wish I had explanations for, but I’m afraid I’m just as lost as you are, Mister Wylder. The best case, from what you’ve given us, is that your pre-existing condition of your Hyperthymesia may have been exacerbated by the trauma you received. You said that you’ve been slipping in and out of your memories? And yet, you function perfectly fine during these little mini-black outs. To me, it sounds almost like you’ve got a peculiar kind of dissociation mixed with post-traumatic stress disorder that causes you to experience these intense, near dementia-like symptoms... A brain scan did show that you do have some damage, but it’s all healing extremely well, all things considered. This is likely something that’ll go away with time and good mental exercises. I’ll schedule you for some appointments, but no missions for at least a month or so.”

It was non-stop puzzles, rubiks cubes, mazes, logic problems, anything to get my brain back into working order. And it helped, tremendously. It used to be constant in and out of my mind, but nowadays, it’s only when the nostalgia kicks in hard or particularly high stress. And usually, I can keep it at bay. Usually... The last day and a half really showed me that I’m not fully back together. This is what bothered me awake today. Might as well just get up and do my morning duties.

A shirt, some sweat pants to keep my limbs clean and double layered socks to keep my metal pads of feet from tearing apart my flooring and shoe soles. As I’d gotten myself prepared and walked out of my room, I heard the door creak across from me. And there, hiding in the dark of the room, a single beady red eye glanced at me. We stared at each other for a moment before I spoke. “.... Well good morning there, Sunshine.” The eye widened a touch. “Did you sleep well?”

The door started to open up and I saw her head slip out, about to speak some words before they seemingly caught in her throat and she made an exaggerated wet popping sound, turning her head away. I felt my face screw up into a mix of confusion and mild disgust before I realized what the issue may’ve been. “Ah, right, you’re probably really thirsty. Come with me, I’ll show you where the water is.”

I started my way down the hallway, hearing the door creak open the rest of the way and the sound of scales on wood panelling came after me. I led her to the kitchen, well stocked for the time being. I had plenty of veggies, even some fruit, some squashes and now, with what happened last night, plenty of meat to go along with it. I smiled, thinking about it. I did at least have that to thank her for, if not much else. I turned and raised a finger, about to speak when I saw that she’d not followed me beyond the corner of the hall, staring at me with a single eye once more. A slightly amused huff escaped me this time, a very faint smirk came and went as I went to the sink, patting it. “This house is hooked up to a well, so it’s self sufficient until that dries up, which likely won’t be anytime soon. Just in case, I put a filter on the pipes, so the water that comes out should be as clean as possible...”

Sliding away from it, I went to a cabinet and opened it up, grabbing one of the many random assorted glasses inside and filled it up. The soft clack of glass on the counter sounded as I set it down and slid it across the space towards my serpentine tenant. I leaned onto my elbows, watching her to see her next move. We stared at one another for some time, to the point I actually raised up a hand and rested my chin into it, tapping the rubber pads of my fingers against my cheek.

She must’ve realized I wasn’t going to just turn my back so she could take it without me noticing. She slid around the corner, hands pulled up to her chest nervously wringing them together. Right. Clothes, I forgot that last night after she’d collapsed. It had been on my list only to be stripped from memory. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait too long as she took up the glass and tentatively sipped at it. I watched as she tucked her snout into the glass, tilting it up so that the water lined with the small tongue hole in her lips, finishing off with a smack of her mouth to swallow whatever water hadn’t gone down. Really not beating the snake allegations. “Once you feel like you’re ready, I’m gonna make you a bit of a plain breakfast so your stomach won’t rebel against you again.” I started, going to walk the long way around the counter, to give her as much of a wide berth as she needed, heading back towards my room. “Ah, but wait there. I have some spare clothing you can wear.”

Going to freeze her tits off if she doesn’t bundle up. I humorously thought, a soft amused breath escaping me.

As I started to pass by, I felt something snag my shirt, tugging me back by the shoulder. I pivoted my head, feeling what skin I had left bristled and turned to gooseflesh as I found a snout inches from my nose. Had I been any weaker in my willpower, that was a non-zero chance I’d have brought my hand up in an uppercut that would’ve made any streetfighter proud. Her tongue flicked at me, wet with water, and threw specks of moisture onto my face that made my eye involuntarily twitch. Her eyes stared before she quietly looked away. And then in the opposite direction, slowly returning back to me. That hard stare had turned into something more resembling hesitation.

“.... Do.... Do you need something? Need the bathroom? It’s the first door here, actually....” I said, pointing to the door that was just a few steps away from me, posted on the wall of my room door. There was a hard shake of her head before she tensed her grip, balling up the fabric of my shirt. I really hoped her talons weren’t tearing holes in it.

“Okay, hungry? I told you I was going to make breakfast, I just need to get you some-” She shook her head again. She started to mime at me with her free hand though none of the wild gesticulations she made were anything that I understood. “Okay, stop.” I started, bringing up my hand to rest on hers, this action causing the Viper to tense up, head snapping to me and instantly retracting her hand from my shoulder. Her eyes were paper thin slits that I struggled to see. “Ah- right, sorry. I forgot my hands make you jumpy. They’re pretty cold...” I mumbled, briefly clicking my digits together. “Look, unless you use your words, I’m at a total loss here for you.... So... Can you tell me what’s the matter?”

She quietly shook her head. That was odd. She had no trouble speaking, or at least little trouble, yesterday. “Okay, let’s narrow it down. Not food, clothing, bathroom.... You just got some water and you know how to get more. Did you... Want to leave?” That question caught her, head shaking vigorously at me to my own shock. I had to hold up my hands and wave them at her to get her to halt it before she gave herself the spins. “Easy, easy, okay okay, you don’t have to go and don’t want to go, got it! Uh... What-”

I was cut off as she jabbed a finger at me. I tapped my chest. “Me?” And she nodded. “Okay. Me. Me what?”

She scanned the room before pointing to the hallway, more specifically towards the room. “.... Me and your room... Me an- Oh. Yeah, I put you there last night after you collapsed. Gave me a bit of a fright, to be honest.... Thought all of that deer meat I gave you was going to have gone to waste.” I joked much to the bemusement of the viper. Though that seemed to have been her worry. Her hands rang in place for a moment as she flitted her head left to right, before very cautiously sliding towards me. “Uhm...”

It was like watching a robot being taught how to emote. The serpent reached at me slowly and steadily, like I was a rabbit she was trying to catch. It was taking all of my old training and strength not to move away from her grasp as she was clearly trying to show and or tell me something, eventually the hands and arms settled around my shoulders, the big hood the Viper had slowly flattened until it was smooth against her neck. For a lack of a better word, she looked bald. Nonetheless, her head came down and settled on my shoulder as I was very, extremely, awkwardly hugged.

And out came two little words that explained it all. “Thank.... You.” She rasped.

If my mind hadn’t been awashed with warning signals, I might’ve found this entire interaction soul crushingly adorable. Instead, I felt uncomfortable, even as I raised up my own hand, remembering not to use both as that seemed to startle her. I carefully splayed out my hand so that only the rubber gripping pads were patting her scales near her head, along her neck. “Y.... you are very welcome, there, Twenty-Tw-” She pulled her head back and stared at me again, truly making me jump for a moment. A brief image of her powerful jaws opening and clamping around my face like an old Sci-Fi movie came to mind and my heart instantly raced. Thankfully, I wasn’t about to get face-hugged by her. I watched as she tilted her head left and right.

“.... S.... Sss....” She started, though I could’ve misinterpreted that as just a plain hiss to begin with. “Sun.... Shine.” She managed. I raised an eyebrow before she pulled a hand away, patting her chest with her finger tips. “Me.”

And like that, the fear, the worry, the scares.... It bubbled away and boiled off as a grin cracked across my face like a dropped egg and I couldn’t help but start to laugh. An action that seemed to mildly offend the serpent, the look on her face was one of very mild hurt or perhaps confusion. I raised up a hand to pause her from getting upset, suppressed my laughter to just mere giggles and finally cleared my throat. “S... Sorry. It- I.... I was not expecting that. An apology and then you-... Do you want me to call you that instead? That’s your name, now?”

A determined look crossed her features as she nodded firmly, squeezing my shoulders as if this were the greatest discovery she’d had in some time. To be fair, it very well might’ve been. “Sunshine it is, then.” I agreed, giving her a firm nod. My hands came up to hers, and while she flinched this time as well, she didn’t instantly pull them back. I gently pulled her hands from my shoulders and let them go. “Now, I gotta go get those clothes. As much as my old squadmates might’ve envied me, I can’t have you slithering around buck-naked. There’s a couch over there to wait on, if you don’t wanna stay standing.”

Is it even really standing? Raising?

My head nodded to my left, towards the living space that was not as large as I’d like. It connected to the kitchen and was the main resting space outside of the two bedrooms of the building. The only other room in this entire house, aside from the one bathroom, was the office I used for maintaining things that were too big for things inside, like my limbs and mechanical projects. “It’s not terribly big, but it’ll probably be more comfortable for you than me. I’m gonna grab you a few things. Do you have any preference for clothing? Were... you allowed clothing before?”

There was a small hesitant shake of her head. I offered a weak smile. “Alright, I’ll bring a few more things so you can pick. It’s getting cold out there, so, I’ll make sure to get you a coat and a couple of scarves.” As I turned to leave, I heard the viper slithering behind me. As I turned my head, I found that she was following me, though keeping a polite distance from me. I raised an eyebrow at her, head tilting. “... Yeah?” I started. “Do you need anything else?”

A shake of the head was her answer. “... Do you just want to... Follow me?” A nod. “Ooookay.” I finished, shrugging my shoulders. A breakthrough, perhaps? At least for the moment, she didn’t seem on edge. Better for both of us then, if I just played along. To placate my own internal worries, I started to talk as I led her to my room. “So, after breakfast, I’m going to show you around the property, though it’s extremely condensed. What I’m going to be having you do to earn your keep around here is more or less a handful of the things that aren’t particularly hard, but they take up a lot of time.” 

If she disagreed with my statement, she didn’t say or do anything to tell me that. As I swung the door open to the extremely plain bedroom, I had a moment to drink in the modest nature of it all. A bed, a desk that had a handful of pet projects I was working on, a small cabinet that housed my maintenance tools and spare parts for my limbs and finally my closet that held the random assortment of clothing I’d accrued over time. I walked straight there to the closet, only turning my head once to spy the Viper idly looking around everything. Her tongue flickered in and out of her lips, taking in the sights and smells.

A handful of things came out of my closet into my arms, all shirts and coats. None of my hats would fit her, but I could wrap a scarf around her if need be. Coming back, I tossed what I’d picked onto the bed and gave a soft whistle to get her attention. Her head whipped around to eye me, having been on the precipice of picking up an old analog clock I’d been tinkering with. If she’d broken it, nothing really would’ve changed. The damn thing was a pain in my ass and refused to be repaired.

As she slithered over and looked over the clothing. “It’s nothing fancy, I’m afraid, but all of these are X-L, so they should at least fit your body if you close up that hood before putting them on.” As I explained, she came to the bed’s edge and looked at each of them, picking up a shirt in each hand and carefully flicking her tongue at each one, then looking at the graphic that some of them held. Bands that I didn’t recognize or places I’d not been. She seemingly looked at me before going to settle on a plain blue T-shirt with a shirt pocket, looking it over as she slowly figured out how to slip it on. Her hood retracted to lay against her body and she wiggled her head through the hole and her arms to the sleeves, carefully yanking it down to cover her up.

It was mildly shocking how quickly that one thing humanized her in my mind. The way she looked down at it, smoothing the creases with her long fingers, careful of the talons she had. The neck was severely stretched out despite her having pulled her hood back, having been strained nonetheless. But that wasn’t my problem, if it was hers now. I leaned over and grabbed a thick, zip up hoodie, going to hold it up by the shoulders. “Here, it’s going to be getting colder these coming days, so... You might have to do a double layer.” She tilted her head at me, as if I’d spoken Latin to her.

Regardless, she slithered over, and instead of taking it, she turned her back to me and carefully maneuvered her arms into the sleeves and shrugged the coat onto herself from my hands. The thought occurred to me that this might’ve just been similar to putting on equipment for them. I’d never seen a Viper don or doff a set of armor before. Perhaps the process was similar? My thoughts were broken as she carefully looked over herself, the sleeves too short to go down to her wrists, but her body lithe enough to fit healthily within the coat, even if her broad hips and wide torso filled it out. Hopefully it'll stay that way after her body recovers from its malnourishment. She fiddled with the zipper, desperately trying to get it to go into place, but it seemed her long digits and claws kept getting in the way.

I walked up to her. “Here, let me.” I said, taking hold of the coat from her hands. There was a paused hesitance in her movements as they didn’t leave the coat, but rather traveled up it, holding onto the hems as I connected the zipper and pulled it upwards until it was just above where her breasts were, all now blessedly covered up. No more distractions. “Now if only we could get you a nice pair of denim jeans, you’d look like a proper western american!” I joked, taking a step back.

She did a small spin to examine herself before looking back at me and offering the tiniest curling at the edges of her lips. “You’re welcome to any of the clothing in my room, just so you know, but be sure you leave me a handful of shirts, yeah? And my long coat you saw before is mine and mine alone. Otherwise, you’ve free reign of the rest. Just be careful not to ruin them if you can help it. Not many places with spare clothing anymore.”

There was a brief period of silence as she’d clearly heard me, having nodded along with my gentle requests, but her attention was drawn to the clothing. She played with the zipper for a moment, checking if her hands fit in the pockets, tugging it until it was absolutely comfortable. After a few moments, she looked back at me with that same tiny smile. A nod was my response as I offered a smile in return before going to start clomping down the hallway, the paddles that made up my metal feet barely muffled by the double layer of socks.

Breakfast was quick, it’d come and gone about as easily as I could’ve wished for. Rice, beans and a few healthy strips of seared venison were the choice of starting for the viper in a laughably small portion compared to her size, something of which she noticed. I could’ve sworn I saw her pout and on the verge of possibly throwing a fit. A soft reminder to her about her bellyache from last night was enough to calm her and a promise that after we had a small walk, and slither, around my home’s exterior and showed her the chores she’d be doing, I’d give her the second portion I’d made.That’d put her right back into a good mood. Even as I got myself ready to work outside, getting on my brown leather gloves, long coat and hoodie, I couldn’t help but look towards my serpentine companion. She was still muddling around the living area, poking at my electronics and getting spooked when some of them lit up or made loud whirring noises at her. That was going to be a fun evening idea some night.

It was astonishing how quickly someone’s demeanor could change when they were clean, relatively, clothed and fed. She almost seemed like any other person the way she moved around, investigating things. I gave a gentle knock on the wall to get her attention, nodding to the outside. As we stepped out into the cool autumn air, I bristled briefly before walking out onto the dirt path that led to my home. My van was still haphazardly parked, as it usually was, in front of my house, the side door wide open. Nothing seemed missing, though I don’t know how it could’ve gone missing with where I lived. Only tall grass and small hills surrounded my little home, my nearest neighbors, all of which were abandoned homes, were small boxes well into the distance. I had taken the opportunity to stock those places with a day or two’s worth of supplies just in case the worst came to pass and I had to shelter or hide in one of them. But nothing could really sneak onto this land without getting past a myriad of rusty barbed wire fences, broken down farm vehicles and whatever else lurked in there.

“I didn’t take your supplies out of the car, I figured you could do that after I showed you around. Let you set up yourself as you wish, though please don’t drag that crate across the floor and ruin the paneling, yeah?” I asked with a small laugh and turned to walk towards my barn. She followed after without a word, looking back at the van and then back to me. I patted on the door. “You won’t really ever have anything to do in here except to get tools, those of which I’ll show you what you need for the jobs you’ll be doing. Only rule there is that you don’t mess with that hay stack. That’s for winter insulation for my birds.”

I pulled the door open and stepped inside. While I hadn’t been lying about what I had said, I had other reasons for her not messing with things in here. From my time as a soldier, I’d had the liberty of taking away a few things with me when I left X-Com in full. My ‘retirement’ had come about in a less than pleasant way, though I had made sure that my final duties had been finished before I’d left. I learned later that my absence had been chalked up to my mental health, though the efforts to find me had been futile through blind luck and a very healthy horde of Chryssalids wandering the area at the time. Lost my trail right after.

As I eyed the stacks of hay, I turned my head towards the wall of tools, waving a hand at them while Sunshine started to slither around the barn, taking in the sights and areas she’d be working. “Of course, if you are mechanically inclined, I wouldn’t mind the help if something breaks down or a spare pair of hands to hold or hand me things.” She nodded firmly, her relaxed posture starting to grow rigid, though it seemed with motivation rather than concern this time. “Outside of that, I might have you sit in the lil wooden watch tower I built not too long ago with my hunting rifle. You don’t gotta shoot anyone or anything, unless it’s a Chryssalid. Those things are nasty, so they can be killed on sight.”

I could see the conflict form on her face as I spoke though it slowly began to melt away, tilting her head softly as another word rasped from her throat. “S... Ssssscout?” She asked, and I nodded. “Scout.” She affirmed.

“Precisely, I have some walkie-talkies we can use and a pair of bino’s to keep your hands off the gun until you need it.” She seemed to relax as I finished speaking and I waved for her to follow after me. “Next is the chicken coup.” I started turning the barn’s corner after we left and shut the door. “Have you ever seen a chicken? Know what they are?”

A curt shake of the head was my answer as I chuckled and smiled. “Well, they’re the things that have kept me alive most of the time out here. Their eggs are very nutritious and when one gets old enough, they make for an excellent meal. Though don’t tell them that.”

Another look of concern shot over her face until we pivoted the corner and she saw them. Twelve dumb birds clucking and squawking near a mesh wire door. I laughed with a bright smile as I squatted down at the door, opening it from my lowered position and swinging it open. The little feathered pets swarmed out of the door, clustering around my metal legs and pecking at everything around me, including my shoes and their laces. A few of them were even brave enough, or stupid, to walk towards Sunshine who slowly recoiled away from them, moving her body out of the way as they got closer and closer until her back hit the barn. I raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you worry, Sunshine, they aren’t mean or poisonous or anything. They’re just a handful sometimes, is all. They get antsy when they’ve not been fed.” I explained, doing nothing to calm her. She didn’t seem in a panic, just wildly uncomfortable as the birds got closer and closer, her hands moving to shoo them away as they flapped wings in protest.

I walked up to an old tin trash can that I’d been using as a container for their feed, which was an assortment of various bugs that’d been caught in the can and unable to escape, corn, oats, old crushed up eggshells and old veggies that were on the verge of expiration. I got plenty of yield every harvest that I could afford to throw a handful away to my birds. Plus the eggs came out much healthier with this little boost. I grabbed a handful of the variety feed and tossed it on the ground, causing the small swarm to run over to my feet, much to the relief of Sunshine. “Now, these babies are my pride and joy. Before you came along, they were my only company, so just be careful around them and make sure nothing gets them, okay?”

Despite her discomfort, she nodded, realizing the weight of my words.

Just like a soldier. I mused before clapping my hands. “Alright, that’s really about it. There’s a storage shed in the back, but it’s just full of useless things or spare clothes and bedding. Onto your chores you’ll be doing, yeah?”

And off we went, easing the massive snake into the new life she’d chosen alongside my own. And while my hesitancy was still fresh and my worries still raw, this felt lighter in my heart than what may’ve happened had I left her alone. Or worse, if I’d pulled that trigger. 

Chapter Text

About three weeks, give or take, had passed since she arrived at this homestead. Gustave had been nothing but kindly to her since arriving, if not a bit standoffish. She could accept that. She had, in her heightened emotional state, gone and done something she’d seen many humans do on the very rare occasion. Usually when she’d released them back to their families. A ‘Hug’ they called it. It felt.... Nice. Right, even. His reaction to it had worried her that she’d done something wrong, so she tried to deflect with her request for a new name.

Sunshine.

The name felt silly at first, but when he’d spoken that to her that morning it stirred a warmth in her chest she couldn’t have explained if she had a plasma rifle to her head. The idea of having a name alone had been a pleasant thought, but to be named after something so comforting, so pretty left a very pleasant heat that often spread through her from tooth to tail.

Beside her new moniker, she’d settled comfortably into this new lifestyle, and far more easily than she could’ve ever anticipated. No longer was she subjected to piercing alarms or the sleep pods, the crude barracks and eating zones. It was all things that were more or less on her own terms, her own time. More than once Gustave allowed her to remain in bed for an extra length of time. More than once she had awoken before him and had gotten into the process of making their morning rituals of breaking fast and hot tea. A thing Gustave always pleasantly thanked her for.

Furthering her assimilation into this ‘Casual’ life he’d offered, the layout of the area was extremely easy to memorize. The line of fencing that’d gone around the land and beyond were all squares next to squares, usually connecting to one another. It had become more a game of counting than it was pathing. Even these ‘Chores’ as he called them were blatantly simple tasks, but they occupied her all the same for some time, more than she had thought they would. The list was small but important. She remembered his words and how he explained the importance of each one.

First, walk the fence every morning after breakfast, ensure there’s no signs of breaking, loose tension or anything trying to have gotten in. Check on the garden on her way back, make sure no rodents or birds have attacked it.

Second, feed and count the chickens, devilish little creatures. One of them had gone and plucked a loose scale from her tail when she wasn’t looking. It had enough of an effort it actually pinched. She nearly smashed the little blasted bird into the dirt had it not been Gus’ express wording to keep them safe.

Third, get into the tower and watch from the blinders for any signs of trouble and report to him. She was even given the ‘Walk-eee-Talk-eee’. It looked like a normal radio to her. Either way, he’d told her to just keep it on her person if she decided to leave the house without him.

Fourth was the easiest by far, requiring her to just help him keep the home tidy. Putting things away, making sure they’d not tracked mud or grime into the place, helping wash clothing. Very basic house keeping that was not dissimilar to how she lived before, only instead of armor maintenance, it was her hooded jacket and handful of shirts.

Clothing had been another thing to get used to. She wasn’t against wearing them, she’d worn her armor after all for so long it’d become a second skin to her. Until it had been chewed apart by gunfire, at least. This was far far more comfortable, however. The smooth, soft fabric felt excellent on her scales and it was so insulatory it kept her upper body warm even in the harshest of winds. And they had been harsh indeed, the wind coming in harder and colder with each passing week. He had given her a second coat to wear and said he’d not be surprised if they’d gotten snow anytime soon.

As she sat in the tall wooden tower, peeking through the one way plastic out into the world. Her hands held a set of binoculars, casting out into the open world and scanning for any kind of trouble. She saw none to speak of, nothing really even of interest. Gustave had actually been rather worried the past couple days, to which he explained there usually was a nomadic group that passed by his homestead to trade for food and supplies every three or four months. He further explained that while they weren't extremists like the resistance camps or the crazy folk who still lived in the dead cities, they likely wouldn’t have taken her presence too happily. He’d spoken further with her, telling her that she may have to hide away in the attic, the cellar or stay in his tower if they suddenly appeared. He said again and again to her he’d do everything he could to ensure her safety if they came, early or not.

It hadn’t bothered her then, thinking about it. But what did concern her was the sheer volume of concern on his face. The past three weeks were perhaps the best she’d had since gaining her own consciousness back from the elders. He was kind to her, clothed her, fed her, gave her duties to occupy her time and thoughts. And all he ever asked in return were these meager things and the ‘Company’ she offered. Which was terribly little in her mind. She had kept trying to speak in his human tongue, and while she had a grasp of the language, its words broke in her mouth like clumps of wet sand. She’d get it started, follow through, only for it all to break into single word responses. She had been getting better now, up to three or four words at a constant. And the throbbing soreness in her throat from speaking in such a foreign way had long since subsided and was now just a little rasp she had to be mindful of. And yet, despite all of that, he’d told her that just having a second person around to simply talk to, or even just at in some cases, helped him more than she realized.

She didn’t quite get it. But she wasn’t about to prod him about it, not now. Her eyes dragged around the landscape, boredom seeping into every crevice of her mind before she found herself spinning out of her usual range and back to the house. And there she spotted him, wrapped up in his coat, a scarf and woolen cap wrapped around his person. A ‘Beanie’ he’d called it. Strange words for an even stranger man. He was working on the garden, carefully snipping, trimming and otherwise harvesting what he could as the cold began to settle in. He’d told her most of what he got would last throughout the winter, with any luck. Much of it he could put in the cellar of the home, a place she’d been shown a few days after she settled in when he started having her help with the various plants. It seemed a pleasantly large haul this time around, multiple heads of cabbage, piles of potatoes and bustles of carrots. He had a handful of other things he’d grown over time, onions, garlic bulbs, bell peppers, tomatoes.

The garden had been far more expansive than she’d ever have thought, given her brief looks at it before he’d shown her the full extent of it. As she watched him, she felt old anxieties creeping back into her mind. The dramatically dark thought zeroing in on the rifle beside her. It’d be so smooth, so easy. One clean trigger pull and any threat he posed was gone. And it was immediately shoved away with a disgusted harsh shake of her head.

While her old worries and concerns did linger, the quiet worry he’d sell her out to some other humans to save himself or that he was just waiting until she was no longer useful came to mind. But there were too many holes in the thought. Why would he have bothered housing and feeding her? Trusting with her firearms? The sheer amount of times in the last week he’d fallen asleep near her in the living room was a testament to how utterly relaxed he had become to her presence. And yet here she was, having terrible thoughts of simply executing him from her advantage.

The binoculars fell from her face, quietly tapped on by her fingers. Another shake of her head cleared away the negativity. No, she had plenty more reasons to trust this man than any other person or ADVENT cohort she’d come across. Her very health was one of these reasons. She looked over herself, tail curling around into sight. She was filled out for the most part, her muscle had returned, her weight was going back to where it should’ve been. No longer ‘Skin and Bone’ as he said. No longer even gaunt in her face, which was already an angular form. She’d even grown in size, closer to her original height, length and weight. Something that had startled the man when she explained her previous size. In fact, she’d continued to grow since then, gaining more muscle from their work around the meager farm of his.

I looked terrible. She thought, remembering seeing herself in the mirror the first time. Her arms were lanky and thin, her tail and midriff might as well have been layered over a skeleton. It was a wonder her body hadn’t just shut down. It might have, had he not taken her along. She found herself staring down at him again, fingers once more drumming on the binoculars. It’d been long enough, she thought. Plucking the radio from her pocket, she beeped the signal on the side to alert him. She watched as he perked up in place, standing from where he was working and pulling the radio from his own pocket. “Sunshine? What’s up, see something?”

“Nothing.” she responded, waiting for his own. There was a pause as she saw him scratch his head.

“Lemme guess, you’re bored out of your gourd up there, huh?” He said, earning a confused tilt of her head.

“Have no gourd?” She replied, her confusion earning a laugh from him, spotting his shoulders trembling and his head tilting back from her spot. “What's funny? Why are you laughing!”

“Oh right! You can see me, I forgot.... I’m not used to having another here, even after all this time... It’s just an expression, Sunny, it’s just to emphasize that you’re so bored others won’t misconstrue it.” He explained, waving a hand towards her as he pivoted. “Come on down then, bring the rifle with you. It’s getting late and you’ve been up there for a couple hours now. We should do the nightly routine and start making dinner.”

He didn’t have to tell her twice. The food he’d been cooking for her since her stomach had settled had only grown in flavor and complexity. She was extremely eager to see if he had anything new for her to try. Throwing the carry strap around her shoulders and grabbing the bottled water he’d provided, she slid down the ladder leading up to the tower smoothly, rapidly approaching him. He’d expressed a brief fear of her coming after him as fast as she did, but over time he seemed to have grown used to it, fond even given the amusement on his face. As she settled in front of him, he pulled around a set of baskets to show her the haul they’d grown together over the past couple of weeks.

“I think if we wash up some of this, I wanna try making you something fancy.” He said, waving his hands in front of his face in small wiggling gesticulations. He was terribly expressive with that face and those hands, usually giving absolutely little wonder as to his thoughts. Usually, anyway. She’d noticed over the time they’d spent together, random moments would seemingly pull him away from his mind. He’d be on auto-pilot, body continuing whatever task he’d been doing or talking as if he were in a dream. Quiet, near whispering words that sometimes didn’t string together properly, though his physical actions were almost always accurate and meticulous. She never brought it up, not yet at least, as she felt it may’ve been a sour subject. Regardless, she canted her head at him as he spoke, signaling her curiosity and for him to continue.

“I won’t spoil the surprise, but I will say, I’ve decided it’s been well long enough and you’ve more than earned a proper treat. So, I’m gonna make you some fried chicken.” He spoke, grinning from ear to ear in a way that she’d grown very fond of seeing. It was a warming expression that told her he was excited, content or just generally happy about something. Made even better at the thought of eating one of those dreadful birds, finally.

Show them who's at the top of the food chain.... See if they pluck my scales again. She thought with some small amount of vengeance.

“Frrried... Chicken?” She asked, watching him pick up two of the baskets leaving another two for her to grab, all filled with delicious looking veggies. He said there was a fruit orchard not far from where they lived that he often went and plundered for sweet treats year around, but with winter coming he’d not had the time. He did explain he had some dehydrated he wanted her to try at some point, to which she positively affirmed.

As they went in, he had begun to ramble about all of the places he used to go to get this fried chicken, how it was an absolute delight, if not a bit on the unhealthier side of things. He did explain that it used a good amount of oil, so he tried not to do it very often, but he’d been hoarding all sorts of good things and never making use of them. “With you here, it’s kind of like... a really good excuse to bust out all of the works, y’know? I think you’ll really like it anyway, it’s super easy, if not somewhat dubious to make. Or well... Dubious for those people who still have flesh and bone hands still.”

He chuckled deeply at that, going to set the baskets down in the kitchen, my own baskets following suit. “Go ahead and get relaxed for the evening, put the gun in the closet like usual. This is going to take a minute as well so feel free to find yourself something to keep you entertained. Maybe go and finish watching that episode of ‘House’.” He offered, quickly going through their haul and sorting things through. She smiled, pulling the shoulder strap from her body and over her head.

The rest of the evening went by faster than she cared for, as she was thoroughly enjoying herself by the time dinner rolled around. Down dressing into a more comfortable long sleeved ‘PJ shirt’ as Gustave had called it and laying across the couch to fiddle with remotes until she found what she wanted. Glancing over the entertainment system, she spotted all sorts of random machines plugged into each other, speakers set on the sides, a massive tv screen. He’d told her he’d been scavenging everything from other houses for years now, some of them he’d traded for. Lots of the games and movies he’d shown her had been more or less bought for the baskets of food he regularly got.

It’s practically free! He’d told her. She hadn’t bothered to touch one of these gaming systems yet, only ever watching Gustave play them instead. She rather enjoyed the feeling of not doing anything and merely watching others enjoy themselves, though some of the games he played had gotten her invested or startled her. Gustave would’ve said that she’d been scared. She often shoved him off the couch for saying that. As she watched the conclusion of the human doctor yelling at his subordinates and the patients he was treating, calling them various names and then limping off, she started to smell something absolutely divine.

Her nose picked it up first. Then her tongue, as the aroma carried a flavor she’d never anticipated to smell. It was fatty, savory, spiced and meaty all at once, her head sliding upwards into the air as her tongue began to rapidly flick out from her lips. She turned her head to follow the smell, finding it coming from the steady sound of harsh bubbling and the soft hum of Gustave as he cooked. She wasted no time starting to slither up and over the back of the couch, moving towards him as soft as a whisper, at least that’s what she thought. Slowly sliding up behind him, she stared at what he was doing. He had a pan with a shallow pool of oil that he was carefully lowering pieces of chicken covered in some kind of pasty substance. They nearly instantly turned to a soft yellow before cooking off into a darker amber color that vaguely reminded her of the man’s eyes.

“They’ll be done momentarily, Sunshine, the cooking part takes the least amount of time, honestly. Do me a favor though, I put a couple of cans of pop in the fridge, would you pick out one that you like and grab two of them?” He asked, causing a confused blink once more from her. When she didn’t move, he looked at her, tilting his own head before realization hit him. “Oh right, I’ve not shown you that yet, it’s uh... Look for the colorful cans inside, they’ll be small and cylindrical with a pull tab on top.”

She nodded after the explanation, sliding over to the fridge, being mindful to pull her tail out of his way and further towards the living room so he didn’t trip over it. Opening it up, the soft clinking of glass jars tapping sounded out, her snout dipping into the open cool air as she looked for what he talked about. Six small cans were stacked neatly near the front, one was a bright red with white writing, another a more maroon color with white writing and then finally a brown can that had the vague imagery of foam pouring off the top. She tilted her head left and right before grabbing the two brown cans and carefully shutting the fridge with her hip.

She set them on the small table in the center of the kitchen, moving towards the cupboard to grab a set of plates as well, her actions hurried as the smell continued to waft throughout the home causing her mouth to moisten in a way that's not often happened before but began to happen with increased frequency. She blamed Gus for it. Cloth napkins had been the next step, carefully grabbing a pair from a drawer before going to make sure everything had been set. And then she snapped around, moving to sit beside him and stare at the slowly increasing stack of fried delights. More than a few times did she try and snag one for a taste only to have her fingers gently rapped with his own, earning a petulant hiss of insistence. “It’s too hot, you’ll burn the roo-.... The whole of your mouth.” He said. “Besides, they need to drip for a minute, they’re too greasy right out of the pan. Unless you want a repeat of that stomach ache you got when you arrived?”

That caused her to look away in frustration, arms crossing over there chest and hood snapping shut at her neck. He’d really never let that go, would he? She’d like to see him control his eating after starving off of bland, tasteless nutrient pastes and calorically high edible sticks. He seemed to register her aggravation, a sigh escaping him.

He pivoted for a moment, going to grab something before he turned and presented something near her snout. She refused to turn for a moment before the aroma hit her all the more intensely than it already was. Her tongue flicked out several times within a second as her head slowly turned. “Here, have the leg. It should be cooled and dripped enough not to bother your guts, but for god’s sake, blow on it for a second.”

He had a look of pure curiosity coupled with the excitement one might’ve had at getting a gift. She supposed it was a gift of sorts, as they’d had to sparingly ration out that deer meat over the last three weeks from when he’d hit it. They had a handful of steaks left, but they’d not last. She carefully raised up her talons, taking the still hot piece of fried meat. It was just barely cool enough to hold without discomfort or risk of burning. She held it in both hands, smacking her lips as she decided on how to eat it. Her first thought had been to cram it all down her gullet, but she’d seen this look on Gustave a few times now. He wanted her to actually try and savor the meat before horking it down.

She shifted her jaw, opening it up to reveal the rows of sharpened, hooked teeth. They weren’t really made for chewing, but when it came to taking small enough bites, they served very well. Though bigger bites would’ve had her smacking her lips like a bit of a heathen, though it never seemed to bother the man. She tentatively bit into the leg, tearing away a modest chunk and then the world held still for just a moment. Juices poured into her mouth as her teeth sunk in, spice clung to her tongue that sizzled in just the right way, the aroma of the golden batter that covered the chicken and the fatty flavor that lingered as she chewed. This had to be what humans spoke of when they mentioned this ‘Heaven’ place.

She only realized she’d been standing there, staring at the bite she’d made in the leg. Her eyes glanced up to the man who looked slightly worried. “I... Is it not good? Ah, did I-” his words paused as she tore into the rest of the leg, nibbling and tearing away every single possible morsel from the bone. “... Nevermind...! I guess that answers that, huh?”

She’d taken to practically suckling on the now well chewed bone to ensure she’d not left a single string of cooked muscle clinging to it. A soft clearing of his throat caught her attention, the man was looking away, rubbing the side of his neck and chuckling. “Glad you uh.... Liked it that much! But I doubt it’s that good, to go at it that hard, eh?” He joked, the color of his face slightly red now. No doubt from being over the hot stove for so long. “Either way, thanks for setting the table. Dinner’s just about ready, so I’ll bring the plate over and dish it all out. And don’t worry, you’ll have the lion’s share of it.”

Her nose scrunched at that, despite the delight brewing in her heart. As she began to open her mouth to speak, he raised up a finger, going to delicately tap her nose. It was a gesture he’d started doing a week ago when she’d begun to linger close to him. She’d asked about it once, and he told her it was just an old habit from when he was younger, something his mother did to him to end a conversation or make a point without argument.

“No arguing. It’s your share, because Sunshine, you’re over twenty feet long, probably twice my weight alone and I’ve got metal arms and legs. You need the calories. I’m just eating it for fun.” He said, ending the conversation there with another gentle tap to her nose, the soft rubber pads of his mechanical hand feeling pleasant as they pulled away. She’d hated the gesture initially, but thought it rude to ask him to cease given how harmless it was. Now, she couldn’t imagine him not doing it, even if it still mildly annoyed her. At least his hands are soft, for being metal anyway.

Slithering over to the table, he brought the meal over, along with what he called ‘French Fries’. She didn’t know why they were French or what that had to do with anything, but she didn’t bother thinking about it after she tried one. The crispy, soft potato stick was incredibly delicious when paired with the chicken. The ‘Pop’ drink he’d told her to get was even more so when she tried it, a creamy, sweet and rich flavor that cut through the greasy meal. Root Beer, he’d called it, applauding her choice of the three she had.

They ate in relative silence, Sunshine practically inhaling her food, though taking plenty of time to savor each bite she could calm herself long enough to take. By the end of the meal, each plate had their own stack of bones and an empty can beside. Sunshine had to take a moment but took the liberty of clearing their plates and helping clean everything up. The night ended soon enough after that with him going to rest on the couch and boot up one of the Gaming devices. He’d chosen one about an undying undead warrior, though little to none of the story was explained as he wandered a broken, desolate world filled with horrible undead creatures.

Sunshine moved to lay on the couch beside him, curling up as best she could as she watched. He asked her if she wanted him to play something else only for her to shake her head, speaking a few words in return. “Just enjoying.... Moment.” She said, getting comfortable. A smile formed on his lips at that.

As he played, she felt the weight of the day pulling her to exhaustion. Each soft step of the character rattled armor that reminded her faintly of a better time when she was first deployed. Her sisters together, solidarity in their duty. When she was ignorant of her purpose. A smile flittered over her lips as her eyes began to slip closed. A heavy, soft yawn escaped her in a squeak, fangs and tongue extending outwards before she relaxed back to smack her lips one last time. She barely heard the words spoken to her before she stretched out onto something soft, hands curling up at her chest and folding her tail onto itself as she dozed off. The last thing she remembered was the softest, gentlest touch on the top of her head. The feeling of something stroking over her hood down to her neck. It was so comforting to feel that she didn’t even register the transfer from reality to dreams. 

Chapter Text

She’d fallen asleep.

My eyes glanced downwards to the large head of the viper, currently laying across my lap. I’d not known what to do at that moment, staring intently as she had clearly fallen asleep. Her breathing was steady, her eyes shut tight and her mouth just slightly open as her tongue flicked out with each breath. My hand came up and then down onto the head of Sunshine, watching as her hood splayed out under my touch. The smooth scales she had didn’t catch the rubber of my hand as I carefully stroked down her hood and down her neck, watching as the gesture pulled a comforting, low, drawn hiss. Her hands pulled up  just under her chin, the whole length of her body one long twist, even the length of her tail that had begun to curl at the base of the couch.

I couldn’t stop the smile that formed on my lips. Since she’d been here, the flooded memory of mine hadn’t taken me as often. Sure, I had the occasional lapse, but it was always during my mindless tasks or when I was focusing too hard on something now. The sensors ran through my mind again and again as my hand carefully stroked her head. Smooth. Firm. Pliant.  The same three primary notes, among a few others that were occasionally thrown in. It’d come to my mind this was probably the first time she’d been so relaxed around me.

I felt my eyes unfocus as I began to think. Three weeks. Three long weeks of constant work on both sides, efforts of learning how one another ticked and functioned in order to live about as normally as they could together. It was shockingly fluid after the first week. She worked to keep her tail to the sides of the rooms when she was moving around. I now watch the floor with my steps when I know she’s inside, raising my feet and tentatively stepping around now, as to avoid stepping on her tail. She learned how a lot of the machines worked quick enough that when I need her help or ask her to do or start something, she’s fast to act. I learned she loves those old drama TV series and the sitcoms I had on burned DVDs and blurays. Not a huge fan of the gaming systems, I found.

Moreover, she was extremely expressive when she wished to be. Evidently, she just chose not to talk when her meanings could be derived from simple emoting, a thing that I found both mildly annoying and strangely refreshing. It made the act of reading her feel like a puzzle with the satisfying reward being another nugget of knowledge on her behavior. My eyes felt heavy as I blinked away a few strange tears that’d formed from my idle staring. Her breath was warm against my middle, her head tucking against me as she softly hissed in her sleep. I shouldn’t sit here and abuse this trust, I should take myself away and send her to bed. And yet....

When was the last time I had anything close to this? When I was a soldier, no doubt. Before my augmentation. I’d had a handful of simple relationships, though they never flourished into anything. They often fizzled out after a month or two, but never in a manner that was negative. I was just often too distant and too focused simultaneously that it made keeping up with others difficult when we weren’t in the field. That changed quite a bit after my injuries and changes.

After I had gone AWOL, I had no communication with the outside world for a very long time. And when I finally did start talking with roving resistance bands and simple travelers trying to stay alive, it was never for any kind of intimacy or affection. Business, plain and simple. Trade, bartering, information, directions. My eyes closed as I quietly held down the button on my game controller, manually turning off the system from the menus before carefully tossing it off onto a nearby cushion. My hand gravitated to the pair of remotes not far from my spot, flipping the channel to one where the DVD player was active. It was the same disk she’d been watching earlier in the day, House once again. She loved this series, oftentimes asking questions about various things she assumed I’d know. And I knew a bit, having watched this show multiple times and what medical knowledge I had from my boot camp and medic days was just barely enough to sate her curiosity.  

Without a second thought, I hit play on the beginning episodes and set the show to a low volume. It wasn’t long before I found myself drawn into sleep myself, the warmth against my belly, the weight pressing against me and just the fact that I had someone nearby that I could trust enough to doze off like this. It felt.... So nice. Nice enough to make the dreams that followed feel considerably less terrible.

My first mission as a MEC unit. I had a heavy protective helmet clasped over my head by one of my comrades. He buckled it in for me, smacking it a few times to ensure it was seated before giving him a thumbs up. The headset attached within synced up with my systems and I felt the shift in the air as gravity began to assert itself aggressively. I saw my allies standing up, grabbing their arms and triple checking their equipment. I disengaged the mag-locks in my feet, my suit’s feet, and hoisted the massive assault cannon that’d been held at ease in my left hand. Strangely enough, the integration of my body into this machine had made everything feel so fluid. The sense of ‘Touch’ I had was muted at best, but it was more than enough to function and operate. As my teammates ran out and into cover, I followed after.

Plasma fire tore their cover apart, thankfully missing them for the most part. My reinforced chassis greedily took the shots, between my oversized body and my arms raising to ready my firearm, I had little to no worries for the small arms fire of the aliens. The scrambling sectoids watched in abstract horror as I stomped towards them, the triple barrels of my cannon whirring in anticipation.

Deafening. That’s what I’d have called it, had I the mind to.

I watched those high caliber rounds completely obliterate the retreating alien foes. Thin Men came in reinforcements, those that my allies hadn’t started to pick off came up to find me still moving forward, barrels still whirling, aim still steady. The plasma shots of their rifles meant nothing to me, leaving heavy pock marks in the metal, but little else. The mini-gun belched again, dozens of rounds splattering what would remain of them across the side of the buildings. I felt power completely unheard of until now. A Muton began to charge at me, clambering through the wreckage and screaming hoarse, guttural roars. He was only yards away from me, even as I swung my weapon around to start battering him with bullets, he still charged.

He left me no choice as he held up his heavier plasma rifle and pelted me with shot after shot, getting up close and swinging that barbed bayonet at my side. I heard and felt the metal bend and slightly give. I pulled one hand from my gun and planted the massive metal palm over his head to cling harshly to his armor at his shoulders, dragging him from my side and to my front before I raised my metal foot and struck him with a hard kick. True to their nature, this wasn’t enough to kill the big bastard, but the leaking gore and splotchy pock marks of ruptured flesh from where my hand had squeezed and my foot had struck told me I’d done more than I realized. Thankfully, I didn't need to finish the job as a single loud crack rang out and dropped the Muton, leaving a gaping hole where the mask had been. I didn’t have to turn to know who’d taken the shot, only giving a thumbs up with my mechanical digits before pressing on.

The dream shifted. This was months in advance now. I was undergoing an evaluation. They told me my cybernetics were holding up very well, no signs of rejection, no visible breaks or involuntary unintended grafting of the body. Everything was just as it should be. Only the faces were blurry and yet I could see the judgement. They were at the end of the room, whispering just loud enough that I could hear.

“He’s going to be unfit for combat if we can’t find a solution to this, Sir. His condition has plateaued for the last several check ups, not better or worse. His squad has spoken of how he lists off into nothingness for minutes on end, now. Minutes, Central. He’s not well anymore. The trials, the medications, the therapy, it’s only stagnating the issue, not fixing it.” I would hear the doctor say. Central would look towards me then back to the doctor and speak.

“We don’t have any other MEC units available, they’re all either suffering from extreme exhaustion and fatigue or they’re still in recovery and the plan won’t work without at least one on the front line. We don’t have a choice, Doctor. Explain the situation to him and figure out if you can do anything to get him through it. This mission is vital, the intel we’re supposed to grab will be instrumental going forward.” He said, though his tone carried a hint of remorse. He knew what he was asking of me. Of them. “I’ll explain it myself, if I have to.”

The doctor shook her head, frowning deeply at him. Even as the doctor walked back to me, clipboard tightly held in hand. I didn’t even give them the option. “I’ll do it.” I said, startling the doctor. “I’ve got at least one more mission in me, Doc.” I remember cracking a smile. “Besides, my condition doesn’t make me useless!... I just kind of go more robot than I already am!”

They didn’t care for that joke.

That last mission was almost five or so years ago now. I remember being one of the first MEC units created well before that, a test to see if the cybernetics could work at all. I’d already been struggling to even survive my wounds, and yet they crammed metal into me and god knows what else. I survived, yes, and even if I’d lived without them, I would’ve been a quadruple amputee. My choices then, if I had even been awake, were not much. Die in the field from wounds, survive as a cripple with no limbs or this. I suppose I got the best option.

In total I remember going on thirteen missions, including the one where I had abandoned my duty. I could hear the burning begin in my mind, that dream that I loathed more than others coming back. But something pulled me out of it. A stirring, a shift that rocked my mind into motion. As the dream began, I barely heard the roaring of the skyranger before I woke up.

The sun was on my eyes, peeling in from the slits of the blinds that just covered the window enough not to illuminate the whole room with light. It certainly helped me stay awake, but the writhing against me is what had shook me awake. My mind groggily commanded me to look down, a hand wanting to come up to rub the sleep out of my eyes before I realized I couldn’t move it. I blinked a few more times, the blurred world coming into view as I realized what was holding me down. At some point in the night, Sunshine had maneuvered the both of us. I wasn’t leaning back against the couch anymore, rather I was on my back with my head leaning against the arm rest.

Furthermore, I was trapped under the weight of a massive serpent sleeping on me like a cat would a particularly warm sun spot. Her eyes were closed shut, her hands were gripping the collar of my shirt and squeezing it so tight I was worried a sudden movement might make her tear it into a V-neck. This close, I could see her eyes moving quickly behind her lids, her tail shifting erratically across my legs and the floor. She was dreaming, an intense one from the looks of it. I looked at my situation, trying to wake myself up more. I wriggled my arms in place, slowly and gently so as to not catch or pinch her scales in my joints or servos. Only my left one was loose enough to pull away, coming up to carefully start pulling myself out of her grasp. As I started to move, however, her grip only tightened, squeezing my legs tight enough that if they’d been flesh and blood it might’ve hurt. My torso was only spared because she wasn’t curled around it, only laying atop me. Despite that, she’d somehow pinned my right arm deep against the couch with one of the curves of her tail so I couldn’t lift or wiggle it out.

It was only when a soft whimper escaped her and some words in the ADVENT tongue came out that I paused. Ah. A nightmare. I thought to myself. I wonder what nightmares a viper has.

Perhaps they were like my own, recollections of the past, good and bad. As her whimpers and fidgets picked up in place, I started to realize that this may’ve been a more common occurrence than I realized. The way she writhed and the soft hiccuping hisses she emitted were ones I’d heard before over the last few days. I felt my brow knit together as I struggled to think on what to do next. I didn’t think about it long, my arm moving on its own as my hand swung up and over and pressed it against my own cheek for a moment. Thanks to her having been laying on me the whole time my limb was shockingly warm to the touch. Even the rubber pads all felt like small tiny heated pads. A small nod followed before I brought that warmed metal appendage down to carefully plant on her head.

The effect was immediate, her whole body tensing in shock, though her eyes remained pinched tight. My hand slowly brushed down her head, starting from just above her own brow and sliding down past her hood and to the base of her neck. Slowly her shoulders started to relax in place and the twitching slowed but did not stop. Her eyes still frantically swished every direction. It felt extremely embarrassing as I recalled that first night in a similar situation, though not quite in this position. Nonetheless, swallowing what pride I had in that moment, I started to hum softly. It came back to me as smooth as any other, the song I’d sang on that quiet evening.

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine...” I started off, my singing no higher than a whisper and raspier than her own voice speaking. “You make me happy when the skies are grey. You’ll never know how much I love you, so please don’t take... my sunshine away.”

The room filled with my, admittedly subpar, singing much to my own chagrin. The words echoed through the halls and back at me, even as I kept up my attempts at soothing. Slowly but surely did her dream induced torment come to a halt. Her trembling all but ceased, her grip on my shirt loosened until the fabric slipped from her fingers, leaving them curled up near her snout. Her tail had slowed to a mediocre pace on the floor and her eyes had stopped shifting so dramatically. As the final words of the song left my lips, I stayed my hand gently at the back of her head, delicately raising and patting my digits against her scales. Her breathing calmed, the whimpers ceased. She was relaxed again. I smiled and leaned my head back against the arm rest.

“Good job, me.” I quietly congratulated myself only for a low, rumbling chuckle to escape my throat. “I’m a snake charmer now.”

I had nothing to keep my mind occupied save for my thoughts, retreating into what the day may hold. Without my clock in my room or my watch on my right hand still buried in the cushions, I had no idea what time it was. I could only hazard that it was early morning due to the sun slipping in, but given the deep golden color, I assumed it was just hitting sunrise. I thought about the whole day, reminding myself a field run was going to be important these coming few days. They were going to become extremely important here soon, with fall and winter still between us and another good crop. My thoughts were shaken as I felt movement on me again, tilting my chin down to see the ruby red eyes, large as they were, flutter open to glance at nothing in particular.

She yawned, giving me an uncomfortably close view into that maw again. So she did have teeth beside the fangs. Her nose wiggled and flexed the fangs in and out of her mouth, tongue lolling out to sniff the air as lazily as one could. A loud smacking came from her as her lips sealed, eyes blinking as slow as molasses. It took a minute or two of her being awake to realize two things. One, she was not in her room. Two, she was still on top of me. A realization that jerked her in place as she shot up a couple feet off of me, staring down intensely. I raised an eyebrow at her and cracked a joking smile. “Good morning, Sunshine.”

If a viper could blush, I swear.

Of course, I never would get a chance to see as the speed at which she practically shot up and off of the couch, uncurling from me in the process had sent me up and off of the couch in a rather impressive spin before I landed rather harshly on my stomach. I heard the hallway fill with her size before a door opening and shutting only seconds later after she’d pulled off herself into, what I assumed was, her room.

“Well that’s going to be fun to explain....” I groaned into the floor. At least I was free. Time to get ready and get back to work.

Chapter Text

The nightmares had been worse the last few days than usual. They’d come in as normal, these awful visions of the past. She’d be sat within a dropship, waiting patiently for the moment to come. Then the screaming and the remembering of a splitting, mind numbing headache. Then a flood of emotion, a flood of memory and a brick wall that was her psyche trying desperately to hold it all in. The ship always crashed after that.

Every time she would always see the corpses of her fellow soldiers and worse still, the marching boots of those that were still loyal to ADVENT. They’d ask a few questions before executing any who didn’t answer the way they wanted. She always tried to crawl away, but never managed to get away in time. This time, however...

This time had been different. In the dream, she’d been laying there, in the grass, staring up at the blue sky as smoke and gray ash flowed over her. It almost felt calming. There were no bodies of comrades, no marching feet of former allies. There wasn’t even the scent of the human resistance or humans in general. But there was a soft, gentle tune that’d roiled into her mind. The sound that’d calmed the raging nightmare she’d been in. She heard the name she’d chosen.

You are my sunshine, My only sunshine

You make me happy, When skies are gray

You'll never know, dear, How much I love you

Please don't take, My sunshine away

The song, the soft hum that followed in between each line. She’d heard this song only once before, though just like then it’d been within her dreams. The voice that spoke was terribly familiar, and yet she couldn’t place it at all. And the song pulled and pulled her into a deeper sense of calm she’d never experienced.

The other night, dear, As I lay sleeping

I dreamed I held you, In my arms

When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken

So I hung my head and cried

Such a somber tune, she remembered thinking. Such mournful lyrics. But it was sung so gently to her, that each word felt like a ray of the very sun they sang of. She could feel tears welling within her eyes, though never falling.

You are my sunshine, My only sunshine

You make me happy, When skies are gray

You'll never know, dear, How much I love you

Please don't take, My sunshine away

And then she’d woken up feeling more rested than she had in the weeks she’d been here, thrice more than any time before that. Even as she stretched, yawned and came to, she had never ever expected to see what she’d been sleeping on. Whatever had been so strangely soft and cozy. It even smelled pleasant, like cooking oil, worn leather and this metallic undertone. It was only after her eyes opened and she saw what exactly she’d been laying on had her mind completely emptied.

“Good morning, Sunshine.” The man beneath her said, one hand laying across his torso. She could feel her tail wrapped around the now very warm metal of his steel legs, his other arm that’d been pressed to his side and into the couch. Her fingers gently gripped his shirt as she rose up. She felt warmth rush up from her stomach to her face in a way that briefly made her assume she was about to vomit, only for her to feel nothing at all come up save for this unmistakable feeling of pure......

Embarrassment? Worry? Was it more than that? It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling at all, but it was certainly not something she’d wanted to feel right now, like this. She’d seen enough of the human media from Gus’ stores of entertainment to know that lying like this, in this manner, was extremely private, intimate even! It’d not been a good train of thought as she squeaked out what she thought had been words before evacuating the living area with all haste.

She’d practically sprinted to her room, shoving the door open and pulling herself in to slam it shut just as fast, heaving breaths against the door as her head pressed into the cool wood, eyes pinched shut. Her chest felt like it was on fire, her throat felt closed up, and her mouth was as dry as the deserts of her home she’d been told only rumors of. Fists curled against the wood, talons slightly raking away splinters as she did. What had she just done? She didn’t do that, did she? Certainly not... But she’d been coiled around him. He couldn’t have done that himself, certainly not without waking her.

Wasn’t he playing a game last night? The one with the knight? She had dozed off, but surely he’d just gone to bed when she fell asleep, right? Then it dawned on her. She’d fallen asleep against him. On him. Her eyes snapped open as her jaw set. Oh she had done it, hadn’t she. She coiled around the extra pillows he’d given her as comfort things, and to the sleeping mind, what was the man if not just a warming pillow to be held? The sound of footsteps stole her attention as she feared intensely that she was about to get the largest scolding of her life.

There wasn’t a way she was getting out of this, there was no thought in her mind that she wasn’t going to be punished for this. He had to have taken offense to it. There wasn’t a way he’d have willingly allowed this to happen, and yet....

He’d been smiling? Not a plotting awful smile, like those resistance fighters that’d spotted her after the crashing of her transport. Not like the ADVENT grunts that’d decided that their free will should’ve been used to continue the Elder’s ideals. Not like the villains she’d come to know that lingered in the wilds of the world outside of the major cities.

It was a warm, gentle smile. Understanding, like he knew she had been suffering from her own mind somehow.

“Good morning, Sunshine.” Sunshine. Had he been the one singing...?

Her head pulled away from the door. The steps hadn’t stopped at her door. They’d gone to the room across, his own room. The rustling of clothing, the usual soft grumbling of incoherent vulgarities and then they returned only to turn down the hallway. Perhaps.... He wasn’t mad. Perhaps he knew it was just a misunderstanding. Perhaps he understood that it wasn’t intentional and wouldn’t happen again.

And yet, why did that notion... hurt? She didn’t have time to think about it. She slithered to the closet and pulled away her PJ shirt, searching for her usual work attire. A long sleeve shirt that just barely met her wrists and that coat that was warmer than even her insulatory armor sleeve. The scarves came next, wrapping one around the base of her neck and the other over her head, compressing her hood down. It wasn’t entirely comfortable, she’d admit, but it kept her far warmer than without it. The days had been cooling more and more as time went on. It was time to take on the new day.

Despite that thought. She stood at the door, staring at it. Her hands clenched and unclenched. Her mouth still felt horribly dry. Her heart beat hard in her chest at the thought of seeing him and any words in the negative regarding their pleasant, if not concerning, wake up. A grit formed in her mind as she grabbed the door and yanked it open with a firm, stalwart demeanor, ready to confront her mistakes. She’d be the one to start it, she’d have it on her own terms!

The door was pulled open harshly, enough she heard the wood protest and crack just slightly. Before she could slither out, she found that she was obstructed. By him. By Gus. He was holding two cups of steaming brown liquid in one hand, the other raised and poised to knock. He blinked a few times, his beanie already on his head and in his working attire. He looked just as surprised as she felt. A small, amused sound emitted, nostrils flaring a bit as the chuff escaped him. He grabbed one of the cups, holding it up to her. “You didn’t seem like you were doing well last night, whatever you were dreaming about must’ve been pretty awful. Here.”

My hands mechanically went out to take the mug, cradling it in my hands as I looked down into the dirt brown liquid. It looked thicker than the ‘Coffee’ he’d let her try a few times. She hadn’t liked that stuff. It was extremely bitter and sat like fire in her belly. This, on the other hand, smelled sweet. Still somewhat bitter, but far less so. Her tongue flicked out of instinct, the long forked appendage dipping into the hot, steaming liquid.

It’s creamy. It’s sweet...! It tastes like coffee, but it is not... It’s almost fruity?

Her head rose up to look at him, lips lightly smacking as she had pure confusion and questions written across her expression. Her eyes must’ve been as big as plates the way he grinned at her, no small amount of amusement on his lips and in his eyes. “It’s called ‘Cocoa’ or ‘Hot Chocolate’. I have bundles of the powdered stuff, in cans and old packets. It’s usually drunk in the winter, as a treat, usually. Looked like you could have used the pick-me-up.” He explained, starting to step out into the hallway. “I’ll be on the porch, waiting for you to be ready. Feel free to join me, if you’d like. It’s a wonderful feeling, a hot drink on a cold day.”

And just like that, he was gone. Her eyes tracked him the whole while as her long fingers wrapped around the mug in earnest. The warmth was on the verge of being almost too hot to hold, and yet her grip didn’t change. The door opened and shut, signaling his departure. It brought to mind the past three weeks in full, how they’d met and the words he’d spoken to her.

Done killing. It almost sounded like a lie, considering what came before it. He had threatened her so many times, as she had to him. And here she was. Mug of warm, creamy, sweet liquid. Clothed, under a roof and told she may stay as long as she liked or leave whenever she desired. His offer hadn’t changed. He added no new rules or restrictions. Taught her anything she was unsure of or simply didn’t know. And now comforted her. Her tongue listed out and dipped into the warmth, pulling up a tiny draw of the drink into her lips. It was so sweet. Her whole body began to soften. Next thing she knew, she was slithering towards the door.

The air bit at her scales as she opened it, the day ushering in its morning with a harsh, bitter wind that cut her scales to the bone. And there he was, sat on the first step, scarf pulled down so he could take slow, small sips from the cup. She pulled herself out into the blistering wind, closing the door and settling beside the man, bringing the mug up to her face not to drink, but to simply press her snout against the now only safe haven against the cold. She should start wrapping her whole head in these scarves. Her entire body, at this rate. Without her old armor, it was far harder to stay warm in these kinds of conditions. She took a small, steady sip from the cup, having to press her snout into it and tip it to fully cover the petite hole her tongue could slip from. The instant relief she felt as the hot chocolate spilled down her throat was divine in this weather. Such a little thing and it was near heavenly.

She quietly smacked her lips, making sure she didn’t accidentally dribble any liquid she didn’t swallow. Her cup went to her lap and she turned her head to face the man, yet he hadn’t really moved. A smile was on his face, staring out into the fields of grass that were bathed in the golden sun. Her eyes dipped from him, to the porch and then towards the ground. Fingers fiddled with the rim of the mug before she took a breath to start to say something.

“Goose-” She paused, strangling herself on her next words as she’d already failed. “G... Gus! Gus, I mean....!”

The smile on his face only grew as a soft, baritone chuckle emitted from him. He gave her a sidelong glance, head barely moving to keep her in his line of sight. “Mhm?” He hummed in response.

Now that he was looking at her, she felt that warmth again. Not like hot chocolate, but no less comforting. More so, even. A small uncomfortable hiss emitted as she found herself without her words once again. Her mouth opened and closed several times, patiently being watched by the man as she sorted her thoughts. “.... I am.... Sorry.” She finally managed to get out.

“For what?” He countered after a moment's pause to sip his drink. The question confused her.

“For.... last night?” She offered, trying to jog his memory. He had a habit of blanking out as he often called it. “I....” She couldn’t say it.

“It’s fine, Sunshine. I didn’t mind it that much.” He said, eyes closing as, to him it seemed, that was the end of the conversation. And yet, Sunshine wouldn’t let it be so plain and simple.

“But...! That, it.. .was rude! I did not mean.... To do such things.” She struggled, her throat awkwardly wrapping around the human speech. Despite all the practice she’d been getting with him, they fumbled in her jaw. This is why she used a translator before, she could just speak in her sister’s tongue and be fine. But that had all gone out the window when she crashed. No more armor, no more translators. “Keep you there, and.... I didn't mean to!”

“It’s kept, and as I said, it’s fine.” He said, waving a hand but turning to look at her. While his smile hadn’t gone away, it dimmed as he may have begun to realize this might’ve been a bit more serious to her than he imagined. “Or is there something I’m missing here? Was that some kind of taboo for your people?”

In an instant, Sunshine’s mind lashed back to speaking with her sisters about their home. Off time for ADVENT soldiers wasn’t so much luxury as it was a necessity by the Elders. They needed the social interaction, the mental rest from the constant warring and fighting. Made them easier to control. And the conversations always led around to the same ends. Hoping the Elders would allow them to have proper mates sometime soon. That it was always so enraging when their biology would urge them towards somewhere only for the chips within their minds to blot it out like ink on a page. It was always treated as a complete pipe dream. But some of the sisters got very.... Intense with their reminiscing. She swallowed hard. “.... N... Not necessarily.” She began. “But... In your human shows.... It was always seen-”

He cut her off there with a hand being held up. “Sunshine, you can’t trust those dramatic renderings. They’re all just stories and falsehoods to entertain you. Some of it is based in reality, yeah, but you’re not going to get in trouble with me just because you had a nightmare and needed some comfort.” He shrugged his shoulders afterwards. “After all this time, we’ve been working together very well. I’d consider you a friend. And friends are there for each other.”

A friend...? A friend. The thought boggled her mind. She of course knew what friends were. She was friends with her sisters, the ones that she saw the most often anyway. And they were often there for one another, her included as she was there for them. The thought brought a smile to her face. “.... So you truly don’t.... Mind?” She finished, looking at him. A shake of the head was the start of his answer.

“Not at all. It was honestly probably the best night sleep I had in a long time. Had the usual dreams but I didn’t wake up feeling the need to start checking corners.” He said, finishing off his drink with one long draw and letting out a satisfied sigh. The plume of steam that left his lips reminded her of how cold it was. The mug she was holding came up to her own lips to take another swig. Though it was rapidly losing its warmth in this weather. “Though if there’s a next time, perhaps ask me first, yeah?”

She spat into her mug, coughing harshly as hot chocolate got swept into her sinuses and down the wrong entry of her throat. She didn’t even want to entertain that thought in the moment, her mind reeling intensely at the sheer thought of it. She felt a hand gently smacking her back as she hacked up the now phlegm out of her gullet. A rough swallow and another hurried sip of her cup put her back onto breathing before she turned and gave the man a sinister scowl, snout crinkled in annoyance and tongue flicking as menacing as she could at him. He held up his hands, offering a sheepish smile.

“H-Hey, easy now! I-I was just saying if the nightmares get too bad, I don’t mind helping out! I had a lil sister who had bad nightmares too!” He said, gently waving his hands in front of his face in a hopefully placating manner. She snorted at him, turning to press her nose into the cup and tilt it back to swallow the rest of the liquid within before he could commit another crime like that against her. “You don’t have to, if you don’t want to, just the offer stands. It’s not nice, not being able to get a decent rest.”

She couldn’t stand to look towards him as he said that the offer alone made her brain go foggy, much less even considering saying yes. She’d leave it with no answer, instead preferring to begin to rise. She sat the cup beside him and quietly cleared her throat, rasping out a few words in response. “Going to start the day. Thank you for drink.” She said, nodding a few times. And as she began to slither away, she paused, turning to look at him from the side of her eye. “... And for comfort. It helped.”

She saw that smile return in force, bringing a heat to her core once again. She’d have to pull the scarf over her nose for the rest of the day, lest somehow her embarrassment showed through. 

She may take him up on that offer after all.

``````````````

A few days had gone by since I had been trapped on the couch. Sunshine had acted a little strange around me since then, but had slowly returned to her normal, curious and comfortable demeanor. She had come to me once or twice in the evenings when I found myself on the living room couch unable to sleep, or unwilling to in some cases. She’d made good on my offer, though not nearly as extreme as before, only using my shoulder or curling up beside me on the couch. It was always a comforting feeling, hearing her relax fully and soundly go to sleep. Enough of a relaxing notion that I usually dozed off soon beside her, only to wake up with a blanket over me when the sun rolled in.

The thoughts were delightful ones that kept my mood buzzing throughout the days of the week. Sadly, today was a different kind of day. It was a supply run and scouting mission today. It was a rough one as I had to keep going farther and farther for supplies each time I went and cleared an area out. Considering that last time I went on such a run I came back with a viper and regardless of how nice it had become, I wasn’t particularly excited at the prospect of running into more aliens or survivors. Sunshine was likewise putting up quite the fight about me heading out on my own, more than once referencing our own encounter. The thing that bothered me more than the thought of running into more aliens was running into more survivors when she was with me. It’d be impossible to explain it to armed folks and even less likely to work against unarmed people. With ADVENT’s rule more or less a cast iron grip on the world, aliens were each wriggling, abusive finger that held us all by the balls.

I explained, in far more polite terms, to her that I didn’t want her to get hurt, or worse spotted, by anything that might be out there. At first, it seemed like I was getting through to her, only for her to seemingly double down, slithering up and encircling me like I was about to be squeezed to death. She never tightened up that circle as I definitely stood my ground, arms crossed as I stared her down. She even rose a couple feet higher than my head to try and intimidate me into letting her come with. After a moment, I pointed a finger up at her.

“Sunshine, you can-”

“You might get attacked! Again! Let me come! I can help! Defend you, protect you! Even search where you cannot! You said ruins everywhere! Tight spaces you cannot fit? I can!” She argued, evidently wanting to make her own claim to her contributions to our household. I took a very deep breath and sighed, closing my eyes and rubbing them. “At least let come. Can even stay car! Protect vehicle important, yes?” 

Now that actually didn’t sound like a terrible idea. Sure, if someone broke in, they’d get startled by a viper in the back and possibly attack. My van wasn’t particularly armored outside of the hood and front grill. A frown formed as the more I considered it, the less opposed I became. An incredible deterrent and it’d allow her to feel like she was doing more than just basic chores. My eyes pinched shut as I groaned, running a hand up and down my features before I heard her coils shifting. One eye opened to see her large red ones eagerly anticipating my answer. I damned the fact she had begun to know when I was giving in.

“..... Fine. ” I started, the viper springing into the air and throwing her arms up with a victorious hissing cry. “On ONE condition!”

She settled down, nodding quickly, circling around me again until she was at eye level with me. “You are not allowed to get out of that van unless one of us is in danger, okay? If another human like me spots you, I cannot guarantee that they won’t shoot you on sight or alert others to do so.” I explained as seriously as I could, despite the enthusiasm not dimming in her eyes I could tell she was understanding where I was coming from. “The chances that other people are still here after what I’ve been seeing recently are slim to none, but they aren’t zero. They never are. So you have to promise me, pinky promise! You won’t leave that van unless it’s an emergency.”

I said, holding up a mechanical digit to her, the littlest of them. She tilted her head at me before quietly holding up her own pinky, gangly as it was. I brought mine to hers and wrapped it around her digit, squeezing gently, she did the same. “Pinky promises are the most important promise a human can make, Sunshine.” I said with the utmost seriousness, wide eyes greeting me as she looked down at the, now to her, profound gesture. “It’s a promise that you follow through with. And if you break it, you shatter all trust.”

I felt just a little bit bad for overexaggerating the purpose of a pinky-promise, but the sentiment was nonetheless the same. She seemed to take it seriously, however, as when we pulled away she did not stop looking at her hand.

The rest of the day went pretty fast, she helped me unload all of the unnecessary things and restock the van with basic supplies. We’d be spending a night out in the wild and I told her as much. So it was simple things, dried meats and fruits and plenty of drinking water. A gun for each of us and a box of ammo each. She had the hunting rifle still, as I trusted her the most with it. She had asked me to take off the scope and then practiced with the irons for a long while, eventually deciding that they were preferable. Turns out Viper’s have some pretty good eyesight. Makes sense, I guess, given they have to be lethally accurate with their poison and tongues, not to mention their rifles. 

I took my usual .45 pistol, a classic 1911 model, and an over under sporting shotgun I’d found in the house we were living in. Chambered in 12 Gauge with a choke, it was an excellent mid ranged tool and especially good for putting down large or small game. Or in this case, a nasty alien or bandit. The pistol only had one other spare mag, but I hopefully wouldn’t even need to draw it. A deep breath followed me as I marched to the van, going to step into the driver’s side. I felt the whole car lurch as the sliding door opened and in came the massive viper. Once she was settled in, I pulled out my map of the area. It was hand drawn from another local map that I kept at home, made more simplistic and with a myriad of little notes and markers.

I had made a habit of making these maps and using them as trade for anyone who happened to stop by my home. It was usually only one caravan that was consistent, though recently I’d seen the same pair come and go the past couple seasons. They said they always wanted to swing by in case I had spare food for trade. But the caravan always ended up taking most of what I had, but usually with good returns on things they had doubles of or had no need for. Sometimes I even got gifts in the forms of spices or seeds they wished to see me harvest.

They were the main reason my garden was as massive as it was, more like a proper farm the more time went on. I shook my head out of my thoughts before pointing to an empty space a bit past where I’d found Sunshine. “Here. There’s a town just past that gas station. We’ll have to offroad a bit, but I’ve not picked through the area yet. There’s plenty of houses and stores that’re untouched since ADVENT’s rule started. I doubt there’s much in the way of food, but anything that doesn’t spoil or is tightly sealed should be safe to bring back.”

She slowly nodded, staring at the map. I saw the tip of her tail twitching in the back as I spoke. A small pause came to my lips before I spoke again. “You didn’t go there, did you?” I asked. She bobbed her head left and right before shaking it.

“Not actually going but.... Did look at. Scouted from afar.” She explained, tapping the area. “There was only wildlife. Though I did see.... Fresh tracks leading through.”

Her head rose up to look at me, tilting slightly. “And if you haven’t.... Then someone else has. Been going through it.” She explained making me grit my teeth and sigh. With my brow furrowing, I mumbled into a palm as I scratched my scruffy unkempt stubble.

“That means we’ll probably have to park somewhere as discreet as we can. You can see decently well at night, right?” I asked and received a positive nod. “Then we’ll go at night. Drive in, park and scavenge. If we’re late into the evening, you shouldn’t actually have to stay in the van. As long as we stick together and you let me do the talking if folks decide to show up. That's a deal?”

She looked at me timidly, briefly looking at her hand and then back to me. I sighed, remembering before I held up my pinky to her again. “We’ll make it an addendum to our original promise. Instead of not leaving the van, you just trust me to handle things and don’t leave my side. Sounds good?”

That seemed to bring a smile to her face as she took my pinky in hers and squeezed. We gave each other a half hearted shake and I smiled in tandem. “Alright, we got a plan! On the way home, if we spot any wild life, you can try to bag it with your rifle to bring home.”

A thought that brought a very happy hiss from the towering viper behind me. I could even hear her wiggling at the sheer thought of having more meat. Cranking the van into drive, I got us started. I even was able to play a few tunes from the built-in CD player. Turns out Sunshine really likes Marty Robbins.

Chapter Text

Sunshine watched the world roll on by as someone sang of someone else having a very large piece of metal tied to their hip area. It was a song that was catchy, though a lot of the meanings and words meant little to her, save for the pieces Gustave had explained. Such as how ‘Iron’ could not only mean the metal, but a kind of firearm as well. So the ‘Cowboy’ in the song had a very large gun of some degree and was fast with it.

It was a nice song. She liked the implications that the ‘Texas Ranger’ was a good man, hunting down the miscreants that judged and treated other citizens poorly. It reminded her of what she thought she’d been doing in her service to ADVENT. And while it did give a bitter taste in her mouth, the song made it all feel so much more novel. Like she was listening to a great story as opposed to reliving memories. He hadn’t really spoken much more than that, occasionally tapping his hands on the steering wheel and humming along to the songs. She tried to join in but the only sound she could create rhythmically was just a gentle tapping of her tail. It seemed enough for Gus as he seemed tickled by her attempts.

It made the rest of the ride very easy, despite how long the drive was threatening to be on us. More than once Gustave had stopped and gotten out of the van to try and steer the more intact vehicles out of the way. She came out to help him a few times, much to his distress, but he relented when he found he hadn’t the strength to shove cars. Unfortunately, even together a lot of the cars refused to budge. In the end, he had to settle for maneuvering where he could and offroading where possible. Before long, we had arrived at the town proper, pulling up near an old run down building with a sign that she couldn’t make out. The car was parked behind it and out of sight, at least we hoped. She grabbed her rifle and ammo, tucked in her clothing as best she could and wrapped her head up in a dark brown scarf he’d given her with a few gentle words. Something about blending into the dark better than her scales could. 

She understood where he was coming from, but figured with her size hiding wasn’t really an option to begin with. She’d grown more recently, gaining more muscle, weight and length on her tail. She made a mental note to tell Gustave to stop feeding her enlarged portions so that she did not get any larger, for fear of needing even more mattresses, or worse, blankets and pillows. She’d already been given all that he had in the house save for his own spares, which wasn’t many to be fair, but all just barely enough to cover her if she curled in on herself. 

The thought was shaken from her mind as she felt the door beside her slide away, allowing her to spill out onto the asphalt overgrown with weeds and grass. Gustave had already slipped to the corner of the building looking out and around as he did. The town was just barely lit from the setting sun. It meant that by the time they started to salvage or scavenge the sun would be long gone. Something she wasn’t bothered by, but her human companion was certainly not in for a good time. Perhaps that’s why he allowed her to come with, knowing she would have an easier time navigating than him. To allow her to guide him as he often tried to guide her, though not quite in the same sense. The simple thought she was going to be more useful to her friend than just an extra pair of hands filled her with a determined sense of pride.

She’d prove here and tonight that she could be trusted with such important things! Of course, there wasn’t much more important than their survival after all, but nonetheless the thought made her happy. Gus looked to her after a moment and nodded, slinging his shotgun over his shoulder and getting just a bit low to run forward. It was a bit awkward, listening to him move as she slithered after quietly as she could. Every movement he had, while very muffled, was followed by the gentle whir of the electronics he was pieced together with. She hadn’t asked him about them yet. She had a feeling she knew why he was that way. 

They rushed together to a nearby building, dipping in through an open window. Gus hadn’t spoken a word, but a sign read ‘General’ on part of it before the rest had been scratched and weathered away. She assumed that meant general supplies, of any kind. The building was extremely dank and filthy, weeds and flora of all kinds had overgrown into the building and taken over just about every surface within ten feet of the entrance. Even the glass they had to walk and slither over barely crunched against the mushy foliage. He hesitantly pulled out a small pocket flashlight, clicking it on to give the minimum amount of light he needed to look around. Pausing, he looked to her and pointed to his eyes, then to the shelving.

He wanted her to look for something, clearly. Then he mouthed words at her, slowly and carefully. Cans. Clothes. Tools. She nodded and slithered ahead of him, hastily looking through each and every aisle of shelving. Her tongue flicked out into the air, searching for anything past the smells of her human friend and the store’s musty interior. As she spotted something to grab, a few cans with some faded image of a stew. She found the dufflebag he’d given her before they left, telling her his plan was to at least fill up each of their bags as full as possible before leaving to make the trip worth the gas. He was efficient, which was something she appreciated. At least in these kinds of important things. Otherwise he tended to go at a lazy pace. Especially when he cooked.

She had to shake her head again, hissing at herself in annoyance. Since when had she gotten so easily distracted? Even after her mind was broken free from the psionic link, she hadn’t been this mindless. It created no small amounts of wonder and irritation during her daily duties. She blamed him entirely for it. Had he not been so damn nice to her, her chest wouldn’t be this damn hot all the time and her mind wouldn’t be so fuzzy when he smiled at her. 

She blinked. She just realized that what she’d grabbed she’d suddenly squeezed until it buckled making her worry she had ruined it. Thankfully after a minute of smelling and tasting the air, along with visually inspecting it and even listening to it, she concluded she’d just warped the container. A thankful thing at that. Putting it and the rest of the cans into her bag, she continued on in her search. The careful scrutiny between the two of them allowed them both a decent haul of collected goods, meager as it was.

Where she had found food items and non-perishables, like tea. honey and peanut butter, all things she saw Gustave silently throw a fist into the air for. Evidently they were very good finds. Aside from that she’d found a few kitchen implements, a few containers of spices that had their labels faded or torn away but otherwise left alone, and finally a few tins of what he told her were ‘Instant drinks’. Things like Chai Latte, Mocha and Macha. 

On his side of things, he found a handful of basic tools that’d be handy to have in case others broke. Bundles of batteries that’d shockingly not gone bad yet, a handful of electronics still in plastic packaging, plenty of rags and sets of clothing that, while not particularly clean, could be washed and used. He even found medicinal items like isopropyl alcohol, stitching sets, basic medical kits and a few bottles of a kind of very mild painkillers he said may or may not work after all this time. All in all, their bags had barely filled anything, despite the seeming haul they’d both found. He looked happy regardless, already on a good track.

He signed for her to stay close and follow him to the back of the store where they lurched in and scouted around. Much the same as the front, the garage had been left wide open allowing all sorts of plants to congregate and swarm into the building. Sadly, it seemed that due to that massive opening, things looked like they’d already been looted some time ago. Whatever had been left was damaged, spoiled or just not worth taking. Still, they managed to take back a handful of plastic wrapped glass jars with metal lids and a couple sets of winter gloves that’d survived in undamaged packaging.

It was like this going forward into other buildings, doing the best they could from place to place. Sadly, each building they got into going forward had less and less. Even salvage seemed to be pointless as nothing had held up against the ever present forces of nature. Eventually they had taken a moment to stop and consider their next stop, planting themselves between buildings in an alleyway. She coiled up in place, half ready to spring into action and half relaxed. Gustave had begun to pace, softly as he could, while rubbing at his chin in thought.

It had turned nighttime by this point, the moon lighting just barely enough that one could make out what was in front of them for a couple yards. It had always made her happy, seeing the world like this. It all felt so calm and sleepy to the mind, with everything so dark and not a sound save for the occasional cricket or wild animal off in the distance.

She heard Gustave mumble something about having already spent their luck as he gently kicked over a cardboard box in an alleyway. He walked to the end of it to take a look, holding up a hand for her to stop as she slithered closer to likewise take a peak. He turned to look at her, his eyes suddenly far more serious. Without saying a word, he brought up a fist to his mouth and rapidly flagged two of his fingers out in front of his mouth at her.

She blinked. And blinked again before her eyes widened at the realization of what he was asking. Her head rose up high, eyes closing and she began to rapidly flick her tongue into the air. There were new smells. Four different sources. The worst part was how familiar they were. It was acrid and near putrid in odor, the flavor bitter and stinging to the senses. Chryssalids. She thought in slight horror.

What were they doing here? There should’ve been none in this area, Gustave had said he’d cleared them out. She looked down to him to say so, but her expression seemed to say it all. A frown had deepened on his face as he slowly pulled the shotgun from his shoulder. Unfortunately, despite his great claim of not wanting to kill, when it came to the ravenous, vile insects, there was no real way to deal with them. Not without risking the life of yourself and those around you. They were either avoided entirely or killed on sight. And it seemed, given his reaction, they may not have been able to avoid them.

She drew her rifle from her shoulder, the simple bolt action not exactly appropriate for fast killing, but she had little choice. Gustave flicked the safety off of his shotgun, Sunshine doing the same for the rifle. He crouched down, giving her plenty of sightline into the street, scooting back just a step or two so his barrel didn’t leave the alleyway. She heard them before she saw them, the clacking of talons on stone and road, the hissing screeches and shrieks of predators moving. They were hunting. They were hungry. She knew these sounds well, having been part of a transport to haul a heap of them to open locations near shanties and rebelling areas were common enough she’d had plenty of encounters with the insects. Not to mention having seen the aftermath. 

A frown deepened on her already withered expression that was permanent for her kind. They waited. And waited, the clacking and clicking getting closer. And then it appeared in the street, illuminated by the palest moonlight. She saw the chitinous exteriors swinging left and right as they looked at every single room and window insight, trying to find a sense of where there might be living prey to use for both food and reproduction. And they waited. Waited until three of them were in sight and across the street from them. She knew what Gus was planning. It was smarter to just let them pass by, but if they saw them, and it was more likely than not, they had only one chance to really put them down.

The clicking of mandibles was heard as one searched the alleyway opposite of them, another had taken to carefully stepping around things that it knew made noise to search the inside of shops and the third carefully scanning in all directions in slow panning swings of its head. She heard Gus’ breathing all but stop as its head swung towards them in a slow, lazy arc.

And when they saw it, those beady glowing orange eyes, it didn’t even get a chance to scream. Sunshine and Gus fired simultaneously, his buckshot tearing a gaping wound out of its abdomen while Sunshine’s shot ripped a hole clean through the left side of its head. It fell with a squelching plop.

The other two instantly went into action, turning and rushing towards the sound of the firearms. They didn’t even stop or hesitate near their fallen, one of them even stabbing through the open wounds of the head as it sprinted at them. Sunshine racked the bolt on the rifle and lined up a second shot, taking out the leg of the closest one. It skidded to the ground as it lost its balance, scrambling in place to get up. A third round was racked into her rifle, aiming at the wounded insect.

Another loud boom from Gustave’s shotgun halted the last advancing Chryssalid, throwing it back a couple steps as its chest was peeled open by the impact of the tightly knit pellets. Regardless of the bugs’ natural plating, this range and their caliber sizes meant that not much could stop the damage. With two wounded, Sunshine racked a fourth shot while Gustave stood and side stepped away from her line of sight, the sound of two used shells landing with soft plastic clacks and tinny clinks as he begun to reload. 

Her fourth shot tore open the throat of the one Gustave had shot, given it was still on all fours and could likely still lunge at them. It tried to squeal a response but only gave a wet, gloppy whistle before falling over. The third had gotten far too close for their liking, using one of its forearms in place of its leg to skitter towards them in an uncomfortable fashion. It did not last long, however, as one solid shot to the head from Gustave’s shotgun put it down for the count. They breathed easier for a moment, each panting as adrenaline coursed through their veins. She racked the bolt of the rifle again, hand going to rummage in her pocket for more bullets as Gustave did the same.

And as they reloaded, a realization came over her and she turned to count the bodies. Horror filled her heart as she tried to rapidly rearm her rifle, her haste causing the bullet she’d been loading to double feed with the one in the magazine. Gustave must’ve noticed her concern as he began to look in every direction before they both heard it. Skittering coming at them and fast, Sunshine hurriedly yanking on her bolt to free the jammed round without outright yanking the bolt out of its chamber. As she finally managed, the bullet flinging out and her thumb cramming them back into order before rebolting it had been too late. Two rapid shots from Gustave’s shotgun startled her, not from the noise, but the direction he’d shot.

Upward. Dirt and brick debris rained down onto them both as she saw the massive beast dodge the shots by leaping from wall to wall, halfway down the building’s wall before Sunshine could bring up her rifle to get a shot. And then it lept.

Time moved in slow motion as her eyes tracked the beast’s movement. Biologically programmed to seek human hosts, the creature practically ignored her as it tried to propagate in the first target that fit its prioritized needs. She pulled the trigger a second too late, the round winging one of its back spines rather than its head, and watched helplessly as it streamed straight to Gustave. Claws extended, mandibles primed for maiming and injection, screaming towards her human companion.

She saw two things from Gustave as it closed in on him. The first was him throwing his gun with one hand at the creature’s face while the other darted into his coat. The second was the look he wore. The look of quiet acceptance, fear and the simple grit. He knew, in that moment, he may die. The next few moments happened so fast Sunshine barely could keep up.

She lunged forward to help as it impacted Gustave, the shotgun landing in the monster’s jaws and causing it to bite and bite hard on the weapon. One set of claws had jammed themselves into his arm that’d thrown the weapon, the other dug into his shoulder forcing a cry of pain from the man through grit teeth. And then that familiar pop from when they’d met. His pistol reported again and again into the belly of the monster, scattering its foul, discolored entrails all over the left side of Gustave’s body and face. He got off four shots before she got to him, swinging her whole body’s weight into striking the monster’s head with the butt of her rifle.

It was send recoiling off of the man, blood splattering across the ground as its claws were torn from Gustave’s shoulder and its own guts spilled onto the floor. The man had dropped his pistol at that, gasping in agony. Bleeding from its stomach and now a fresh new head wound, the monster wailed, flaring its spines and maw, before starting to stagger towards them with an intentional unfounded vigor. Sunshine dropped down, grabbing Gus’ pistol and bringing it up. It wasn’t much different than the rifle, save for the fact it was considerably smaller. It took only a second for her to line up the shots. The recoil was much different, the first shot landing in its throat, the second shot going wide. The third and fourth landed in its chest and mandible.

Even as she heard the gun’s slide lock into place, the beast finally dropped. She didn’t realize she was gasping for air. Was that what the humans went through? That was only a tiny group of them, no less. She remembered talk of releasing at least a dozen into or nearby camps. And how they reproduced, there’d be no end if they even got one or two humans. She swallowed harshly before dropping the pistol and her own rifle, turning to look at Gus.

She squealed out his name, leaning down to grab and pull him off the ground into her coils. “G-Goose! Goose!” She hollered, uncaring of how she got his name wrong. “Did it bite you!? Did it-”

He groaned, holding up a hand and shaking his head. “N-No... No biting, just claws. Fucking Skewered me....” His breath came in labored gasps, a mechanical hand coming up to instantly compress his wound as he swore through gritted teeth. “W... We gotta get out of here... We don’t know if there’s more.” She wanted to protest, to say he needed treatment, but the way he shifted in her coils to stand made her realize he wasn’t going to budge. Despite his pain, he shot her a weak smile. “This... Is nothing, compared to how I lost my legs. Come on... Benefit of having robotics in you is that pain doesn’t actually slow you down.”

Her lips tightened and nearly quivered as she saw him turn away, trying not to groan in pain. Before he could get far, she leaned down and grabbed his pistol, rushing back to him and pressing it into his chest before he could stagger off without some kind of safety. He gave her a surprised, but thankful look, nodding and briefly pulling his hand from his shoulder to reload the pistol. It wasn’t much, but it’d work in a pinch. Rushing back to the alleyway, she grabbed their duffle bags that’d been lost in the fighting and both of their guns.

They had to move. She had to move. If she’d just stated the danger instead of reacting, he wouldn’t have been hurt. She chased after the man, going to throw both gun straps over her shoulder. “Stop.” She said finally, making the man pause and pivot towards her, hand back to clenching his wound shut.

“What do you mean sto-” He tried to get out before his feet were taken out from under him. She’d dipped down and scooped his legs from his person, one arm resting at his shoulders. It was all suddenly quite a bit of weight bearing her down, not realizing just how much extra the man had to carry with his metal limbs. Between him, the duffle bags and the guns, she was not moving as fast as she could. But she was moving faster than he could on his own. “S-Sunny, what are-”

“Shush.” She hissed, moving fast as she could back to the van. She didn’t know if it was her interruption that kept him from speaking or arguing further or the fact moisture had begun to drip down her face again. What a horrible feeling that sat like stones in her stomach. She wasn’t quite sure which emotion it was, but it was different from her awakening. Different from that guilt, this felt far far worse. “Going to be fine.” She hissed, softer now. “Have to be fine.” Her speech tapered off as she focused on moving.

In her movement and concentration, she couldn’t see the look of shock on the man’s face as she carried him off. Nor did she notice him starting to nod off against her. 

Chapter Text

I had fallen asleep against her shoulder as she rushed me through the town. I didn’t quite remember how far we’d gotten in, but it must’ve been relatively deep in. The last thing I could recall was the agony of that damn bug slamming into me. The feeling of its claws scraping the bone of my shoulder. If I hadn’t tossed my gun at it when I had, its teeth would’ve torn into me and that would’ve been it. Infected by its bile and eggs to die a terrible, liquifying death and burst into a small hive of baby bugs. Thankfully, my limbs being mechanical as they were allowed me to fight back a lot more recklessly than I could’ve without them. I’d caught one of its claws within the spaces of my arm, preventing it from completely tearing me open, and my other hand was able to dump a few rounds into its stomach despite the pain in my shoulder.

I don’t remember much past that. Getting up, a gun being put in my hand, walking maybe a few yards. The feeling of my feet leaving me and then being rushed down the street. That was the last thing I remember. No dreams came to me but I did get thrown awake by the sudden agonizing pain of my wounds being treated. I gasped awake, back arching before a strong hand shoved me back down, the pain in my shoulder rocking my world into a dizzying duplicity. The first thing I saw were big red orbs dancing in multiple pairs across my vision before they all combined into one opaque image. It was Sunshine. My eyes ached as I noticed the light over her head. Where were we? A brief glance around told me all I needed to know.

The van? When did we get back here? I thought before gritting my teeth as another wave of pure agony sent me reeling. My hand came up and landed on something that wasn’t my shoulder. The sensors picked up again. Warm. Pliant. Wet. Soft. My vision turned away from the face of Sunshine to see her hand pressing hard into my now exposed shoulder and my hand over hers. My coat and undershirt had been stripped from me, leaving the chilly floor of my car to sap what warmth I did have. There was a lot of red smeared over me and her.

“Stop moving...! Making it worse!” She hissed at me, her other hand moving from my shoulder to grab my hand away from her own and press into my chest. “You passed out. Need to stay awake. I can fix you! Just... Need a moment! Just got here. You were bleeding so... Just hold still. Will fix! Have to fix!”

I could hear something in her voice as my vision traveled back to hers. Tears. She was crying. I don’t remember her actually, properly, crying since that first day in the doorway. In my weakened mind, I didn’t know what else to do so my hand rose up to gently wipe the side of her face. The action seemed to startle her as my thumb made contact and brushed away the several tears that’d pooled in the crevices of her features and scales. After I did, my hand came back to my shoulder, I pulled her hand away to compress it tighter. I tried to quickly look around the van, my consciousness ever so slowly returning to me, fighting for every waking moment I had.

“Medkit, good one. Bottom shelf, green box.” I said with a weak voice. A wheeze escaped me as I laid my head back and Sunshine left me for just a moment to search. Speaking made me realize that something else was probably damaged within me. Probably a cracked sternum or a broken rib or three. I had a metal chassis to hold and support all of my cybernetics, along with a spinal implant that all culminated to a reinforced body of sorts, but it did almost nothing when it came to such viscous blunt force trauma. And if it had bent, which I knew was unlikely, I was going to really be fucked.

I heard the slick wet sounds of her tail moving along the van’s floor. I really did wonder how much blood I lost. It couldn’t have been much, not that much was left in me, missing four limbs. After hearing, and seeing, a few things be tossed away, she returned with it, throwing it open and searching through. I swallowed and spoke again.

“Get... The antiseptic. Pour it on the wound, then find the blue vial with the sprayer attached.” I instructed, the large Viper reading through various items before stumbling onto the ones I spoke of. She wrenched the cap off of the antiseptic and carefully moved my hand to pour it over the multiple punctures in my shoulder. The pain was blinding, causing me to see flashes in my vision for a brief moment. I must’ve made some sound and moved something fierce as I felt that hand pressing me back down again. “S.. .S.... Spray... Spray wound.... Foam...... Pack it.” I wheezed out, rapidly losing focus now.

Getting your ass kicked really takes it out of you. I thought to myself, feeling my eyes start to close and the worried voice of Sunshine trying to keep me awake. A few loose thoughts rumbled through my mind before I felt my eyes shut heavily in place and I listed off to sleep once again. Only this time, the dreams had returned. Incoherent with rapid flashes in between segments.

I was barreling through suppressing plasma fire as I changed cover to cover. A man was crying out across the asphalt with a wound the size of my fist in his lower stomach. My hands grabbed the handle of his combat vest and I dragged him to relative safety as my comrades covered me best as they could. I felt my helmet get torn from my head by a stray plasma bolt by the time I got us into safety. He was bleeding out, despite the wound cauterizing, his writhing had torn the wound back open. I didn’t know if I had enough medical sprays to even stabilize this.

I blinked and I was elsewhere.

My massive mechanized arm was held out in front of my head creating a rudimentary barricade to dampen the incoming fire. It worked well enough although I began to smell the metal fizzling away with the repetitive strikes. I was holding in place to keep my squad safe, three of them held up behind me as I took fire for them. If I moved at all, they would be in danger. Thankfully, I heard the thumping of the demolitionist doing his work. The sound of aliens squealing in agony brought me a sick kind of comfort.

A flash of green and I had shifted again.

My comrades had each come to visit me after I was injured. They asked me how I was holding up, if the cybernetics had taken hold. All together, I hadn’t been holding up well. Waking up to find my limbs replaced with some kind of steel and alien alloy made my blood run colder than the metal I now wore. Their words barely comforted me, their compliments and pride that I’d survived and fought how I did didn’t ease my agony. It all hurt so bad. I could still feel it all. Every crunch, every pull of sinew, the look on the Muton’s face.

I awoke finally with a gasp, heaving with breath and groaning in pain. The only thing I was comforted by was that I wasn’t on that cold hard metal floor of my van anymore. My eyes opened and couldn’t focus properly, but the illumination of the car told me it had to have at least been sunrise. The light that reflected off the ceiling lanced my vision, forcing them back shut almost immediately. Shifting in place, I felt my shoulder once again scream at me in pain though substantially less so than before. My hands shifted against what I had assumed would be the flat ground of my car only to be surprised when my sensors read something else. Warm. Pliant. Soft. Smooth.

My hand ran up and down the surface I was on a few times before I tried sitting up, finding that I was weighed down by something. Creaking my eyes open again, I found Sunshine’s head resting delicately on my middle again. Her hands were splayed across my chest, as if trying to keep me down. Her expression looked exhausted, eyes screwed shut and a slightly open mouth that breathed warm air onto my exposed skin. Had I not been reeling in pain, other thoughts and feelings might’ve sprung to mind. Looking around myself, I found the rest of her body curling around and beneath me like some kind of snakeskin kiddy pool. How long had she been like this?

From there my eyes flitted down to the injury and I found long dried drips of that off-colored reddish-orange. The entire area looked like she’d rubbed it over a couple of times. A piece of cloth gauze had been pressed and tied down with medical tape, a thick layer of a pale blue foam had turned tacky and peeked out from under the packing.

Good lady. Listened well, despite myself. I thought to myself. My hand came up to rub at my face as I tried to recount the last evening. The same memories came, muddled details and weak connections all I had in between the flashes of memory I had. I hated losing details. It was the one thing my mind was good for before my excessive bodily trauma, that I could recall things with almost perfect clarity. But now, it was hard to even think. I likely had a concussion on top of everything else. Finally, my hand came up and gently shook the serpent on me. She bemoaned a few words and curled around me tighter, talons slightly raking down my exposed skin and sending a shiver down my spine.

I shook her again and the coils tightened further, making one of my legs bend in place, thankfully at the knee this time. The other was no more free as I tried to pull it up, only to find it was beneath most of the other layers of serpent tail. So getting her awake was not going to be a good idea, especially if I was only going to get more tangled with each passing second. My head fell back against the warm and soft scales that I’d been resting against already, leaving me to wonder truly where my place in the world was to have landed me here, of all places. Wounded by zombie-making space bugs and held in place by a cuddly massive snake woman in the back of an old beater van. It was like the plot to a bad movie.

My eyes scanned around me, trying to find anything to help my situation. Sadly, the only thing I could find was my duffle bag and that was well out of reach. I stretched for it, trying to see if by some miracle I could develop psionic power and pull it to me. No such miracle occurred as my metal arm fell limp against her sides. My head flopped back again and I stared at the ceiling, contemplating how long I might be stuck in this position. If she’d fallen asleep only hours ago, I was no doubt going to be stuck here for hours more. We’d been going the entire night, no less, leaving both of us exhausted. And with how distressed she had been before I passed out, I wouldn’t be surprised if she slept even longer. My jaw shifted as I thought, eyes eventually going down and finding the sleeping viper’s face again.

My hand came up and around, carefully wrapping around her chin to close her mouth and reorient her head to be facing me. In the weeks I’d been around her, she’d not looked at me directly often, and usually was taller than me too. Getting a good view of it, it was almost blocky in appearance, her snout thicker than I’d assumed and head broadening the further up I looked. A flat nose and a tapered jaw that formed a symmetrical triangle down until her neck. Serpentine to the extreme.

And she wonders why humans mistake her kind for our animals. I mused, hand coming up to gently pat the top of her head. As I gently stroked the top of her hood, my sensors continued to occasionally blip with the same handful of descriptors. Warm. Pliant. Soft. Smooth. They didn’t mean much as words, but memory saved me in that case. My eyes closed as I continued my light affections, letting myself once again be pulled back to my memory. I wasn’t going anywhere now, so what harm could there be in it?

The Reptile house was doing a special exhibit. They had hired an expert animal handler to bring in a handful of exotic snakes from outside the zoo to entertain and allow folks to get more of an understanding of the amazing creatures that lived within the exhibits. The man had been picking volunteers and I had been lucky enough to be called upon.

He’d wrapped a snake around my shoulders, a massive python. He had to hold the other half of it as I held the half with the head. I held so still I was a statue, though it wasn’t out of fright or a sense of danger, but the wonder of it all. It was so calm, so undisturbed. It merely slithered and climbed my body like I was nothing more than a tree in one of the many glass boxes the zoo had. After that, he’d allowed me to hold less exotic, but no less interesting, creatures like larger breeds of iguana and chameleons. They all were so strange to the senses. Smooth and slippery. Coarse and gritty. Sometimes a bizarre mix of all of them. The baby alligators were adorable. At that moment, I wanted to be a zoologist. But life had different plans for me.

“Goose....?” My nickname had pulled me back, smoother this time than any other. My head dipped upwards, bending to see the voice that’d called me. I saw the wide, messy eyes of Sunshine, hand still atop her head and idly petting her hood. As realization hit me, I halted the movement, pulling my hand away, albeit hesitantly.

“.... Mornin’ Sunshine.” I quipped, offering a weak smile before her whole body shifted. I felt my eyes widen as my body moved like a wave of water had taken me and next thing I knew I was once again being hugged by the viper. I blinked a few times. This time, instead of the awkward, impersonal attempt, it was a desperate full bodied clinging that took me. I could feel every taut muscle beneath her scales straining to pull me closer. My legs and arms both blared mild warnings about excessive pressure as her coils squeezed me tight enough to alert them. I couldn’t even understand the incoherent blubbering that came from the serpent as I attempted to return the hug, only able to get one arm out of her grasp and coils enough to wrap around her back. “Hey, now, it’s okay, the wound wasn’t that ba-”

I was cut off with a wheeze as she squeezed the life out of me for half a second before loosening and pulling back enough to hold me at her arm’s length. I blinked and took a huffing breath before she sighed and hung her head. “I...” She started and stopped, her lips and jaw working to try and figure out the words she wanted to say in the capacity she had. “You were hurt badly. Because of me.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Did... you summon those bugs somehow?” I asked, causing her to flinch and shake her head violently. “Then how is it your fault?”

“I smelled them. Counted, should have... I knew how many. Did not realize! Didn’t say!” She exclaimed, hands pulling away from my shoulders to gesticulate rapidly. “Tried to get gun! Jammed, could’ve shot it! You....!” Her breath hitched as she stared at my treated wound. “Could... Have died.”

“But I didn’t, did I?” I asked, starting to sit up in her coils. My shoulder pulsed with discontent, but the rest of me had begun to feel at least somewhat better. My chest hurt when I breathed, but it was less sharp and prodding pain now and more dull, long living aches. I saw her shift, hands coming towards me to stop me from moving.

“You are, but I... Could have prevented it! The damage! The wounds! You could be permanently....!” She cut off, though I understood the meaning despite the disjointed end. My hands came up to grab hers, making her yip in shock and tense to pull back. But they never did, instead looking towards me as I held them. My thumbs brushed her along her knuckles before I gently let go.

“Sunshine, we both made mistakes. I should’ve been more alert. I should’ve had us run the moment I spotted them. I shouldn’t have let us linger.” I began, her lips opening before I raised a finger towards her snout. I didn’t even have to tap at her nose as she closed her lips. “I’m alive. Frankly, the fact I got away with just this shoulder wound is a miracle. And on top of that-” I pointed to my shoulder. “-You tended to me after I passed out.”

Her head dipped down a small bit. “You did fine, Sunshine. You did good. Yeah, I did get hurt. But I’d rather have gotten hurt than you.” I said finally, starting to stand. Her head snapped up at me as I said that, about to argue against it but fell short. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she reluctantly nodded in agreement. “Now come on. I think we got enough food for at least a couple weeks and plenty of other things to sort through.”

As I finally got up, I noticed just how filthy the both of us were. Her coat was smeared with my blood, caked onto her neck and all over her hands. Had another human seen this, they’d probably assumed she’d absolutely slaughtered someone in the back of this van. And the pool of dried and congealed blood that had been left was no better. I grimaced, thinking about how painful it was going to be to get the smell and stains out of the van when we got home. She must’ve noticed my gaze because she slid to the side for a moment and pulled out my shirt and long coat, both soaked at the shoulder in crimson. I sighed, taking them in my hands as she came over. I wasn’t going to put these back on, but the cold was starting to nip at me. A grunt escaped me as I tossed the clothing onto the ground and went to the front of the van, reaching up to the spot where I always kept my keys.

“Are we going home?” Sunshine asked, sliding up next to me. I gave her a small nod, wincing as my shoulder ached more with each use. “Are... Okay to drive?” 

“I’ll have to be, because we ain’t walking home...” A worried expression crossed her features as I got the car started, feeling the rumble of the can beneath me. Her eyes caught mine in a moment before I sighed, quietly squeezing the steering wheel a bit tighter. “When we get home I will rest. I promise.”

That seemed to elevate her concerns, if only minorly. Until she raised up a hand in front of me. Pinky extended. I traced the limb all the way back to her face, full of seriousness. I opened my mouth to protest that it was unnecessary, but even as I did, I saw her eyes furrow hard and the hand was brought back to my vision. A small huff escaped me before I raised up my own pinky, hooking hers and giving a light shake. “Fine. Fine. Pinky promise, I’ll rest.” 

She relaxed entirely after that but did not leave my side on the drive home. I was thankful for it, as even with the AC in my car barely working to keep the interior from being completely freezing cold, her presence made me feel a lot better about the situation. It was about ten minutes into the drive before I spoke up. “Thanks, Sunshine. For taking care of me.”

Nothing was replied. She didn’t have to, I saw her in the rear view. Her head tilted away and a hand came to her face, trying to hide the soft smile that was forming. 

Chapter Text

The road back home had been rife with bumps, twists and turns, all of which were our own doing in coming here. Thankfully, she had been there to keep him in place. One of the first resounding thumps had sent the man reeling in place, eyes wide and gritting teeth. After it, her tail had come up and wrapped around his middle, much to his surprise. No words had been exchanged, but when she tightened around his waist to keep him locked against his seat tighter than the belt was doing, he seemed to understand. A nod was shared as he slowed down just a bit on the rougher parts of the road. He had been driving as fast as he thought was safe in his condition, which admittedly might have been faster than she wanted to go. The man was still suffering from both blood loss and who knows how much pain.

She stretched upwards and pressed her chest against the back of his seat, arms coming around to hold his shoulders in place, another flinch coming from him. “C-Cold!” He sputtered only for a moment through his teeth before she pulled away. Her mind was lingering on the wounds he’d received and wanted to check on them again, but could not as he was occupied. And even to get such a look would require him facing her and she certainly couldn’t just slither onto his lap while he was trying to get them home, now could she?

The thought gave her an amount of mental whiplash as she’d quickly gone from the simple thought of carefully tending to the poor man in front of her who’d been assailed by a horrid creature to this warming mental image of her curled around him in the driver’s seat, leaning him back onto the chair so she could get a much better look at him. She felt heat slowly boiling and rushing throughout her being before she shook her head lightly, one hand coming up to rub at her face. Merely fatigue. I did not sleep much last night, though thankfully what sleep I did get was very pleasant. She thought, eyes shifting from Gus to the road and then back. Very pleasant indeed.

Looking at him now, the picture still wasn’t pretty, but it was painted in a score of many shades. There was a determined, hapless expression on his face that never really went away since he’d woken up. His hair covered his face almost entirely most of the time, but his amber eyes always showed through with this fire. This raw want to push forward. It was endearing. On the contrary his body was clearly racked with pain. She watched muscles around his chest twitch against the wounds he had, four separate three inch tall slices that told of the horrid claws that dug far deeper in than they looked. Puckered and bleeding when she'd treated them. She had seen the worst of it when she threw herself into the insect’s chitinous hide, how they bulged under his skin and tore away with no small amount of blood.

The medicine had done its work well, thankfully. The anti-septic seemed to have been more painful than healing, but the foaming agent had practically done her job for her. They still needed proper treatment, proper care, but that could be done at home. And then there was the one part that had, at that moment, seemed a trivial thing, but now she was faced with the consequences. The bare chest of the man sitting in front of her. She had seen plenty of charts on human anatomy, where to shoot for vitals, where to constrict to knock them unconscious, and how to easily disable someone with her tongue or poison. Seeing him in that moment, however, in the clarity of the realization he was going to be okay, she had very nearly thrown him off of her in shock at herself.

Thoughts had hit her like a truck then, about the way his hairless and muscled body held together despite the insane amount of metal that’d been riveted into and on him. He had pieces of metal lining across his body in segmented lines and ports, running across his chest, the sides of his ribs, up to his neck and the cybernetic limbs’ connections themselves. Where the metal had started and stopped were terribly pieces of scarring. His chest on his right side, going both up and around what remained of his shoulder towards his neck and further up had the distinct indications of explosive trauma, where the flesh had roughly been torn off and cauterized simultaneously. It must’ve been the same explosion that had cost him that limb and his ear. The left side of his chest and ribs were in far better condition, though they had uncomfortable looking bulges where the skin had partially grown over his exterior augmentations.

And then there had been the scarring that trailed below his trousers. More than once had her finger gone down, quietly drawing a talon over the pocked and twisting scarring near his left hip and more than once had she yanked her hand back the moment her finger tapped his clothing. It felt taboo, to be staring as she was, to be thinking as she was, to even be considering what had briefly consumed her mind. And yet, the want to see what the rest of him held had been so great in that moment that it bolstered her and she grew bold, a single long talon curling into the waist of his trousers.

Just one tug. One little peek. Is what her mind whispered to her, almost menacingly in its honeyed request. A second finger had dug into his waistband, thumb idly playing with the button that held the denim together. Then sensibility rushed back to her and she had yanked herself back so hard, her shoulders and hood had knocked into the shelving behind her, rattling the small, lidded containers and their contents. She couldn’t lie to herself about what she had felt and she certainly couldn’t linger on it longer than she already had. It was only when she saw his whole body tremoring, pallid in the lips and hands twitching against the ground, did her heart and mind finally get back on track. Cold. He’s freezing...

She considered putting him back into his clothing, though as she turned to look at it, it was still dripping with crimson and orange ichor. There wasn’t a chance she was putting that back on him. His coat was even worse. Looking around the van, she couldn’t see anything outside of their travel bags, and she knew they hadn’t packed anything better than a couple of thin blankets. It would’ve been better than nothing, but it wouldn’t have helped either. He needed warmth and coverage. And at that moment, she knew what to do. She had picked him up enough to curl her tail beneath him to at least pull his bare skin from the floor. The massive and long tail came up in constant loops until he was practically wrapped in a cocoon of Viper scale and muscle. And then she’d leaned forward, carefully resting herself across his middle with her large eyes watching him.

They tracked every breath. Ever twitch in his face. Her tongue tasted the air, feeling his weak, but hot, breath hit her face in between each flick. It wasn’t long before the gentle thumping of his heart beat had at least grown a mote stronger, enough that it beat against her chin and she had begun to drift. If anymore bugs came, she was at least wrapped around him enough to shield whatever may happen.

And then they had awoken, thoughts streaming into her mind, blubbering coming out of her like so many of the prisoners she took. She had apologized, she had cried, she had felt everything in her completely give way in that moment. She had felt awful. And yet, just as many times before now, his demeanor, his mind, everything was so set into a way of kindness and understanding, even her upset thoughts couldn’t linger for very long. And now they were here. Driving down a familiar road, watching as dark and darker clouds rolled in and the tiniest droplets of water began to hit the windshield.

“Of course its raining...” He sighed, briefly hunching forward in exasperation before remembering his wound and jerking back up into place. “Well, thankfully, we’re almost home. We’re not going to beat the rain, but we’ll at least get home before it gets much worse.”

When she said nothing, his head turned to face her, one amber eye looking up at her with no small amount of concern. The worry, among other emotions brewing, must’ve been plain on her face as he offered a weak smile. “We’ll be okay, Sunshine. Promised you I’d rest, but when we get home there’s a few things that ne-”

“No.” She snapped almost immediately, causing him to flinch his head back. His head flicked away to make sure he wasn’t going to drive into anything before his eye flicked back to her. “You promised to rest. You will rest. Leave things to me.”

“Sunshine, that’s no-”

“If you do anything....” She lowly hissed, feeling the car begin to slow down as he took a turn that brought their home into sight. The rain was coming down much harder now. “That isn’t going inside.... Laying down and sleeping..... I will personally.... Make sure you don’t.... Move a muscle.”

There was a very long, pregnant pause that was only broken after the van came to a complete stop. She heard the clunk of the van being put into park and saw the look he had when he turned to face her. He looked like he was about to argue, that he was going to tell her so many different things about why she was being unreasonable. She even saw his mouth open and she leaned forward, brow furrowing deeper and deeper the more he appeared to be defiant in her request. Her tail tightened against his middle, signaling she was still rather in control at the moment. She was no longer the frail, petite viper he’d picked up. She was not only back to health, but had grown much since then. She barely fit in this van as it was. The power in her tail alone could’ve curtly torn any door from this van if she so willed it.

He must’ve realized this after a few seconds of idle thought. He only relented, however, when her hand came up, curling every digit but the last. His eyes lingered on that long, slightly bent pinky. Eyes closed and he finally sighed, going to pat her tail. “I...... will rest.” He finally said, head hanging. “But I’m still going to go and get dinner started-”

“No!” She hissed, almost squeezing him again before he raised up a forefinger to silence her, her lips pressing against the digit as it was poked into her snout.

“I’m not going to cook, Sunny, I’m going to get it ready. We have plenty of frozen packaged meals from past dinners, it’s just going to be going into a pot and we’ll have a wonderful hot meal in an hour, okay?” He said, eyes locking onto hers. They were so soft now, all the fight had left them and was replaced with compliance and acknowledgement. “We still need to eat, hun.”

In this she relented. They did need to eat. She loosened and let him go before grabbing his clothing and folding them up into lame squares before passing them over. He took them without a word and they both readied themselves to rush out into the rain to get into the house proper. And without a word more, they launched out of their respective doors as they were unlocked, slamming them shut with no hesitation. Sunshine had made sure to grab their duffle bags and fire arms before she had evacuated the vehicle and had regretted her choice immediately as rain poured down onto her.

She normally loved the water, bathing in general was a pleasant experience for her. The icy and near blisteringly painful rain that pelted her exposed scales was enough to make her yearn for a flash steaming of the area. For all intents and purposes, she felt as if she were being dipped into cryostorage. Only when her tail crossed the threshold of the front door, sliding well into the house as the door slammed behind her, did she drop the bags and nearly instantly began to strip out of her now frigid and sopping wet clothing. Get home before it's worse, my big fat tail. She thought grumpily.

Damp, soggy and uncomfortable clothing now pulled away, she was left barren, as she often was. A soft sigh of relief escaped her as she stretched away the clawing cold that clung to her. It wasn’t until she heard Gus clearing his throat that she looked at him, his eyes looking anywhere other than her as he began to shimmy past. “I’ll uh.... Go and get us some changes of clothes. I got a big robe you can have, it’ll warm you right up.”

Not a word left her, watching the man shift past her with nary a glance in her direction, face turning a deep, beet red as he walked past and away. It wasn’t until he walked into his room that she tilted her head in confusion. What had gotten into him?

Humans are ever elusive in their mannerisms and thoughts. She mused, eyes drifting away until she caught her reflection in the window leading outside. The blinds had been left up, the darkened sky keeping her reflection clean in the glass. What had made him not want to look at her? I am not injured... I am not disfigured, save for my handful of healed wounds. Nothing is out of place.

Her hands roamed her body for just a moment, as if she would find something her eyes couldn’t see. And in a split second, as her arm crossed her chest, unintentionally pushing up her ample, smooth bosom, did she come to a realization. Hands moved and carefully grabbed the extensions of her body, hefting them up in thought. Both were large parts of her body, yes, sizable enough they were almost too big for her own hands. She hadn’t thought much of it before this moment, but the mental image of multiple shows they had watched together came to mind. Whenever one of them would show up with a woman dressed in far less than she thought was socially acceptable she had oftentimes seen Gus squirm for a split second.

She dropped her chest and twisted around in place, gazing at her reflection all the more intently. Save for the very obvious and lengthy replacement of legs, she couldn’t help but start to notice more similarities to the females of the human race the longer she looked. Wide, curved hips, a dip in her waist to give a very modest pinch in her outline and of course her breasts. Although to her that’s where the similarities ended. It couldn’t possibly be that simple, could it? That her vague resemblance to the opposite sex was enough to cause him disturbance? Her head cocked left and right as she stared at herself, thinking intently to all of the times she’d seen him stop looking at her. She could only recall that it had been a recent thing, within the last week. She hadn’t formed the habit of wearing clothing casually until then, usually having to be reminded. And even then, it had been because he hadn’t wanted her to catch a chill.

Then it hit her. It had changed after she had ‘Filled out’ as he had said. She had gotten back to normal and started growing more since. She made note to temper herself on her eating habits from here on, lest she become too large to sustainably keep them both fed. No more over indulging. She thought before she looked at herself once and twisted in the opposite direction. I suppose we do share resemblances. And my growth likely hasn’t helped dissuade that comparison.

Clearly, she was just theorizing, it could be something simpler or even more than that. It wasn’t until a soft clack and click of a door opening and closing that her thoughts would break. Her head craned down the hallway, watching as the man walked out of his room wearing what looked like a thick, heavy robe and some new trousers. He had clearly bathed in some capacity, his skin slick with a small sheen. No doubt it had been just to get the wound clean and get the rest of the blood off of himself.  He had another in his hands, fiddling with the cloth sash that was stitched into it, evidently trying to work out a knot. His head was down and she had a brief mind to test her theory. Slithering over, she quietly waited in the middle of the hallway until he walked forward and straight into her. A soft ‘oof’ followed him, only to be muffled as his head went straight against her bosom.

“Did find what looking?” She asked calmly in her broken sentence, tilting her head and watching very intently for a reaction. There was an extremely tense pause, the negative feeling of having made a mistake was worming into her mind. She could play it off as ignorance, surely, but that wouldn’t stop a chastising conversation from happening if he was really upset. She felt a shift before the man slowly pulled back, hair covering his face and denying her the expression she’d been hoping to read. There was the faintest, slow draw of breath from the man before he quietly tilted his head all the way up, very deliberately not opening his eyes until they were up and looking at her own.

“Yes.” Was his single worded response, holding up the robe.

Oh my. He’s more red than before. She mentally noted, taking the robe from him and going to carefully look it over. It felt divine in her hands, the extremely soft and fluffy material was pillowy and exceedingly comfortable. She started to slip it on and let out a high, squeaking hiss of pleasure as wrapped it around her cold body, instantly feeling the warmth seep back to her bones. She wasn’t going to give this back. This is mine now.

“Don’t worry about going out into that rainstorm, by the way. The chickens have plenty of food. I over fed them before we left.” He said, eyes finally seeming to relax as he no longer made a clear effort to avoid looking at her below eye level. His vision settled very briefly on her form before he coughed and looked back up at her. “How does some venison stew sound for tonight? We still got a few bricks of it in the freezer.”

Another devious thought hit her mind. She hadn’t tied the robe around her waist yet. So with making a show of thinking and moving in place in a manner she often did as she considered her options, she waited. Waited until she saw his eyes wandering out of her periphery and then raised up her hands up to her chin and elbow as she had seen him do before to think. And in the process, completely letting the robe go and splay open. The expression he had as his eyes lingered far longer on her middle was one of pure shock. However, the result was two fold in different ways.

The first was very much on his side, somehow getting even redder and hastily pivoting to start making his way to the kitchen. It was desperately fast as he moved, his arm clanking off of the kitchen table and making him wince, though he said and did nothing beyond that, rushing to the fridge and yanking open the freezer to cram his head into. Exaggerated sounds of thought emitted from the cold. “Oh, we have some stuffing and mashed potatoes left over too! Could have that instead?” He remarked, his tone weirdly high.

The other effect was how it had made her feel. The second his eyes had locked onto her, it had stirred a fire in her belly that hadn’t been there before, even back in the van when she’d been eyeing him in his sleep. The cool of the rain had instantly been forgotten and left her almost feeling too hot. It was enough of a drastic effect on her own body that her hands immediately moved to close and tie the robe off. She wasn’t sure what might’ve happened if that fire had lingered any longer in her. She cleared her throat and spoke as smoothly as she could. “Am going to bathe.” She announced, starting to slither away. “You pick what eat! All food taste good.”

As she slithered out of sight, she hadn’t a chance to catch the way the man had promptly fallen from the freezer and was letting out an exasperated wheeze. 

`````````````

“She’s going to kill me.” Was all I could manage, staring down into the pot of frozen stew. The heat had been cranked up just barely past low, enough that it’d melt the food down back into its deliciously thick soup and chunks of meat and veggie. I knew that it was entirely possible she didn’t understand what she was doing or why it was so bothersome, but I had felt like maybe I’d explained it well enough before to elicit at least some level of conscious thought. And yet, here I was, eyes wide and glaring at the brown pool starting to melt and form at the bottom of the pot. The image and feeling was going to forever be burned to memory, with or without my consent.

The feeling of my head trapped between a pair of scaled orbs, frigid and warming simultaneously from the rain and robe. The sight of the curved viper pondering their dinner in a bathrobe that clung to every accented sway of her hips. The serpentine way she moved, causing every piece of her to move in such a way that it tricked the mind’s eye into thinking she was almost jelly-like. The absolute agonizing display of willpower I had to force into every fiber of my being just to avoid doing more than resting his face between her-

Like a cord snapping, I felt my mind shunt out of reality straight into my memory as my heart raced and my breath quickened.

I didn’t know what day it was, what month or year. I knew that I was supposed to be on guard duty. I knew I was supposed to be on watch for anything that might be dangerous or watching them back. I knew that if in these precious few moments I had, if anything had slipped by, it’d be entirely on my head. And yet, I didn’t care.

The look of the woman in front of me, legs wrapped around my waist, jacket opened up just enough and shirt pulled well above her modest chest. That was what had my focus. The rocking of our bodies, the way her hands gripped the top of the fence to hold her aloft while my own hands held her slim waist. The motion was just gentle enough to not cause any more noise than we needed, but firm and rapid enough that I could see the braces of the wall shaking with each carnal push. She had folded and bit down onto her military cap to drown out the sensuous sounds that’d occasionally slip from her in a timid squeak or squeal.

I don’t even know why I was doing this. We hadn’t been interested in each other like that, we hadn’t even been assigned to this post for very long. Maybe that’s why it was so enticing, so necessary. The days before had been horrifically stressful. The constant battery of ADVENT assault squads had required them to guard this Resistance camp with all they had and only in the last day had we been given any kind of reprieve. For the past two days before today, this woman and I had been fighting for our lives in ways that we hadn’t been expecting. Though that was often the life of an XCOM soldier, but she wasn’t a part of this war like I was. She was just a fighter trying to keep her people alive out in the wilds away from ADVENT.

Maybe it had been the stress. Maybe it had been the constant fighting. Maybe it had been the fact that she spoke to him like any other person. Maybe it was because she wasn’t XCOM at all. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn’t even thought twice about the scars he had or the metal hands he wielded. Maybe it was the sheer audacity of the idea and the want to rebel that’d given him motivation to do this. And even then, all it had been was a single question that’d she had asked and his sarcastic reply that’d set it all off. The memory within memory coming to him as it had in that moment, the feeling of her around him in more ways that one, the heat of the moment, the cool of the night air all the trigger he needed.

“So, you’re all... Borged out, right?” She had asked.

“Not the word I’d use, but yes.”

“And you were the one who piloted that big ol’ mech?” I could see the sparkles in her eyes.

“Yes, I was.”

“Why aren’t you using it now?”

“Don’t need to. We annihilated most of their forces on arrival, what we’ve been dealing with has been nothing but stragglers. Would be a waste of ammo and energy.” I spoke with a shrug, “Basic troops, the occasional viper. We haven’t even seen more than one officer since that initial attack. Once command’s done helping with repairs and trading supplies, we’ll be going. Shouldn’t be more than an extra day.”

A long pause followed that as I rested my rifle in my grip, letting one hand rest across the top rail and the other across the grip, forefinger extended away from the trigger as I had been taught.

“Can I ask you something, then? Since you guys will be leaving soon?” She asked, sliding up next to me. I barely turned my head to look at her to indicate I was listening, my helmet still firmly attached to my head. I hadn’t really removed it since getting out of my mech outside of the occasional pause to eat or drink. “It’s a bit personal, admittedly.”

“Shoot.”

“Okay, so... You’re all.... Cyborg, right? But you still eat and drink and stuff, yeah?” I nodded. “Do... Do you still y’know.... Have... That?”

I glanced at her again, seeing the blush spreading across her face. “What, are you interested in it, or something? Sorry, still firmly attached, so no souvenirs.” I remarked with no small amount of sarcasm layering my words. I had even looked away, snorting in amusement. And when no response came, I turned my head to look at her again.  She was quietly twirling that piece of auburn hair that was hanging from her hair. “....Oh.”

“Yeah..... Yeah, I am. So-... Do...Does it still work?”

It was moments later until I was where I was now, metal hands clutching her rear and bucking with all of the grace of a drunken angry bull. At some point she had reached her own climax and I hadn’t even begun to get near mine. My cybernetics had dulled the pleasure, I found. It was not unsurprising, but a kind of weird blessing as it gave us both more of what we had been wanting. We had gone at it for quite some time by the moment I reached my own and I had left the poor woman with about as much feeling in her legs as I had.

I had felt bad and carried her back to her bunk after getting us both redressed, going back to my post to resume my duty as if nothing had happened. Not one caught us and I never saw her again. I hoped everyday that when we went to a resistance camp I’d never see her among the casualties and was thankful I never did. It was a slim hope she was still alive somewhere out there. But it was a hope I clung to.

By the time I returned, I was staring at a pooling congealed mass of stew that’d rendered down far more than I intended. I gasped in surprise before rushing to the sink to pull a cup of water to add to the pot, to hopefully bring it back from a glaze to a sauce. I had saved it, thankfully, adding bit by bit of water until it was back to the consistency I wanted it to be. Though, unfortunately, it tasted just slightly burned now. A grimace touched my lips before I went to my fridge. I couldn’t really do much to fix it. But that was when I realized something. I walked out of the kitchen and straight to our dufflebags, starting to root around before I found what I was looking for. A little plastic bear with a black cap, filled to the brim with that delicious and sticky sweet nectar. Sunshine had found several, in fact, enough that we’d be okay to use them sparingly and still enjoy it all. I might even be able to make some baked goods!

As I grabbed one of the bottles and went back to the stew pot, I heard the bathroom door finally open. I didn’t know how long I had been in my own reverie, so I would make sure I didn’t say anything to Sunshine as she came out. I opened the cap, removed the seal and poured a healthy dollop of that sugary glaze into the pot. Ladle in hand, I started stirring it away until the rich scent of the stew was made clean and clear again. Even a taste didn’t give nearly as much of that burned flavor as before. I gave a satisfied smile before I heard, and felt, the serpent sliding up behind me. I saw her snout slip past my head, red eyes lined up parallel with mine as she gazed into the pot. I wordlessly offered the bottle of honey to her which she took without much of a thought. “Give it a try. I think you’ll enjoy it.”

“What is it? Is this the honey ? That substance you... Made happy sounds over?” She asked, turning the bottle over twice, watching the way it moved and spilt within the bottle. The cap was opened with a soft clack and she upturned the bottle to squeeze a tentative dollop into her mouth. The reaction was instant. A hand came to her mouth and she started smacking, it had a wet, popping like sound added to it. I could see the confusion on her face at the texture, but the pleasure at the taste and then the frustration as she couldn’t quite eat it like a human could. I saw the dribbling of honey coming from the corners of her mouth and chuckled just a bit.

The glare she gave me was one of embarrassment before I grabbed a napkin from a drawer and raised it up to wipe her face while her hands were full .”That’s my bad. I should’ve put it on a piece of bread for you, sorry.” I spoke, carefully cleaning her face up so she wouldn’t be left terribly sticky. That thought alone instantly drew back thoughts I’d just buried, clearing my thoughts after I’d wiped the last of the honey and spittle away. By that point, she’d figured out how to eat it, putting small droplets on her tongue and then wiggling ever so happily in place. At one point, I went to take it from her and I swore she was going to start crying with how hard the pout came.

“Oh come on, you’re going to spoil your dinner if you keep eating this.” I tried to reason with her, watching as she clutched the bottle in her hands and shook her head at me. “Sunny, please, the last thing I need tonight is a viper hopped up on sugar, I wouldn’t even know where to begin to get that energy out of you.” 

I cursed my wording, but it seemed like the idea came across. Though as I said that, I watched her eyes list away from me before she snapped back to me and quickly passed it over, hands going to her chest before wringing one another together as if she had just been scolded. I raised an eyebrow and began to speak before she beat me to it. 

“How long? Until food?” She asked hastily. She must’ve been very hungry, the way her eyes locked onto the pot, leaning over and seeing the mixture bubble and boil. I sighed, at least she had given the honey back. Setting it down by the coffee maker and teas, I walked to the cabinets and pulled out a set of bowls.

“It should be good for now. I might’ve overcooked it on accident, so if it’s a little burnt, I apologize.” I said, going to start ladling out the portions. I of course gave her a larger one, but there was something in her eyes as she took the bowl. “... Is... this not what you wanted tonight?”

She jerked up and then shook her head, opening her mouth and then closing it. Her brow furrowed a few times before she quietly turned and, without even really moving the rest of her tail, stretched across to set her bowl at her usual spot before returning to me. She fidgeted before looking at me again, almost imploringly, like I’d read her mind. “.... Sunshine, you know I’m no sectoid or psionic soldier, you go-”

“I want to sleep.” She said, nodding firmly. I blinked and as I opened my mouth, she finished that thought. “With you!!” Came the final blurt.

If I hadn’t been heated before, I was certainly heated now. I knew that there was no way in hell she’d said it with that intention, and yet my brain couldn’t help but fill in the blanks of her broken speech. I felt the blush spread across my face as I sputtered, my wrist almost going loose and spilling my food before I caught myself. She shifted her head from side to side.

“I... Sunshine, what? Did you mean, like, on the couch? Because I already told you-” She shook her head, slithering a bit too close for my immediate comfort. I smelt the bath soap I’d given her not too long ago, something vaguely floral and terribly clean. Like a freshly laundered hospital room. It wasn’t unpleasant in the slightest and that’s what bothered me more than even the closeness. It was just how not unpleasant this interaction was quickly becoming. “U-Uhm, Sunshine, what-”

“You are going to.... Run yourself ragged.” She finally stated, a long taloned finger poking me in the chest. “You’re going to keep.... Doing things unless I.... Step in. So, to prevent that... I will be sleeping... With you.”

She said it so finally, like it had already been decided. I took a step back, my butt pressing against the edge of the counter top. I didn’t even have to pivot to place my bowl behind me as I raised my other hand, feeling my shoulder wince at the action. “Now wait a minute, there, Sunny, you can’t just decide that! I already promised I’d rest, isn’t that-”

“You immediately came in. And started doing things.” She said, crossing her arms as she slithered even closer. An inch more and she’d be pressing me into the counterspace. “You wanted to cook. You wanted to clean. Got clothing for us. I know when the... Humans are testing boundaries.”

I watched her cock her head at me, a serpentine neck listing around me as if to inspect me for contraband. Although I was upset with her observations, I couldn’t exactly deny them. I had hoped that by doing a few things on my own, even while freshly injured, she’d understand I wasn’t made of paper and could continue as I often did. As I often had before she came. I opened my mouth again before she pressed a finger to my lips. The action alone caused everything in me to freeze and stirred far too many emotions across my body to process smoothly.

“You. Will. Rest .” She said, so firmly I felt like I was well back and in Bootcamp, swallowing hard and trying to maintain eye contact. “Even if I must... Make sure myself. You aren’t going to.... Just go and make.... Your injuries much worse. You are metal partially... But the flesh... can still break. So. I will sleep. With you. In your bed. Proper rest. Make sure you aren’t.... Losing blood. Thrashing in sleep. Ensure absolute recovery.”

She made it all sound so clinical, so factual. It really didn’t help that she was in a form fitting, fluffed up red robe with the waist tied tight enough to accentuate her curves even more than they already were. If I woke up tomorrow with a flag post and had no way of escape and she woke up, I think I would never mentally or emotionally recover. I had to fight this.

“Now, Sunshine-” I started, putting on my firmest, best voice only for it to die in my throat as she leaned over me, forcing my vision upward to keep eye contact. I swallowed down the words I had been about to say. What could I even say? What could I even do against such a creature? She’d filled out so much over the time we’d spent together, it was staggering how fast she’d grown after recovering.

She’s certainly filled out, alright. I caught myself thinking as I looked down briefly before raising a hand to rub my head in exasperation. “.... You’re really not gonna let me talk you outta this, are you?” I relented.

“No. You are hurt. You need rest. You won’t rest. Unless I make you.” She said, finally sliding back down to my eye level. I saw it then, in her eyes. True, genuine worry. She hadn’t a clue what this meant, what saying ‘We’ll share a bed’ could be misinterpreted as. The only saving grace was the thoughts that went back to the other times we’d laid together. Those weren’t remotely sexual. It was far more akin to waking up to a puppy laying on my chest. A very big, long, big chested puppy that could bite my head off. I took a very deep breath before I raised up a finger.

“Then I have ONE rule, alright?” She seemed amiable in that moment, nodding as she realized she was going to have her way. “No funny business in my bed. No getting naked with me in there, and certainly not when you inevitably wrap me up. You wear a set of PJs, period, no exceptions. And if I need to piss in the night, you better let me up or we’re both waking up soaked.”

She crinkled her nose at that last sentiment before slowly nodding. “I do not understand.... Your concerns of nudity. But I will acquiesce. I hope you aren’t... Easily over heated.” She said, satisfied with herself before sliding towards the table. The moment she left me, I almost crumpled, feeling my metal legs for the first time in ages. Phantom pain had been replaced with phantom jelly. My body turned automatically, going to grab my own steaming bowl of food.

The rest of that evening had come and gone, almost in a blur. I remembered the details, though I felt disconnected from it entirely. It was unlike my usual memory shenanigans, this was genuinely me lost in thought for the entirety of the night. By the time I was standing in front of my bed, staring down at the messily made sheets, I had begun to wonder if she had been just fucking with me. No. She doesn’t know how to do that... At least I don’t think she does. She did watch a lot of those old rom and sitcoms . I thought to myself as I robotically moved to my closet.

As I pulled out my night clothes, which amounted to nothing more than a nice silken shirt and a pair of basketball shorts, I shimmied out of what I was wearing and got into them. A different thought finally hit me as I wandered to the bathroom attached to my own room, smaller than the one in the hallway. It had all the usual pieces with the addition of a small shower with a detachable head and hose. Bathing has always been weird since my augmentation. The doctors assured me again and again that I was water tight, but nonetheless I had reverted to using sponges and towels to keep myself clean. Tonight had been no different when we got home.

I stepped over the bucket that held my drying sponges before getting my brush and giving myself a quick cleaning. As I finished up distracting myself with my nightly tasks and stepped out into my room, I found that Sunshine had already invaded my room and was testing my bed rather enthusiastically. I snorted in amusement. Any concerns I had had previously seemed utterly pointless now, the way she wore those PJs that were just a bit too small in the arms, bounced my bed in place and climbed onto it like it was the bed thing she’d ever felt. A finality of the situation had caused me to relax, realizing that no matter what I said or did, this massive serpent wasn’t going to let me just rest in peace.

Though it’s not like I won’t be getting any good sleep. She’s seen to that multiple times. I chuckled at the thought, remembering the handful of times she’d taken up my offers from before. The circumstance was different, but I couldn’t imagine it starting and ending any differently. As I watched her see if she could tuck more of her into the bed than her own, failing miserably at that, I walked around to the other side and slid under the covers just as she had. And within moments, without even my consent or realization, I was wrapped up. I had a brief moment of utter panic, like any sane man would, as my legs were bound and bent slightly, my hips were encased in scaly flesh and I found the moment I looked down that she had assumed the position she’d taken when she’d coiled me that first night.

Big, bright red eyes stared at me from beneath the covers, bulging upwards like rolling hills from the mattress as they were. I felt myself deadpan after the shock wore off. “... Comfy?” I finally asked with no small amount of exasperation.

“I have to keep... You from moving. If you move much... You could tear open. Don’t want that. Foam is already degrading. Clean, dress proper, tomorrow.” She said, nodding her nose into my stomach. That elicited far more intense reactions in my body than I’d ever admit and I had to physically chew my tongue to keep things from occurring. “But yes. I am very comfortable.”

“Well that makes two of us, I suppose...” I wasn’t going to deny that, despite my immediate reaction, this wasn’t pleasant. It was like being wrapped in a series of weighted pillows, heated at their cores and gently shifting over me. It reminded me of the waves at a beach. I never did learn to swim, but I adored sitting in shallow waters. The water hitting my sides and legs, staring up at the sky with no cares in the world.

The far more wholesome thoughts did wonders to draw me back and lull me to a sense of pure security I hadn’t had in a while. She writhed gently around me, occasionally feeling the rest of her body curling up around me. At one point, as my mind finally began to drift, I felt her move up, her breath brushing against my chin and her tongue flicking at my stubble. That same instinctual panic set in before the quiet, whimpering snores escaped her. And without a second thought, my hand rose to rest over her head. I didn’t even need to open my eyes to know how to place where it’d been so many times now.

Maybe this won’t be so bad. Was my last thought as I drifted away to sleep.

Chapter Text

I woke up more easily than I usually was able to. The feeling of weight on my chest and stomach made me remember the state I was in, though true to her word she was wrapped around me in a manner that I’d not been able to squirm in my sleep even an inch. Her hands pressed against my chest, her snout was tucked under my chin and her entire body had coiled even more intensely around my body than she’d been last night. That panic rose again, bubbling at the back of my mind that this wasn’t right, that it wasn’t safe.

And then I heard the quiet, hiccuping hiss that escaped her and that feeling melted away. I felt her claws dig into my shirt, her face scrunch against my neck and the way her nose wriggled against my chin as she dreamed. Evidently, it was a vivid one as she didn’t wake from her slumber even as my hand came around and shook her shoulder. Moving her at all had a rippling effect, making her shift and wiggle myself in turn. A soft sigh escaped him as I realized I was stuck in place. I laid my head back onto my pillow and closed my eyes, hoping that maybe I’d find some more sleep, but no sleep came to greet me.

Other thoughts slipped into mind as I tried to think of what I might be able to do with my busted shoulder that wouldn’t get me in trouble with the massive viper currently coiled around me. Nothing really met those criteria. But one thing did stand out. I had to go and maintain my old equipment. It’d been well over a year, and by now dust and grime would be getting a bit too thick on the edges and joints. Not to mention my old equipment no doubt needed to be double checked, fire arms needed to be cleaned and power cells stabilized if needed. I frowned as I realized I may’ve not truly had any way to do that without alerting Sunshine.

It was not something I wanted her to know about, it certainly wasn’t even something I wanted to ever have to use again. But with how the world was, with who I was, with the people that often visited, it was more likely to be of need at some point. My hand came up to rub at my eyes, groaning deeply in annoyance. I was going to have to show her. I was going to have to be open about it.

But how is she going to react after seeing it? I thought, hand covering my mouth and tapping my finger against my jaw. I could just be honest, tell and show if she was interested. It couldn’t be that bad, seeing as I had no reason to use it. I really couldn’t justify keeping it a secret any longer regardless, especially given its maintenance was necessary if I wanted to insure it’d stay functional. I thought back to what my engineer had told me to do in case they were ever unable to pick me or my squad up. A Stranded situation, as he had called it.

“So, in order to get out of the MEC on your own, you have to manually disengage the locks holding your limbs.” He explained, walking me and a couple of other MEC soldiers around our suits. “It’s not difficult, there's safety within your automated systems that just requires a vocal override. There’s a manual one too, but that requires someone else to pull it.”

He showed us the space, a latch that was tucked behind where our heads typically would be resting at. “Just twist this bad boy three times and pull, it’ll completely disengage the suit and drop you out. The process is a bit more dramatic on the body, so it’s a last resort, kind of deal. Just use the vocal commands when and if you can, assuming we can’t evac you all.”

I saw us all making mental notes, some making actual notes on a datapad. The Engineer rattled off a few more safety features, pointing at particular parts of the reinforced suits, telling us how to maintain our MEC Suits should the worst come to pass. They didn’t need much, the whole unit mostly self contained, even their power cells could self charge over a period of time if allowed. Told us about a day worth of charging would be enough to go for a week, a maximum charge would last at least two weeks of constant use.

“Now, these suits won’t sustain you, obviously, you still need to eat and drink, but that’s why the manual disengagement exists, like I said. You all know how squishy you guys are without these bad boys, so don’t be exposed out in the field if you can absolutely help it. Always store yourselves in a good defensible position and take shifts. Do that and you and your squads will always be the best prepared you can be.” He explained, putting hands on his hips. “Any more questions?”

I saw a handful of mechanical hands raise, but I had none. I knew my duty, I knew how to maintain my firearms. I did pay attention to the more technical questions regarding self-repair, assuming we’d not have access to any of the advanced technology. He more or less had told us it was going to be a righteous pain in the ass, but possible, assuming we could find the equipment to repair.

It wasn’t long after that that the Engineering team had developed personal in field repair kits, complete with sealants, tools and metal patches, among many other things. Even a personalized repair kit for our own limbs were provided, each mech having extra storage attached for extended stay missions to allow for additional limb storage assuming damage occurred to the pilot.

I grimaced as the memory faded. I’d already gone through all of my limbs, save for a single left arm. The years hadn’t been kind to me since I left, they certainly hadn’t been kind to my suit either. And given the condition I had left it in, I couldn’t help but start to worry my repairs would start to degrade if I didn’t go and check on it soon. I was already more than a month late before I found Sunshine.

My mind instantly shifted to her, my eyes rolling down to peer at the sleeping viper.  I can’t imagine what this might be like for her, assuming she even ever encountered a MEC unit at all. Unlikely, given the chances of surviving it. She’d have to have been hiding deep or far away, or just only seen it from a distance. All were still likely, even as I thought about it. I just hope-

My thoughts were quickly broken as I felt the viper shift around my chest, a yawn breaking out into the air and feeling her tongue flick against my shirt several times. There was a low, rumbling hiss that escaped soon afterwards, as it often did when she slept beside me. Her eyes eventually came up to meet mine and I saw her blinking a few moments before realizing where she was again. I cracked a weak smile. My thoughts  could wait as I gently pat her head. “Mornin’ Sunshine.”

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The morning had gone by swiftly since their awakening. Sunshine had gotten up after a few mindful stretches, and no small amount of persuasion on Goose’s part, to begin her day in full. First thing that had to be done was tending to his wounds, not even allowing him a moment to get himself up and properly dressed. He protested plenty until she gave his patch just the smallest press and saw his whole body seize with discomfort.

“... Point taken.” He had grumbled, going to wiggle out of her grip to walk towards the bathroom. He had given her directions on where his medical supplies were, stored in a bottom cabinet in the kitchen. By the time she had returned, she saw him shirtless and carefully using a warmed wet rag to carefully brush and peel his impromptu bandage away. The blue foam liquified little by little until he was pulling it off in one long lump of pseudo skin and gauze. Her eyes tentatively observed his practiced movements, watching him take a second cloth to clean out the area further, constantly washing, wringing and reapplying pressure to the wound. He noticed her only moments later, looking up and nodding his head. “Oh good, you found it.... We can’t really do much about the depth of these wounds, but... that’s what the combat foam is for.”

She saw the grimace on his face as he applied a tiny bit of pressure to the affected areas, the tiniest bit of blood beading at the edges where the foam hadn’t fully set into the wounds. Slithering forward, she set the medical kit in front of him and opened it. The man didn’t even look away from his wounds, mechanical hand moving over slowly, first to tap the box to make sure he knew where it was and then a single finger dragged it closer. His digits dutifully produced a length of suture thread and a needle. She watched in pure amazement as this single man began to delicately thread and tie off the twine through the needle’s eye before immediately going to start stitching his wounds shut, pinching the wound closed with his opposite hand.

“Do... You not need to... Remove that sealant?” She asked, pointing to the blue foam that still lingered in his opened wounds. He shook his head at her. “Will that not fester?”

“No, it’s made to dissolve into the flesh. It’s anti-bacterial and is a topical numbing agent. It speeds up recovery so soldiers don’t have to wait as long to get back to fighting.” He said, focusing on his work and speaking absentmindedly. “I used it enough when I was with....” He paused, his needle touching bare skin as it was poised to set another stitch. A realization of what he nearly said.

Sunshine finished the thought without saying it, initially, though the words bubbled at her lips all the same. “X-Com, yes?” She asked, her tone even, though her eyes were watching. Waiting to see if he’d deny it. She saw his lips set, his eyes look away. Her heart ached for just a moment.

“Yes.” He finally answered, flinching briefly as he pushed the needle through his skin, as if to distract himself. They both sat in silence as he finished the first gash, moving onto the second. Neither spoke a word until he was halfway through the third. “How long did you know?”

“I had suspected from..... The very beginning. Your arms are metal. Your fighting is trained. No one knows how.... To Disable vipers. Unless they have fought.” She explained, her shoulders settling as the reveal felt like a weight off of both of their shoulders. Even Gus seemed to visibly relax, despite the needle in his flesh. A single thought had to be answered, however. Something she needed to know. “How many did kill? Of my kind.”

The question gave him another pause before he continued. “Of your kind as you are now, or as the kind of when we first encountered them. The... Well, I don’t know the name your people had. We called them ‘Thin Men’.” He explained, looking at her as he tugged, tied and snipped the last stitch of his third wound. “Either way. The answer is many. I never stopped to count the bodies of ADVENT. I was too busy counting our own.”

That statement drew another silence. His hand stayed in place, the needle’s otherwise glittery sheen now dulled by the very faint smear of red across it. He rolled the needle between his fingers before he finally managed to look her in the eye. “How many of my people? Did you kill? Or send away to be so?”

Her eyes never moved from his until the answer slipped from her lips. “Sent many away. Killed some too, unfortunately.” She managed. The memories flooding back briefly.

“.... Do you regret it?” He asked. Her eyes trained back to his.

“Do you?” She replied. For a brief moment, that singular period of time, they realized who one another were. They were enemies. They sat on different sides of the line and had time even been slightly different, either of them could have been laying dead below the other.

“... I do.” He finally said, looking away and going to finish stitching his last wound. “Having met you, I do.” She stayed silent, finally blinking and lowering herself slightly. She slithered closer and despite one another, he did not flinch and she did not hesitate. “Had I known there were those on your side that did not want to fight.... I’m not sure what would have changed. But maybe it could have been different.”

She had no response to that. He seemed to briefly struggle trying to get the proper angle with his hand to go through the last half of his wound and she brought her hand around to take it from him. His head turned to her as she focused on the stitching, carefully guiding the needle through and around as he’d needed it to go. Finishing it off, he snipped it for her and they separated. As he finished doctoring his wounds, putting patches and tape over them to keep it all clean, she managed to hiss out her own side.

“Have regrets every night.” She admitted. “They come to me. In waves of images. Dreams and visions. Constant pains and agony. I was like you.... Once said. Snatch and Grab. I policed entire neighborhoods. Never saw real combat.... Outside of a few.... Insurgencies. They died too easily.”

Both of them shared a grimace before he started to stand up, closing and locking up the medical kit. “If we’re going to be sharing pasts, Sunshine, then... I think it’s about time I gave up the last of my own secrets, eh? I don’t want to feel like I’m sharing my home with a monster. And I’m sure you don’t want that either. I was going to ask to show you something anyway, so what do you say? Lay everything we have on the table? Unless you’d prefer to talk some more?”

Her head tilted left and right, thinking of what he said. Though she did not have anything left to give him, outside of what was in her foot locker. And even that was mundane, to her at least. But perhaps that was the point. Put everything ‘On the table’ as he had said. She had slowly gotten better with human idioms.

“... Let’s show. As you said. Lay it all out.” She nodded to him, finally, rising up to her usual preferred height. Just barely a head taller than him where her hips left the ground and she didn’t bash her forehead against the top of doors.

“I can show you... Mine first if preferred. It is nothing special. Not to me, anyway.” She offered, the man thinking before sighing and nodding. They finished getting their morning dress on, slipping out the door and into Sunshine’s room where her footlocker was left. She carefully slid the protective panel away and revealed the touch controls within. It all had a layer of dust settled over it, showing she’d not touched it since living here. A few taps on the key pad that illuminated and it hissed open. She threw it open and within seemed to leave the human beside her in awe.

To her, there wasn’t much. It was a spare set of Viper armor, complete with protective head, spine and chest plating and even a layered ‘Sock’ of sorts to protect her underbelly in case of more dangerous environments. A single plasma grenade rested in the corner beside several empty pockets which had previously held power cells for her plasma gun. They were all spent, and useless if she had any regardless. Her gun, despite having brought it along, was busted and, without the parts or tools, unrepairable. Finally, a set of securing shackles laid near the other corner with the keycard to open and lock them.

The man looked over everything before he coughed and pointed to the grenade. “Is... Is that live?”

“It may explode, yes. If primed and tossed.” She said with a small nod, looking to him. He looked to briefly sweat before waving a hand at her to close the box. She did so, carefully locking it again and leaving it be.

“..... You had a live grenade in our home this entire time?”

“Did not want reveal... in case you were.... A bad person. Then just forgot after... You had taken care... Of me.” She explained, giving a small distressed shrug, her fingers fiddling with one another. “It is entirely safe. The crate won’t allow... Anything to trigger or.... Harm it. The grenades won’t even... Go off without proper... Priming. They are built to... Be completely safe until... used. Gunfire cannot explode. Dropping won’t explode. Have to be deliberate.”

“Well good to know, I guess..... Still, that's a bit stressful..... Ah, what am I saying? I’d have done the same, probably...” He said, rubbing the back of his neck and then looking up at her with a gentle smile. “Thank you, for showing me that is. I know you probably didn’t have much to begin with, but... It’s appreciated all the same. Though... I am curious, why did you not use this armor when I found you?”

“Do you see it? It’s so glossy. And it weighs lots. Without it, faster. Without it, quieter. Did use the under.... Armor for a while. Got torn apart.” She explained, causing him to nod a few times and rub his chin in thought.

“I’m going to be honest. My own revelations are probably going to be a bit more dramatic.” He said with a weak chuckle.

Her head cocked at that and he led her out of the room. He ushered her to get her winter attire on as he said he’d do the same, even as she told him he shouldn’t be doing any chores. He explained that what he needed to show her was hidden outside of the house and would promptly go back inside once they were finished with it. Moments later, both of them had stepped out after Sunshine gave the man a small hand with getting his coat on, worried his stitches might pop if he struggled too much.

It was barely a walk as he took her straight to the barn, swinging it open and letting her follow him in before closing it to keep the chill out of the air. He walked towards the corner of the barn where that massive pile of straw stayed, never once having been used despite his previous words. She had always suspected that he was hiding something behind it, but could never have guessed what. Even now, as she watched him climb the stack of hay and start to pass her bales to set aside, she could never have assumed what lay behind.

A massive tarp covered a very distinctive shape, similar to other ADVENT units she’d been apart of. The more she looked at it, the more her heart started to race. There was no way he had just hid this kind of thing this entire time. Then the tarp was yanked away, revealing a massive suit of mechanized armor. Squatted down, arms folded at its sides, knees bent, like the whole machine was having a sit in place. An immense firearm as tall as the man and far wider sat beside it, barely wrapped up in a blanket to keep the dust from settling on it. She stared, mouth slightly agape as the man took a few steps back from it.

Nothing but the wind of the outside passed between them while the viper felt her heart pound out of her chest. Her breathing had become infrequent, hardly steady, and her tongue flitted out of her mouth in a near manic state. She had known from the moment she’d seen him, his arms and legs, that he had to have been one of these pilots. The same pilots she had seen training simulations on, again and again, until their dangers were drilled into her. She remembered very specifically being trained to turn and run from these especially. They were Danger. They were Death.

The immense hands that could grab, squeeze and pulp someone who got too close, massive legs that could bound at least three stories, sometimes even more if they were equipped with rockets. Flamethrowers filled with a sticky, fusing burning fluid, explosive fists that could punch a hole through their very air ships if they wished. And that was the least of their worries, as the weapon that sat beside it, ballistic as it might’ve been, was capable of utterly tearing away entire squadrons with a single pull of the trigger and still have ammo left behind for three more. Her hands found one another and wrung each other against her chest. She had heard horror stories. She had seen the remains. She had seen the collateral damages.

Her eyes snapped down to the man beside her in a panic, her breath hitching as she saw his own expression looking back at her. Concern. Plain as day in those amber eyes that looked so painfully expressive at her. Her heart slowed. Her breathing normalized. His words came back to her, as she looked at him. Had I known there were those on your side that did not want to fight...

Her eyes settled on him finally, slowly coming down from her near panic attack. As if trying to face her fear, she slithered towards the mech only for something to sting in the back of her mind. Instincts screaming at her that if she got any closer, it’d spring to life. She halted and instead drank in the details of the war machine.

It was a burnished light tan finish with slightly darker tan lines running along the limbs and chest. Though polished, it was clear this particular set of armor had seen the worst of the days, pock marks where plasma had melted metal and cooled later, laser scorch marks that never would come out, plenty of burned out areas where too much suppressive fire had taken its toll. All in all, it looked just like the training simulations, simply powered off. Even more fearsome with its battle wear and tear. She could almost imagine it coming to life without any intervention. What caught her attention next was the helmet that sat in the open chest. It was a dull green with a bright golden visor that’d take up the whole of the face. It was so.... Dull. So inexpressive. It was so dreadfully familiar and yet she’d never properly seen a MEC unit in action in her entire memory. And yet the fear was deeply ingrained.

The final detail was on the helmet’s side. It was likewise scratched and pocked from combat, a ranking inscribed. He was a Lieutenant.

Her head turned to see Gus standing with his hands folded over one another, legs spread apart. She’d seen that stance among the captives she transported when they were set before interrogators. A Soldier worn is a soldier still. She thought, briefly imagining him with that helmet. With his whole body plugged into this suit. How devastating he must’ve been. It made her heart start to race again. She had to take a very deep breath, pulling away and slithering back to Gus and keeping her head low.

“.... Thank you... For showing me.” She managed to whisper out, though she did not meet his eyes. She dared not to lift her head, not wanting to let her mind play tricks on her into assuming the man who’d housed her, fed her and kept her safe was going to just mount into this great machine and be done with her. “Can we hide it?” She finally asked.

She saw his hands raise up and she knew he was about to say something before they lowered. “Yeah.” His voice came. “We can.” And so they did.

Minutes was all it took to rewrap the tarp and restack the hay. And as soon as it was done, Sunshine set out to slither away only pausing when she heard Gus try and catch up with her. She turned to look at him again and very briefly, in her mind, that helmet flashed in her mind. He flashed in her mind, in that massive suit, just like in training. Staring at her, triple barrels whirring into action.

She blinked as his voice came to her. “Sunshine....? Sunny, are you okay?" He asked, voice utterly filled with concern and worry.

“I am fine.” She managed after a moment, gaining a furrowed look. “I am, really. I am just... shocked. I would’ve thought you.... Might’ve dumped such piece.... Of equipment. It’s very hard hiding.”

He nodded slowly, raising a hand to his neck. “You are right, it is.... It’s extremely exposed. But that’s why I hide it here, behind hay and under the barn. I can’t even activate it for long periods of time or else I could be tracked by XCOM. They’d not be very happy to know there was a rouge mech running around.” He said with a weak chuckle. She nodded and slowly slithered out the door. “Sunshine...?”

She paused, looking back to him. “Need time to process.” There was another silence before she finished. “You are quite scary. Fearsome. In or out suit.”

And as she turned to continue the day, to get her mind off of what she had been revealed, she didn’t see the brief look of hurt cross the man’s face. 

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Several days passed by since our mutual revelations, though one side seemed more heavy than the other. Sunshine had become mildly stand offish the days after, saying she needed the space to sort her thoughts. It wasn’t like I could blame her, either. I wanted nothing more than to have every card I had on the table, though I began to regret it more and more each time I saw her. She looked wracked with indecision, every look at me seeming to cause an internal conflict. I wondered what could’ve made her act like this, but her words ricocheted into my mind. 

You are quite scary. Fearsome. In or out suit. The words had stung then and they stung now. Since the day I’d brought her home, I’d grown more and more comfortable with her, even somewhat attached. I knew that if this was a complete deal breaker and made her want to leave, I would let her go without question. But it’d hurt me more than I’d ever admit to anyone, even myself. So in turn, I had just done my best to give her the distance she wanted, but maintain a hopeful offer to reconcile her thoughts with me. I still cooked, she still did the chores while I recovered, we both still cleaned the house together. I felt the frown on my face as I washed the last dish and set it on the drying rack.

Even the nights were a tense and terse encounter. We’d ready for bed, I’d get in and get comfortable and she’d follow in after, not the other way around. She’d still curl around me, she’d still lay against me, but now her head was turned and her coils weren’t as loose. Even my slips to memory were becoming worse, three or four times over the following days when she was, thankfully, outside. That just meant that I was becoming more stressed about the situation. I knew this wouldn’t go away anytime soon, not unless she simply willed it so. Choking back my pride, I’d tell her she didn’t have to force herself to try and keep me still at night anymore, that I would be fine without her until she was comfortable again.

It was a quiet resolve, but one I wanted to follow through with. The day blended together from there as I did what I could around the house without furthering any damage on my shoulder. It’d been long enough that the wounds were mostly sealed on the outside, but I’d still need at least another week before the stitches could come out. I had finished the day by getting dinner to stew on the heater while watching an older show of a group of sailors that’d gotten stranded on an isle, named after the first mate. It was an old comedy, with a lot of slapstick and outdated humor, but it was distracting enough and got a few laughs. I heard the door open and moments later close, leaning my head back to see Sunshine silently putting the rifle away, the binoculars on a spare stud of the coat hangers and slithering down the hall while removing her coat.

She gave me a nod in greeting, something of a half smile following, and went to rest on the couch with me, though not near me. “What are you watching?” She asked, tentatively.

“Gilligan’s Island. S’bout a group of sailors getting stranded.” I said, nodding my head to the TV. “It’s a comedy, lots of physical humor and simple gags.”

“...Gags? What does the throat-” She began to ask before I chuckled and shook my head.

“Sorry, it’s just another term for... a Joke, more or less. A prank, in some cases, or a humorous act.” I explained, waving my hand to the TV just in time to watch as one of the cast got a coconut dropped on their head. Despite herself, the viper did seem to find it a touch amusing, a hand coming up to her mouth as that half smile bloomed just a bit brighter.

She’d been so distant the past few days I had missed just simple conversation and exchanges like these. They’d been so terse and curt, rigid like she’d frozen over. Only in the past couple had she slightly begun to loosen up. We talked a bit more about mindless things, getting our social skills back to working order, even managing to make one another laugh and getting into a heated debate about which of us would last longer in that kind of a situation.

“BAH! My limbs don’t rust, Sunny! They’re made of alien and human metal alloys! Perfection of both blended!” I started, raising up my arms in a mock flex. “Not to mention, my internal battery is self charging, even solar powered or battery charged, if I need it to be!”

“Perhaps, perhaps! But you could not... Hunt as well! I am built to... Be quite the predator!” She argued in turn. “I can even swim! Chase down fishes easily.”

I raised a hand, finger extending before I stopped and put it over my lips. “.... You got me there. I can’t swim.” I admitted, earning a victorious cheer from the serpent as I began to stand. “Okay, okay, you won! Now come on, we can keep watching while we eat.”

The meal hadn’t been anything incredible this time around, our meat having finally worn out for the time being. I had more frozen away, but we had to be sparing with it so when winter arrived we wouldn’t starve. So tonight was mostly a veggie stew with several kinds of large mushrooms I’d found growing all over. They were meaty enough to trick the brain into thinking you could be eating a piece of chicken or perhaps a particularly tender bite of beef. Either way, it was a hearty, flavorful hot meal on a cold fall evening.

Our show swapped from Gilligan’s Island to old Classic Spongebob Squarepants, something I’d not seen in decades. It was the first couple seasons that’d been burned onto it, along with the movie, though we decided to save that for another day. I watched in absolute delight as the viper wiggled to the theme, yelling to the pirate in turn as the song carried on. She couldn’t quite sing as quickly, but she could do the name and clapped along. Were she not over twenty feet long and well over a few hundred pounds, I might’ve found it a lot more adorable. But it was still cute. Eventually, exhaustion hit the both of us, the relief of shared company finally giving us both a well needed reprieve. And it was like that, slipping off to ready for bed, I felt a lot better. Enough that I had completely forgotten to mention that she could sleep on her own, if she wanted. It seemed inconsequential as when we got into bed together, she was the first one in and wrapped around me in a manner that made me think she had missed this about as much as I had.

It was an innocuous thing, the physical aspect of it. The safety of having another you trusted lay beside you. And even as we drifted off to sleep together, I properly relaxed. 

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The Dream had returned to Sunshine once again. The one that plagued her often, though tonight it was back in spades. She’d been having it every night since Gus had revealed he still had his marching suit of destruction locked away in the barn. Right there, just behind some walls of stacked dried grass. The thought of how she’d been walking past it everyday had dug into her mind and left her more restless than usual. Even this evening when she’d finally decided to try and resume normality, even when she laughed and gently shoved the mechanical man beside her, even when they ate, joked and teased, it sat in her mind.

Even when she wrapped herself around him in that familiar manner, did the image of that helmet sit in her mind. So much so, the seed of discontent that it had left sprouted into the proper nightmare it’d been waiting for.

The ship was crashing again. It was crashing and she could do nothing about it, barely held in place by her straps, barely holding onto the railing. The impact threw her against the wall she was latched to, though she never lost consciousness. She saw the side wall get torn apart by the earth, the sight of a hybrid soldier getting sucked under and emulsified against the grinding edge and slim made exit of the aircraft as it scraped across the earth. She felt the whole craft flip and roll, throwing even more of her comrades away. Two vipers flung into the trees, one impaled and the other sailing out of sight. When the whole event came to a stand still, she blinked.

As her eyes opened, she was outside of the aircraft, crawling weakly out of it. She could feel the sharp edges pulling at her scales, the mud grinding into every crack of her armor, the wet glop of muck and viscera that made up the very earth she was sifting through. Each slap of her hand into the mess made a squelch, every pull never seemed to get her far no matter how hard she tried or far she reached. Then it came. The thing that had stirred in her mind, the thing that had haunted her for years before, the thing that had been ingrained in her very blood to know fear and tread with caution. The only predator a being like her respected.

The thunderous stomps of a mechanical suit that towered well higher into the sky than she ever imagined, ten, no twenty, feet high into the sky with an exaggeratedly long firearm. A light tan with dark tan stripes. A green head that peeked between the two massive shoulders with a bright, glimmering eye of gold that emotionlessly regarded her and the situation she was in. It moved out of the trees, swinging one massive hand to slap them away. She saw her impaled sister silently scream as the hand absentmindedly struck and splattered her into the woods. She saw how its boots rose and crushed the struggling survivors of the crash. She wailed and sobbed in her dream as that horrible, massive weapon roared with deafening booms to obliterate the aircraft and any who might’ve been alive yet inside.

There was a grand sweep that the golden eye made, its luminous visage painting its sight in the same yellowed hue. Her breath held in her lungs as she prayed it passed over it, only to watch the massive orb settle over her and she screamed. She screamed even louder as she saw the massive, metal hand come towards her. She felt the cold metal touch her nose as it encased her head and she retaliated with claws and teeth, knowing it was futile.

“SUNSHINE!” A voice cut through. The hand stopped its grasp, but her attack didn’t relent, she lunged at it, feeling its weight keep her at bay and her claws dig into metal. “SUNSHINE!!”

Who was it? Another survivor? She moved, yanking herself free of the hand and rushing towards the great golden eye that had sought her and her kin. And yet, the eye was gone. Replaced by a horribly worried face of a human with long, wavy dark hair and amber eyes. He was yelling at her. “Gus?” She croaked out as her body was already lunging.

“SUNNY, SNAP OUT OF-”

“IT! SUNNY!” The voice yanked her out of her sleep and her eyes, blurry but focusing, came to the morning light filtering through the air. As she blinked, she felt something firmly caught between her jaws, her hands tightly gripping something. Her eyes flicked around and then downward and she felt her blood turn frigid.

Gus was beneath her, eyes wide with horror. The forearm of his right arm was tucked into her teeth, holding her at bay, the other gripped and held her taloned hand away from his face. The other hand had dug shallow lines through his shirt leaving thin red weeping stains across it, though largely not damaging the fabric itself save for a few loose threads and tiny holes. She felt herself uncoil from how tense she’d become, a small gasp of relief escaping the man beneath her as she entirely pulled away from him. It was a slow process, as her mind raced to catch up with her body. Hands pulled back to her chest, mouth unlatched and pulled away, coils slithered off of him.

“I... I’m...” She sputtered weakly, the man shifting as far from her as he could until his back hit the headboard of the bed. He was gasping for breath, hand covering over his chest. His eyes did not leave her. “G... Goose, I didn’t-”

“Stop.” He cut her off, his breathing starting to slow finally. The word cut to her heart, the tone was so... firm. Serious. Stoic. “Sunshine.... I don’t know if it’s my fault or whatever happened to you in the past. I’m imagining it might be a bit of both, but....  I think you should sleep alone from now on.”

She felt everything in her stop. Her hood sunk flat against her head and neck, her hands turned to tightly balled fists that rubbed against one another, her eyes felt wet and her chest hitched with every breath. She had been so afraid in her dream. She’d been so terrified of what he might have been so long ago. But the thought, at this moment, that he might’ve been hurt or even worse....

“Goose, I-I-I really d-” He held up a hand to her. “G-”

“ Sunshine. ” His tone was firm, nearing anger from the sound of it. She flinched as her name came out of his mouth. “Please.... Just go for now. I’m sorry, but I’m not safe with you right now. If my arms weren’t made out of metal, you would’ve just torn it off and gouged out every artery in the other arm, and you weren’t even aware of it. I was screaming your name for at least a minute.”

Her eyes sank to the ground and she slid several inches to the floor. Her lips began to quiver as the simple idea of having caused him harm began to burn in her chest, the want to apologize, to say or do anything to take back what a dream had caused. She hadn’t wanted to hurt him, she just wanted to save herself. To get away from the thing in the dream, get away from... Him?

Maybe he was right. Maybe he wasn’t safe with her near him while these thoughts boiled in her mind. Even now, even as horror of her actions and realizations poured into her, that very slight fear had not gone away. The image of a helmet glaring at her, like a golden beaming eye of death, hadn’t left her thoughts. They pervaded every moment now, as she was awake. She felt her breath starting to come in as heaving heaps of air, to try and settle her thoughts before she turned and left as fast as she could manage. She needed to go. She needed to run and get away from him at this moment, before she did worse. Her hand barely came out in time to grab her pair of coats and scarves, not bothering to stop to put them on before lunging out the door.

She slithered off into the grass. Not far away, but far enough that he’d not find her for a moment or two. The coats fought against her, as if telling her she was being foolish, but her thrumming heart and streaming eyes told her that she was making the right choice. To just be away, to let her thoughts, manic as they were becoming, rush over her and expel themselves before long. She didn’t even notice the radio tucked into her pocket or how, after a few hours, it softly blipped to catch her attention. It was all lost to the wind and her constant silent sobs.

Chapter Text

My shoulder ached. My chest burned. But most of all, as the adrenaline faded and the realization of what I had said, much less done, weighed down on me like an anchor. I had been sitting there for at least half an hour, staring where she had been and feeling myself grow colder and colder without her presence. A cough escaped me as I felt how dry my throat had become. No part of me wanted to move from my spot, a subconscious fear that she was just waiting around the corner, even though I knew she wasn’t. I knew she was gone, from the way her tail went out and down that hall, the ringing of the aluminum doorstop as her scales slid across it. That frantic slamming of a door that signaled she’d likely used her tail to simply sling it shut.

It took an embarrassingly long time to shift myself out of my bed, metal feet landing with muted thumps on the floor. The shock of it all was fading, the adrenaline had worn off and I was left with the words ringing in my head, muddled together with the terrifying image of a viper lunging at me point blank. If I hadn’t already had my arm up, her teeth would’ve been in my face.

My hands found my face, rubbing the fear sweats and tears from my cheeks and forehead, giving me enough of a reason to go to the bathroom and get myself cleaned up. A haze filled my mind as I slowly got ready for the day, fumbling through every aspect as I tried to force myself into normality again. I dropped my toothbrush more than once, knocked over things on my nightstand, pulled out the wrong clothes to get ready, nothing went right all the way until I was standing in the kitchen. Those words slipped through my mind and tightened my lips in response.

Please.... Just go for now. I’m sorry, but I’m not safe with you right now. My eyes narrowed and my brow furrowed, the frown growing on my face felt far heavier than any other before. And I knew, more than ever, that this had been my fault. If I hadn’t shown her that stupid suit, this wouldn’t have happened.

The thought boiled in my belly until I couldn’t bear it any longer, bringing up my hand and smashing it down onto the wooden table as a fist. The strike had enough force that the lower half of my hand had burrowed into the thick wood, leaving an ugly indent and exposed bright cream colored wood against the dark polish that coated it. And though the action forced a sigh of closure, however minimal it was, all it had accomplished was leaving me feeling like a child throwing a tantrum.

It had been all my fault. I had shown her that machine and I had seen her reaction. It terrified her, though the reasons didn’t reveal themselves. I had a few guesses, but I never wanted to assume or say the wrong thing. I should have told her to rest alone. I shouldn’t have tried to wake her. The mental repeat played in my head as I moved into the kitchen, going to grab a tea pot and a thermos.

She was struggling against something unseen, something I couldn’t begin to imagine. She writhed against me hard enough that it had woken me up, her claws were digging into my chest. I frowned and tried to shake her awake, shaking harder and harder each time. Nothing seemed to work and when I noticed tears streaming down her face, I had moved to wipe them clean. And that’s when it happened.

Her eyes snapped open, though they weren’t looking at me, more through me. Like she had seen me, but I wasn't me to her. And then that low, angry hiss filtered out her throat, it had made me think of a lion growling behind a fan. I had tried to pull away, pulling my legs back but I was trapped still in her coils and weight. My hand remained in front of me as I sat up and did my best to make what little distance I could manage. I barely got a chance to utter her name before she lunged. Military instincts and past memories flared to life and I panicked. I swung my arm towards her, but only succeeded in getting her teeth clamped around my arm.

One of her hands raked down my chest while her teeth grinded against the metal, her other hand reaching for my face. I had barely caught it and held it there as I screamed her name again and again. As much as I had been trying to keep her off of me, as much as I was hoping this was a nightmare of my own, my mind had raced to the pistol I kept in my nightstand.

A grimace fell on my face as I returned to reality, staring at the steam billowing out of the kettle. I threw a pair of tea bags into the thermos and poured the boiling water into it, a good dollop of honey following it. Capping and shaking it, I started towards the door. I tried to ignore my thoughts, my memories, that swam in my head. I didn’t want to think what might’ve happened had I been able to reach for my gun. What that might’ve changed. I stomped towards the door, stealing my coats off of the wall mount, scarves and beanie barely remembered as I made my way out. I stared at the morning sky, then looked at my watch. I blessed my memory for the sake of keeping track of time, having only glanced at a clock when I had finally decided to get up.

It’d been at least an hour since she left. My nerves had settled, the shock had worn away and I was left with nothing but pangs of regret. Eyes shut for a moment as a cold wind blew and dried them out, leaving me with my thoughts for the minute it took for that wind to die down. My hands moved to put the thermos into the deep interior pocket of my coat only for a loud, plastic clack to sound out. Pulling open the coat and opening one eye, I found a long antenna poking out of my pocket. That’s right, we’d started leaving our radios in our pockets, always turning them on before we left the building, just in case. It was a long shot, surely. And no doubt, despite my worries and wants, she wanted to be left alone.

Nonetheless, I found myself pulling the radio out, holding it in my hand while the other put the thermos away. I thumbed the knob at the top, hearing it beep to life and briefly emit a soft static to signal it was ready for use. I checked the battery, finding it about half filled. A grimace formed on my lips for the umpteenth time that morning alone. I started to walk towards the barn, to get on with the daily duties, if only so she didn’t have to be concerned with them when she came back.

If she comes back. I thought grimly. There was nothing, now, stopping her from simply disappearing. And even if she came back, with intent to pilfer and steal, I’d be powerless to stop her. Powerless, as I knew in my soul I’d not be able to do much more than weakly threaten her. Even then, as her teeth were bared and she attempted to maim me, I knew even if I had had a knife to her throat, a gun to her head, I’d not have had it in me to do the deed. Not when I had grown so attached. I felt my eyes wet as I thought about it, blinking them away before carrying on with my day, only pausing as I got to the barn door to look at the radio in hand. Perhaps it’s still with her. Maybe she discarded it....

But hope remained. My thumb moved to the button just below the input, the little bell icon for the signal. I pressed it, hearing the gentle beep from my end, and waited. Minutes passed me by as the cold wind only dropped further in temperature. Minutes still I waited further, staring at the black tarnished plastic. Eventually, I put the Radio clip on the hem of my shirt collar. I didn’t care that the antenna was constantly in my way, poking my cheek and chin when I bent or moved. I just wanted to know she was going to be okay. I wanted a chance to correct my own mistakes. 

The haze returned as I muddled through the rest of the day. I walked through my chores, tending what was left of the garden, pulling out the last few bundles of veggies that had managed to grow despite the weather. Mostly things like potatoes, onions, radishes and so on. From there I blipped the radio again and waited. Still no response. It was onto the chickens next, cleaning their coup, putting more grass and hay into their nests for warmth, ensuring no leaks in the roof and then gathering the handful of eggs they still managed to lay.

I blipped the radio again. No response. I could feel my feet trudging the more I went through the day, each chore ended with another attempt at a response. Nothing returned each time. By the time I was going and settling in the tower, I had more or less given up on the hope I’d see Sunshine again for the day. I hadn’t even heard the blip in the distance each time I did it, so she was either far far away or had turned off the radio. My thermos had stayed warm the whole time, the only comfort I had in the blistering cold once I was in the watch tower. It’d been weeks since I’d come up here, Sunshine had always enjoyed this aspect the most. She had told me it was pleasant to see so much of the land untouched.

The tall grass stretched for miles in all directions, creating a visual barrier as good as any fence or wall could. Even with the rifle settled in my arms, I couldn’t bring myself to really search the perimeter thoroughly. I was more focused on seeing if I could spot my serpentine friend. Or at least, I hoped we’d still be friends if she ever returned. At some point in the tower, I had begun to mentally kick myself. To stop worrying, that even if it had been my fault to begin with, she still had tried to hurt me. Though it was clearly unintentional, a physical reaction to the nightmares she was having. I knew she had reacted to touch in her dreams, good and bad.

But I did try and keep my chin up. Even if she left, it’d be no different than when she wasn’t here. Lonely again. A day filled with chores and constant worrying and boredom. But if she did come back, then that meant a chance to reconcile. I just had to wait. Be patient. Be hopeful. A deep breath filled my lungs, icy air reassuring me that I wasn’t dreaming a nightmare and causing my mind to focus rather than deviate any longer.

However, it wasn’t until I saw the dust clouds forming on the horizon that I sat up straight. My hands snapped to my binoculars, tearing them up to look and see what might be heading my way. My mind raced with possibilities. If it was bandits, I would have to run inside and bar myself within, gather my tools and pray they didn’t just set my home on fire. If it was a Chryssalid migration, I would have to get into the cellar of my home and hope to god they didn’t sniff me or Sunshine out. If it were ADVENT, that might be a situation to call upon my old suit, depending on the severity of their convoy. But rather than any of those terrible options, I was filled with mild relief.

It was a familiar old red truck that was calmly making its way down the road, followed by a few cars I recognized and a few I didn’t. It was Nicholas and his Caravan. I’d been expecting them for some time, they were late for this time of year. I had been so distracted with Sunshine’s arrival, I hadn’t even given it more than a single thought. I quietly put the rifle down, ensured my pistol was fitted in its armpit holster and got ready to go and greet the bunch. A bit of social interaction would be a blessing in disguise, a distraction from my, hopefully temporary, loss of companionship. As I began to get out of the tower, I heard it. That soft, staticy Blip.

In this moment, while I felt a huge amount of relief, I likewise felt anxiety brew in my stomach. It shot right up to my mind as I fumbled and scrambled my coat, trying to pull the radio over its spot in the folds of my clothing. I raised it up and stared for just a moment. And then carefully returned the blip with a gentle press. A few seconds passed before I was greeted in kind, at that point, I grabbed my binoculars to look at how far the Caravan was. Far enough away that they’d not be in normal sight for at least ten or fifteen minutes. I swallowed and pressed down on the intercom button.

“Sunshine?” I managed to get out, not taking my eyes off of the cars that approached.

“Goose.” Was the soft reply I received. “Goose, I-....” The radio went silent as she trailed off. I knew I didn’t have much more time, so as I began to get out of the tower I started to speak.

“Sunshine, I forgive you.” I said without a moment’s breath. “We'll need to talk this out later, I know, but I need to know where you are.”

My tone was hasty, concern lacing my voice as I started to descend the tower, throwing the rifle’s strap over my shoulder as I slid out of the insulated tower’s warmth. Even as I landed, I hadn’t received much in the way of a reply, only the silence of a radio. Had my curt reply gotten to her? Did it not sound as genuine as I hoped it would be? My eyes turned to the tall grass that was at least three or four feet high, not seeing the dust clouds coming over the horizon just yet. Just as I was about to ask for a response, when the radio blipped again.

“I am in grass. Hiding.” She said, her tone weak. It killed me to hear it. Her response, however, hadn’t been quite as helpful as I was imagining, as I paced in a small circle to see all of the different directions she could’ve slithered off into. It was just like back home when I accidentally let a rat snake escape into the fields of home. Ma was pissed.

“Do you know how close you are? Can you get back easily?” I hurriedly asked, starting to make my way to the house.

“I remember way back.” She said, her tone a little more steady as the seriousness in my words must’ve been caught. Her voice changed to a touch softer, almost conspiratorial. “What is going on? Are you in danger?”

“No! No no, I’m not. There’s a Caravan coming, that one I told you about weeks ago? They’re finally here. I don’t want them to find you, they aren’t very ADVENT friendly, despite you not being one anymore. I doubt they'd listen to that excuse, though.” I said, getting to the house and carefully setting the rifle in the closet, placing the box of ammo beside it. “So you need to get back to the house as fast as you can, pronto, you hear?”

There was a silence that caused me to hold still for a moment. “Sunshine...? Did you hear me?”

“.... I heard you.” Was her softer tone. “Are you sure...? What if I... What if I react? Again? What if I cannot... Hide in there? What if I expose?”

“Then we’ll deal with that when the time comes, Sunny. But right now, making sure you’re not seen immediately is more important.” I replied, going to step back out into the frigid air, looking around for any sign of her yellow scales. “But if you can’t make it back to the house, just stay in the tall grass, stay low, they shouldn’t see you, okay?” Silence again. “... Sunny......?”

The only response I got was a soft, static blip of the alert. I felt my lips tighten, but I supposed that was better than nothing at all. I quietly spoke into the radio again, walking to the edge of my land where the road connected to the front. I just now saw the dust rise into the air. A nod subconsciously tilted my head before I started to march back towards the house to calm my nerves. “Sunny, I... I want to apologize to you. Properly, and I know you’re sorry. But above all, I just want to make sure you’re safe and sound, okay? If you get back inside of the house, I just want you to lock the door and then hit the button to beep my radio so I know you’re safe. Whatever you do, just.... Just stay safe, Sunny.”

My only hope was that she’d be able to get inside before the caravan showed up. At least over a dozen people would be on the road here in moments, so she’d have almost no chance to get inside then. I started to pace in circles, listening as the roar of cars began to grow. A soft distant rumble that escalated slowly into a veritable grinder of noises of all kinds. I felt my lip get chewed as I worriedly walked, only stopping as the sound of gravel on dirt churned across the road, signaling they had turned onto the little stretch of land that led to me. I swallowed harshly, going to reach into my coat and pull out my thermos to take a weak sip from it, relishing the warmth that spread through me after I swallowed.

And as that first truck pulled into the yard, pushing down several feet worth of tall grass as they parked, I heard it. A gentle, soft blip. My head turned quickly and there I spotted her, in the window that’d lead to the living room. Two big red eyes staring at me, and in that moment I felt at ease. She was home. She was safe. Hours of concern bled away, leaving just the anxiety now of the people pulling around the bend. I just had to trade with these nice folks and we’d be able to talk things out. I twisted myself back to face the caravan as more cars pulled in, haphazardly parking in and around the road.

My relief was very short-lived, dying away the moment my eyes started to look at the vehicles surrounding my home, I started to feel my blood curdle. The only cars I recognized were few. The one that Nicholas and his family rode in, the muddied red pick up truck with a heavy duty bumper guard. A white sedan with several old plasma burns across the sides that’d been patched from the inside with scrap metal and cloth. And finally a blue SUV that carried most of the children and teachers who looked after them. The rest were a myriad of military jeeps and trucks, mixed with two separate chop-shop technicals mounted, poorly, with high caliber light machineguns. No one was manning them. Yet.

This wasn’t the Caravan I was used to, that much had become immediately clear. Though why they were like this now, much less arriving at my home like this, were my main concern now. I subconsciously shifted my shoulder, rubbing my pistol’s weight against my ribs to ensure myself it was still there. It’d do nothing against those heavier duty cars, maybe not even these people if they had decided to steal more military equipment, surplus or otherwise. I saw only one figure I recognized, Nicholas.

He was a portly man in his late sixties, balding head he often kept tucked under a cabby cap and a wonderfully well maintained beard that he never stopped sifting his fingers through when he thought. A heavy duty coat was wrapped around his shoulders, zipped to the neck, and winter leggings holding him against the blistering winds that threatened to turn my nose to an icicle the longer I stood here. Behind him were three men I didn’t recognize, two of which sported dull gray hunting vests with camouflage coats beneath and vibrant orange beanies. They could’ve been twins in the making were it not for one of them having dark skin and the other was paler than I was. Ghostly white, almost. Probably plays lookout for folks on a nightwatch.

The third man is who had my immediate attention. He strode behind Nicholas with a very unpleasant smile, like he was trying to get a part in a movie. He wore similar garments to the other two, with the differences being he had a massive brown work coat, a thick looking denim covering him up to his neck and down to his wrists. A pair of worn out jeans graced his legs and heavy boots beneath them. I saw the glimmer of some kind of a pistol he had tucked into his trousers as he raised a hand in greeting.

“Hello there, friend!” He had a thick accent I couldn’t place, sounding almost southern with a hint of New York in him. My eyes shifted from him to Nicholas who looked far more haggard than I’d ever seen him. The closer they got, the older he suddenly began to look. Eventually, I held up a hand as they got about half way to my home.

“That’s far enough, friend.” I said, watching the small party of four pause. The man in the work coat raised an eyebrow at me, his smile dimming just a bit out of confusion. My eyes shifted to look at Nicholas alone, the old man’s eyes looking puffy and exhausted. No doubt he’d been driving nonstop for hours to look like that. “Nick, who’re these folks? Where’s the others? Mike? Antonio? Martha?”

I saw an uncomfortable shifted pass between the three strangers as Nicholas took a step forward and weakly held up his hands, offering a warm smile that I recognized though it did not reach his eyes. “Mike and Antonio.... We lost them. Chryssalids got them. ADVENT’s been letting them loose in spades the past year, can’t go twenty miles without hitting one on the road.” He chuckled, eyes looking away from me to the dirt below. “Martha took a nasty bite, but thankfully she wasn’t infected. What poison had slipped into her system has more or less crippled her for the time being, but we've been giving her everything we can to keep her alive until we can amputate the affected area. That's why I wanted to come by actually, for your medical knowledge and help.”

His words were trembling as he spoke, from what I couldn’t tell. Mike and Antonio were his two best friends, men in their early sixties and late fifties. Both crack shots, but considering how I almost was eaten myself, I couldn’t exactly blame a couple of old hunters for getting taken out by advanced man hunting predators. Martha, was a different story. She was his granddaughter, from what I knew, in her early twenties and one hell of a spitfire. Regardless of whatever may’ve been happening to have his caravan change this much, that alone would’ve put him in this state.

“.... I’m sorry, Nick.” I lamely offered, tapping my foot to try and distract myself from the horrible news. “They were good men. And Martha will pull through, I’m sure. She’s a tough brat.”

A soft laugh, a genuine one at that, escaped him as he raised a hand to rub his eyes. It was at that moment, the man in the work coat stepped around, planting a hand on Nicholas’ shoulder, startling the older man out of our talk.

“Sorry to cut the meet’n’greet short, but we're kind of on a time crunch. We got some supplies we were offered to get to a settlement near here, but ol’ Saint Nicholas here told us there was a man living out on his lonesome! Said you traded with his crew pretty often, ain’ that right Nick?” He said in that strange accent, turning to regard the older man with that awful grin. A curt nod was given in turn as his hand left the man’s shoulder. “So, is that true, mister....?”

I blinked at him. “Apologies, I don’t give my name out unless I know I’m going to see folks again.” I said plainly, eyeing Nicholas before looking back to him. “No offense.”

There was a glint in his eyes as I met them, his smile going from toothy to almost smarmy. “Well, can’t say I didn’t try. Looks like manners died out with the aliens showing up, huh?” He chuckled, offering his hand out to me regardless. “My name’s Osca. It’s like Oscar, with no r.”

“I picked up on that.” I lazily replied, taking a step forward to take his hand into mine. I watched as his grip tensed immediately, the whining of the leather on my metal hand as he grinned, squeezing tightly. My face didn't change as I responded in kind, squeezing until I saw his face turn to a brief moment of panic, my own grip keeping him from pulling away. “You can call me ‘Sir’, until I’ve determined whether I like you or not.”

“Got... a real... Iron grip there, Sir...” He struggled out as a gritted smile graced his lips.

You have no idea. I shook his hand up and down a few times, being mindful not to completely crush his grip before I let go and he almost recoiled. “Thank you. I work hard to keep myself strong.” I replied.

His smile was gone as his other hand came up to nurse the one he’d offered. With how close we were, I could tell he was on the younger side. Younger than me, at least. His features looked too fresh, too soft for him to be older than maybe his early thirties. His mannerisms made me think of someone who lingered too long in old country bars or inner-city pubs. The other two glanced between one another then to Osca who just shook his head lightly.

“Alright then, Sir.” He nearly spat at me, still rubbing his palm before going to let his hands rest at his hips. “Was Nick here lying? Do you just spit on people’s attempts at being polite or do you actually trade with them? Because we could use some supplies. Our convoy’s been running low. We need fuel, food and bullets, if you have them.”

“I’ve got some food to trade. Maybe some firearms and ammo, too. What do you have to trade me for?” I asked, eyes wandering past him to the cars in the distance behind him. People were dismounting en masse behind him, leaning against the various vehicles, and watching us talk like a pack of hyenas. I had this brief memory of watching the Lion King with my little sister, that ending where they all lined the walls above the villain. And I’m Scar in this situation...

“Oh we have things.... Y’know, spare clothes, some spare medical supplies. That kind of thing.” Osca offered loosely, waving his hand behind him. “You’re welcome to come and take a look.”

That made my eyes narrow, if only slightly, my arms coming up to cross over my chest. My limbs weren’t completely bulletproof, but they could take a shot or two from ballistic weapons and be relatively no worse for wear. Functional, at the very least. I had a distinct feeling I was going to need to move, and soon. Old instincts were screaming at me to draw my gun, to get these men away from me, away from my house. Away from Sunshine.

There wasn’t a doubt in my mind they’d just execute her the moment they saw her, no words, no grace, just on sight expulsion. “Normally....” I started looking at Nicholas again. He was squirming, eyes pleading a silent request to me. I couldn’t read him as well as I could Sunshine, he was usually extremely vocal. He would talk my ear off for hours. “We bring our offers out onto the field, where we’re standing. Keeps things neutral, you see. You only see what I want you to see, I only see what you want me to see. Otherwise, you can pack up and go.” 

The longer I played this game of verbal cat and mouse, the more I could see whatever thin veil he was holding begin to rip. Each word seemed to force him to hold his face still, lest it twitch away and reveal his inner thoughts. “You’re killin’ me, Sir. ” He dryly laughed, holding up his hands. “The weather’s cold enough, don’t you think? What’s the deal with the cold shoulder...?”

“How about the fact you showed up with only half of the people I usually trade with? How about the fact that you and your posse there are armed to the teeth in military surplus....?” I asked, raising an eyebrow and nodding to his mock convoy. “Going to go and fight for XCOM? Or join up a resistance band? Awful lot of firepower to just be roving.”

“We’re just simply delivery folks, alright? We’re armed because there’s aliens galore out there, I’m sure you’ve seen them! ADVENT’s been getting real restless lately too, Nicholas even said so! And you trust him right?” Osca offered, waving a hand to the old man who hadn’t pulled his gaze from the floor. I could see him straining in place, his hands balled into loose fists that trembled every so often. I licked the inside of my lip before I opened my mouth to speak only to be cut off. “C’mon, Sir , you’ve got to at least have some gas to let some of my cars run smoother, no? I see your van right there. Real nice thing, y’know...? Got a custom hood and bumper! Do that yourself?”

My lips bent into a frown. “I did.”

“Handy with a torch and wrench then, are you?”

“I am. Good with medicine too. I’d like to take a look at Martha, but I don't want her out in this cold.”

“Oh ho! Why don’t you come and join us then? Leave this piddly lil ranch behind and roam!” He offered with that people pleaser smile coming back. “Lotta these folks with me were also living on their own or in pairs! You’ll fit right on in!”

“No thanks.” I started, raising up my hand from my chest to stop him before he could get another word out. “If you’re not here to actually trade with me, properly, like I’ve done in the past dozen of times with plenty of other people, then I have no business with you. You can go.”

My tone was even and as polite as I could offer, my hand slowly shifting back to my chest and carefully sliding behind the opposite arm to thumb open the button of my pistol’s holster. His eyes never left mine as I saw that smile go from its crowd pleasing falsehood to a far more genuine one. One of relief. Maybe even a tinge of excitement. His hands came up in a weak shrug, as he turned and shouted back to the caravan.

“Well, boys! Turns out he’s not a trader! Just some ol’ rude fuck livin’ alone!” He jeered, causing a chorus of groans. That didn’t cause anyone to start packing up, however, many decided to lean away from their cars and start moving to grab things from the cabs and beds of their numerous vehicles. As he turned back around, I saw his hand slide towards his belt loops, a wicked look going into his eye as Nicholas went wide eyed. “You shoulda’ just went along with it, pal. Would’ve lived longer.”

His tone was like sickly honey, sweetened, but poisonous in its delivery. From there everything went into slow motion, Nicholas turned and went to tackle one of the goons, throwing him to the ground. The other drew a pistol and began to aim at the old man while Osca pulled a large snub nosed revolver from his pants and began to turn it towards me. Despite my hand moving on its own, despite the fact that I had already pulled and aimed my pistol faster than the man, despite my thumb flicking the safety off and despite my crosshair beginning to land squarely on Osca’s chest.... Despite it all, I found my mind blocking my ability to pull the trigger.

Time slowed even further as my pistol leveled. Memories popping into mind now, at the worst of times, but they did not pull me away. Just a series of individual flashes. The first of me speaking with Sunshine at the old abandoned gas station.

“I’m done killing, snake. You or anyone else that I don’t have to. Unless you intend to fight me to the death, I’m just as happy to leave you here as I am to offer you a chance at living your life.” The look on her face followed through, that hint of distrust, but a modicum of respect.

The second that came to mind was the sheer panic in Sunshine’s eyes as she pressed my wounds shut. “You passed out. Need to stay awake. I can fix you! Just... Need a moment! Just got here. You were bleeding so... Just hold still. Will fix! Have to fix!” I felt so bad for her in that moment.

And lastly, the look on her face when I had told her to leave. To go after she had attacked me in her sleep. The horror that’d been on her face when she’d properly woken up. The sputtering words that she tried to get out. The cramping in my chest when I realized that I’d told her to get away from me.

If I die here, they will get her. When time finally resumed, I had pulled the trigger.

Three shots rang simultaneously.

Two of my own gun. And one from behind me.

Chapter Text

Sunshine racked the bolt on the hunting rifle, barrel resting on the window sill now that she’d blow out the window with that report. The blinds still covered her well enough, but her shot had removed the front skull plate from the man aiming at the portly elder who had been thrown to the ground. Gustave’s own pistol had taken his target, the two shots tearing a hole in the coat of the man he’d been talking to, the shock on the man’s face apparent as he started to fall. She watched as Gustave had moved forward and grabbed him by the collar, yanking him up and holding him in front of himself while others started to rush at him, using the man as cover as he began to walk away from the house, sliding to the right and out of sight.

Her breath was coming in cool, steady, if not shivering, breaths as she took aim at one of the advancing humans, each one armed with a variety of weapons. Some had rifles like hers, some had automatic assault rifles, others only had pistols. Some had shotguns and she saw others starting to scramble back to the mounted machineguns. Her hands trembled slightly. The conscious effort of taking a life was more harrowing than her diluted memory made it feel. Her coils tightened in her place as she leaned forward, aiming down the sights towards one of the fellows starting to clamber up onto the mounted trucks. Her rifle recoiled as the man jerked in place before flopping away and back to the ground.

The portly man had finished his struggle with the other he’d been fighting with, managing to pull the pistol they’d apparently been struggling with away and promptly splatter the forehead of who he’d been fighting across the ground. He was more athletic than he looked as when the return fire began from the advancing group, Sunshine had a split second view of him running out of sight, presumably to cover, as she yanked her rifle from the window and ran towards the kitchen, diving into the alcove as the home she’d been living in began to become perforated with rounds of all kinds.

She flipped over the table and tossed the chairs over it, in hopes of them eating a few of the rounds before they reached the thicker wooden cover she laid behind. It was holding up, if only barely, thanks to all of the extra layers of the house the bullets had to travel through. Nothing they were using appeared to be heavy duty, save for perhaps the mounted weapons, but she hadn’t heard them start up quite yet.

Then the thought came of what she was even doing. Gustave had told her to stay safe. He had told her to hold up in the house. He told her these people would likely kill her if they saw her. She had only grabbed the rifle out of her own want for security, the safety had been off. It was only through her watching the group of humans by the cars, and the general disposition of the people outside Gustave spoke with, that she had even decided to start aiming. And when she saw Gus’ hand swiftly draw that pistol and point at the man, she had taken her shot. A silent word of thanks to her hesitation that she’d changed her targets from the round man with the heavy beard, as he seemed to at least be on Gus’ side in this..

I believe Doctor House would call it a ‘Shit Show’. She briefly thought to herself.

There was a sudden crash of wood as she heard the front door splinter open as it was kicked in, boots of multiple pairs starting to come in. “Search the place, grab whatever you can! The others will grab the boss!” She heard a higher pitched tone order. She didn’t need much more incentive than that to peek around the corner of her cover and swing the rifle around to take aim.

Three people had entered, each wearing some kind of military fatigue under heavy duty, or multiple layers of more civilian coats. The rifle was far louder inside a building, she found. Far louder than a plasma rifle. The first round that came out of her rifle tore a hole clean through the first human, a woman from the sound of the scream she made, and tore a line out of the second human’s shoulder. She returned behind her cover to rack the bolt as she heard panic in their voices. Her tongue flicked out as her instincts and adrenaline began to take over. Gunpowder, blood, fear, stress and a tiny bit of what she could only believe to be urine. Her nose crinkled.

“THERE’S SOMEONE ELSE IN HERE! THE OLD FUCK WAS LY-” Three loud reports came from the doorway and she heard two bodies drop to the floor before some more hasty and staggered footfalls came in, followed by very heavy, rasped breathing.

“H-Hello, who’s in here?! I-I’m with Gustave!” Came the voice before several more shots going out the door were heard, followed by more steps towards her. She peeked around the edge, seeing that portly man from before. He was limping with a hand over his leg and dipping around the corner to the living room. “H-Hello!?”

Sunshine grit her teeth. She couldn’t trust this human, could she? Another swift glance told her that he’d likely shot those other two who were in the hall, and he clearly wasn’t on their side if that was the case. It was only after a moment, she raised her head and swiftly spoke, bringing up the rifle to aim at him.

“I am here.” She rasped to him, causing his head to swivel to her. The old man’s eyes bugged out of his skull and his mouth gaped, the gun in his hand near dropping out of shock. She aimed at him, front post laying right on his forehead. “... Are you Goose’s friend?”

“... I-I-I-I’m S-S-Sorry?” He sputtered out, barely registering the interaction.

“Are you Goose’s friend!?” She yelled at him, jabbing the rifle in his direction for emphasis. He flinched, swallowing hard and then nodding.

“Y-Y-Yes, I am!! G... Goose is Gustave, yes?” He asked, earning a nod from Sunshine. Then he nodded in turn. “Yes, then! He is kind, he traded with us many times, gave us food and medicine in exchange for old movies or clothing! We didn’t want to bring these bastards here...! They took our maps, held our children hostage...!”

His panicked words were cut off as dry wall, wood and other debris exploded around them, the man falling to his rear and covering his head while Sunshine ducked behind cover again. They looked at one another from their positions again before she tapped her chest and stopped looking at him.

“I am Sunshine. Goose helped save me. He is my friend.” She spoke, nodding to him with every ending of her sentences. The man before her was reeling but seemed to at least acknowledge her words. “You don’t shoot me. I don’t shoot you. Deal?”

After a moment, he swallowed and nodded fiercely. “Yes. Yes, Deal and deal again...! My name’s Nicholas, a friend of Gustave’s. Do you got a plan? Does Gustave have a plan?” He asked hurriedly. Sunshine shrugged after barely a moment of thought. “Oh... Oh no, this won’t end well....”

The viper poked her head around the corner as the shooting stopped, not spotting anyone immediately aiming at the house. Not anyone immediately even in sight actually. She leaned over a bit more, eyeing the change in perspective as she shifted. The people farthest away had taken up positions near Gus’ van, along with some having retreated back towards their convoy entirely. Some had even decided to take cover behind the less armored more civilian vehicles. The brief thought of what Nicholas had said, squinting as she tried to look within, but the distance was too great, even for her eyes. A quiet growl escaped her throat before she looked to the corpses in the hall, the woman still convulsing and choking on the floor as she bled out through the hole in her sternum.

Sunshine shifted for a moment, tilting her head around the corner. Her throat bulged for a moment before she lashed out her tongue, snatching the woman by the ankle and yanked her head back. The dying human slid helplessly towards her, gun dragging behind with its strap caught on her arm. She had some kind of a shotgun, semi-automatic from the looks of it. The human gurgled and struggled against her as she dragged them closer into the kitchen. The viper felt a small pang as she looked at the dying woman, sighing softly as she carefully took their head in her hands.

“You fought well, human. But for wrong side. Sorry for shooting you. May you rest peacefully.” She calmly spoke before wrenching her head in the complete opposite direction. The wet pops and crunch of the cartilage in her spine snapping made her grimace and almost recoil, letting the woman go before pulling the shotgun from her shoulder. Her hands dug around for spare ammo, only finding handfuls of shells of a variety. Some said printings like ‘00 Buckshot’ or ‘Slug’ or ‘Triple Threat’, all different colors. Pocketing the ammo, she once again peeked her head out into the open yard. Finding no one looking at them immediately, she slithered towards Nicholas with haste moving around him.

The old man flinched harshly, nearly bringing up his pistol before she passed him by and coiled up beside him, planting the shotgun in his lap. “Can you operate this?” She asked him, hauling out the couple dozen shells she’d pocketed from the dead woman.

The elder swallowed harshly before giving a firm nod, grabbing the firearm with a trained diligence. He looked through the ammo she had given him, opting to put each of the different kinds into a different pocket before checking what was loaded to begin with and pulling the charging handle back to see if the woman had even racked it. She blinked, looking at the old man. “Former military?”

He shook his head. “Professional Shooting, I got three gold medals across three different categories, Miss Sunshine!” He stated, offering a weak, if not strangely beaming smile. It was a smile that caught her off guard and caused the corners of her own lips to creep upward. Something he noticed as he laughed softly. “Well I’ll be, I didn’t know you guys could smile...! Ah-, no offense, of course, Miss.”

“None taken, Mister Nicholas.” She said, slithering away from him towards the window to take a look outside. Multiple of the humans were dragging people away who’d been injured, one of them being their leader that Gustave had shot. The rest were aiming and moving towards the barn in an impressive mockery of military tactics. They were all just civilians with guns, not a single one looking like they understood how to cohesively operate together. “Mngh. They’re going get Goose.... We have to help.”

“If we go out there, Miss Sunshine, we’re as good as dead, or just meat shields for those people to use against Gustave. That’s what they did with my people.” He growled, shouldering the shotgun and looking outside down the hallway. “..... Sunshine, is there a backdoor to this place?”

She canted her head and looked at him, shaking it soon afterwards. “No, but there is.... A very large window... In Gustave’s room.” She offered.

“Think we could escape out of it?”

“Very likely, yes. Why? What is your plan?” She asked, ducking her head down as a stray shot ripped through the wall near her. The man nodded towards the direction he believed Gustave’s room to be in.

“We get out of the house, hop into the grass surrounding his home. Skirt around the edges until we get to the convoy, take out those pricks guarding my people and get them out of here.” He started, watching as Sunshine’s brow furrowed, mouth starting to open. He raised up a hand to her, to give himself just a moment longer to speak. “ Because , Miss Sunshine, if there’s no civilians for them to use against us, they have nothing against us besides their numbers. We kill those bastards manning their machineguns, turning their own guns on them. What do you say?”

Sunshine listened intently, eyes narrowing before she raised a hand and poked his chest. “I will help you. But you abandon us? Do not ever return. I’ll kill you.” She said firmly, the older man swallowing and nodding at her.

“I’d never dream of it. Gustave’s been a good man to us over the years.” He said, starting to get away from the wall and ready to run wherever they needed to go. He winced as he put weight on his leg, a dribble of red still trickling down. Sunshine glanced at his injury, spying a cut in his pants and a large gash across his thigh. It wasn’t a kill shot, but he certainly wasn’t going to be running a marathon. “The food and maps he traded us saved our lives more times than I can count.”

She nodded before going to pull off one of her scarves and go to wrap it around his leg wound, much to his shock. He yelped when she tightened it around his injury before giving him a firm pat on his hip.

“You’ll be fine. I will cover you. Run down the hall. Second door on right. Window’s large enough. Latch on the side.” She said, going to raise up her rifle and slither past him to aim down the hallway. She’d not fire until they were spotted again and this would give her a good chance to grab something from her own room. One of the last pieces of advent gear she had to her name. As she heard Nicholas grunt and start to move, she slowly followed behind him. She just prayed that Gustave was still alive and fighting. Prayed to whatever gods her people may’ve once had, prayed even to the human deities she’d heard of a few times. Whoever would be listening. Please let him be okay.

Nicholas had waited for her to get to him, leaving the window open and watching intently for anyone coming around. A quick detour and she was slithering towards him, leaping out the window before he could object or direct. As she landed, her rifle came up, looking in the direction the bandits were in, then behind her and then towards the grass wall. They’d have to keep their heads low, not a problem for her, but the man may’ve had a harder time. The clear area let the sound of various other gun fire plinking off and shattering the wood and metal of the barn was far more apparent out here, forcing a harsh grimace onto Sunshine’s features.

A soft grunt and the sound of someone landing roughly caused her to turn her head, to see the old man sitting on the ground and taking only a second to nurse his leg before stumbling upwards. She backed up and offered him her shoulder, something he gratefully took. She didn’t stray far from him, going to let him use her to hobble quicker to the grass before they both ducked. He had to almost crawl on all fours with his leg injury to stay low, but he didn’t seem particularly bothered by the need to root around the dirt. There was a determination in his eyes she’d only seen on Gustave. A want to protect.

They moved together, carefully forming a pathway through the grass as quickly and quietly as they could. It wasn’t terribly hard to do, given all of the gunfire scattering sound like someone tossing a handful of firecrackers. By the time they got to the road’s edge, Nicholas was heaving silently with a need to breathe, his hand gripping just above the wound on his leg. At his suspected age, Sunshine imagined that even that modest of an injury was going to take far too long to heal. And it may’ve caused more damage than she initially suspected, or the constant movement was only tearing it open more. Either way, they had to help to find a way to end this soon.

Peeking from the grass wall, Sunshine spotted the collection of cars, trucks and jeeps, eyeing several haphazard alleyways between the numerous vehicles. A handful of people, she counted about three, were hunkered down behind the less militaristic cars. They each were holding large scoped rifles and watching over their forward group of comrades. Occasionally they shouted and smacked a hand against the side of the door. She didn’t need anymore clues to guess what may’ve been inside.

Only one of the mounted machineguns was being manned, the man eagerly wringing the grips of the large weapon, grinning from ear to ear for a chance to let it roar to life. She turned to Nicholas, holding up all four of her digits to the man and nodded towards the cars. He stared, breathing hard through his nose as he tried to make sense of her gestures. She frowned, looking back, realizing not every human would be as well versed in her pseudo sign language. So instead, she leaned down on the ground, drawing out a stick figure then writing the human symbol for four beside it. He watched before nodding and holding up his shotgun. She brought him closer, leaning around to show him the small group they would be attacking.

“I can take turret. Can you take others?” She asked, looking at him, realizing she was asking a wounded man to fight three other people. But with his shotgun and having the drop on them, along with her help once she’d dealt with the gunner, she was confident he’d not drop dead. A drop of sweat beaded and ran down his face into his large beard before he hefted the shotgun again and nodded.

“Help me to that first car, then yes, I’ll have them down.” He said, giving her a firm look.

“I can do that. Don’t shoot until you.... Hear the gunner struggle.” She instructed, earning one more nod from him.

She nodded in turn and put his hand on her shoulder again, waiting just a moment for the crowd to start shooting again before they shot forward in a hurried low scramble. The moment they got to the farthest car, they split. Nicholas went left, leaning against each military car or truck he could get to without limping until he was in position, raising up his shotgun to take aim down the ring sights. Simultaneously, Sunshine slithered low and beneath the chassis of each vehicle until she was right behind the man. She carefully crawled herself up onto the back of the truck, rearing up high behind the man. He must’ve noticed the slow dip in height as his shoulders tensed and he carefully turned around.

He didn’t even get a chance to yell as Sunshine shot forward, a memory flashing in her mind of that terrible terrible dream that’d chased her out of Gustave’s home. It didn’t linger long as she wrapped her jaws around half of the man’s head, muffling his sudden screams of terror. He twisted and turned in place as she coiled around him, arms and ribs popping in place as she squeezed and squeezed, suffocating the man in multiple ways. And right as she tightened and wrenched her head, completely crushing the man in place, she heard the first shotgun shell ring out, accompanied by a pair of different shots. She dropped the crumpled man to the back of the truck with as much grace as a duffel bag before slithering over the top to lend a hand. Thankfully for her, and the old man, his claims of being a good shot weren’t for nothing.

The first man had barely hit the ground before two more shots rang out. The second man took the shot squarely in the throat, gushing red gore across the car while the third fell backward in a breathless scream as the shot had torn open his chest. Whistling wheezes of agony escaped him before the old man limped over, aimed the shotgun down and put him to rest. He leaned against the car with a heavy thump, sliding down it before clutching his lower stomach and hissing in pain. She saw someone start to get out of the civilian SUV, a darker skinned woman who let out a silent gasp as she saw Sunshine slither down over into the small alley between the jeeps, trucks and other civilian cars. She dropped to grab one of the rifles before Nicholas’ voice perked up.

“Jessie, stop, she’s with me...!” He said, coughing hard and waving his hand to ensure the woman caught his words. She looked at Sunshine hard for a solid few minutes before the viper raised the rifle to her shoulder, barrel to the sky and offered a soft wave with a now free hand. “Her name’s Sunshine. Cute ain’ it?”

“Cute’s a word alright....” The woman mumbled before looking down to Nicholas. “Are you-”

“I’m damn fucking sure, Jessie, the snake carried me here, lame leg and all, and killed more of those bastards than I have!” The man barked, waving a hand at Sunshine. “She’s a friend, damn it, now get back in this stupid SUV and get the kids out of here while they’re all focused on Gustave....!”

Jessie blinked a few times, about to open her mouth before the portly man used the side of the car to push himself up. “ Now, Jessie. One old man ain't worth a dozen kids. Besides, I still owe Gus a few beers.” He said, offering her a bloodied tooth version of that warm smile he’d shown Sunshine a few times by now. “They’re gonna notice something's up as soon as you guys move so... Wait until you see them properly distracted... Get the others ready to book it with you, and have one of them take Martha out of here.”

Jessie’s jaw worked several times, trying to form words before Sunshine heard some softer, lighter sounds coming from the open door of the SUV. Quiet words she didn’t quite make out coupled with gentle sobbing and the occasional whining cry. The windows were dark enough she couldn’t make anything out but a handful of shapes. But she did see the occasional thin appendage waving at her. The woman’s lips curled into a deep frown before she leaned into the car and started speaking. Sunshine wasn’t allowed the luxury to listen anymore as Nicholas walked over to her, still clutching his stomach.

“I hate to ask any more of you, Sunshine, but... Think you could get this... fat old man up on that truck?” He asked her, jerking a thumb towards the mounted machinegun that she’d just evacuated of its user. “I’d like to return the favor back to these bastards.... For taking a lot of my good people.”

And who was she to deny this man a very rightful return. She carried him to the truck as she heard car doors open and close in quick succession, engines roaring to life soon after.

````````````````````

“They’re gonna... Tear you the fuck apart...” Osca gasped as I hoisted the man from the ground, balling the back of his coat in my metal hands and using that as a way to get him moving in front of me as I aimed my pistol past his head. “You and... Whoever the hell you have... In there...” His words were wheezing, judging by the two holes in the back of his coat, I’d imagine his lungs were quickly filling with blood.

“Might want to use those last words for something better. Maybe a prayer?” I offered, taking step by step backwards towards my barn. I had to get to it. It was the only way I was getting out of this hell without dying or losing Sunshine. Or both. My .45 reported three more times, hitting only one man with some kind of assault rifle. I’d have assumed it was an AK, but I didn’t get a good look as he dropped. No one was going to shoot at me while I had this bastard walking. As I got to the barn door, I heard a round blast past my head, blowing a hole in the metal door. I flinched, whipping around and shooting the last three shots I had at the crowd. I didn’t see who shot, but I don’t even want to think about who would be stupid enough, or uncaring, to try and hit me while I was carrying their, assumed, boss.

I holstered my now empty pistol and tore the door open, stepping in and yanking the man in with him before kicking the door shut. It was just then bullets started to rip and tear through the barn, hitting Osca several times and clipping my legs and arms. The gurgle of pain and shock that escaped the man, the sight of him raising up his hands from his chest wounds and head tilting to look at the newly given fatal shots. “Stupid... fucks....” he managed before his whole body went limp, slumping to the ground.

I cursed as I fell to the ground with him, ducking my head as another deluge of lead was thrown at my barn. I pulled my pistol from my holster, swapping out the empty magazine for my only other one and thumbing the lever to let the slide slap forward. It stayed in my hand as I army-crawled towards the hay stack. The amount of gunfire got so bad, I had holstered my pistol and put both of my hands behind my head as pseudo shields against any stray gunfire that might’ve been an unlucky hit. And it was a good thing too as when the shooting began to die down, a single round plinked off of my hand, throwing it forward and bending my forefinger just slightly. I saw and heard the mushroomed bullet land next to my head. “Thank you Dr.Shen, for imbuing me with the solidity of alien steel.” I mumbled, a bit shocked, before I rose from the ground.

I had no time to waste, leaping the bales with abandon, throwing more away from me as I dug out a path to my old suit of armor. I hadn’t done maintenance on it since I showed Sunshine, or even before that as had been my original plan. I just hoped all of the previous years of work wouldn’t be a waste. I heard shouting, more shooting, but I couldn’t focus on it. This was desperate work I had to do. I had to go through the process of powering up and readying this beast, all while the seconds ticked by. My only saving grace was if they were cowardly or not, if they cared about their boss or not.

The tarp was yanked free seconds later after I leapt down the hay hole I’d created. A hacking cough escaped me as dust and straw filled my lungs, causing me to wave a hand in front of my face briefly before running to the back of the machine. It wasn’t like throwing a lever or twisting a nob. A gaping opening in the back where a power cell was supposed to rest. With practiced ease, I moved to a locked crate, flipping latches and yanking off the top to reveal a glowing battery swaddled in cloth to protect it from the elements. It hummed with that same warm energy that never really waned. I could feel the memories wanting to take hold as I stared at it, shaking them away firmly as I leaned down to grab it.

It was about the size of a fire extinguisher, but twice as heavy, if not three times. I moved to the opening, raising it up, double checking I had the right in and outputs, and slotted it in. Just in time for several more testing shots ripped through the walls again. Thankfully, where I was the rounds didn’t quite reach me, plinking off of the chassis of the suit. I could hear the shouting getting closer. It was all quickly drowned out as a loud buzzing hum started to emit from the core, the back of the suit shifting and hissing with hydraulic pressure. The back began to close itself up, the whole machine shuddering with new life suddenly coursing through it. I almost could’ve heard the groan of relief as it was like a great metal monster awakening from a year long nap.

The second step was getting myself ready, undressing from my coat, scarf, everything had to go. I stripped down bare naked before going to the small box near the bottom of the cell housing, a compartment meant for spares, ammo and medical supplies, now only used for storing a single thing. My tech suit. I grimaced, looking at it. It was frigid, but still pliable enough. The only thing I was thankful for was the fact that they had the decency to install a cup to protect my bits from getting squeezed by or caught in the mechanical parts of my suit. I unzipped and unstrapped the back, sliding straight into it without a moment to spare. Thanks to my arms being mechanical, I had no issue turning and bending my elbows at very uncomfortable angles to grab the zipper and straps, forcing it all together. It fit like a glove, even after all this time. Maybe just a slight bit loose, really. But it didn't matter, as I could feel the suit forming against all of my augmentations. Every port, every plate, every slot was seated as I shifted it together. 

The third step was getting myself in the machine. And this was the hardest part. My Suit was an older generation, a Mark 1 to be precise. The newer suits were faster to get into, they didn’t need to boot or warm and start up processes. I could try and bypass it all, but that could lead to lag time and sluggish movement. I harshly swallowed before grabbing my helmet and affixing it to my head, smacking the side a few times to get the hud to boot up and begin its connections. Grabbing onto the open chest carriage, I hoisted myself in. My arms went into their accommodating slots, my legs bent into themselves to make space for my full person as I settled into the cockpit proper. A sudden pain surged through me as I felt all four limbs collectively disconnect from my person, replaced by snake-like cords that were roughly plugged into the same sockets my prosthetics used.

I always hated this part. It was agonizing as I felt phantom pain like no other, burning sensations coursing through my shoulders and hips as if I were being branded with white-hot plates. My helmet flickered and illuminated with information, a boot up sequence starting as a series of blips played, coordinating my mental state to coincide with the machine.

Raise your right hand. Read the message on the screen. I took a deep breath and prayed silently as I tried to raise a limb that wasn’t there. And like magic, the suit rose up, hand extended out. Please articulate each finger and the elbow to calibrate maximum range for each joint.

C’mon, c’mon, let’s go already... I thought impatiently as I continued through the instructions. It had me do the same for the other arm, bending and squatting with my legs. My stomach churned with the now very dramatic actions. Each step felt like I was wading in water, each movement of my arms like I was restricted in the world's heaviest coat. Fingers bent like I had four pairs of gloves on. Eventually, I was given my freedom back and a slight bit more control as the settings from previous excursions initiated, granting me just a sliver more articulation. I took another heaving breath before I turned my body, heavy steps sliding across the dirt rather than raising. I heard more rounds beginning to tear through my barn door before a loud crunch escaped into the air.

“Knock knock, mother fucker!!” I heard some scream all too enthusiastically before it was quieted down to a shocked gasp. “O-Oh fuck...! Boss is down...! I think he’s dead!”

The sound of multiple pairs of boots coming in sounded out before I reached down to the final piece of this destructive puzzle. My Minigun. I grabbed the carry handle to hoist it up into place, hands moving with practiced ease as they found their places. Subtle grooves where my metal hands settled the most often, a flick of a switch on the top sending the weapon to spin as a signal it was ready to fire. I made sure to chamber the first round, test spin the barrels and then turned to face the direction of my intruder’s noise. Just as I began to take my first step, memory hit me.

“It’s not your fault, you know, Goose.” Yui said, giving me a reassuring shake to the shoulder. “You did everything you could. You took every shot, you blocked every grenade, you did what you were built to do, big guy...”

“I could’ve saved him.” I said, raising my metal wrist to push her hand away. My eyes couldn’t meet hers, only staring down at our legs. Hers next to mine. Metal next to flesh. “If I just... wasn’t in this stupid-”

“Gustave Wylder, you need to learn when to shut the fuck up, you know that...?” She finally said, giving me a hard shove that might’ve sent me toppling if I didn’t have forty extra pounds of weight. “You’re not our god damn medic anymore. You have supplies strapped to you, sure, but what are you gonna do? Jump out of your suit mid fight? Stop being a fucking pissant and man up!”

I looked up at her, trying my hardest to glare, but instantly deflating as I saw her. She was bandaged across the whole of her head, missing her right eye and both ears. She even had a patch on her cheek where a plasma round had grazed and melted the flesh. The rest of her had fared no better, her upper body riddled with bandages that’ve already bled through.

And yet she was smiling at me. Smiling because I finally had looked her in the eye. I felt tears welling up in my vision before she raised up a hand that was missing three of its fingers, using the thumb to brush my cheek. “It’s not your fault, Goose. We had a bad mission. Everyone does. We lost some good folks.....” She sighed, tears forming in her own eyes. “Just promise me you won’t go do something stupid because of it, okay? No dying for some stupid reason. No matter what, where or how life comes at you. Promise me.”

I swallowed the thick lump forming in my throat. “..... Promise.” I muttered lamely. She held out her other hand, this one only missing its fore finger. Her pinky extended. “..... Yui-”

“Pinky promise, Gustave. Or I know you won’t mean it.” Her tone was fierce, but gentle. Warm, but firm. “I don’t care if it’s metal, it’s still you, big guy. It still counts.”

My lips quivered into a smile on the precipice of sobbing. Eyes pinched shut and I hooked my pinky onto hers. “I promise. No dying.”

As I returned, I heard shouting and the very clear sound of cars ripping away. My entire body listed, tilting as I tried to hear better. The voices and shuffling that’d been in the barn were gone, replaced by the sounds of someone outside screaming vague orders. “They fuckers are booking it!! They’re escapin-”

The voice was cut off as a familiar chopping sound tore through the air. It didn’t last for very long as the return fire was near instant. The shouting became less and less clear as gun fire drowned everything out. I wasted no time after that, grabbing the spare drums of ammo and shoving my way through the hay stacks. The hay fell in a surprisingly gentle manner around me, not any louder than my own stomping feet. That devastating chopping returned, putting a few holes in my barn as I heard people screaming and desperately trying to fight back. My left arm drew from my minigun, fist clenching and powering up the old Kinetic striker attached to its arm.

I felt the urge to let out a battle cry as I charged at the barn door, but refrained as I had to focus everything on moving myself appropriately. Years ago, this was like riding a bike. Now it was like learning to swim again and I was barely keeping my head above water. The mechanical piston flew forward, blowing apart the front of my barn with devastating ease, metal and wood shrapnel scattering across those who’d been too close to the opening. The air went deathly still and quiet as I lumbered out from the barn, dust and debris shadowing me until I was completely out in the open. My left arm hissed audibly as the kinetic striker cooled and locked back into place on my arm.

There were just over a dozen men and women still standing now, most of them looking like they’d been shot in the back. My eyes shifted briefly towards the convoy where I knew the mounted turrets were and I saw a familiar white beard manning the gun, along with an all too familiar yellow nose peeking around a bullet riddled truck. The civilian cars were nowhere to be seen, a tiny plume of dust rolling down the road the only reminder of their presence. My vision traced back to the bandits quickly, those that remained anyway. My minigun spun and I leveled it down towards them. 

“Drop your weapons and surrender, or I will fire . This is your only warning .” I announced to them. Two instantly dropped their guns and held up their hands, one just dropped to his rear on the ground, his weapon falling out of his hands in the process. I counted ten more people still armed, hesitating. My minigun whirled and I began to properly take aim.

None of them chose to surrender past the three that’d fallen to the ground. I didn’t hesitate this time. Those that didn’t adhere to the order were illuminated within my helmet, identifying their various firearms down to the caliber. Dr.Shen and Dr.Valhen really went all out with this stuff at the time. It was the only thought I had before I pulled the trigger.

Pink mist. Some popped like water balloons being shot by a BB gun. Limbs disappeared, heads popped, chests opened like a finger in sand. When they retaliated, most of their shots landed against my shoulders and chest plating. I barely felt the bullets ricochet off of me, my head jerking in place as one had scored a shot on my helmet. 

The glass shattered at the top right of my sight. He’d aimed a little too high. My heavy armament swung on the shooter with ease, reducing him to a pile of limbs and gore. I walked forward, sweeping my minigun in heavy arcs as those that still fought cowardly dispersed, trying to make themselves the last one to be targeted. My pivoting was still stiff, my joints still groaned in disapproval. The wide sweeping of my minigun was paired up as I heard the chopping of that mounted turret escalate with my own heavy fire. It took less than a minute. Smoke and steam poured from the barrels as they whined down to halting. 

Those that had given up cowered beneath me, hands raised above their heads in some kind of mock prostration. I turned in place, heavy thumping steps sending earth, gore and dust into the air wherever I stepped. The three who I’d left alive stared at the carnage, in shock, terror or both. In my mind, this felt a bit more like overkill than they’d really deserved. But I truly had nothing else to use. Sunshine had my rifle, I had a pistol with only two magazines and they had a small army.

Had, being the operative word. I mused. I kept my weapon leveled with the three who’d given up, waving my gun slightly to the right “Toss your weapons away. Get on your stomachs.” I ordered and they immediately complied, smacking their guns away, throwing away any they had hidden away as well. I couldn’t exactly tie them up, but there really wasn’t a better way to keep someone in place at the moment than a towering mechanized soldier pointing a gun bigger than they were.

My head turned a few times, looking around the battlefield that used to be my front lawn, now a smattered mess of gore, viscera and thrown up dirt. The scanners in my suit flashed a few times, assessing if there were more foes anywhere hiding. The radar noted only two dots far away from me, Sunshine and Nicholas, and then the three before me. I nodded satisfied.

“M-More are coming, y’know!” I heard from below me. My head tilted as I saw one man peeking his head up, the other two hissing at him. My legs shifted, stomping just a bit closer and squatting so I could hear a bit better. I saw all three of them flinch with every movement I made. The man who spoke swallowed harshly as he stared at my helmet. “T... Two more trucks full. They held back, on Osca’s orders. They were going to come through after we left and tear this place apart if he had tricked you!”

“Dave what are y-!!” I brought my fist down inches from the other speaker’s head, an audible breathless hitch escaping.

“Interupt again, please.” I started, scraping my fist away as I stared at the man who’d intervened. “I’d love any reason to further remove threats from my home.”

The man quivered in place, eyes wide. A soft shake of his head was his last response before I turned back to the other. “Dave, was it? How many people, roughly.”

“A-At least over a dozen more. Those trucks can fit ten people comfortably, but more like eight when loaded with s-supplies.” He offered, nodding a few times. “I-Is that enough.....?”

I tilted my head. “Enough for what?” I saw the blood drain from his face. “Did you think I was going to let you go?”

His mouth flapped open and closed a few times before I started to stand. The three people shook in place as my hands gripped the minigun again. By this point, I heard the others coming to me. Sunshine was the first to meet me. I pivoted in place just in time to see her get close, about to speak before she shocked the life out of me. She had slithered up my mechanical legs and straight to my cockpit, hands grabbing at my helmet. I had flinched out of instinct, taking one heavy step backwards, my right hand leaving my gun to almost grab at her.

“Are you okay, goose!? Are you hurt anywhere? Where are your arms? Legs? Are they in this....?” She spoke hastily, her features covered in grime and speckles of blood and... Was that drywall? White dust and brown paper clung to places where moisture had formed. I was at a complete loss for words as she pulled me slightly out of place, sliding her arms behind my back and squeezing my tight. My vision was completely obscured by her hood as well. She shifted in place several times before I heard Nicholas’ usually merry tone come into the air, followed by a very unfriendly sounding rack of a charging handle.

“Now, now, you don’t interrupt their reunion with your squabbling thoughts of escape.” I heard him say. “Gustave! What do you want to do with these bastards?”

My hand came around, going to carefully, with the utmost delicacy, scoop and pull Sunshine from my person. The act alone made her yelp in surprise as she likely had never felt being picked up before. Her tail coiled around my metal arm and her hands went to hold onto my hand as I turned to look down at the now four people in front of me. This must be quite the sight.... I thought. MEC Soldier with a viper coiled about the arm. Would’ve been a really sick album cover for some indie rock band.

I looked at the fellows before looking at Nicholas. “This one gave me very good information. The other two tried to withhold it. Do with that, what you will. They are not my concern, anymore.” I muttered, though my amplified voice made it sound far more at a ‘Speaking’ volume than my previous tone had. The elderly man worked his jaw for a moment before looking back up at me.

“After this is all said and done? All this destruction and pain?” He asked, waving a hand at them. “These folks are why I lost those two good men you mentioned. Why Martha is wheezing in the back of my truck! Why my convoy of eight cars got stricken to three! As far as I’m concerned, they should get what they so rightfully have earned!” He hefted the shotgun and pointed it down at them again, his face going red the more he thought about it.

He had more reason to be angry than I did. I was furious, they’d endangered not only my own life, but Sunshine’s as well. And now, having learned more, a lot of very good people have been killed. I said nothing, watching from my elevated position and even taking a step back to let him have the space he might’ve needed to think this through. The old man stared, the three people cowering on the ground, hands over their heads like it would protect them from his bubbling wroth. After a moment, I saw his jaw set and his lips visibly thin until only his beard was showing on his face.

“God damn it.” He growled, stepping away from them and hollering. “Get your asses up and out of here. I’m not gonna shoot someone cowering on the ground. I ain’ one’a you.”

The three bandits looked up at him, slowly starting to stand up. Then they looked at me, flinching as my head shifted to look at them. Sunshine slithered up to perch on my shoulder now, freeing up both hands to settle on my weapon. As they saw my hand grip the handle, they began to swiftly move. All three scrambled to their feet and ran in the opposite direction, running straight into the grass and carrying themselves far away until I couldn’t see anything but the grass rustling in the distance. I didn’t exactly have a moment to relish this victory, as it was. I started to go walk towards the latter half of the convoy, putting my minigun on the ground a small distance away from the cars as I got closer. Sunshine carefully crawled down from her perch, head lowering near mine.

“What are you doing....?” She asked, her tone sounding exhausted. I would’ve been too, given the start to the day and what has just happened.

“I’m going to make a barricade. But first, I want to take what I can from their trucks. Can you go and help Nicholas?” I asked, head turning to face her. She looked at me for a moment before her hands came up and grabbed my helmet, causing me to partially flinch before she pulled it off. “Hey, I kind of need that... It blocks bullets, you know.” I said, no intercom to filter my voice through the machine. A soft smile came to my lips, relief swelling in my heart that she was okay and largely unharmed, it seemed. I saw a few nicks and cuts across her tail and body, but no proper bullet holes that I could spot. All of that military training paid off was still good for something.

She hummed softly, looking at me with those tired, gentle eyes. And then she leaned forward, pressing her nose to the side of my cheek and hissing faintly. I could feel a heat rise in my core as she pulled back, my lips hanging open in confusion. She put the helmet back on my head and gently patted the side where my cheek would’ve been.

“You are scary, yes. But.... You are still Goose. To me.” She said, slithering away and down my suit. I saw her scurry over towards Nicholas, abruptly sweeping up the portly man, much to his shock and chagrin. As she carried him back towards the house for medical treatment, I began to reach into the trucks, pulling out whatever I saw that wasn’t bolted down. Boxes of food, water, lots crates with ammo and guns, personal items that seemed more confiscated than packed away with how they were stored. And once it was all out, I began the process of carefully pushing each of the trucks, jeeps, and trucks into an ample barricade to blot out the coming reinforcement. With any luck, this would be the last of them.

Although I went to work, a part of my mind turned to my home, the occasional pause after I’d moved one car into place. Looking at it now, it was ruined. Holes the size of fists all the way down to pin pricks littered the exterior, to the point I couldn’t even imagine the damage that’d been done to the inside. We were going to have to move somewhere else. A thought that hurt my heart more than I’d care to admit. I’d unpack this bag of emotion when the time was right for it, but for now, I had a purpose. One last big fight.

And one big hope that my suit’s reactivation didn’t send out any signals with how long I’ve been active.

Chapter Text

He could feel the sweat dripping down his face as he stared at the radio. His fingers were tapping on the thin metal steering wheel, anxiety brewing ever more in his gut as he waited for the call to action. The orders had been simple. Get the crew ready and wait for the signal. The signal being either them returning, or getting a call over the Radio. And then, if the worst came to pass and nothing came back within the next couple hours, haul ass to the spot and finish off whatever they had started. He checked his watch. That was almost two hours ago, five minutes off of the designated time. Carl didn’t know what else to do other than obey that order, but that gave him some deep causes for concern. He kicked open the door of the military truck, cussing into the open air.

Shaking hands turned to grab the crumpled cigarette pack from his coat, barely holding still long enough to pull the last of two cigarettes he had left. His lighter fumbled from his pocket a second later while he crammed the pack back into his coat. Nothing felt right in the moment, even as he took a long desperate pull from his addiction. The breath that followed, shuddering as it was, was only moderately less nervous. His wrist flipped over, staring at the alarm ticking down on the cracked glass of his watch. Only three minutes left. He wet his lips before taking another pull from his cigarette. His eyes tracked right to left, looking over the crew that had been left on the back end.

They weren’t well equipped, but everyone had a rifle of some sort, most had a back up. Two of the lucky ones were carrying the heavy stuff, a rotary grenade launcher and one disposable rocket launcher. All of them had a piece of military equipment either a vest, helmet or both. And it all somehow made them look more like the gang they were than anything remotely organized and militant. Just a bunch of thugs. Carl’s leg couldn’t stop shaking as he contemplated what they might be driving towards if they decided to go through with this. In the end, it wasn’t even his call, Osca had left behind his right hand to make sure no one chickened out. Ultimately, what might’ve happened was that they had just gotten out of range or encountered interference, it happened sometimes, after all.

They said there was only one guy.... He thought, pulling harder from the cigarette and near coughing out the plume of smoke that followed. ... unless they were lying.

He couldn’t help but think those civvies they’d run through had decided to send them to a death trap. His eyes narrowed, shaking his head. No, they were out gunned, out manned and not remotely as well equipped. We tore apart half of their cars in an instant. No way they’d try and screw us after that. At least, that's what he hoped.

A flinch yanked him back to reality as his watch began to blare its soft, but piercing, retort. His wrist shot up, his fingers going to stare at the bleeping device. Ash fell onto his knee before he slowly turned it off, listening as he heard someone marching towards him. A tall fellow wearing the heaviest equipment they’d found. It was gear they’d stripped from a few dead XCOM agents that’d not been recovered, heavy, plasma and bullet resistant, full coverage. He even carried the large machinegun they’d taken from the same poor bastard the heaviest of the equipment came off of.

The helmet was the part that made him the most uncomfortable. The ballistic helmet covered everything down to his neck, giving him a deeply disconcerting level of anonymity despite him knowing who was beneath it.

“That's Boss’ time?” Norman spoke, his voice slightly muffled. He quietly pulled the smoke from his lips and crushed out the ember against the steering wheel. A small nod followed him. Normal sighed, bringing a hand to run over the top of his helmet before he smacked the truck, turning to the rest. “Mount up, boys! We gotta go and rescue the boss’ ass!”

The sheer volume of whooping and ‘Hoorah’ that followed made Carl feel sick. He wondered if he could just run, but he knew if anyone saw him anywhere but in this seat and he hadn’t told anyone anything, they’d suspect him and have him either cuffed and tossed into the back of the truck or shot in the knees and left for whatever might be lurking in these open fields. In the end, he really didn’t have a choice. It was die slowly out here or die fast wherever they were going. Assuming the worst was happening, at least.

He shut the door to his truck, starting the engine and quietly buckling himself in place. Norman got into the passenger side of his truck and smacked the side twice, signaling the back two trucks and Carl to get moving. A shuddering breath followed the pressing of the gas pedal. The trucks all lurched into motion near simultaneously, quickly gaining speed as they zoomed down the road towards their destination. It wasn’t more than thirty or twenty miles away, roughly, if their maps were right. He prayed more than anything, Osca’s radio was just having bad reception. 

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Sunshine gingerly tended to her newest comrade, occasionally glancing over her shoulder towards Gustave as he pushed the military cars and trucks into place, being mindful of the two civilian trucks that’d been crudely mounted with the turrets. Functional, but only for a time, given how hard they were rattling when Nicholas had been shooting. A frown on her lips caught her as she looked back down at the portly man. He was breathing hard, eyes screwed shut and lips thin behind his beard. She wished she had anything to give him for the pain, but sadly, she didn’t have much on hand. The medkit she’d pulled from Gustave’s van had all the essentials, plenty of which she had used on him, but sadly no more of those miracle vial sprayers. She’d have to ask Gus later when this was all finished.

She worked through the man’s wounds, just a few gunshots, but all in places that were difficult to treat without concerns building. She did the best she could do, packing the wounds tight with gauze and wrapping them to ensure pressure stayed. Two shots near one another in his gut and one that’d grazed his bicep, still removing a fair chunk of it. It was around this time, as she was finishing treating him, that she heard the cars from before start to roll back around. They all stopped at the edge of the property, not needing to know why as the sounds of Gustave moving and pushing things into place was akin to muton having a temper tantrum. Eventually, he turned and noticed them, pivoting to point a hand over towards the pair on the porch. His voice boomed information for them before the three cars turned and rolled closer to the house, save for the SUV that lingered near the road and well away from the gore-covered battlefield. The woman she’d seen from before stepped out. Jessie. She recalled.

The woman, now that she had a better look at her, was wearing a very poofy light gray overcoat that contrasted with her dark complexion. She had her almost grey hair pulled back in a tight bun and a set of glasses on her nose that looked on the verge of falling off at a single exhale. She quickly hurried over, going to utterly ignore Sunshine for the moment as she squatted down to look at Nicholas who’d begun to sit up. “Jesus, Nic-”

“Don’t take th’lords name in vain, Jessie, you know better than that.” The old man grumbled, pulling himself up. “I may not be a pastor anymore, but you should remember who you’re talking to.”

The woman let out an exasperated sigh before she continued to fuss, calling out to the cars and waving a hand. Several more people filtered out, one of which was the passenger of the SUV, going to slip out and go check on the children. She was a pale woman with short frizzy, red hair and two coats and heavy pants. The sounds and soft voice she had likely meant she was trying to soothe the younglings. More than one, she noted, had poked their heads out to look at her or Gus. After that, she slid the door shut and climbed back into the passenger seat to start tending to them. No doubt to shield them from the gore that still littered the area as best she could.

A third slipped out of the white sedan, a man marching towards the porch and pausing a good few steps away from Sunshine. He wore a fur collared coat with some kind of patch that’d been worn away; it was just a vaguely colored rough spot on the otherwise smooth exterior. He was also quite pale and blonde, and his eyes locked with hers quite intently. They were almost silver with how pale blue they were. 

“Not going to hurt. I tried to fix him.” She said, nodding her head to Nicholas who was waving Jessie off with a hand. 

“Easy for you to say...” The man mumbled, taking a hesitant step forward before debating once more if she was on their side. Her expression dimmed, lips thinning into more of a straight line before she threw her rifle onto her shoulder by the strap and started to slither away from the humans, heading toward Gustave, only to be stopped as he held out a hand to her middle. “H-Hey, where do you think-”

She glowered down at him, raising a finger to jab at his chest, pushing him back, and hissed lowly. “If I wanted to... You couldn’t stop me.” She stated before pulling away farther. “Am going to the... Man who saved me. Don’t care about your....” She paused, swinging her head towards the SUV she was going to have to slither past. “Hatchlings. There’s food and water... Inside if they’re hungry. Assuming it’s not damaged.”

The man’s expression softened into a mix of contempt, frustration and even perhaps a touch of guilt. Regardless, Sunshine took the initiative to show she meant little harm as she gave the SUV the widest berth she could, slithering over the bodies and straight towards Gus as soon as she was past it. Her head tilted to look back towards the porch, watching as the old man was tended to a little more carefully. The man must’ve been some kind of doctor, given how he ran to his sedan and returned with a medical kit. She would assume, anyway. As she slithered closer and closer, she couldn’t help but feel that anxiety and fear broil up into her chest again, now that the fighting was over.

The way he moved in that massive mechanical suit was so uncanny to how he moved normally. Little hints of who he was coming out as he occasionally would hover a hand over what he intended to grab, as if double checking it was what he wanted to move. How he’d hold a hand in front of his chest as he thought on the next step. The way he’d reach up to scratch his chin, only to realize how massive his hand was. It was all so unreal compared to the training videos. Sure, his explosive entrance and subsequent attack had been closer to her nightmares, but they had painted them to look so.... Terrifying. So horrible in all moments. And she supposed, if he were not on her side, he would be. But now, she only saw that same old Goose. A bit bumbling, gentle even with his increased mass, and just as kind as he could think to be. Sparing people she’d have happily executed, making sure Nicholas was taken care of and even looking over herself.

She realized, despite her fears, there was nothing for her to worry about with him. He’d not let her get hurt if it was in his power to prevent it. And she felt the same to him. Enough so that when she got close enough, she hollered up at him, hand to her mouth so he’d hear her better. “Goose!”

His helmet twitched and he pivoted in place, looking over at her. He knelt down, bending a knee and squatting as best he could. She didn’t give him a chance to speak as she shot forward, slithering straight up and rising to meet his helmet. A finger came up to her lips to keep him quiet before she moved to pull away his helmet, not wanting their conversation to be booming through his helmet’s intercom. As it was pulled away, he shook his head to get his hair unstuck from its various spots, that same tired smile coming onto his face. He had a thin trickle of blood down his head, no doubt from wherever that bullet had hit to crack his visor.

“What’s cookin’ good lookin’...?” He cheaply offered, a half smile splitting his face as she felt a groan broil out of her throat. She had half a mind to put the helmet back onto his head so she could smack him. After a moment of silence between them he gently brought around a hand to touch her, only to halt, fingers clasping and unclasping away from her. He was debating if he even should try. Hesitating on her end, not for a lack of trust but rather her nerves, she did eventually lean back into the metal grip. It wasn’t as comfortable as his hands normally were, but the metal was very warm from all of the use and energy buzzing through it. He smiled a bit brighter, carefully swinging his arm closer to bring her near him. “How’s Nick, doin?”

“He’ll live but... He’ll need better care. More than I can.” She said, looking over his arm back towards the house. Her eyes swung away and back towards the barricade he’d been mounting out of the bandit’s transports. “What is your plan? Simply wait for them? Shoot on sight?”

“I.... I don’t know, Sunshine.” He said, looking from her to past the barricade and down the road. “These guys were one thing. They acted first, that man drew on me and clearly meant ill on all of us. Even Nicholas and his people, given how they shot at him without a second thought. Although, I guess he did fight them too.”

She watched his jaw shift, eyes leering at a point unseen. It took a few moments before his expression fell, a frown forming as he suddenly looked a lot older for a moment. “I suppose I can’t really cut any corners here. If we try to escape, they’ll catch up with or find us, eventually. I can’t leave my suit here, even if they can’t use it. I don’t want them figuring out a way to mount my assault cannon. Not to mention if they have a good mechanic or engineer, they could probably abuse the power of this suit’s power cell.”

He snorted and hung his head for a moment, pulling his hand away from her back and then starting to stand. She rose with him, going to grab onto his arm and coil up around it to start climbing onto his shoulder as she’d done before. Not only was it novel for her to be carried so easily, but his chassis was extremely cozy against the blistering winds and chill the winter was throwing at them. He hardly seemed to notice until she slithered down just enough to have her head by his, walking them along the lined up vehicles. His minigun rested on the hood of one of the jeeps, near the middle of the line, barrels tipped forward. Two large drums of ammo laid before it, set out for quick loading.

“What do you think, Sunshine....?” He said, looking at her while his mechanical arms did their best to cross one another. A grimace formed on her face, a hope in her dying that he’d have been the one to choose. She had quickly discovered killing others was distasteful. Necessary, but unpleasant. She’d not remember any of these humans, not even the woman she’d mercifully put to rest in the kitchen. Their faces were all blurs.

“.... I do not think.... They will approach peacefully. You said the man.... Had said they’ll just... Come and attack us?” She asked, Gus nodding right after. “Then I say there.... Is no greater reason. If they come as hostiles. Will die as hostiles.”

A firm nod followed as she finished. He seemed to understand where she was coming from but hesitated to respond. His eyes shifted, as did his whole body, to look at the carnage that was surrounding their home. He held a stoic expression as he looked over the mess. Bullet casings everywhere, their home covered in holes, blood and viscera everywhere and too many bodies. She was pretty sure their chickens had run away, as well, given they had been let out this morning. She could’ve sworn she saw tears starting to form in the man’s eyes, despite the rigidity he held. She leaned over, going to do as he’d done many times for her and carefully brush his eye with her thumb. He flinched slightly in surprise, but didn’t stop her.

“Thanks...” He mumbled. “I really thought I could’ve left this all behind.”

“We both did.” She agreed, going to slither down past his shoulder and onto his arm as he’d held her before, his wrist twisting to allow her a place to ‘sit’ in his palm. A humored grin formed on his lips as she looked at him. She raised a brow and huffed. “What.....?”

“Nothing... You just... You’re small now.” He said with a weak chuckle, trying to find any reason to remain positive. “Though don’t get used to it too much. I’m going to have to turn this bastard off as soon as we’re safe. It’s already been active way way too long.”

That made her lean forward, still holding his helmet in her hand, carefully cradled under her arm. She brought it around to stare at it, red eyes reflecting back at her. “... Do you think they’ll... Actually try to find?” She asked, not looking up.

“Dunno. I’d imagine they’re not going to just let a MEC Suit’s power source slip past their radars if any are near enough to detect me. And with how wide spread their scanners were when I was working with them. They’ll probably think it’s some scavenger’s set up or a resistance branch, until they find me... I’m not going to lie, Sunny, I think my days are numbered.” His voice had a dull edge to it, an acceptance laced with a different kind of worry. As her eyes came up, his amber ones were staring at her intently. She locked eyes with him and they didn’t break apart for several minutes.

Not until they heard the crunching of gravel and dirt as someone came over. It was that man again, with Jessie in tow. They’d left Nicholas to hobble back to his red truck. As they approached, Gustave turned in place, feet raising and sliding to fully face the duo. He even squatted like he had for her, though lower this time. “Hello there, Jessie. Long time no see. Micheal, same to you.” He offered with a weak grin.

“Yeah....” Micheal started, looking between him and Sunshine, waving a hand at the suit. “Since... When was this a thing...? This.... All of it. You, this huge machine, the sna-”

“Her name’s Sunshine.” Gus interrupted. He hoisted her up just an inch, causing her to bounce in place and briefly panic, hands shooting to hold onto his wrist. “She’s a defector, as far as I know. She’s been living with me for the better part of two months or so now. She saved my life from a pod of Chryssalids.”

His explanation was curt and with just enough to cause Micheal to seemingly relax, though he clearly had more questions. “And the suit is.... I’ve been like this for many years now. I just never use it. Never had a threat big enough until now. And frankly, I thought I was going to be fighting alone, I didn’t think Nicholas and Sunshine were going to do as much as they did. I had hoped they’d have hunkered down in the house.” He said, giving Sunshine a small look of vague annoyance before his eyes trained back to Micheal.

The man shifted in his coat before nodding. Jessie then spoke up, or at least tried to. She got several sounds out of her lips before she eventually growled in frustration, pulling her glasses off and then waved both hands at him.

“Gus, what the fuck?!” She finally spouted, enough of a reaction that Gustave actually somewhat flinched. “You’ve always been some big giant robot man in disguise? Or-Or, whatever this whole thing is! You’re ex-military?! How come you never said any of this to us for the past few years?!” She groaned loudly, bringing her hands up and over her face before she let out a soft sigh. Her hands came up. “Okay... okay, I’m good now. Gus, I’m sorry for cursing at you. I came over here first and foremost to... to thank you.”

She looked back towards the trio of cars, frowning deeply. Sunshine followed her sight to them, eyeing small details she’d not had a chance to spot before. Rust, dents, clear damage from being rammed or crashing. “I’m sure Nicholas said something, but.... Whatever he told you was probably a cover up for that bastard, Osca. Stupid name...” She shook her head before looking back at him. “They torched the other half of our convoy, some of them with their people still inside. Those that fought back practically got executed, all in front of those poor kids... Not directly, but... One person can’t cover a dozen pairs of eyes.”

Micheal looked away, rubbing his neck while Gustave quietly nodded. “We are thankful, though. For saving our asses, even if it was just a byproduct of you defending yourself.” She said, Micheal stepping forward and speaking up next.

“Agreed. We both wanted to ask if, after this is all over, if we can’t help you out in some way. Sticking around to fix your home up or even maybe getting one of these trucks in condition to help you move?” He offered before bringing his hands up to cover his nose and blow hot air into them. “I don’t know if you’re stuck to this home or not, what with....”

He waved his hand between both Gus and Sunshine. “.....This....”

Sunshine and Gus looked at one another, her giving a small shrug before looking back to their shared home. She understood, in that moment, why Gus had started to tear up. She understood how much hard work Gustave had put into that humble dwelling, customizing it with enough forethought that he really could just live off of his small farm and his chickens. For Sunshine, it had been the very first place where she truly, honestly, felt safe. The only place in her life that she could remember where there wasn’t a looming threat of some kind loitering around. A frown laced her lips before Gustave spoke up.

“We’re... probably going to have to abandon it.” He said slowly, eyes looking downward. Sunshine felt herself wilt alongside him despite anticipating the answer. “Jessie had the most of it, I’m ex-military. I was part of XCOM, though I’m technically a deserter.”

Sunshine turned her eyes to regard the two as they listened. Despite the rather uncomfortable news, neither moved. Jessie still looked on the fence while Micheal had a thin lipped expression she couldn’t read.

“I abandoned my duty roughly five or six years ago, I’d have to look at a calendar to know the exact date. And after that, I settled down out here after making sure I wouldn’t be found, packed up this suit I’m wearing and never looked back at it. I only ever got back into it to very briefly power it up, exercise the joints and then powered it off. I cleaned it, maintained it, just in case, though admittedly it was more a hobbyist kind of deal-”

“You call maintaining that thing a hobby...?” Micheal cut him off in disbelief to which Gus could only shrug in a sheepish manner.

“You’d be shocked what becomes normal after a while, Mike.” He said with that same soft smile. His head tilted towards the road, squinting. “I’d be happy to tell you guys anything you want to know, but... After this last shit show that’s going to be rolling up. I’d actually ask you guys to go ahead and leave, get the kids out of here.... Get Nicholas out of here. Head down the road and all that.”

“And what, leave you to fight off god knows how many more bandits on your lonesome?” Jessie snorted, waving a hand at the both of them. “You and your sn-.... Your friend??”

“That was the plan, yeah.” He said with a small nod. “Between my assault cannon and the mounted turrets, I think we can lay down enough covering fire that they’ll either turn around and run, or they won’t be able to even get close.”

“Also have this.” Sunshine offered, reaching into her coat and producing a small round plasma grenade. It was still quite inert, the safety button and slide not moved in all the chaos. “This is powerful enough. It can easily disable. People or vehicles.”

While Gustave seemed uncomfortable with such a devastating device near him, the other two took several steps back. Jessie grimaced before looking at Micheal then back to Gustave. “Well... At the very least then, I’m going to stick around.” She started, Gustave, already turning to retort before she jabbed a finger at him. “And don’t you go sayin’ some stupid action hero bullshit, eh!? Nicholas already got tore up fighting with you, but he had to or he was gonna get domed. Sunshine there probably has a few holes in her too!”

She looked away as that was said, her tail tightening around Gustave’s massive mechanical arm. She could feel his gaze on her as she did her best not to react to it. She was injured, between several nicks, grazes and, yes, even a few bullet wounds. Though none of them were serious or even all that deep. You could get away with only so much when you were as large and long as she was.

“Just let me... Get some licks back in at those bastards. They took everyone from us, Gustave. Everyone. Martha got beat to shit and is suffering from an infection because of it.” Jessie stated, waving an arm back at the truck. “She’s probably going to end up losing the arm that they busted up because of it.”

Micheal looked away at that, raising a hand to rub at his neck. “..... I could stay too, then.” His voice was just barely loud enough to be heard, causing Jessie to look at him in mild shock. “If we’re talking about getting back at them, they made me waste so much of our supplies I could’ve been using on our people... I could’ve saved the others. Martha wouldn’t be struggling in the back of a truck right now. And... I may not be the most tactically minded, but...”

He pointed towards Sunshine’s hand that still clutched the grenade, something she made note to start to put away. “She probably should keep herself free to use that thing. If Jessie and I both take a machinegun, we can probably do enough damage, or at least keep their heads down, for you guys to do the work.” He said, a level of determination fitting to his face as he tugged at his coat. “I don’t want to just.... Roll over and cower again. We lost everyone else doing that. Even if it means working with....” He quietly nodded at Sunshine. “... Miss.... Sunshine, there.”

Gustave stared at the two of them, sighing deeply. “Well, I can’t exactly make either of you leave. And it’s not like I can operate the guns myself.” He looked at the shoddy barricade he had made from the bandit’s trucks. “But I’d rather not risk you guys dying just for some revenge.”

“It’s a bit late for that, isn’t it, Gus?” Jessie huffed, walking past Gustave towards one of the cars. “You, Nick and Sunshine there already blistered and popped the majority of their boys, killed their boss and now are holding onto their supplies and trucks like you’re holdin’ hostages.”

She climbed into the back of one of the mounted trucks, going to carefully look over the turret. “So. You're gonna show us how to operate these things, or do we gotta figure it out...?” She asked, watching as Micheal finally drummed up some nerves to walk over with her.

Sunshine looked to Gustave, that smile having yet to leave his lips. His eyes closed before he nodded, walking over with a few heavy stomps. He stopped just briefly to let Sunshine slither off of his arm, looking down to her. “Go ahead and find Nicholas, tell him to get the cars a bit away from here. I don’t want them catching any stray shots and he’s already been wounded enough.Tell him to take the rest and head down the road until they hit the intersection and wait for us there. We’ll send one of us to go and get them if it’s safe, and if no one shows up within an hour, book it.” He instructed. Sunshine gave a firm nod before raising up and locking his helmet back over his head, giving it a soft pat on the side. “ We’ll get through this, Sunny. I promise. Then back to quiet living. ”

She was briefly overtaken by the feeling of being talked to by a titan, this close to his booming mechanical voice. He rose up and she slithered off towards the cars, heading straight for the red truck where more of the humans congregated. A total of five, it seemed, excluding the one she saw in the back of the red truck’s cab.

“Nicholas...?” She started, as all of the humans looked at her. She stayed a good distance away until the stout man waved her over, despite his allies. “Gustave has a plan....”

She took the time they had left to explain the situation, the plan, meek as it was. The part that had the humans throw in their voices was the part about leaving them behind before Nicholas shushed them all, stating someone had to be left behind for the children’s sake and Martha. No one wanted to abandon the others. Sunshine got a very long winded example of the human condition and their strange habits revolving around pack mentality. Having relayed the message, she turned around to head back to the others and prepare to fight once more. However, as she slithered towards the barricade, she heard the softest tapping.

Her head tilted around until she found the source, tongue flickering out. She had to squint to get a proper look. One of the children was in the window, having wiped a hole in the condensation to see. She couldn’t make out many details save for the thick coat they wore and the chubby cheeks that told her they were still very young. They locked eyes for a few moments before the child offered a very timid smile and a gentle wave. A very small warmth sparked in her stomach as she saw it, feeling muscles loosen and her breathing slow.

She eyed the pack of humans by the truck, still arguing about who would do what, and then looked back. And so very gingerly, as if moving too quickly would shatter them like glass, she raised a hand to wave back. In a moment, not only did the child’s waving pick up pace, she saw a few others join in. And she smiled. That warmth turned to a steadily growing furnace before she turned to slither back towards the barricade. They weren’t hatchlings, of course. But they were the first ones she’d ever encountered that hadn’t hid away from her. Even if they were behind a car door and glass. That fire spurred her on more than she realized as she met back up with Gus.

``````````````````````

Turns out, when you tell someone to run away when a fight is about to break out, even if they are a civilian, they won’t listen. That’s what I learned as I stared down at not only Jessie and Micheal, but Nicholas and one last familiar face of a man named Pete. Tall, auburn hair and a beard on its way to matching Nicholas, only he had a full head of hair to boot. All four of them looked at me expectantly. I knew words weren’t going to dissuade them, as their three transports had already rolled away. Looking out across the warzone that was my front yard, I grimaced and pointed over.

“ Jessie and Nicholas are going to man the big guns. Micheal, you’ll be on the back up in case one of them gets hurt. In the meantime, you take Pete and go scavenge as many firearms, spare magazines and ammo, whatever you can and bring it all back here. We’re going to do this old Civil War style, lining them up topped off and don’t even bother reloading until you’re out of ammo in all of them. Then just pick your favorite and stay low. ” I instructed, earning a group of nods. As they split over, I walked over to Nicholas and offered my hand to help him step up into the truck. I watched him double check the ammo before I turned to Sunshine who was at my heel. “ Sunny, I want you to go and see if you can find a better gun. You can keep that rifle, but try for something semi-auto for you, okay? As the others if you need help identifying one. And after that, I want you to lie in wait in the grass and lob that grenade of yours at the back of their cars. ”

She nodded, giving me a mock salute like she’d seen in our movies before hurriedly slithering off to find a rifle as I’d instructed. We didn’t have much time left. I didn’t think I was going to have this much help either, so we were poorly prepared with how many were staying with me. If it was just me and Sunshine, I could hold their attention while she picked people off from between the trucks and below them. Now I had four other people to worry about, none of which were trained soldiers. Nicholas had some experience, being a former sport shooting champion, but the others were all basically novices, or just barely more experienced than one. Sunshine was really the only one I could trust to land her shots consistently and accurately, though it pained me to say that. My only hope was that they’d be smarter than their anger.

I caught a glimpse of Sunshine grabbing what looked like a basic AK, a more modern platform from what I could tell, along with several banana mags. She looked it over, eyeballing how it functioned. She pulled the magazine out to count the bullets, pulled on the charging handle to check it and aimed down the sights. A brief slither over to Nicholas to explain a few things and she looked prepared as she was going to get. Seemingly satisfied before throwing its strap over her opposite shoulder and darting off into the grass to set herself up. She was by far the safest and fastest of us to do this. Sure, she had more mass, but I had seen Vipers practically dodge bullets like no other with their hyper reactive senses. And really, she just needed to land that grenade and then get out of there.

I marched over to my minigun, hoisting it up into my hands and carefully checking the ammo count on the drum. I’d barely used a quarter, shockingly little and a lot at the same time. I turned to look towards the duo as they marched on their way back, each loaded up with an armful of weaponry. Jessie stepped down to lend them a hand while Nicholas squatted on the side off the truck bed, taking a few deep breaths. His pain was probably insufferable all things considered, but he was holding up well. He gave me a small look before a cheeky smile covered his dirty beard and he gave a thumbs up. I returned it and looked to the trio lining up their rifles. They checked each one, topping off their ammo, priming each one and setting the safeties. All they had to do was pick them up, flick that little switch and start shooting. I nodded to myself, going to take up my position between the two turrets, leveling my weapon at the road and waited. It was only minutes later I heard a soft blip come from my jacket, Sunshine’s voice filtering out through the walkie-talkie I still had in my pocket.

“They’re coming. Be ready.” I heard her voice say in a low tone, as if they’d hear her over the roaring of the cars. I saw the dust coming over the hill before long.

“ Hold. ” I said, watching as Jessie and Nicolas got into position, swinging the turrets and lining up their shots. Even Micheal and Pete both had grabbed a rifle, flicking the safeties off, and rested their barrels across the hoods of jeeps, far away from each of the turrets on opposite sides of me. I waited, my helmet on the fritz with the damage that’d been done to the visor. Its read outs shimmered where the glass had cracked, static filling my sight as it tried its best to track the incoming vehicles. “ Hold. ”

They were getting closer. I could just about make out the grill on the first truck, spotting two others starting to ride the sides of the road as if to fan out, some starting to roil into the grass. My gut wrenched thinking on how one of them might hit Sunshine if she were too close, but I had faith she thought of that. A bit closer. “ Hold. ” I said one last time, hefting my rifle.

It was just as I saw someone start to slip out of the first truck’s window that I fingered the trigger. “ Now! ” My voice boomed only for the mechanical baritone to be utterly drowned out by the sudden flood of gunfire that surged from myself and my comrades. 

``````````````````````

Carl was shivering in place, sweat beading and dripping down his forehead. He couldn’t help it. His gut was screaming at him this was going to get him killed. The man in the seat beside him didn’t give him any reason to feel any better, the suited up pseudo soldier looking more the part than he was acting it. He felt his hands wringing on the steering wheel, enough that as they got closer to their destination, cresting the small hill towards the home, he heard his superior speak.

“What’s got you so worked up, Carl....?” The muffled question came, causing him to flinch. He looked to the man briefly before looking back to the road. “You’ve not stopped shaking since we left and you burned one of your last cigarettes.”

“I... I-I just got a bad feeling, Norman, sir.....” He mumbled, staring straight enough. “Mister Osca never misses a report. And that little homestead those civvies told us about just felt a bit too good to be true. One lonely guy? Alone, surviving in a house with a farm and even chickens....?”

He felt exasperation build up as one hand left the steering wheel to run up and wipe his sweat into his thinning hairline. “It just doesn’t... Doesn’t feel right.”

“Well, that’s duly noted, Carl. But you’re not with us to think on your gut, you’re with us because you’re a good driver.” Normal said, leaning over and giving the man a rough pat on the arm that Carl assumed was supposed to bolster and rally him somehow. He gave the best attempt at a weak smile as he could. “We’re just going to go there, check up on the boss, and then figure it out from there. And if on the really off chance something happened to Osca, we’ll make the bastard pay.”

Or bastards.... Carl weakly thought to himself. It wasn’t until they crested the hill and saw a tiny home that the road lead both to and past, that Carl’s gut wrenched three fold. “B...B-B-Boss.....?”

The trucks and jeeps they’d sent forward were all in a straight formation, something standing behind them. It looked like someone was manning the turrets, though he couldn’t be sure at this distance. “Yeah. I see it.” Norman growled behind the helmet, going to grab his light machinegun and start to roll down the window. “Carl, get ready to whip this bastard around when I say.”

Carl nodded, giving a brief glance at the man as he started to heft up his weapon out the window as they got closer still. It was at this point Carl saw the barricade proper. He saw the woman and old man manning the turrets. He saw the massive mechanical.... Man....? He didn’t get much more time to analyze the situation as he felt something hot and heavy hit him straight in the chest. The glass had spiderwebbed, several holes appearing, leaving no visibility left. He could barely turn his head as he started to cough up something metallic. “B... Bos....?” He squeaked out, only to see what was left of Norman’s upper body slump outside of the truck door.

Oh this is it huh. My gut was right.... Again.... Lord, have mercy upon me for my cowardice. He thought to himself as his body began to give out entirely. His head hit the steering wheel first, his eyes closing seconds later. Pray for me and all my sins, Ma....

Carl blacked out moments later, not hearing the screaming and yelling as the truck jerked with his falling body, throwing the whole vehicle into a savage barrel roll. 

``````````````````````

Sunshine watched the first transport swerve violently before outright rolling onto its side. Men and women tumbled around in the interior as they barreled past her, some getting thrown out, others getting crushed by the weight of their comrades and supplies, or otherwise just getting torn apart by the withering gunfire that chewed through the truck. It rolled harshly to the side of the road, the tail end barely halfway into the road.

The second truck came in a little too fast, swerving much like the first had in an attempt to dodge its now demolished lead. Nonetheless, holes appeared in the front, puncturing thick holes and obliterating the engine as she saw steam and fire simultaneously expel from it. The smatters of red gore that followed several tussling ripples in the canvas of this one told her more people had been hit rather than metal. And yet the chopping and heavy battering gunfire hadn’t really let up as the third truck seemingly got the idea, hitting the brakes hard and trying to back up as the second truck weathered most of the gunfire for them.

She heard the shouting as she carefully palmed the grenade out of her pocket, pressing the safety lock in and then pushing the primer forward. She heard the hum and watched the glow emit from the core of the grenade before she rose up and lobbed it as hard as she could at the rear of the truck. The effect was immediate, a loud FWOMP followed by an ear piercing screech of metal sounded out, throwing the whole transport upside down, landing on its head while what hadn’t been instantly slagged by the plasma grenade set ablaze. She heard the devastated screams from inside and ducked her head. It was foul work. But in her mind, it was all deserved.

They’d preyed upon their fellow man, ruined gods knows how many homes, killed numerous families and people. Even still, she watched as a few of them desperately crawled out of the wreckage, on fire and spreading what little viscera hadn’t melted off or turned to char on their bodies. A deep, unsettled frown laid on her lips at the familiar sight. A part of her was thankful she’d endured her training, her missions, her work, all of it, under ADVENT. It made this feel more uncomfortable than mind breaking. Her rifle raised up, the safety flicked off, and she carefully executed the burning humans. She would not be so heartless as to let them cook until death took them. With that last act done, she slithered off and away into the grasslands.

By the time she got back to the barricade, she was hearing loud, hoarse shouting, yelling and some kind of weak cheering. She split the grass and came into view of the rest, Gustave standing vigil as he looked on. There were soft pops coming from the wrecks, ammo no doubt cooking off in the blaze of the rear truck. She could barely make out the very few handful of people who were pulling themselves out of the second and first transports, perhaps a total of seven from who knows how many had come after them. She flinched as she heard the mounted turret chop and clack away, ripping down those last few souls that'd survived in the initial onslaught. Her eyes trailed to the shooter, seeing it was Jessie who had a very grim, teeth gritted look of pure malice.

She hadn’t let off the trigger until the gun clacked empty, locking in place. The woman jerked it in place, shaking the whole mount before letting go of it in a heavy huff. Jessie looked just about ready to grab one of the many firearms that’d been laid out and go finish off everything herself before a mechanical hand came up in front of her.

“ Enough. ” Gustave said, his tone low enough to not be akin to a shout. “ No one’s going to be coming out swinging. ”

“You don’t know that, Gustave! You don’-”

“ Jessie, look at it. ” The man said, pointing his heavy hand to the three wrecks. One was on fire, one was flipped and the other was so chewed up from their cumulative fire that the truck looked more like a mangled cheese grater. “ They are broken, beaten and without anything left. We shot enough rounds to kill a dozen elephants and tanks. If anyone is stupid enough to try and fight after that, let alone alive , they aren’t going to be healthy enough to even shoot right. ”

Sunshine watched the woman fume in place before once again going to reach for a gun only for this time, Micheal to stop her. No words were exchanged as his hand met her forearm, halting her advance towards one of the assault rifles. Their eyes locked and he gave her a small shake of the head. After nearly a minute of painful silence, Jessie pulled her hand back and hopped down from the truck to start marching towards the house. Nicholas was helped down by Gustave and Pete, Micheal simply turning to look at the devastation.

The viper slithered over towards Gustave who was looking between the wreckages and then towards Jessie who was beelining for his Van. No doubt to go and tell the others the deed was done. He made note of her, looking down and crouching to allow her to slither up onto his arm again before standing back up. Once again, leaning over and removing his helmet the moment she was close enough. As the helmet was removed and his wavy dark hair fell into place, she saw him in full. He looked so sad.

Like how they’d met, fighting in that gas station. The Chryssalids that injured him, a wound he was still recovering from, no less. And now this. He attempted a smile, but it withered away seconds later. He was tired. No doubt they all were, after this. It had all been so efficient, so effortless on their part, a plan that worked all too well. Had it been a more organized enemy, they’d probably have had far more trouble. The exhaustion came not from the effort, but from the killing itself. None of them enjoyed it, not even the raging woman of Jessie who was currently rifling through the van to find the keys.

She carefully cradled the helmet in her hands, looking to Gustave and speaking softly to him. “... What do we do? Now that we’re safe.” She asked, blinking slowly. A grimace formed on his lips before he pivoted in place, looking at the barricade of trucks and jeeps.

“I guess.... We find whichever of these big cargo trucks works the best. Then I’ll load up my suit, and we pack it full of all the stuff we need to survive. Find a new home from there, I suppose.” He said, sounding all too unsure. “Dunno where that’ll be.”

Sunshine felt her eyes drift away from him, back towards their house. Her lips thinned into a line, but her eyes welled slightly at the thought of having to truly leave this place. It was near sacred in her heart, but looking at it now left nothing but sour, bitter flavors in her mouth. There were bodies everywhere, the barn was torn open, the house was riddled with so many holes inside and out. She doubted any of the things in the living room still worked. She hoped at least some of the movies and TV show discs survived. They would be a very welcome distraction going forward.

“For tonight, though, let’s just get the truck and load it with some clothing, bedding, food and water. We should sleep elsewhere for tonight and a canopied truck is as good of a shelter as any other right now.” He said, going to raise up his hand to allow her to slide more easily onto the ground. “Sunny, go tell Jessie where my keys are, in that little space above the driver seat? The others need to know. After that, go and start making a B.O.B, will you?”

And just like that, she watched as he slowly turned away. Moving jeeps and trucks out of the way to get to the heavier vehicles and inspect them. Sunshine still held his helmet in her hands, looking down at it for a moment. It was cracked all across the top right, the bullet still partially remaining in the glass. It made her think of her own shattered armor that she had kept. The pieces she had been left wearing, anyway. There was a soft cough that came from behind her, making her turn around to see Micheal.

“I...” he paused, lips closing. “Thanks. For fighting for us.” He said simply, giving a small nod along with his words. “And I apologize for what happened before.”

Her eyes shifted away from him and she clutched the helmet to her chest, the thing that’d haunted her nightmare the past week now a blazing reminder of what he had been and what he was now. “It is in the past. Go get your comrades. Rejoice.”

The words came in barely a mumble as she slithered away from him, heading over towards Jessie, Pete and Nicholas. Micheal stayed behind, turning back to look at the smoldering wrecks. As soon as she had told Jessie where to look, the woman ripped the keys out of their hiding spot and crammed them into the ignition. She watched as the van practically peeled out of the front yard, Nicholas and Pete yelling at her from the back of the van as they rushed to shut the door. And then she was alone.

Her eyes drifted back towards the house once more, slithering towards it. The bodies in the hallway, the powdered dry wall and splintered exposed studs, the stench of everything of the day coming together to greet her in a pitiful reminder of what she was no longer going to have. No more warm home, no more cozy bed. No more couch or TV. No more home cooked meals. She took a moment to pull the corpses out of the house so she could slither in and out in relative ease.

The rest of her time was spent in a small haze, grabbing two bug out bags. One was tossed into Gustave’s room, the one that’d sustained the least amount of damage, and the other she carried into her room. Her closet had one or two holes shining light through, but most of the clothing she had hung up in there survived. The robe, most of all, had survived. She pulled it out to look at and feel its silken fluffy fabric.

No tears came to mind, no ache in her heart. There wasn’t a sob or sound she made as she slowly coiled up in place. When would it all end? What did she have to do? What else did she, and Gustave, have to endure for this to be over? Her whole body deflated into a pile, resting her head against her tail and burying her face into the soft robe. She wanted to sleep.

And so she did, for however long it’d take for someone to find her, the serpent woman found solace in the exhaustion that’d gripped her as adrenaline wore away.

Chapter Text

The truck sagged harshly as I stepped onto it, keeping my head down under the canopy. The heavy mechanical suit caused the whole rear of the vehicle to groan in disapproval as I marched closer towards the middle, in front of the other crates of supplies I’d slipped in. I knew that my suit was heavy, but from memory I knew that it wasn’t any heavier than a car might’ve been. The alloy of steel and alien metal had made it just a bit lighter, light enough that you could transport multiple MEC units in the same ranger. The truck would hold up, at least I hoped it would. I settled it in, turning on the mag-locks in the feet that I’d often used in the skyrangers. The thump followed as my feet felt like cement. Legs bent, arms curled up and I made sure my minigun was firmly clutched in my metal hands and tucked in the crook between my chest and my raised knees. And with one last deep breath I unplugged myself. I spoke the command as audibly as I could, the whole machine lurching as I finished speaking.

The worm like wiring disconnected from me, control taken from me and replaced by my more appropriately sized limbs. The chest hissed open as I felt like a toddler with sleeping limbs as I awkwardly began to pull myself out. My legs unfolded from their storage position and I was left in the unforgiving chill of the winter wind. My tech suit did absolutely nothing to maintain my warmth, given that the suit was effectively a giant heat box. I shivered, instinctively putting my arms over my middle, though with how many holes in them alone, the metal really didn’t help much. Whatever warmth that’d been in them was quickly sapped by the frigid air. As I walked out, jumping down out of the truck, I saw my van returning with the other cars in tow. I gave a gentle wave to them as they came to a slow pace, parking more appropriately beside one another.

I didn’t particularly want to wait around, shivering in the cold as I was, so I started to make my way to my home, hobbling a little lopsidedly. As I was finally moving with my own body again, all sorts of aches and severe pains began to flare across my person. I grimaced, looking down at myself and seeing a sticky red splotch leaking up towards the neck and shoulder. My stitches had likely burst in all of the chaos. Aside from that, my suit had a series of nicks and cuts across the shoulders where bullets had hit the chassis or behind my head and peppered me with shrapnel from the impact. My face and neck probably didn’t look much better, given that my helmet had stopped a high caliber bullet and one or two pistol rounds.

My legs carried me manually, my central balance off kilter now that I was out of my suit. Nothing was going to feel right until I got some rest and let my brain reprocess how large my limbs were. It was only moments later when I stumbled over a body of one of the bandits, nearly falling over, that I heard someone calling my name.

“Gus...!” As I leaned up, I turned my head to find that Jessie was running towards me with a coat over her arm. When she got to me, she wasted no time throwing it over my shoulders, simultaneously looking at me. She looked much better now than when she had left, the rage and vengeance having finally left her system. A grimace still covered her face, but it was one out of concern rather than wrath this time. “Lord, mary and joseph....”

Her breathed words were directed at my metal limbs as I carefully tugged the coat over them, thankful for the break from the wind. The hood came up over my head as well. The tech suit at least kept my junk well covered, perhaps the only place on me that wasn’t feeling like a popsicle. Not yet, at least. I mumbled my thanks and began to walk back to my home before I felt a hand gently catch my arm at the bicep. “Wait....” She said, earning a soft leer from me before she pulled back. “Gustave, you are bleeding.”

“It’s a previous injury, not one from today.” I explained and carefully shrugged my arm out of her grip. “I’ll take care of it. I have to go find Sunshine. We can’t stay here.”

She didn’t say anything but did end up following me as I went to the house. A heavy frown layered over my lips as I looked at the bodies that had been pulled out of my home, the broken door barely on its hinges and the smeared gore that painted the hall and floor. The volume of bullet holes also didn’t go amiss, ranging from ones I could barely fit my pink into up to where my fist would easily go inside. I didn’t linger any longer after that, shifting to start heading in. My metal feet squelched against the fresh blood, seeing a single corpse still in my kitchen, some woman with her face twisted to the floor. Eyes lingered towards my kitchen, seeing several of the cabinets blasted open, ceramic and glass occasionally falling out.

My eyes traced to the living room after that, shockingly most of the actual electronics were fine, but the TV and some of the displays I’d set up for our movies had been severely damaged. At least we’d be able to take those with us. I could probably fix up a smaller TV. I felt my head hang down before the sound of glass or ceramic crackling sounded out. I pivoted slowly in place to see that Jessie had indeed followed me in. She seemed to be looking around, almost surprised. I snorted and started to walk towards the bedrooms.

“Hope you weren’t expecting anything super high tech, Jessie. I only got away with one thing.” I said, almost bitterly, as I paced down the hall. She didn’t reply, or at least not loud enough for me to hear. My steps paused when I found Sunshine’s door left ajar, causing me to raise a hand and swing it open. I found her fast asleep, gripping that same red robe I’d given her over a week ago. Her nose was buried in it, her face looked wracked with exhaustion. But she didn’t twitch or whimper this time. I stepped inside, going to squat down beside her. I did not want to wake her, she had earned the rest.

My hand came up and carefully rested on the top of her head, the cool pads making her lightly flinch away before the gentle petting caused her to relax again. She even seemed to lean against it, a heavy deep sigh escaping her. Her grip on the robe loosened just a bit and her whole body relaxed, sinking slightly into the floor as the muscles stopped constricting. She’s probably still freezing, even in here... I thought, standing up.

I walked to her beds and pulled the covers off, we were going to need them anyway, and carefully tossed them over her whole form. It was much easier to keep her wrapped up and cozy when she was curled into a pile like this. I tucked everything in around her as best as I could, making sure her nose was left in the open air so she had a good vent to breathe from. That’s when I heard Jessie’s voice again. “You really do care about that snake, huh...?”

My body turned to glare very briefly, just long enough that Jessie seemed to catch my annoyance, before my expression softened. I knew how strange this was, I knew how utterly foolish it was, I knew that it was down right stupid. And yet, here I was.

“Yeah. I do.” I said, voice firmer and louder than it had been before. “She’s been a great companion and friend since I picked her up.”

“And you’re not... worried about her? At all?” The woman asked. “Like, not concerned she’s going to break you in half or bite the life outta you?”

“I did, initially, worry. And we... Did have a bit of a moment recently. But that was my own fault, my own doing. Not thinking.” I said, looking back down to Sunshine. My hand came up and carefully rubbed the top of her head through the blankets, a low, pleasant humming hiss coming from her form. “I was fucking terrified, sure, but... I know she didn’t mean it. She was just as scared as I was, maybe more, to be honest.”

Jessie didn’t seem convinced as I sat there. I stayed for a good few minutes, spotting the B.O.B she’d brought in with her, nothing in it save for a single shirt. She really must’ve been exhausted. Without a thought, I turned and walked to the closet, grabbing clothing out that I saw her wear the most often, along with several spares. They were quickly folded and tucked away inside, the blankets would need their own space in the truck no doubt. By the time I was finished with the clothing, I turned to see her still standing in the doorway, her face a mix of amazement and something else I couldn’t quite identify. It was like an angry respect, if I had to guess. Nonetheless, I left Sunshine to rest and walked to the door, waving a hand at her to let me pass.

She shifted out the way without a thought, no longer staring at me, but Sunshine. As I started to walk down the hall, I heard her speak up. “If you plan on taking her with you.... Where are you going to go?”

The question made me pause, though not for the reason I thought it might. “I... Don’t know. Somewhere like here, I guess. I got plenty of seeds put away for growing, I’ll get a crate to pack my birds, if there’s any left...” I mumbled, slipping back towards my room as Jessie’s steps followed after me. I picked up the B.O.B that Sunshine had apparently tossed into my room, going straight to my closet to start grabbing things.

A realization hit me that my clothes from earlier were likely buried in hay now, along with all of the other things I’d left in there. My only hope was that they weren’t too buried. My pistol was still in my coat too. I sighed in annoyance, making my way to my bathroom to grab a very few basic commodities. Toothbrushes and spares, bars of soap for all purpose cleaning, body and otherwise, towels as well. Medicines and the like were a quick follow up as well, tucking everything I could.

“So, that’s it? You’re just going to wander around until you find another secluded farm house?” She asked, leaning against the wall of my room, still looking around at my rather modest living. I felt my shoulder slump and my blood heat up momentarily.

“What... Do you think I can do, Jessie? You guys, unintentionally or not, brought bandits to my home. I had to activate my old MEC Suit to fight them off and probably alerted XCOM’s scanners to my position. If I don’t leave within the next couple days, I’m going to be seeing a Skyranger dropping out of the sky.” I said tersely, giving her a small glare. The woman didn’t seem bothered by it, eyes drifting over until they landed on me.

“I guess you don’t have a lot of options then.” She said, frowning at the implications that this was her and her people’s fault. Nicholas was more or less the leader of their convoy, before they had been attacked, but Jessie had always been the more logical side of that command, talking sense into him when his heart was too big for the moment. I got a distinct feeling that she was leading to a point so I just zipped up my bag, dropping it onto my bed and crossed my arms.

“Jessie, just spit it out.” I said with an exasperated sigh. “Whatever is lingering on the back of your tongue isn’t going to get any less bitter or sweet if you don’t.”

The sheer volume of air that escaped through her nose as she sighed out was quite the cause for concern as she raised up a hand to rub down her face. “Gustave, look.” She started, pointing her whole hand at me. “You’ve done right by us for a very long time. Three or so years of good blood, good trading and even letting us camp out around your home a few times. And now, even if it was for your own skin, you helped save our asses. I want to repay the favor.”

I snorted. “How?” I turned my back on her, going to grab the bag and shoulder it. I couldn’t think of a single thing she’d have to offer that’d help me out here.

“XCOM is winning, Gustave.” She said, causing my whole body to freeze. In an instant, a cold sweat appeared on my brow. “They’ve been winning for the last year, actually. It’s caused quite the stir up, good and bad. I hear that the easy coast is already ADVENT free, entirely. They’re working their way west. We were on our way to the east before we were attacked.”

My mind raced with possibilities, slowly turning to look at her. She must’ve seen my expression through the ragged mop of hair I had. “We were going to tell you, when we came here to trade. Offer you a ride to the free cities. Things are changing, Gustave, and they’re changing fast. They even have small governments in place to start working things together, for things to start going back to how they were before the invasion.”

I felt my hands tremble, a thing I hadn’t felt in a long time since before my augmentation. They shook hard enough I could hear the parts within the rattle. I swallowed harshly, unsure of what I could even begin to say. “How do you know any of this...? How does.. This help me? At all?” I asked, brow furrowing. It was great that ADVENT was being beaten back after all this time, after over two decades of constant fighting and guerilla warfare. Hell, I could happily say I was ecstatic. But that meant nothing good for the aliens, right?

“Radio broadcasts and resistance camps told us. Turns out, the aliens, the soldiers, everything were under contro-”

“Mind control chips, yeah, I heard about them before I left...” I said with a mumble. “But.. But the doctor at the time said it was almost imposs-”

“Turns out it’s not.” She said, returning the interruption I’d done to her. “They’ve been taking those aliens and putting them in detention camps, learning about them, talking to them... It’s unsurprising to say that many of them still don’t trust humanity and are fiercely loyal even still to the great overlords that nearly doomed us. But they’re a shockingly small minority.”

She nodded her head towards Sunshine’s room. “Your friend, case in point.”

“...... So.. What does that mean, Jessie....? We go east? Find somewhere aliens and people are just magically working together? Get a condo on the beach?” I asked, sarcasm starting to drip into my words. Jessie shrugged.

“It’s just what seems like the most valuable option to you, right now. Don’t have to take my word for it, just start.... Traveling that way, I guess. We were going to. Even if it’s just to settle down in a preexisting camp, it’s better than being on the move and being constantly afraid of a patrol or air support drone spotting us.” Jessie said, pulling away from the door. “I’m not trying to hassle you, Gus. I’m extremely thankful for what you’ve done and how you’ve treated us. And I’m sorry our inability to fight back made you lose all of this.”

She turned and started to walk out the door, giving me a light wave. “Nicholas wanted me to offer you a chance to come with us, is all. Tell you everything we learned. We’re not going to leave until you and Sunshine are ready to go either, whether or not you join our group.”

Her voice faded away as I heard her step out into the hall and towards the front door. I slumped onto my bed, staring at the floor in wonder. My hands came into view, blinking. Thoughts came back to me in a vivid rush as I glared at my digits, curling into fists while my vision blurred to the past.

“Lieutenant Wylder, this is going to be your last mission.” I heard my dispatching officer tell me. We stood in front of my beat up MEC Suit, the machine having seen far better days. “You’ve been an excellent soldier, one of the best. You’ve saved more men and women than I care to count, you’ve protected even more after your injury and despite your brain rebelling against you, you have continued to do your best.”

The man before me had a thin beard across his face and a shaved head, his combat fatigues rolled up at the sleeves and his posture perfect for a superior officer. He held my beat up helmet in his hands. “I trust you understand why you’ll be discharged after this. And I trust further that you understand the mission’s importance.”

I nodded, feeling an amount of bile creeping up my throat at the thought of no longer being able to go out and fight for my people. But I knew it had to come one day, with how often I was needing check ups nowadays. I was probably going to be put on some kind of basic guard duty for the rest of my time here. Or turned into another crate jockey. I was already making plans to escape by this point.

“Sir, yes, Sir!” I shouted, pitching the man a perfect salute and lock step. “My duty is to provide walking cover for the team until we get to the objective, where I will clear a path using whatever I must to get inside the building. From there I will hold off any reinforcements I can until they have gathered the intel we need and are safely extracted!”

The man nodded ever more proud of me in that moment that I’d ever seen him. If only he knew my intentions. I swallowed briefly as sweat dripped down the side of my head. His arms extended out to me, holding my helmet like it were my service rifle. I took it gratefully and carefully slipped it onto my head.

“Do us proud, soldier.”

“For us and for humanity, Sir!” I said, saluting once more before the engineers came by to help me get settled into my suit.

As I blinked, I found myself standing in the hallway, feeling like a man possessed for a split second. My eyes cast towards Sunshine’s door for another moment, walking over to it to peek inside. She was still dead asleep, though she had curled tighter into the blankets, only her snout visible from the mound. A weak smile formed on my face. Stepping inside, I went to kneel in front of her and gently tap her nose. “Hey, Sunny, time to wake up.”

I heard the groan before she slowly raised her head, not bothering to take the blanket off. She must’ve not even opened her eyes. “Five more minutes....” She bemoaned, slowly curling back into herself. My hand came around and gently took her chin, an action that seemed to halt all movement before I carefully returned her nose to face me. The other hand moved to pull the blanket off of her head, her eyes squinting to look at me. I saw her eyes blink a few times before slowly growing to their normal large brightness.

“We gotta get packed, Sunny. We can’t stay here tonight, it’s too dangerous. We don’t know if even more of them will show up or if-” I was cut off as she lunged forward, arms wrapped around my neck and she pulled me down against her. I could feel her head curl around mine, somewhat smothered against her neck and chest simultaneously. “Sphmny!”

I didn’t really get much of a choice past that as she practically wrestled me to the ground, coiling around me until I was wrapped up in a scaled sleeping bag, feeling her press and rub her nose against the back of my neck and the side of my head, the side that the metal plate that replaced my ear. It was a very odd sound, hearing metal on scale, mixed with her chuffs and snuffles. Reminds me of those old pet videos of people putting their microphone or cameras near dog’s mouths.

My arms wriggled in place, trying to find any kind of purchase. None came but all of my wiggling did allow me to pull my head out to breathe properly. As I gasped for air, I could hear better as well, my head no longer encased in a scaled prison. “Sunny, what the hell, we can’t-”

Then I felt her start to tremble. I blinked a few times before she finally pulled back and while I expected to see her crying and upset, I just saw a very faint smile. A look of relief. I hadn’t noticed it before, but my helmet was in the room, laying in the now discarded ring of blankets. Her hands cupped my cheeks, making my lips do the old childish ‘fish face’ and eventually loosened her coils on me after a moment of staring, though she didn’t completely leave me. Her tail wrapped around my legs in a possessive manner, but I could still move them, her body laid on top of mine, but she was positioned so I could push her away if I needed to.

The amount of thought and care that went into how she maneuvered around me had never been lost, but after everything the past two days had taught me, it dawned on me how much she must be constantly thinking of her overall strength and ability. A brief image of our first encounter, how she’d crushed one of my legs despite being so malnourished, came to mind. If she had chosen to do anything like that now.... But she didn’t. And I knew she wouldn’t, at least not unless provoked.

It was the look she had that made my heart ache in a way that it hadn’t in a long time. The way she looked at me was so... gentle. So kind. So worried and so happy at the same time. For several moments we lingered like that before I started to shift. Not to leave, but rather sitting up from my fallen position, leaning up until our placements went from her laying atop me to the closest equivalent to her being on my lap. Her hands never left my face, though they did ease up on the squishing of my cheeks. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came to me. So instead, I shut my lips and just... smiled. Even if for just a moment we were both safe. Safe and alive.

She leaned down and for the briefest of moments, my mind thought she was going to try and kiss me, only for her eyes to close and press her forehead against mine. The gesture might’ve been equivalent given how when she did, she started to do that low, rumbling hiss of hers. She almost sounded like she was chirping part way through it. My hands came up, one arm wrapping around her waist and the other coming up to gently stroke down her neck as we rested there, wrapped in one another’s arms. I took a very deep, probing breath, taking in all the air and scents I could in that one breath before letting it out in a long, weary sigh.

I smelled terrible. She smelled terrible. It only just now occurred to me we weren’t going to have the luxury of a decent shower for a while. But we didn’t have time for it. I chuckled weakly at the dilemma, thinking of all the chaos and carnage that was just beyond the walls of our destroyed home. If I don’t laugh about it, I might have a break down.... I thought lamely to myself.

“Alright, Sunny, we have to go.” I said but didn’t move. She didn’t either. My arm squeezed around her waist, slightly pulling her closer and causing her to deepen that already rumbling hiss. “Seriously, we can’t stay here. We don’t know if there’s even more of those fuckers out there... Or if XCOM is gonna show up. Besides, Jessie made us an offer I wanted to tell you about.”

“In a moment.” She quietly replied, rubbing her head against mine, her fingers trailed from my face to my hair, sorting through the wavy, greasy mess that I wore. Her tongue flicked out, hitting my chin, not that seemed deterred by this. “Goose.... I am sorry. For what I did.”

“.... I’m sorry for kicking you out like that. It was my fault, I shouldn’t have shown you.”

“But I am glad.... You did.” She stated, finally pulling back. “If you hadn’t... Today may’ve gone much... much more differently.” A deep breath and sigh came from her before she carefully began to pull away. This time, I squeezed her back into place, something that seemed to almost shock her. “Goose...?”

“Sunshine, I... Just.... Let me have this for a moment more. Please.” I nearly begged, finding it hard to remove myself despite my own words from before. When I felt her settle back against me, my head tiled down and I pressed my face against her collar. Her head wrapped back around my own, her hands drifting down my back and she properly hugged me once again. It was like having a living heated pillow gently caress me.

I don’t want to lose this. I thought the words in my mind were near desperate. I want this to last as long as possible.

But I knew I’d have to break away. Sunshine must’ve noticed my change in attitude, as she began to pull away on her own. My grip limply tried to stay her movement but I couldn’t even bring the mental willpower to force my arms to cling to her. She pulled away just enough that my palms were on her hips, her hands on my shoulders and her nose barely an inch from mine as her chest leaned away. I didn’t have enough in me to summon any tears, so all that came to my face was just a pout and despondency. I ached to have that warmth again. That comfort. That safety. It’s what I had wanted more than anything in my life since I lost my limbs. Since I joined XCOM. Since I could remember, really. Every failed date, every one night stand, every relationship I managed to keep going for longer than a week.

She must’ve seen something in my eyes.

“Goose. I am not going. You saved me once. I saved you once. Saved each other today. You said it yourself. We must go. Then we may rest. Together.” She said, nodding. I wanted to weep right then and there, but I felt her hand move to my face, once more brushing over my eye to stop any tears from even forming. I mustered up every ounce of courage and willpower to just give her that usual warm smile I had. It hurt so much to even try. She rewarded my efforts by pressing her nose against my cheek as she’d done before, something that made my heart skip for just a moment. There wasn’t a single way that she didn’t know what she was doing. That was confirmed as I saw the tilt in her eye and the soft chortle that escaped her.

“Come, Goose. Grab what we need. Can come back later. For more.” She said quietly and finally managed to break away from my needy grip. I felt my hands weakly hold in the air before her own took them and began to pull me to my feet. As I stood up and looked her in the eyes, I couldn’t help myself. My hands, in a moment of renewed vigor, came up and carefully caught her angular features, thumbs brushing over her jawline like I was appraising a piece of porcelain. She leaned into my touch, despite her own words and my own lingering in both our minds.

And as I saw her eyes closed, I took my chance, leaning forward and planting a soft, gentle smooch on her cheek. The action instantly had a reaction, her eyes snapping open, her mouth slightly ajar and a near dopey look taking over. Her tongue even flicked and hung in the air like she’d been frozen in time. The sight was enough to bolster the painful smile to a more pleasant one, less effort to hold. “There’s an old laptop in my bedroom, I’ll go grab it. It’s not useful for much, but it’s got a DVD player in it. We can watch some movies tonight once we’re safely away.”

As I finished speaking, I pulled away entirely, clearing my throat and grabbing my own bag from the floor. “I’ll get some stuff ready, feel free to take a second bag and fill it with movies and stuff to keep us entertained. We likely won’t be able to take much with us, since that truck’s near packed with the bandit’s own supplies and my suit.”

As I finally looked back at her, I saw her still stuck, a little dumbfounded. It caused a small burning warmth to brew in my heart, and a touch of worry I may’ve broken her. “Sunny...?”

She snapped out of it as I said her name, tongue slipping into her lips and mouth shutting. Her hands went to her chest in that usual nervous manner. But she seemed to have heard me nonetheless as she nodded, leaning down to scoop up her bag. “Okay. I will pack things. Have my own stuff... I must get it. Not much, but... important.”

“Right, well... If you need help moving your footlocker, I’ll help with that. Pull the truck over. In the meanwhile, I got something to talk to you about after we’re safe and sound. It involves Nick and his people.” I said, starting to take my steps out of her room, giving it all one last look before heading back to my own to find what I’d spoken of. The feeling of scales on my lips was a new one. But that look she had was going to be pleasantly burned into my memory for the rest of my life. And it was one I was going to cherish and willingly lose myself in as often as I could.

``````````````

She watched him saunter away, turning the corner of the door. The moment he stepped back towards his own room, she brought her hands up to cover her face and sink into the floor for just a moment. Thoughts raced through her head, ones that demeaned her behavior, telling her she was beyond foolish, ones that were her pride screaming at her that she’d made a mistake. And yet, they were swept away by the look that he’d given her. The way he clung to her. The kiss.

She knew what that meant. She understood intensely what it was a sign of. She’d emulated it as best she could, not exactly having the soft, pliable fleshy mouth covers that he had. It was really more of her bumping her whole snout into him than a proper one. But he’d returned the gesture so smoothly, so easily.

It made her heart race and her body reel. But she could think on it later. She had to get ready, she had to finish getting her things. As she moved to grab her bag, she found it half filled with her clothing. The only thing really missing from it was the robe she had been sleeping on. She realized Gustave must’ve come in and done this for her while she was resting, a thought that did nothing to soothe her already racing mind. She snatched up the robe and crammed it into the bag, going to make sure her footlocker was sealed properly and then rushed to her tattered old ADVENT dufflebag, not even looking to take it with her. It was practically in shreds and, at this point, only reminded her of what she had to go through before she met Gustave. The memories were fresh enough without the constant reminders.

Nonetheless, there things within that were important. She grabbed a box that had only three calorie sticks left in it, things that, at her current weight, she’d have to eat a whole half stick just to be satiated. They were still good to have, in an emergency. Into her bug out bag it went. The rifle that was still laid within was ruined, no matter how much she looked at it, but it might still be worth keeping around if only for salvage, so she pulled it out and tossed it to the footlocker, hearing it rattle and clatter as it landed.

There wasn’t much else within, save for her old pieces of destroyed armor, the only part she wanted to keep was her shoulder piece that had her previous designation. A want to at least remember her sisters who she’d often found solace with. And the last thing.... Something she’d been holding onto for a while, as it seemed terribly important to Gustave. A white box with colorful blue and red symbols on it, an image of a pastry she didn’t really recognize on the side. It was a bit torn around the corners and the glue that held it together was wearing out, but it still felt full, as she tilted it this way and that. Into the bag it went, carefully tucked into her robe.

She rushed to her footlocker, throwing it open to tuck the broken plasma rifle into its slot, double checking everything was seated properly, and slammed it shut, locking it. She threw the bag around her shoulder and started to drag the locker out of the room. By the time she was getting it into the hallway, Gustave had walked out of his own room, checking his own bag. Not a word passed between them as he moved to help her carry the locker outside, grabbing the other handle. Once it was on the porch, they both returned inside, each grabbing one of the last two bags, and started filling them with less essential, but still wanted items. For Sunshine, it was the media. She gathered up all of the discs, cases and binders full of movies she wanted to treasure and keep, not wanting them to rot away in this house after they were gone.

She felt bad about leaving Gustave’s games, but without the TV, there wasn’t much to be done about it. After she’d filled the bag plenty, she moved to grab a few other entertainment items, a few board games, a deck of cards, things he’d promised they’d play and learn together. Books came next, grabbing as many sets and series as she could stuff in, from thick hard back covers to the flimsy comic books he’d kept. All of the ones that weren't damaged, at least.

Gustave, for his part, had been grabbing food stuffs, nonperishables they could use, along with a single cast iron pan and a pot he seemed to lash to the side of the bag. He turned to the fridge, rummaging through it for anything that he knew would last outside of its cool containment. It was merely spices and cooking utensils after that, things that they could’ve lived without, but would’ve made their lives so much more bearable going forward. Satisfied, they both nodded to one another and slipped back outside.

Sunshine was passed the bags and told to go place them in the truck he’d set up and to lock the tailgate after she was done. He explained he had to go and grab just a handful of things from the barn, just in case, and he’d be back soon. They would be coming back tomorrow to finish gathering the important pieces, but he knew better than to leave things like his prosthetic repair kits.

The rest of the hour blurred together, rushing this way and that, helping Gustave out where she could and even Nicholas and his people. They were still very standoffish with her, but compared to initially, they were down right friendly. Words were curt, but not impolite, grimaces had turned to thinned smiles or at the very least no looks of disgust or anger. She even got to see the human children properly, many of them marveling at her. Jessie put a stop to their antics before they could even begin, shooing Sunshine away just as quickly as well. The last thing they had to do was get Gustave’s van hooked up to the back of the truck. He said he’d have to take everything out of it later, but it had too many important things in it to leave behind. Once it was chained to the rear and put into neutral, they were finally ready to go.

That’s when she and Gus were approached by Jessie and Nicholas, the portly man looking far better now than he’d been previously. A change of clothes and clear medical care given to him, he looked even brighter than she’d seen him so far. Jessie still looked like she had a perpetual look of disappointment, but seemed at least more amiable. “So, Gustave, have you... Considered the offer?” Nicholas asked.

“Ah... Ah right, I’ll.... I still have to talk with Sunshine about it. We’ll give you an answer by morning, I promise. I know you guys want to get going as soon as possible.” He said, the portly man sticking out a hand to him as Gus happily returned it. “Despite everything, I’m glad you guys are safe and sound. More that you took care of Sunny for me while I was.... Occupied.”

“Think nothing of it, Gustave my boy!” The man laughed heartily, hand coming up to hold the hem of his coat. “She’s quite the crack shot, I must admit! Would’ve put me to shame in my younger years!”

The viper felt a sense of pride fill her chest at that, knowing just how good of a marksman Nicholas was. She’d seen it first hand after all.

“Yes, this is all good and dandy, but we should get moving.” Jessie said, adjusting her coat to better beat the wind. “Is there anything else you need before we get going?”

Gustave looked around before sighing and shaking his head. “No... I’ll have to come back tomorrow, assuming this place isn’t overrun or looted, but that’s the worst case scenario. I’ll still need to gather what chickens are still around and all of my water and dried goods in the basement, but... That’s not as important. We got enough supplies and things that we could leave right now and be good.”

“Good. Then we’ll get a move on. I hope you don’t mind being at the back of the line, what with your choice of transport.” She said, waving a hand to the large truck he’d commandeered. He shook his head and she nodded in return, turning on her heel and whistling sharply to the others by the cars. Nicholas gave Gustave one more firm, but friendly, pat on the side before marching off with her.

He and Sunshine were left by their truck. She took a moment to look back at the house, feeling a withering pain bloom in her chest once again. A soft sigh escaped her before she felt a hand gently tap her side. Looking down, she saw Gustave smiling up at her. He’d changed his attire, wearing a proper set of pants now and was back in his original leather long coat, though it was curiously covered in straw at the edges. Even the beanie on his head had bits sticking out of it.

“Ready, Sunny?” He asked, starting to pivot to head to the driver’s side. A small nod came before she slithered to the passenger side door, opening it up and piling herself in. There was a shocking amount of room in the cab, but it was still only just enough for her to comfortably be within. She might’ve been more comfortable in the back of the truck, but she did not want to be left alone. Even as the engine rumbled to life, she felt considerably more comfortable now that Gustave was back to his smaller self, in his coat and back in his element.

She dozed off again as the truck began to roll down the road, bouncing them occasionally as the large vehicle moved over stones and pot holes. She didn’t dream, nor did she really properly rest. Her mind was always alert, even as she tried her best to snooze. She heard every little bump, jostle and cuss that Gus decided to let out whenever the truck did something he didn’t care for. Mumbling to himself or humming a quiet tune.

“Hm... Hm hmm hmm hm hm hmm... Hm.” It was a rhythm she didn’t recognize, likely a song he’d not sung or shown her yet. After a while, she heard and felt the truck slow to a halt. The soft lurch forward brought her up and more awake than she’d been. The sun had begun to set, turning the world into a more orange hue. Her eyes traced the sky, seeing the blue replaced by a dark pink and clouds of a more pastel variety. Trees in the far distance cut the sun’s glare, saving her eyes from being utterly ruined for a time by her choice to go looking for it. She began to stretch, hearing the door on Gustave’s side open and close. Moments later her own opened, seeing the man standing there, lower than usual due to the height of the truck. She offered a tired smile and brought the tip of her tail out first.

Much like a liquid, she poured onto the ground, her chest and head following after only when the rest of her had gone and coiled down onto the ground in that perfectly circular manner. As she looked around, she saw what was going on. Nicholas’ caravan was setting up camp for the time being, getting tents pitched, a campfire set up and even starting to let the children out to move and stretch. She heard Gustave sigh deeply and follow it with a heavy thump as he fell against the door of the truck. Her head tilted towards him, one red eye spotting his weary face. He looked to be thinking hard on something. She slithered over, going to give him a small nudge.

“Goose...?” She offered a quiet invitation for him to speak his mind. The man looked up at her, that usually warm smile on his face looked so exhausted.  “What are you thinking?”

“.... Not much, I’m afraid. Just locked onto one particular thing.” He started, eyeing her to see if she was going to push for an answer. When he saw the look she was starting to give him, he relented without much resistance. “They want us to travel with them, Sunshine. Both of us. Apparently.... Apparently, if we go east, there’s places where ADVENT’s presence has been totally expunged, or at least near total. Aliens, your kind and the others, have started to.... Become like you, from what I was told.”

The words hit her quite hard, and from the look he was giving her, he knew how she was feeling. A silent question laid on her lips before he nodded towards the caravan again. “Jessie told me. And she’s not one to beat around the bush. Very up front, very analytical. Caring, kind when she wants to be, but mostly a hard bitch with a no nonsense attitude. I respect her for it, really. Reminds me of my old C.O.” He spoke with his smile, getting less tired and more nostalgic. “The way she spoke was harsh, but it wasn’t anything mean. Just facts. I got a bit snippy with her, but that didn’t change what she was offering.”

Sunshine felt herself melt in place, lowering down to be eyelevel with him. The words sank in, as brief as they were, she understood the weight of them. If the elders were actually falling, if ADVENT was finally dying, then that meant not only could there be more of her sisters out there, alive and well, but it meant they could be free. Like she was. Truly free. It was enough to make her want to break out into cheers, but her body forbade it. She did at least manage a happy smile. A smile that only got wider as she started to hear the laughter of the children starting to play with one another, carrying plastic toys of all kinds and shapes.

Despite all that had happened, they were trying their best to forget and move on. She could see some of them occasionally pause and hold still, some grew quickly upset, but the others would always rush to help or console. The unhappiness never lasted long among them, a trait she wished she knew how to replicate and that was a sentiment she saw on the faces of each adult human that remained around them. A total of seven, though she saw an eighth sitting up in the red truck. From what she could hear at this distance, it sounded like she was coughing hard.

It was at that point she realized she wasn’t smelling Gustave’s presence anymore, turning her head to see him having slipped away towards the back of the truck. She started to follow after him as he turned and disappeared with a hop. As she turned the corner and looked inside, she saw him rooting around in the military crates the bandits had been using. “C’mon, I know they had to have had something in here.... I saw one of those fucks wearing- Ah HA!”

He trotted back, looking not at all surprised to see her peeking inside. He walked back with a set of vials and a white looking sprayer, both of which looked incredibly familiar. “Go give these to Nicholas. She may not be able to keep her arm, but... These will let her recover so quickly. And of course...” He handed her a second set of items. “This is penicillin and a needle to give her the injections. She’ll need one dose after she’s treated and then another after about twenty-four hours if she’s still showing signs of illness.”

“... Why give to me?” She quietly asked, looking at the items in her large hands. Her long fingers easily cradled everything despite the rather bulky nature of some of the supplies. He smiled warmly at her and gave a small shrug.

“I’d rather you get the credit. It’ll put you in good with them, knowing you want to help. You do, don’t you?” He asked, canting his head. Sunshine thought about that for a moment. Did she? Did she even care about these other humans? Her head turned and looked past the truck at the little camp set up, seeing a fire started. The children playing, the adults celebrating their freedom and mourning their losses properly. She saw Nicholas sitting by the truck, smiling ever so weakly. He was happy, but something plagued him relentlessly. That hurt her heart.

“Want to help Nicholas. The others are.... Fine. But he was good. He fought hard. Deserves my kindness.” She said, looking back to Gustave. An answer he seemed more than satisfied with. He leaned out of the truck and rubbed the top of her head, something that caused a pleased hiss to roil from her throat without her consent, eyes shutting a moment later.

“Go on then. I’m going to unpack some of our stuff and get our own little camp set up. I don’t have any tents with us, but we can sleep in the back of the van again. That okay?” He asked, earning a firm nod from Sunshine in response. If it was ‘We’ then she’d happily slumber anywhere. “Oh and think about what I told you. I’m not going to decide without you if we go alone or with a pack.”

Another nod came before she pulled away and slithered around the corner. As she made her way to the camp, items held close to her chest like a sacred offering, she saw the expressions change swiftly. The adults she saw first. The ones she fought with seemed less hostile, but no less uncomfortable, save for Nicholas and Jessie. The other three, two women and a man, gave her pure distrust. It wasn’t malice nor anger, but they seemed to almost start to shift towards the children. Said children, on the other hand, ran to her as she got closer and into the fire light. Something that caused a couple of the adults to gasp out some words.

The first child to get to her looked vaguely familiar, likely the one that waved at her through the window. It was a young boy with a mop of blonde hair and missing a few of his baby teeth. He held a toy that loosely resembled a fire arm, though if it had been real, it likely wouldn’t have functioned with how it was designed and built. Too many parts, too bulky. Her idle observations were cut short as the child spoke.

“Thank you, miss...!” He finally said after a moment of clearly working up the courage to speak. The words caught her completely by surprise, making her rear back slightly as if struck. “We saw you fightin’ the bad guys who took Ma and Pa away. Miss Jessie said you were a good snake, fightin’ for us cause you didn’t like no bullies like them!”

The viper’s eyes flitted towards the dark skinned woman who was glaring at her with an intensity only a mother could’ve had. She didn’t know if any of these were hers by blood, but she clearly cared for them. She carefully put the medical supplies into her pockets and drew herself slowly down to be eye level with the child, a brief glance at Jessie to ensure she wasn’t about to get attacked under the pretense of her harming these children. Despite her boldness, the woman didn’t seem to react past thumbing the button on a holster she now had at her hip. A warning, but nothing more than that.

“You are welcome, hatchling.” She softly responded, keeping her hands folded in front of her. “What is your name?”

“M’Bobby! My full name is Robert G Ruthers! But you can just call me Bobby!” He said, no small amount of wonder in his voice as he looked her over. “Woah... You really are jus’ like a snake...”

Though the words made her grimace internally, she couldn’t fault the child. Instead, she let loose a stuttering hissing kind of laugh and raised a finger to tap at her nose, emulating how Gustave acted around her sometimes when he was to make a joke. “Could it be perhaps.... My nose?”

“No..! Not just your nose!” The child gawked, as if she’d made a great error. “The whole’a ya! You’re just so big...! Like like uhm, uh....” He started, one of the other children coming over, a yellow-ish tanned skinned boy with thin eyes.

“Like an anadaconda!” he squeaked out looking at Bobby before looking back up at Sunshine. A few other children came closer as well, looking at her in mild wonder. She began to feel a little overwhelmed, but pressed and squashed the feelings down. They were only children, she had nothing to fear! She could swat them all away so easily! But then they would be hurt. They look so fragile. It was a thought that made her want to shiver in worry. Nothing short of an animal could hurt these hatchlings so easily, could they?

Mental images of Chryssalids and Muton Berserkers came to mind. They were beasts. Monsters, even. The mental thoughts were enough to make her frown, an action not lost on the children. “Wha’s wrong, Miss Snake?” Bobby asked, tilting his head. “You lookin’ real sad all of a sudden.”

She blinked, her frown disappearing as she felt caught like she’d stolen something. Her smile forced its way back and she rose slightly, waving a hand in the air. “It is nothing. My kind just have..... Uhm, what is it... That gustave says?” She began, tapping her chin.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the adults begin to realize something, about to speak before she finished her thought. “Ah! Resting Bitch Face!” She said, ever so perky as she remembered.

There was a raw silence before she heard Gustave belly laughing behind her only to be followed by a series of gasps and laughter from the children. Bobby spoke up for the group, pointing at her nose. “You did a swear!! Miss Jessie says you can’t say those kin’a things!”

And just like that, the whole camp erupted into a rumbling laughter, save for Jessie who had her face in her hands, groaning so loud she could hear it over the laughing. Sunshine felt very embarrassed for some reason, bringing a hand to tug her collar as she suddenly felt very very hot. A clearing of her throat and she nodded. “Oh, you are right. My apologies, Bobby. I am still learning.... How you humans communicate.” She raised a hand. “I will not say... such words again.”

“You better not or you’ll get in trouble...! And it’s not fun at all, you gotta go and sit in the time-out corner. Don’t get to play or read or nothin’.” He said, shivering as if it were a jail cell back in the penitentiary. Sunshine felt her smile warm a bit more, despite feeling a bit like a fool.

“Well, it was.... A pleasure meeting you. My name is Sunshine....” She leaned down again, offering out a hand to the child. He seemed to stare at her hand for a moment, looking between his fellows before stepping forward and carefully taking her hand in his. It was so small. It didn’t even take up her palm. And she ever so delicately wrapped two fingers around his hand, thumb gently pinching it to hold it in place as he shook her fingers as hard as he could. “I must go now. Go back to your.... Whatever it is.”

She pulled away and gave a small shooing gesture which seemed to get her point across, the children all saying their goodbyes and running off, though Bobby seemed absolutely elated, looking at his hand before following after the others. She watched for just a moment longer, smiling to herself before starting to slither over towards Nicholas again. The other humans suddenly didn’t seem so high strung around her, the ones who’d been glaring before now seemed to almost regard her with a bit of mirth. Who knew a gentle blunder like that could so easily sway a heart? Then again, her mistakes often endeared Gustave.

As she finally got to her target, he stood up and chuckled deeply at her, Jessie still grumbling something under her breath and walking off back towards the children. She heard the words ‘Gonna tell that boy off, teaching her those words’. And she had a feeling it wasn’t in reference to Bobby. The man looked her over before sticking his hands in his pockets to keep the cold away. “What can I do for you, Sunshine...?” He asked.

“I... Gustave told me... You’ve someone sick.” She started, seeing his expression immediately fall. She reached into her pockets and pulled out the vials and sprayer first, offering them over to which the man’s eyes lit up like the sun itself. He quickly pulled his hands out and took them, looking at them as if they were water in a desert. “Oh... And this, too. For after the treatment.”

She produced the bottle and needle set Gustave had given her. The man stared intensely at her for a few long moments before she saw tears welling up in his eyes. He harshly swallowed before turning to open the door to his truck, delicately placing the medicine inside and taking the additional supplies with it. The door slowly shut and he looked back up to her with a smile even wider than before. “.... I... I don’t know what to say, Sunshine. I can’t really explain how much of a blessing that is to receive. I.. I knew that Martha wasn’t going to get out of this unscathed, but... With those medicines, I... I think she’ll just about manage to get away without losing everything.” He said, leaning forward to take her hand and squeeze it between both of his own.

The action caught her off guard for a moment, her breath stopping as she felt his callous, wrinkled hands hold hers. It wasn’t a rude gesture either, almost reverential. And she hadn’t a clue how to react. He shook her hand up and down for a moment, lips tightening as he was doing his best not to sob. After that, he pulled away and turned to the others. “Go get Micheal, will you? Tell him it... It’s time. We have the supplies now, combined with what Gustave gave us before from those bastards.”

There was a hurried nature to everything before he looked to Sunshine again, smiling just a bit wider. “Thank you, Sunshine. Sincerely. I don’t know if Gustave told you or asked yet, but... If you two decide to come with us, I’ll make sure you are treated just the same as the rest of us. As far as I’m concerned, you’re a friend.” And with that, he started to hastily move. She had enough clues and hints as to what was about to happen, feeling it’d be inappropriate to watch anything further. His words rang in her mind as she turned and slithered back towards Gustave’s truck.

It felt far away now, as she moved from the warmth of the camp. She found the man had made them their own fire out of brush, bushes, grass and whatever else he could find that’d burn for a bit. All stacked on top of a small little brown brick he’d lit on fire. He was squatted down beside it, stoking it with his knife before he looked up at her. “How’d it go?” He asked, a knowing look on his face.

“It went... Very well. I think they tolerate... me now.” She said with a small nod, going to slither around to his back and carefully lower herself down beside him. Her tail traced a circle around him with what she had left after coiling in place. “..... Did you know that.... Was a bad phrase?”

“What, ‘Resting Bitch face’...?”

“Yes, that one.”

“I did, yeah. But my family all swore like sailors, could’ve made an Australian blush with some of their turns of phrase.” He chortled, leaning over and giving her a soft pat on the shoulder. “To be fair, though, I never expected you to say it to kids, much less even get to see kids or be that close to them to begin with.”

“That is a harsh... but accurate thought.” She mumbled, staring into the fire. She looked past him, seeing the group congregate around the red truck’s bed. Jessie had taken the kids to a fair distance away, appearing to talk and distract them with a book, keeping their backs to what was happening. Her thoughts went to Nicholas more than the person being operated on, wishing them both well regardless. After a few moments, she looked at Gustave. “What do you think...? About the eastern area? Or traveling with them?”

Gustave went quiet for a long moment, sighing. “Don’t let my thoughts weigh on you, but.... I don’t want to, personally. If you believe traveling with them would be more advantageous and better use of our resources, I will gladly go with them, if for you alone.” He said, going to take a proper seat. “I.... Just don’t know what is waiting for us out there. And maybe I’m just being negative, being a complete downer, but.... If we get there, and you’re taken away from me?”

He didn’t finish his words, going to cross his arms over his chest and glare into the fire. “Dunno how I’d react. Between my mental retreats and being on the run myself, I just don’t have a lot to look for out there. You’re literally the best thing that’s happened to me since I spruced up that land into a home.”

A lump had formed in Sunshine’s throat, a strange feeling to say the least. It was like she’d forgotten to swallow something, but no matter how many times she did, it wouldn’t leave. Her eyes went from him to the fire as well, both staring into its smoldering embers. “I would like... To hope we’d find.... Something better.” She finally said. “But I think you... are right. It’s too early. Maybe once ADVENT Is.... finally gone, completely. My people are freed. The other races are... freed. Maybe we’ll find peace.”

She heard him snort quietly, a hand finding her shoulder to give her a very light shove that barely moved her. “Look at you, being the optimist. Here I was thinking you were the most analytical between us.” He said with a chuckle. “But that is... a very wonderful thought. That once the war’s properly over, we could find some peace somewhere.”

Quiet ruled over them before Sunshine spoke again. “Let us decide tomorrow. Maybe, very least. We travel with them.... For a little while. Pick somewhere to settle.” She offered, a thought that clearly was more fetching to Gustave as he smiled and nodded.

A loud pained gasp filled the air and a strangled cry that startled them and the children. Both of them flinched at it, looking in the direction of the sound. It lasted for a few seconds before it filtered away back into the night, or at least quiet enough they couldn’t hear it anymore. Gustave had a grimace on his face, one hand coming up to rub at his shoulder. Sunshine looked to the movement, shifting towards him and going to start peeling his coat away that caused him to flinch away.

“Oy oy, at least take me to dinner before you start undressing me.” He said, giving her a light swat. The action, and words, caused her to furrow her brow and she gave him a light shove this time.

“I have already seen.... Everything there is. Treated you once already.” She huffed, pointing. “Let me see it. You’ve been favoring the... Other arm for sometime.”

A humorless, single note laugh escaped him as he dropped his hands and turned to face her a bit more appropriately. “You didn’t see everything . I know my pants were still on, right?” He joked, something that made Sunshine pointedly look at him.

Of course she hadn’t looked, she had actually refrained, several times, much to her own dismay. Even as she leaned over and started to pull his coat off, she could see the man’s pallid skin start to turn a deep red, starting at his cheeks and the collar of his neck. “.... Sunny, you didn’t take my pants off right?”

She said nothing as she tugged his shirt down and broke eye contact to look at his stitches. He definitely busted a few. If not all of them. She thought as she heard the man’s heart beat quickening from how close they were.

“Sunny, did you look at my dick!?” He quietly hissed at her in a hushed and rushed tone. It was at that moment she looked up at him, seeing a true expression of pure embarrassment and flustered shock. He didn’t look mad per se, but he definitely looked like he may’ve been upset. It was then she broke into a wide grin, wide enough her small, hooked teeth showed through and she started to snicker. “.... What’s so funny!?”

“No, Goose, I didn’t.” She said, holding up her hands in a manner she’d seen him do, trying to placate him. “Your pants and undergarments.... Stayed firmly put.”

Her mirth and clear teasing seemed to finally cross over before his hands came up and he rubbed his face. “Oh my god, I’ve created a monster... I can’t believe I just got pranked by a fuckin’ alien....” He mumbled, not bringing his face up from his digits and palms. “This is so fucking unbelievable. Oh how I’ve fallen...”

Her eyes rolled at his dramatic lamentations. “I would’ve looked. But I didn’t want... To be disrespectful.” She said, so matter of factly, that she saw the man get whiplash with how fast he snapped up. The man looked utterly speechless. If he hadn’t turned completely red before, he was now, the look on his stubbled face was one of pure confusion. “What?”

“Sunshine, you already got me good, I don’t need any more jokes giving me a heart attack.” He bemoaned, throwing his face back into his hands.

“It’s not a joke.”

The words settled in the air. And while Sunshine was perfectly content with her words, unaware of how they were throwing the man beside her into turmoil, Gustave was struggling silently. 

“Why...?” He finally managed to ask, the embarrassment already too high to exceed and now his wonder and intrigue came in to try and keep him steady and lucid. “You realize how crazy that sounds, right?”

“Yes, I am aware.” She said, giving him a gentle nod and looking back at him, facing him properly this time. “There aren’t any males. We do not get... To have mates, Goose. Thoughts of reproduction were.... Very curtly mitigated to... Keep us focused. In line.”

He watched with his brow knit together, listening ever so intently, as she raised up a single taloned finger to itch at her chin, hissing in delight as she got a spot that’d been bugging her. A single scale flaked off and she flicked it into the fire. Her eyes locked onto his, his silent request for her to continue being met with a heavy sigh and a slight eye roll. “Arousal was considered distracting. Instead of simply giving... us a mate or... Figuring out a way... to curb our wants... They just promised they’d.... Eventually give us ones. Once we’d completed the... Elder’s will with earth.”

Her wrist rolled as she recounted her past. “After I was disconnected... Lost the elder’s influence... Thoughts were mine again. You were the first... Person I’ve met who... Didn’t attack me, rather... I attacked you. But you didn’t kill. You offered hope. Survival. Peace.” A shrug rose her shoulders as his face seemed to soften the longer she spoke. “I do not think... it is crazy to.... Say that I have.... Developed an attachment. To you, that is.”

With that last sentence, butchered as it was, she saw his eyes searching her own for any kind of deceit. Well earned, given how she teased him just moments ago. When she maintained her eye contact, he slowly started to drift his eyes away back to the fire. He was still beet red, but his exasperation seemed to have worn away. “That makes a lot of sense, actually. I learned about that whole... mind control affair, but I didn’t think that like... That kind of thing would crop up. I suppose aliens have needs too.”

Another silence passed between them. Sunshine had a feeling she perhaps may’ve been a bit too bold as she turned her head back to the fire. There was a deep sigh as the man rubbed the back of his neck. “... Can’t say that’s not flattering or an ego boost, though. Got two different species who want me.” He finally said with a half mirthful chuckle. “Be honest with me, though... Were you just ribbing me still? About the looking thing?”

“Not at all. As you said. Have desires like you.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I am aware how... My body is similar... to human females. And how you’ve stared. Although... I am not judging. I also stare.”

“You realize how absolutely crushing all of this is to just throw on a guy right after we got our home torn apart by bullets and nearly killed by god knows how many bandits, right?” He asked, fully turning to face her at this point, pointing a metal finger at her.

“That is why I.... Am saying it now.” She turned to him as he had her, facing him and tilting her head down so she wasn’t looking down on him from her nose as she had been. “You’re an attractive male. I am a... Hopefully attractive to you... Female.”

Gustave rubbed at his neck again, a clear look of internal conflict. He had once said how he hated it when she started making sense. Clearly, he was thinking the same thing now.  “Well you aren’t bad on the eyes, that’s for damn sure. Could be a fuckin’ model with those hips.” He grumbled. “But, that being said, this doesn’t... Bother you in anyway?”

“Does it bother you?” She asked, causing him to almost flinch at the question. Once again that conflict returned and he rested his face in his hands.

“.........I hate to say that it doesn’t, actually...... But I don’t even know if anatomically that works out!” He had started to keep his voice quieter, looking over his shoulder. Her own eyes followed, glimpsing at the camp once again. Evidently, with how long they’d been talking, the medical procedures had finished. People were carefully carrying and wrapping a woman up and placing her by the fire, a separate bundle being set aside. She could see Nicholas holding his hands together and looking upward. Even at this distance, no bigger than her thumb, she could hear him praising some deity. It must’ve worked out. 

“..... We were spliced with... Human DNA. To help our bodies.... Adjust more smoothly. To your planet’s conditions. Gravity, disease, air consumption... Even down to eating... Fauna and flora.” She explained, without taking her eyes off of the clearly positive outcome. When her eyes did slip down towards Gustave, she saw him looking back at her with a bit of a pinched brow. Though it didn’t look angry or concerned now. More frustrated. “I could go on.”

“No, no, you’ve.... You’ve made your damn point.” He sighed, raising a hand to rub his face. He opened and closed his mouth several times before his eyes shut entirely and he leaned his chin hard into his hand. “I don’t even know what to say, how to respond to all of this.”

“Are you saying you’re....” She paused, the words suddenly feeling harder to get out. She hadn’t anticipated the thought of rejection feeling so poor. She had considered it a possibility, of course, but the idea he might react poorly or even out right disgusted hadn’t crossed her thoughts. Her throat choked before she cleared it with a soft cough. “You’re not interested then...?”

And for a third time, there was quiet between them. The quiet this time made her start to fidget as her stalwart wall of logic was quickly crumbling as her emotions started to push against her. She kept them reigned in for as long as she could, but the more that the silence passed on, the more she felt the need to get away, to hide as the worry and embarrassment started to well up. Just as she felt that she had to go, raising up, Gustave finally spoke up.

“I’m... Not... not interested.” He mumbled, finally finding his voice. “I guess I’m only worried. As far as I understand, this would be your first experience, right? Of anything of this nature?”

“Correct...” She managed to squeak out, realizing how quickly her mind had overtaken itself. Her hands started to wring together. “I of course have.... Attempted self soothing methods. They only work for... So long, I’m afraid.”

“Mnh. I get that...” He breathed out as quietly as he could. His eyes shut and he thought for a moment before he groaned. “You know what? Fuck it...!”

His hands rose up as he started to stand, brushing his rear off with a mechanical hand. “I’m already half a robot, our home got blown to pieces, apparently ADVENT’s getting beaten as we speak, society is rebuilding and more than anything...” He said, turning to face her as she rose with him. He jabbed a finger at her in a way that she thought might’ve been anger, but rather it was just the passion that’d suddenly gripped him as his next words followed. “You fuckin’ deserve to feel good, great even! So if this is what you want, Sunshine....”

She saw him choke on his own words this time, quietly thankful it wasn’t only her. His bravado had quickly snuffed itself out as he fought back his own nature and slowly came down from whatever had gripped his heart so thoroughly. “If this is what you want, I’m... I’m happy to supply it. I can confidently say I trust you. And if you trust me enough to, I’d be happy to try.”

His hands fell to his hips, his eyes locking with hers as he desperately tried to maintain eye contract, the seriousness on his face told her he wasn’t lying. And now, suddenly, having been prepared to argue her case further, she was at a loss. She didn’t know if her species could change color on demand like humans could, but she felt heat rushing all over her body as he spoke, swirling in her stomach and spreading up and down her body in waves in line with her heart beat. Her lips tried to form words, but she couldn’t, so she once again resorted to a tactic she knew was easy communication. She slithered forward and, quickly, wrapped the man up in a hug. Though, this time, it wasn’t nearly as aggressive as it had been at the house. She allowed him his freedom of movement, still coiling around his legs, but not as to take his feet from under him.

Her arms wrapped around his back, her head around his own, tail piled up to his waist in a loose circle. He seemed shocked by this, but his arms came up soon afterwards in a gentle, comforting squeeze. Sunshine shivered in relief at the thought he hadn’t found her request, or her, repulsive. That he was so adamant about her comfort, that the fact this silly human named Goose had single handedly taught her more about emotion and expression than any amount of media or people scouting or training had ever given her. Despite the warmth still brewing in her head, and down to her loins, being enough to make her dizzy, even if they did not interact as she wanted, she would be happy with this revelation.

Their hugging session was cut short as a small cough and a shuffling of feet was heard. The serpent raised her head to see Nicholas standing a few yards away. He looked happy. “Sorry to interrupt whatever good conversation you were having....” He started. “But... I just wanted to thank you again. Both of you. For saving us and then for saving my granddaughter.”

Sunshine didn’t let up from her hugging, rather she let Gustave spin in place, his back going to her chest as he pivoted. He had a much more serious expression on his face now, though he was still blushing fiercely. He cleared his throat, waving a hand. “It’s nothing, really. I’m sure you guys would’ve done the same for me or Sunny.” He smoothly replied, his voice only a tiny bit off kilter.

“I can’t rightfully say if we could’ve, Gustave. As I stand here now, I would say I’d give my all to ensure you two safety and health. Before, I couldn’t say. But that does not matter, because I stand here and now, alive, free and with a recovering grandchild.” He said, bowing his head respectfully. “Thank you two. Sincerely. Whether or not you decide to join us, I can safely say you are always welcome with us. Tomorrow, Martha might be coherent enough to thank you herself, but only time will tell.”

Gustave and Sunshine both felt their lips curl a bit at that, the man waving his hands again. “We appreciate it, Nick, seriously. Right Sunny?”

“Yes. I am glad hearing... She will recover.” The viper stated, doing her best to keep her own voice and body steady.

“If you’d like, I’m not a proper doctor, but I was a field medic for some time. I could take a good look at her and see if there’s any more signs of infection lingering and how long to keep up the antibiotics.” He said before resting his hands on Sunshine’s tail, sending a soft shiver through the whole of her body.

“I’d appreciate that, Gustave, thank you. But... I see I probably interrupted your talks. Whatever it was, it seems a happy conclusion, if that serpent wrapped around you is anything to go by.” He chortled, waving his hand before starting to walk back. “Rest well, you two. And if you need anything, please ask.”

Then they were alone once again, leaving Sunshine in wonder and Gustave with a smile on his face. Despite their conversation, all of the anxiety around it and the feelings had been subdued at the pleasant news. She squeezed her arms around him again, almost possessively. His hand came up from her tail to gently grip her forearm, hooking them around her wrist to rest. A deep breath found both of them as they both let out a shared sigh. The moment he was back to his own camp and well out of ear shot, she leaned down by his head.

“... Do you still wish.... To try? Or has, as I’ve .... heard in media... The Mood been ruined?” She softly questioned, earning a deep throaty chuckle from Gustave.

“Yeah... But there’s only one problem here, Sunshine.” He started, turning his head to regard her as she canted her own. She was this close to getting relief from her own baser urges and he was actively teasing her again. Were she less patient, she might’ve tackled him right here and now. “You either gotta make sure that you don’t make any noise, or we wait until morning and find a secluded space to send ourselves off with a bang . Before we head to the house and pack, that is.”

The wording emphasized causing the man to start snickering uncontrollably. She titled her head in the opposite direction, confused before he looked at her.

“Bang can be a euphemism for sex.” He said, still smiling despite having to explain. She tilted her head back, making a ‘Oh’ shape with her lips and then letting out a soft, chittering hiss of her own.

“.... Do you think you’ll-” Sunshine began before he cut her off.

“Sunshine, I meant what I said. I’m happy to try, just... y’know. Maybe not around people who might not be as open minded as me.” He said, nodding to her, his hand coming up to gently rub at her cheek. “But if you’d like, I could offer something else to tide you over, hm?”

“What would that be?” She asked, shifting her whole body until she was facing him again, her hands resting on his shoulders. His hands came up, carefully grabbing the snake woman’s cheeks to draw her downward. She had no resistance as he tugged her into position. Briefly, he looked past her, her own sight following his, seeing folks talking amongst themselves before starting to head to their tents. And once he looked back, turning to face one another again, he leaned forward.

Her tongue flicked forward a few times, the length reducing to not lick his face as he got closer. And then, without breaking contact, he pressed his lips to her own. She hadn’t a clue what this was meant to feel like to a human, but the affection behind it wasn’t lost on her. The feeling of his considerably softer flesh pressing against her own hardened hide was one she’d not soon forget as she pressed against him more intensely. Her hands squeezed his shoulders, instincts taking over as she started to encircle him tighter and tighter until his legs brushed against her scales. And she only pulled away when his hands tugged her back. There was even a soft ‘Mwah’ sound he made as he pulled away, giving her a slightly smug smile upon seeing her face.

She was adrift in a sense of wonder, her hand pulling from his shoulder to rub at the front of her own lips, not as malleable, but no less sensitive. Her eyes wide, her skin feeling hot and a fierce desire to get back to that near sensual position he’d put her into. She nearly drew closer before he raised a finger to her lips and nodded past her towards the camp. She understood his intention, but that did not squash her desires. She swallowed before she stared him dead in the eyes and quietly flicked her vision towards the van not too far away from them.

“We still need to eat, Sunshine... Unless this is more important-” He didn’t get a word past that. Sunshine swept him up in her arms and practically zoomed to the van. “I guess we’re eating after, then....!”

Dinner would not be had that evening, the Viper having been given a taste of something she found much more satisfying in the moment. By the time they’d finished indulging, neither had the strength or energy to do more than find a blanket and drape it over the both of them before falling straight to sleep.

Chapter Text

My stomach woke me this morning. A deep, unsatisfied growl that twisted in my core. My hand rose to my face, wiping the sleep and crust from my eyes before they opened. As light hit my face, forcing them shut for a moment as I blinked and raised my hand to block the sun. Back bent, hips twisted and my neck silently screamed pain into my mind as I realized the position I was in, with my body completely tangled with the lengths of serpent that had stolen me away last night.

Ah... That’s right. I thought. My eyes turned to find the source of my current sleeping cricks. Length upon length of viper was laid haphazardly around me, my legs barely even facing the same direction with the sheer volume of mass between them. What weighed me down currently was not only the torso of the glossy serpent, but her hips that’d settled firmly against my waist. Her arms were wrapped around my neck, her head was laying loosely off my shoulder and what clothing still remained on her person was ruffled and scrunched in all manners of ways. Blessedly, she remained covered. The memory of the evening prior came back to me in short fitful bursts.

I heard the van door swinging open almost violently before I was on my back with a faint thump against the metal floor. It didn’t hurt so much as it knocked the wind out of me, a brief look of concern from my serpentine companion that was pushed away by a simple thumbs up. I barely had the time to reorient myself propping onto my back before the entirety of Sunshine slithered into and consumed the remaining space in the back of this not so small former delivery vehicle. Despite my trust in Sunshine’s ability to handle my person gently and delicately, the way she looked at me in that moment as the door closed on us made me feel a certain kind of fear.

Not a fear of harm or death, but rather a fear of when I’d next be free. Or if I could get out of this with my clothing still held together.

In all of my life, in every encounter and experience I’ve had, there’s never been a woman who crawled to and on top of me the way Sunshine did. I barely heard the slide of scales on the metal as she moved up between my legs and up my body until she loomed well over my head, forcing my eyes upwards. Her pupils had become so thin in their focus on me that the whole of her eyes turned to near pure red pools. It was simultaneously the most haunting and most comforting thing I’ve ever seen. She lowered herself down onto me, my metal arms audibly whirring as the hydraulics began to strain as hundreds of pounds of snake body laid onto me. I felt every smooth muscle against my sensitive core.

The thin pocketed shirt I’d swapped my tech-suit for did nothing to halt the sensations of her taut stomach sliding over my lower body, the weight of her full breasts pressing down against my chest and the silky feeling of her scales pressing against my cheek as her throat and head enveloped my vision. The way she held herself against me was near desperate, arms wrapping around my shoulders and middle. Her chest produced a thick, low hissing sound that was more akin to someone pulling a fingernail across the skin of a drum. And after barely a moment, she pulled back, her hands coming with her to lay against my chest, and looked into my eyes.

Her mouth split for just a moment, her tongue flicking out far farther than usual, the rapid growth and shrinking of the nimble appendage reminded me back when such a thing had once caught my throat in the past, dragging me away into the dark. The same thought quickly changed, the idea of where else that tongue may’ve gone if I had left her unchecked from her current desires. She drew close enough her nose was barely an inch from my lips, feeling my own breath bounce back with such short distance.

Finally, she spoke, breathy and demanding. “Do that thing again. Please, as you say... Tide me over.” One hand slipped from my chest to the side of my face, reminding me the sheer size of the viper on me. In that moment, as my own hand finally pulled from the floor, I found that I wasn’t being weighed down as much as I thought I was. The sheer control she had over her body told me just how careful she was trying to be. My hand rested against hers as a smile, nervous as it may’ve been, crept onto my lips.

“Well if you say please...” My hands rose up to cup the sides of her face. I felt her jaw clench in anticipation, saw her eyes partially close and watched as a soft shiver ran down her body from the touch. Before my lips could touch hers, I felt her shift slightly, causing me to pause.

Her eyes were locked onto me again before she raised a hand, quietly pressing against the front of her nose, right above where her lips were and a little farther back. “Could... you press your lips... here? The warmth feels...” She trailed off, looking almost embarrassed as her eyes drifted from mine. A brief thought occurred to me, remembering all of those zoo classes.

“Really not beating the snake allegations, there hun.” I stated much to her chagrin as her eyes whipped back to me and narrowed only to flutter shut as I raised my aim and targeted the spot her finger pressed.

As my lips made contact with this area, I heard that drumming hiss roar into a vibrating tenor similar to a kind of low whistle. Evidently, this was a happy sound. As the moment my lips pulled back, it turned back to that same drumming, needy hiss.

“Again.” She asked less and more demanded, pressing her nose against my chin, offering over more of her long head and neck for me to smother with affection before I was smothered by her. That was how our time had started.

While I came back from my reverie, I was faced with a dozing Viper head locked firmly against my stomach. As I’d been wiggling free of the mass of scales, I had been ensnared further by her arms refusing to let me go. It was a strange situation, feeling the longing grasp she locked me in and how I didn’t truly want to leave it. My hands rose to delicately wrap around her head, giving soft pats to the top of her noggin.

“Hey, Sunny. Time to get up, sun’s rising. We gotta get a move on.” I softly urged, switching between lightly shaking her head and the gentle taps I was giving her. It took a minute of constant annoying to finally get her to squirm into consciousness, but I may’ve made a mistake in that instance. As the moment she rose with a heavy jaw widening yawn, her eyes slipped open to spot me with my hands on her face. It was like a switch was flipped the moment her large ruby pools recognized where was and who she was with. As I barely had a moment before she lunged at me again, though dramatically slower than the night before, pressing her snout against my lips and throwing me back to the ground.

While, at this point, I could not say I was upset at this, it was a bit of a burden to be unable to even move after struggling to get as far as I did off of the van floor. Her hissing thrummed in volume and pitch for a moment or two before she pulled away, eyes beaming such happiness I briefly forgot where I was. “.... Well goodmorning to you too, Sunshine....”

I was given a soft squeeze of a hug before she began to slither away from me, yawning once again and carefully starting to right her clothing. It was only as I watched her I realized that I had been partially disrobed myself, my coat hanging from nothing but my wrist and my trousers open and slightly pulled down. I was still covered, though once again, the previous night’s visions came back to me in a quickly face heating reminder. 

The awkward dance we had begun with her furiously brushing my lips against every part of her face and throat, a hand against the back of my head half controlling my placement. Each new erogenous zone she found caused heavy shivers to work through her, each failed attempt at finding a new one furthering her nearing aggressive searches. Before long, my hands had stopped holding her face and moved further down her body, resting at her shoulders. At first it had been to be able to keep myself back on occasion as I needed to breathe, but soon my hands had slipped even further down.

My hands brushed over her coats, sliding down against her sides. Finger tips slid across her ribs and I felt her seize in place for just a moment. My mind shot to worry that I’d gone somewhere poor only to be shot down as she leaned back. She grabbed my hands and crammed them right under and up against her breasts. I could feel my eyes near bug out of my head as her thin but long hands covered my wrists and forearms, urging me to explore all the more thoroughly. Quickly, had this somewhat innocent first base make out session turned to a very expedited second base groping. What made it all the more pain staking to stay in control was how I could feel the thunderous beating of her heart, each hitch in her breath as my hands slid over the clothed mounds. I could see her squirming in place, writhing as I carefully squeezed and kneaded the handfuls of chest I was getting.

It was barely seconds later that I saw her grab at her coats and began to yank them upward. Blessedly, with my hands being where they were I managed to halt her, pressing them down at her sides. The whine that escaped her and the look I was given near stopped my heart with how pitiful they were, the instincts behind her eyes clearly wanting to take over.

“N-Not yet...” I barely managed to squeak out, carefully sliding her coats back into place much to her dismay. “Sunny, you gotta understand, it’s a small thing, but if you free those puppies in front of me, my whole request to keep us out of earshot is gonna be FUBARed. You may be an alien, but you’re no less a woman and I’m only a man with barely held together self control.”

The writhing didn’t cease as I saw her pleading vision linger on me, but slowly relent. I had to swallow hard before I raised up a finger to her lips to halt the whine that began to emit. As I pressed it to her lips, I saw that tongue flick against my finger, sliding well down the digit. I was plenty grateful that in that moment I didn’t have flesh as the sight alone thrummed a beat lower in my body than I’d care to admit. The sensors within my hand flaring with the muddled sensations. Moist. Smooth. Squishy.

To halt her advances and to satisfy my own mind’s urges, I carefully slid my hands down to her hips, giving the area a careful and testing squeeze. The action had an equal reaction, her hip swaying into my grip in a request to continue, pivoting almost to draw it closer to a more enticing area. Seeing a mistake, an enticing one no less, about to happen, I shifted it back upward, sliding beneath the material of her coats and undershirt. She must’ve felt the intention as when my finger tips pressed back against her scaled mammaries the effect was instant.

She froze and her head slowly craned down to look at me, near predatory as those pupils all but disappeared. I felt the briefest sensation of what I can only describe as ‘Oh shit’ as I was quickly descended upon. She forced my other hand back down to her hips, squeezing over my own before cramming her chest into one pressing into them and filled my vision with the rest of her scaled snout as she began to viciously accost me.

While I was partially worried this may escalate into being molested, not exactly unwarranted or unwanted considering my doings, I had found my fears unfounded as this seemed to be just on the edge of enough of what she needed to remain satisfied. I just hoped my mechanical parts wouldn’t suddenly give out and leave me helpless against this lust powered killing machine. A very loving, cute lust powered killing machine.

I could feel the dopey smile working onto my lips while the memory faded, feeling the scales shifting beneath me to leave my butt on the metal flooring. I had fixed my clothing, seeing Sunshine had done the same. She had a certain look about her, a smile that I’d seen dozens of times before but held a different energy and her body shifted more smoothly. It was like watching someone shift a river of liquid sunrise to and fro, reminding me intently of what I thought she took the name. When her eyes settled back onto me, they were beaming and no longer thin slits of black, but more open and wide. A wall had been broken last night between the both of us, a new level of trust erected in its place and left both of us feeling far more confident around the other.

Enough so that I briefly had a thought to try and give her rear a friendly smack, as old partners before her had asked of me. Both as the endearing side of things and the more intimate. It was squashed as I realized that while her hips were devilishly developed, there wasn’t exactly a ‘Rear’ to smack. The muscle had a vague resemblance when she did the equivalent of bending over, but it’d likely not have the same effect. The curious train of thought was cut by her sliding up to me and carefully poking my side.

“Goose? Are you still interested?” She cautiously asked, hesitating between each cluster of words she could manage. “We were not.. I was not.... Too much last night?”

I raised an eyebrow at her, seeing the look on her face. It was clearly hopeful and no less wanting than the night before, but it seemed more lucid and less analytical. Certainly a little less desperate than the actions had been. A part of me wondered if it truly had been out of a need for stress relief that the argument had come out or if something more spurred the idea. I took a heavy breath in and let it out in a sigh, a smile coming to my face before my hand came up, grabbing the viper’s chin in my cushioned digits and bringing her nose to my face.

A soft kiss at the first spot she showed me the evening before sealed the question before I even answered. “After that passionate hell you put me through?” I said, emphasising my point with one more pressing, long lasting and exaggerated kiss to her nose. “I’d be an idiot not to finish what we started, eh?”

That seemed more than enough of an answer for her as she gave me one more hug, this one far more like the usual. It was just a bit more warm, though I felt that was because of our new experiences rather than anything else. The van was still blisteringly cold. It almost made me wonder how we’d gotten through the night only to remember what I’d woken up like.

“Let’s go and get some food in our stomachs, then we can decide what to do, okay?” I said and received an excited nod. We double checked one another, me righting her coats and carefully organizing them in a way that’d not draw attention and she zipped up my trousers with a sheepish smile while smoothing out my coat. I felt not unlike my highschool days of sneaking into janitor closets for make out sessions. I felt like I was going to be caught if I even looked at someone wrong. Blessedly, rosy cheeks could be written off as winter chill and disheveledness could be rough night’s rest.

No one else was out and about yet as the door slid open and we slipped out, leaving us to take a few steadying breaths. It was harder for me, watching that liquid grace of hers in a new light. While she tried her best to curl up and preserve some warmth from the morning frost, I began to trot towards our truck. Not wanting to wake anyone else up too soon, I worked to find a few things to get started. Another fire brick for starters to warm us up, my metal kettle and water to brew some tea second, finally picking a few bags of old MREs and military grade food cans out of the reclaimed bandit rations. I had to keep the big girl fed, after all.

“Oh shit, ravioli in sauce? I’ve not had this shit since before the invasion.... Is this even still good?” I asked, carefully shaking the can to listen before searching for a ‘eat before’ date. I blinked seeing a number far more forward than I could’ve anticipated. We were close to it, surely, but I’d tracked the numbers on my old calendars long enough to know we still had at least a year. A small grimace at the thought of whether or not they’d be stale or possibly taste far worse due to the sheer volume of time that must’ve been since production. “Gotta love that army taste...”

Regardless, I shrugged and made my way out, dropping onto the frozen earth with a small thump from my heavy metal feet, only muffled slightly by the large boots covering them. Sunny had slithered closer, having been watching me from the side the whole time. I passed her some of the items and walked to our old fire pit. It was a swift, if not tedious, process to get everything set up and a fire started. Sunshine started to pick through the MRE's for which sounded the best, quickly deciding we’d simply share the whole of each rather than choose. Even after I told her she’d have to eat more of it than me to keep up her weight, she still demanded that we split and at least try everything together.

So as the tea pot was settled over the growing flames, a pair of spiced black tea bags went in and we began to rip open each of the bags to start assembling the contents. Heating pouches were placed against rocks and somethings, drink mixes were shuffled away for later consumption, and things like gum and mints were allocated to me by Sunshine as she could not eat the first and simply didn’t want the mints. They ‘tickled her senses unpleasantly’ in her own words. It was only as my tea pot began to steam and hiss that I heard folks filtering out of their tents, all grumbling audibly that it was too early for anything. It was perhaps one of the things I was more grateful for when it came to my military career, being able to get up at any hour of the day despite whatever amount of sleep I had.

While I knew where the day would be heading, I couldn’t help but enjoy the start of the day in all of its glory. Despite where I was, despite what the previous day had taken from Sunshine and me, and despite the fact I was likely back on the run, I still had plenty around me to stay content with. About twenty something feet long of it, in fact, and quickly encircling me and the fire. She didn’t leave my side while doing her best impression of a ‘sit’ beside me. As we sorted through our morning meal, trying each of the MREs one after the other, I felt at peace. Especially as I watched Sunshine’s face contort at the flavors hitting her palette.

“... What is this, Goose...?” She asked, squinting at the contents of the heated pouch. I leaned over, pulling one of her fingers away to read the label. “It doesn’t taste like.... Food.”

“That’s beef strips and tomato sauce, Sunny. Probably tastes closer to dog food, to be honest, but... If that doesn’t fit your fancy, here, trade me. This one tastes pretty alright.” I offered, passing her my sack of ‘Hamburger Stew’.

She passed me the bag and took mine, tentatively dipping the spoon into it to scoop out a lump. Her reaction was moderately more enthusiastic, eagerly chowing down on it. I smiled and started to eat the one she’d disliked. The flavor wasn’t particularly incredible, far more bland really. I could see why it may’ve been a touch off putting, especially with the meals I’d been giving her with all of my spices and such back home. One thing I splurged on when trading was always spices and similar additions. Salt and pepper alone often cost me an arm and a leg, but it was well worth it.

“Better?” I asked through a mouthful, covering my lips with the back of my hand. The eager nod I received made my own meal just a bit better.

The tea was a welcome addition in all aspects, warm and flavorful enough to keep us both happy as we chowed through the less than fantastic breakfast. It was a feast in terms of quantity, but left much for the tongue to be desired. At least the additions were usually pretty delightful, having to get my tastes of the various desert items that’d often come along before letting the ravenous serpent suck them in like a vacuum. It was only as I watched her reduce a pouch of chocolate pudding to a shriveled husk, that I saw Jessie and Nicholas walking over.

“Gustave! Sunshine! Did you two sleep well?” The man asked, instantly yanking me back to a brief mental stint as the evening's last events tortured my willpower, my hands dropping my meal immediately over my lap as I was whisked away.

“E-Easy there, girl!” I almost squeaked, as much of a blast to my ego as it was. Sunshine had nearly ripped my pants down, that desperate and intense look in her eyes telling me she was holding all the restraint she had to keep her hand from pulling out of my own to finish my disrobement. Turns out that if you rile up a viper with enough intimate affection that they don’t exactly have an off switch or an easy way to push those feelings to the back of their minds.

My hand pulled hers up carefully and slowly, swallowing as I felt nails scrap against my skin. Her eyes were locked onto me while I tenderly raised it up and pressed my lips into her palm. Shockingly, this seemed to have worked to my advantage, the action sensual enough to keep that lusting look across her features, but on the more innocent side that she softened near immediately. That desperate gamble to try and just throw caution to the wind fumbling for the sake of intimacy.

“Damn... You goose...” She hoarsely breathed, lips trembling before she wrapped around me again. The last of the evening was me fighting to stay as clothed as I could, maneuvering myself to trap her advances with more tender actions that cut through her desire. The last thing that stuck to my mind as things began to die out was her final words as her last act of the evening. “F-Fine... You win. I feel plenty good. Plenty... Great.”

She managed to properly pin me to the floor at that, but had exhausted herself with all of the exhilaration to the point she was having a hard time even keeping her eyes open as she panted and gasped for breaths. I was doing no better, my heart pounding in my chest and my whole body starting to ache from my battle over the vague concept of dominance I thought I had. Were this viper just slightly less patient and respecting of me, I knew I’d be nude as the day I was born if she so willed it.

The memory had lasted seconds, just long enough for me to play it off as exhaustion. I put on my best smile, raising a hand to rub at my face and eyes. I’d forgone gloves this time around, with the caravan as a whole knowing of my augmentations now. Made it easier on me anyway. “It was cramped to say the least, but hey, nothing like hundreds of pounds of muscle to keep you warm at night, eh?” I joked, earning a laugh from Nicholas and Sunshine, but a rather uncomfortable look from Jessie. “What brings you two over?”

“Well... I know you said you were going back to your home to finish packing. Jessie here didn’t want to linger any longer than we needed to, so... I had two things to ask you.” He said, holding up a pair of gloved fingers. “One, could you come and take a gander at Martha, like you said? I’d appreciate a second opinion. Micheal is as good of a doctor as we’ve found, but it’s a lot of second hand knowledge and book learning, he used to be a vet, y’know. He knows how to set bones and treat injuries, but some things are a bit fuzzy for the poor man.”

“I’d be happy too, Nick, you know that.” I said, not missing a beat as I nodded and grabbed my tea to sip as he started to speak again.

“The second thing is that we wanted to get a move on, sooner than later if you catch my meaning. We were going to show you on a map where we wanted to stop and hope you catch up to us from there, if you’re still considering joining us for a while. But we wanted to tell you and get your input, just in case.” He said, already pulling a map out of his back pocket. I thought about it for a moment before nodding and waving a hand for him to continue. He squatted down between me and Sunshine, opening the map up. I noticed it was one of the ones I’d adjusted for them last they were here, a few of the familiar markings popping out to me. They’d made their own adjustments too. “We’re about here... And we were going to head this direction and pass through this town.”

I immediately recognized it and pressed my finger to it. “Not there. It’s got Chryssalids entering it.” I warned, looking at them before I pointed to my shoulder. “It’s where I got my shoulder skewered. It wasn’t a big pod, but the fact they were there at all was concerning. I’d abandon that place from your minds entirely and head more this direction.”

My finger shifted across the map, moving largely in the opposite direction, aiming them to a further, but slightly larger town. It’d probably take them an extra hour or two of travel, but it was almost guaranteed to be safer.

“Why here?” Jessie asked, looking over our shoulders. Her tone was even and inquisitive and thankfully unargumentative. I could tell trusted me on these kinds of things by the way her eyes softened and stared. I tapped the space a few times before tracing back to the town I’d warned them over.

“Because I have a feeling they aren’t spreading, but migrating. I have maps I can give you when we meet back up, but their range has increased and I suspect they’re losing food sources rapidly with their growth. So instead of expanding, they’re packing house and changing locales. I’d bet my life on it, given my field experience.” I said, leaning back and sipping my tea again.

“Does this kind of thing happen often...?” Jessie asked while Nicholas lifted the map to trace the roads to the new destination.

“Not really. I’ve seen it about three times in the whole of my time fighting them and being on my own, this one included. It takes a large and unchecked group of them to do it. Usually they aren’t allowed to get that big, either by their own territorial issues or because people find and exterminate them. Or the ADVENT came in and swept them away. But with the Elder’s being beaten away....” I trailed off, grimacing. “Just saying that the further away you go from the directions they might be heading, the better. Nothing we can do about it. I’d keep your guns ready, just in case.”

“Well, we aren’t lacking in firepower.” Nicholas stated, standing up. “We snatched most of the bandit’s gear, and with what you gave us on top of it, we could fight off a small horde if we had to!”

“Let’s just pray it doesn’t come to that, Nicholas.” Jessie breathed and started to turn on her heel, looking between me and Sunshine. “You two be safe, okay? I’d rather like to make sure you two can be safe for a little while after what’s happened.”

“You all as well.” Sunshine said, turning her head to regard the two of them. Her genuineness must’ve caught the two of them off guard as I could’ve sworn I saw Jessie crack a smile. Nicholas was an easy target for such things, his heart three times too big for his logic. They waved us goodbye to finish their morning and get ready to move out.

Sunshine and I quickly finished off our meals, gathering up our garbage and finishing the tea. I kicked the fire out and instructed her to start moving things from the van to our truck, saying there wasn’t anything directly hooked into the van save for the solar batteries and panels I had to disconnect and remove. Nothing a screwdriver couldn’t fix with a bit of elbow grease. And a free spinning wrist. Who needs power tools? I thought with a grin.

As she went to set to work, I jumped into the truck and grabbed a medical kit along with a few other things. I had to do Nicholas’ last request before we could get on the move. My hands sifted through what I grabbed, double and triple checking everything to make sure I hadn’t grabbed something that wasn’t what I might’ve needed or wanted to give for recovery. As I found myself getting to the red truck, I noticed a familiar sheet of dark auburn hair sitting up in the window at the back of the cab. I marched around the front and found Nicholas with the door open, speaking cheerily and with more life in his eyes than I’d seen in the last day and a half. I came around just in time to hear them start to laugh. A smile formed on my face as I stepped over, raising a hand to tap the side of the door.

“Gustave!” I heard from inside the car. A pair of legs wrapped up in heavy looking sweat pants swung out. The woman I saw was a far cry from who I remembered. She had pallid skin similar to my own, nearing on sickly still. Her features were just a little gaunt, no doubt she looked worse before the procedure. And just as I had suspected, when she leaned out of the car, I saw the stump wrapped in medical gauze. The spray must’ve done its work as I didn’t see a drop of blood.

“I heard you and a friend of yours saved my ass!” her voice sounded so upbeat for how rasped and worn it was. I gave a smile, years of dragging bleeding men and women to safety had helped train a perfect doctor’s smile when it came to seeing patients, first time or not. I walked over, giving her leg a soft pat before I heard her gasp. Her hand leaned down to grab mine, feeling the mechanical digits. “No way.... Grandpa was tellin’ me you were half a robit, but I thought....”

“Unfortunately, he wasn’t I got a hundred extra pounds of metal on me.” I sighed, my smile not losing its enthusiasm as I saw her. My hands came up for her and I grinned just a bit wider. “C’mon, how about a hug after all this time?”

She didn’t hesitate, leaning over and giving me a warm one-armed hug as best she could. I could feel the stump of her amputation press against me. She was going to be living with some hardship going forward. I was honestly shocked she wasn’t sobbing or crying, but she had always been a very strong girl. Barely in her twenties and already lost a limb.

“Lord above, Gus, that really puts a lotta stuff into perspective... Y’thinkin’ y’can get me one’a your fancy robit limbs?” She asked, knowing full well what the answer was going to be. For her sake, I put on the best thinker pose I could and waggled a finger in the air.

“Y’know, if I learn enough engineering, maybe I could scramble something up?” I offered to her, getting a big grin in response. She truly was a trooper, in all senses of the word. I knew without a doubt at least half of this was a facade, or at least was just her riding a high of no longer being on death’s door. A kinship welled in my heart at that, remembering my own augmentation. “I won’t try and get your hopes up, Martha, but maybe something could be done if everything I’ve heard is true.”

“Oh they finally told you? ADVENT’s on the back foot! Apparently, they’re usin’ all of its old resources for reconstruction and recovery efforts! Whole cities, Gus!” She said, throwing her arm out and panning in front of her like a camera man would a scenic back drop. “I can’t wait...! Grandpa said if things are built up enough, we might even get to have showers again!!”

A moment of guilt struck me, remembering the comparatively luxurious life I had been living before the bandits came. It was a bittersweet thought. “Well, while you keep your hopes high, let me take a quick look at you, okay? I heard Micheal’s been keeping the ferryman away with a broom, so I should probably give him a break.” I said, opening the passenger side door at the front of the truck and placed my things within. I grabbed a pair of plastic gloves from a bag, carefully working them around my mechanical fingers to avoid tearing them.

As I got prepared, Martha scooted a bit closer with Nicholas’ help, pulling up her sleeves and generally just getting everything read for a proper general check up. This I could at least do. I went through the motions, carefully pressing the frigid stethoscope to her chest, to her back, the side of her neck. Her breathing was a bit hoarse, so she might be on the verge of either a severe cold or pneumonia. Her heart sounded weak, but steady and consistent, so likely just a byproduct of how frail she was. As I pulled the earbuds down, I hummed quietly and carefully pressed my fingers against her wrist.

“That feels so weird....” I heard her mumble, looking down at my mechanical hand. I smiled with a snort, raising it up to check her neck once again just to be sure. “So what’s the sitrep, doc?”

I snorted again, going to tug up her sleeve around her stump a bit higher so I could get to the bandages. “Your lungs sound a bit raspy, so you and Nicholas should work to get you a bit more bundled up and keep the inside of the truck dry. You might be getting sick from all the cool air hitting you. Anytime they have a fire would be a good place to sit too, just keep you warm and let you hack up some of that phlegm building up.” I reported, watching her nose curl in disgust. “As for this....”

My hands carefully began to unwind the bandages, knowing it was a bit early to replace them, but if the wound was clean, I could reapply them without worry. Blessedly, as I peeled the bandages away, I saw the heavy layer of blue foam that’d suctioned to the wound. Her eyes bugged out as she saw what was pressing into her, a brief light of panic.”Well, the sealant seems to be doing its job. Are you feeling much pain? Scale of one being almost nothing, ten being unbearable?”

“Mmnhh... About... a five or a six, then? I’ve had broken bones that hurt worse...” She mumbled, still staring intently at the hardened medical spray. I nodded, happy with that answer. “Is that normal...?”

“Usually, no, but this blue foam?” I said, gently tapping just beneath it on her arm, causing a very light squirming. “It's a military grade combat sealant. This is the stuff XCOM used and gave out to some resistance camps during and in between combat missions. It’s got a powerful numbing agent that lasts for days if needed, the foam itself is effectively a second false skin and is bio-compatible with the recipients to a ninety-nine percent effectiveness rate. Meaning, that this stuff is likely going to be absorbed into the wound during the healing process.”

I saw how most of my words seemed to go straight over her head, but she seemed to catch the basic meanings. A small nod followed before she moved to poke it, quickly deciding against it remembering how my indirect action had caused her to shift uncomfortably. She finally spoke up after a moment of thought. “So... I can just leave this on? It’s not gonna poison me or nothing?”

“Considering the wound you have, I’d say keep it on for another two days. After that, you are going to have to carefully remove the outermost layer, use warm water and a gentle motion with a rag, it’ll come off in big flaking chunks. Do not pull any off if it causes the skin to tug, you’ll just reopen the wound. There’s gonna be a thinish layer of it left, just leave it on and act like it’s your own skin from then on. Your body will do the rest and eventually whatever isn’t used will come off like a scab.” I explained, giving the wound a once over with a sanitizing wipe and beginning to rewrap it with the still clean bandages.

“Gross.”

“It is, but I promise you, you won’t need more than over the counter ibuprofen to manage pain, if that. Remember to exercise the limb as much as you can too, the more blood flow, the quicker it’ll heal, but don’t over do it. Just simple rotations and stretching.” I instructed, packing away my things and pulling the gloves off. I passed Nicholas a bottle of pills me and Sunshine had gotten from that bug infested town. A hug was wrapped around me before I could realize it, the old man muttering thanks and blessings into my shoulder. Laughter bubbled from my throat as I pat his back, turning to look at Martha. “You’re a real trooper. And tell Micheal he did an excellent job, no signs of infection left over. But just to be safe, you’ll need another shot, maybe two over the next couple days.”

With my job done, instructions given and leaving the medical case with them for future needs, I gave them a wave goodbye and returned towards my own truck. The well practiced motions of the caravan had them more or less ready to get on the move within the twenty or thirty minutes I’d taken to gather, walk over, treat and walk away from Nicholas and Martha. I envied their ability to just wrap their lives up in a few cars and be on their merry way, thoughts of my home coming back to my mind. Sunshine slithered up to me as I halted at the truck’s hood, still watching the cars all start up and get ready to move. It reminded me I needed to finish scrapping my own van.

I hadn’t gotten a great look at it during the conflict, but from when I was lashing it to the truck, I had seen the sheer volume of holes that’d perforated the sides and near the engine block. That ADVENT plate hood I’d juryrigged to the top had saved the poor thing from worst damage, but I wasn’t going to be able to repair everything that the gunfire probably damaged. Better to strip it and thank it for its work now that we had something that was more or less an upgrade. She must’ve heard the quiet sight that emitted from my lips as I felt her lean over and gently nudge me with her hand. My eyes trailed up to see her smiling down at me and I chuffed in amusement.

“Y’know...” I started, turning my head downward to watch the cars begin to roll out. “We don’t know where we’re going to end up. Even if we follow them to the east coast, there’s nothing saying we’re going to be safe out there.”

“You have better plan?” She asked, snarky as it sounded I knew it was a genuine question. When I shook my head, I heard a deep breath fill and escape her chest. “Then we must go.”

“Yeah... Just gonna suck, is all. I’d thought I really lucked out when I found that little house. When I found those chickens just hanging around....” I frowned, my eyes looking downward for a moment, scanning the ground for pebbles to kick at. “Who knows what we’re gonna find and if we’ll even find another place to settle into.”

“It won’t matter, Goose.” She stated, causing me to look up at her with a raised eyebrow. And then she put on a big smile that encompassed the whole of her lips, a bit uncanny with how large it stretched across her face. “We will be together.”

We held that look for a long moment before I felt mirth bubbling up from my throat and before I knew it, I had begun to chuckle. The chuckle turned to a laugh, causing Sunshine’s smile not to wither but to turn confused. “O-Okay...” I started, pointing a slightly accusing finger at her. “Which movie did you get that from...? Be honest!”

I saw the shift in her eyes, looking away from me, but not turning. The smile changed away, scrunching forwards, almost as if she was trying to pucker her lips. “.... I... I didn’t.....” She tried to subvert before her hands came up and she looked down at her fingers, steepling them together with an embarrassed huff. “... One of the older.... Movies. I do not remember.... The name.”

My chuckling subdued after a moment before I pivoted. I turned my head for a sparing glance as I watched the last of the caravan speed away off into the distance, leaving me and Sunshine behind in a cloud of dust. Waiting just a moment as I saw the rear car disappear over a hill, I took a step forward and wrapped my arms around the tall snake’s waist. A soft yip of surprise escaped her before she reflexively hugged me back.

“Let’s get moving, alright, Sunny? We got a big day ahead of us.” I said, feeling her arms squeeze me ever so tighter in response. Her hips wiggled against my grasp, lowering herself down just enough until she could crane her head around my own as I’d found she liked to do. There was a pause before I did remember, going to give her back a soft pat. “And, I haven’t forgotten. Though, it’s on you to pick the moment, alright? Just not when we’re back at the house. Would be a bit uhm... Hard to get to it with what surrounds it.”

Her head shifted my own with her nod, hands trailing down my back briefly before halting just above where my beltline would’ve been. While I wanted to get back to work, I did feel the serpent shift and maneuver around me, as if deciding what she wanted. It occurred to me that by giving her such power I had effectively put a random timer on the bomb that was this viper’s libido. A Viper who’s never had a chance to take care of these urges. A Viper who’s never had a male of any kind offer to take care of them. A Viper that is currently, effectively, trapping you in her embrace. I thought to myself as I realized my mistake.

When she didn’t let go as I loosened my own arms, my hands quietly slid down to the wide, frankly unfairly supple, hips of Sunny and slowly turned my head to where her nose was currently laying. I didn’t even need to catch her eyes as I saw her seize slightly.

“..... You want it now, don’t you?” I asked, already feeling the answer brewing. Time flowed like pitch as the question hung in the air before I was answered two fold, with her nose turning to press into the side of my chin and her hips carefully moving against my middle. I felt myself take a very deep breath, knowing I’d already shot myself in the foot. “.... Alright, uhm... We really only got two options for a place to do this, I figure you don’t want your bits out in the cold as much as I don’t.”

Her whole body shifted, head slipping further into my sight now as her big red eyes looked to me before following my own as we looked between our two impromptu privacies. I nodded to our two options like I was a character in one of those horny dating sims. “The van’s got heating, but you might be cramped in there... But the truck has space, but the only insulation we’ll have is dropping the rear canvas flap. Both are fine, we’re still gonna need a blanket either way so neither of us get raw from friction on a metal floor.” I explained, though my words felt more like delating the inevitable.

She shifted between them, still doing her best not to just begin groping me. I held an appreciation for how thoughtful this viper was to me, regardless of everything that’s happened and my demands. Frankly, she’d given this whole affair so much more conscious thought than I had during my own loss of virginity. A brief mental flash back to busting a bit too early inside of a Denny’s bathroom stall hit me, almost causing me to grimace in disgust. My expression remained neutral as I pushed the thought away by focusing on Sunshine who’d seemed to have made a choice. She looked at the van very intently, no doubt because last night’s attempted soothing had left an impression. A soothing that’d very nearly ended in a much different manner.

“The van then?” I asked, receiving a soft nod. She moved to start to pick me up only for me to carefully halt her. “At least.... Let me walk there, Sunshine. I love that enthusiasm, but I’d be remiss if I made you do all of the work here, eh? Your first time is important, y’know?”

My words seemed to catch her off guard as she brought her hands to my shoulders, shifting her body until her head was craned in front of me. “Important...? Is it not just... Mating?” She asked, tilting her head. “Relieving stress and misery?”

“... Well, yeah, but... Think of last night.” I offered, the statement instantly causing her pupils to widen as she got a look very similar to one I often was told I made when I lost myself. I wondered if I looked nearly as unsettling as this did. She shook her head and her expression had changed to one of a bit more understanding. “If... You’ll allow me, I’d like to try and make this a bit more than just... Sex. Give you a proper experience. See if I can show you what I mean.”

I felt her coils start to move around my legs, skirting against my pants. Eventually, she nodded. “Alright, lemme get a blanket and start the van. It’s probably not going to run for very long, I’m pretty sure a stray round or two busted something inside, but it should last long enough to heat up” I offered, raising a hand to gently stroke the top of her head. The smile that had already been on my face mellowed into a far warmer one as I saw her eyes close and lean into my touch. I thought about how before my metal hands always caused her to flinch, but now even in the frigid air, she didn’t shy away from them at all.

Her coils loosened from my legs, allowing me to walk back to the truck. I hopped into the back of it once again, the action quickly becoming muscle memory as I walked back to where I had recalled keeping the blankets. One of the many duffle bags we’d packed, opened it up and I found what I was looking for. It was a large quilted blanket, thick and plush, if not a tiny bit scratchy. It’d be no consequence to either of us in the long run. Folding and tucking it under my arm as best as I could, I grabbed a jug of water too, knowing we’d both need to take a drink if this was going to be as intense as I imagined it might be. I already knew how much a person could squirm when getting relief after so long, but a sexually repressed viper that was over twenty feet long and probably double my weight? I had a feeling I’d be lucky if I didn’t get a couple ribs popped out of place.

I hopped out, seeing an over eager Sunshine standing at the tail gate, waiting for me. She reached up, I assumed to take the supplies, but rather grabbed me and pulled me safely from and down to the earth. I blinked a few times, looking at her. “.... Have you always been this strong....?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“With how often... I’ve picked you up... The house work too... Muscle came easily.” She said, raising up her arms and flexing them in a mock manner I had often done. Only, as opposed to my lack of flesh and blood, her coats bulged with visible growth before her arms went down. I swallowed briefly. From a brewing arousal or very mild fear, I wouldn’t know. Chuffing, I held up the blanket to her. “Go lay this out like a mattress, hm? It’s not much, but it’ll keep us from getting chilly.”

She swiftly followed my instructions, slithering off to the van as I followed after, going to the driver’s side. It was a mildly melancholy feeling as I got into the driver’s seat and reached up to grab my keys. The jingling carried to my ears as I held them in my hand, seeing all of the trinkets I’d procured over the years. Buck’s nametag, an old shark tooth necklace Yui had given me and feathers that I’d tied together from each of the chickens I’d raised. I carefully pulled the key ring off of the van’s key and tucked them away into my pocket before starting the van up. It chugged hard like never before, sputtering in a way that I knew was a bad sign. But thankfully, it roared to life one more time for us after a minute or two of turning it over.

I wrenched the heater, giving us at least some kind of warmth before I felt a pair of hands land on my shoulders. My head turned, spotting Sunshine’s lustrous scales slide into my sight followed quickly by her own large ruby eyes. Her fingers wiggled against my metal arms, a happy smile on her lips and clear excitement keeping her from sitting still. “Well...” I began, knowing I had no way to turn back now. Not that I want to. “You ready?”

She nodded, slamming the van’s side door shut before pulling back towards the center of the considerably empty van. The amount of space we had now that she’d removed most of the cargo had left a lot more in here than I had previously thought I had. It wouldn’t be completely spacious for her, but compared to before, she at least could lay out the most of herself and still leave just a bit of room for me. Not much, I no doubt was still going to be swimming in scales by the end of this. I cleared my throat and subconsciously locked the van just in case anyone chose to swing back around or some passersby decided to check out the seemingly abandoned abandoned vehicles.

Slipping into the back with her to sit, I felt myself hesitate. Thankfully, it wasn’t out of any kind of change in feelings, but rather where did I even begin? I had talked such big words about making this better than what she thought it might be that as I sat here before her I was thrust back again to the numerous other moments in my life where foreplay had often eluded me. Sunshine gave me an out at least, as when the hot air had started to blow she quietly looked to me before beginning to disrobe. It wasn’t exactly the smoothest or most sensual display, as the zipper caught more than once and slipped even more from her large hands. The frustration on her face was immediate as her eyes snapped downward and I saw her hands curl in the fabric as she looked ready to just rip it open.

Instead, I shifted forward, going to put my hands onto hers to pull them away before she tore her clothing apart like a caveman in a three piece suit. Her eyes locked back onto me as my hands carefully maneuvered the clothing in her stead. I offered a smile upwards as I carefully pulled the zipper of each coat down and assisted her in peeling each one off. A red long sleeve shirt that was loose only in the sleeves was left on her, once again acutely reminding me of the fact she neither wore pants nor anything else beneath that shirt. My throat felt dry as I lost my ability to say anything.

She didn’t realize that each writhing twist of her hips or shift of her body accentuated the curves and plush nature of her distinctly human features. Were it not for the massive tail and the serpentine head, someone could’ve easily mistook her for some kind of passionate gym rat. The sounds she began to make drew me out of my thoughts, low pleased hissing escaping from her as I had found my hands moving subconsciously. My padded metal fingers were carefully squeezing and sliding along her sides, not quite yet removing the shirt, but exploring the space I’d not had a chance to the evening before.

My thumbs spread over her abdomen, feeling sectioned and sleek muscles work beneath the scaled skin. They looked different than humans’ did, less like a brick of chocolate and more akin to a curve of cream in a stirred coffee. Fingers traced the muscle upwards, following each humble part upwards further and further until a gasp emitted. Tips of my fingers brushing against the bounty I’d become briefly familiar with. Her hands came down onto my wrists, squeezing but not moving them. She was willing me to do more with the look she gave me, her lips pressed thin while her eyes narrowed slightly at the sensations building. Not to be a tease, I would relent, but I got to my knees and rose up slightly, getting to about eye level with her chest. I tilted my hands to start to press just under her breasts, urging her backwards with a silent push.

She seemed to understand, carefully going backwards further and further until I had to straddle her stomach to get to where I needed to be. A brief humored thought hit my mind. My freakishly tall squadmate aptly named ‘Mama Bear’ had once called me short, despite my six foot nature, and I had playfully gone off on a tirade at her. The memory faded fast as I saw her lay her arms beside her head. The moisture behind my lips had gone, leaving my tongue feeling dry as a desert as I stared. Her body was something unprecedented to my mind. It was gorgeous in all the ways I recognized, terrifying in all the ways I knew and simultaneously the single most passive and gentle thing I’d ever seen.

My hands roamed back up to her chest, carefully pulling her shirt up with my thumbs as I did. I heard every hitch in her throat, every tiny whistle from her lips and each low chirp that clipped the air as my hands made their landing. Fingers found her mountains before digging in as gently as I could into the flesh, watching in wonder as they nearly disappeared in the mounds. Words flashed in my mind rapid fire. Pliable. Warm. Smooth. The words started to shift the longer I stared. Delicate. Firm. Beautiful.

I started to lose which words were the sensors and my own to the point I began to just ignore them, allowing my mind to do what it did best and fill in the blanks for myself. I couldn’t miss the feeling of her body writhing beneath me and between my legs, her hands clenching and unclenching as I carefully massaged and kneaded her chest as she’d requested. Though I was thoroughly distracted in my work, each time she shifted beneath me I could feel the growing pain in my trousers that fought desperately to be free. I hadn’t even realized how viciously aroused I was becoming, each passing moment filling me with more and more thoughts of what I could do.

I finally managed to swallow some to moisten my throat as I slowed my actions down to just gentle rolling palms against her breasts. My voice came back to me as I sheepishly smiled and asked the loaded question. “S-So, Sunny... uhm.... Where’s your, uh.... Privates?”

The question seemed to pull her back to reality at the implication, her stomach shifting upwards and pressing hard against my groin. The action, while it seemed was more for her to pull upwards, was not lost in its sensation as I saw her eyes flick downward briefly. Sitting upwards just a bit so she could move from under me more easily, she pulled herself up and rested one hand onto my shoulder, the other going to take one of my metal hands and squeeze it delicately. She said nothing before carefully splaying my palm out across her stomach and dragging it down to her pelvis with all the ceremony it deserved. Something I was grateful for on my end, as each dragging second at least allowed me to think on what I was intending.

It was barely a moment before I felt my sensors blare to light in my mind again. Heat. Moisture. Yielding. Another dry swallow escaped me as I didn’t have to look to know where my fingers had landed. Her hand pressed mine against the lurid area before retreating to rest on my wrist. My wrist twisted in place tracing the line of blistering heat that my mind was telling me in clinical detail about. It was odd, not a line up and down, but rather from side to side. Tucked quite cleverly between her scales. It held the same texture from what I could deduce but the muscular control she had was leagues above what any person could do, evidenced by the moment my fingers penetrated even slightly into her folds they were almost pulled within.

The act alone of merely breaching her otherwise untouched flower had caused the hand on my shoulder to grip with such ferocious intensity, I heard the servos in my shoulder loose disagreements in a mechanical whine. The other hand had gripped my probing hand’s wrist and squeezed just the same. Thankfully, her hands were nowhere near as strong as her tail was, only giving me pressure warnings rather than failures. Her head had wrapped around mine, further blinding me and forcing me to work purely off of memory of my past. Fat lotta good that does me.

The words in my mind dryly stated as I pressed my digits further into her depths, feeling the muscle clamp down like a second set of jaws and refusing to let me go anywhere but further forward. I felt my palm press into slickened scales while my fingers twisted and bent in her squeezing tunnel, trying to find any way to further the clearly pleasing action. Through blind luck I felt my sensors brush against what they detected as a shift in material and texture, but I knew what it must’ve been as the next few moments my world had swiftly shifted.

I was on my back but not on the floor, hovering just inches from it as Sunshine’s arm held me and her tail kept my butt aloft from the quilt. Her other hand had left my own clamped one in favor of further holding me in place. Then the first words she could manage escaped her in shuddering quiet breaths, quickening with each passing second. “D-Do... Do that... Again. Again!” She demanded.

Not one to leave a partner hanging, I pressed my fingers forward to rub the pebbled rough spot I’d discovered, rotating my digits in quick and small circles. Pressing and carefully finger fucking my newly cristined serpentine lover the way she’d likely never had a chance to feel on her own time of self exploration. No doubt her lack of knowledge, not to mention talons, were to blame rather than a lack of trying. Her hips gyrated against my hand, pressing into it every time I withdrew my fingers even an inch, and quickly began to buck against me like she was riding a raging bull machine.

I didn’t even have my pants off by this point, still in my heavy leather coat too, and yet the viper was absolutely writhing against me, her breathing becoming erratic and her squeezing almost painful as she rode my hand and fingers to swiftly climbing climax that I was largely unprepared for as it happened. The breath in my lungs and I was promptly suffocated as the serpent coiled her upper body around me as best as she could, screaming out in the scariest, heaviest and most intense baritone growl I’d ever heard in my life. To my current mind, it made a lion sound like a damn kitten. Wetness signaled from my hand but I didn’t need its input as I could feel my crotch becoming damp with every passing second. I felt I’d done a decent job in that moment, somewhat prideful of my haphazard ability. It was all swiftly overshadowed as my free hand came up to start smacking Sunshine’s hip, trying to get her attention.

“Mmmpny! Mna’d ‘eammth!” I tried to speak against the literal mountains of scaled tit flesh filling my vision. As I felt myself starting to get dizzy from lack of air, she seemed to pick up on my words and pulled herself back. All of it was worth it in the end, each gasping breath and moment of burning lung as I saw the expression on her face. The vacant, almost transcendent look in her eyes coupled with a slack jawed panting and a stupor that couldn’t be faked. Not that I thought she would with how demanding she’d been. I cleared my throat lightly and offered a smile. “Sooo... pretty good?”

The words hit her late as those widened pupils rolled in her head to look down at me, her mouth closing to swallow and wet her throat. In a moment, I felt her hands shift and I was roughly slammed into the quilt of the van, feeling a look of shock splash onto my face. Her nose slowly came down to press against mine, feeling her weight beginning to press down onto me. Hot breath that smelled of spiced tea and MREs hit my face and I had the very clear impression that I was quickly no longer in charge of the situation. “S-Sunny, you okay th-”

“If you want them.... Kept intact.” Is what I heard come that growling throat before it grew lower and even more demanding than I thought possible. “Pants. Off. Now.”

“Yes Ma’am.” I managed to get out before I tried to wiggle free to do so. “U-uhm, Sunshine, you gotta let me go a bit, I can’t move...”

My hand was still stuck firmly in her loins, still as a statue not wanting to rile her up further from this point. Her skin barely skinned from mine before she rose up entirely, pulling my hand free with a squeaking hiss I might’ve found cute had I not moments ago felt like I was about to have my head bit off. As I started to sit up, I found her grabbing at my shoulders and yanking at my clothing. Even in her lusting, near angry, stupor she managed to pull it off with enough grace as to not damage it, throwing it against the van’s windshield and further blotting us out from the world. I didn’t get to keep my white pocketed shirt nearly as intact, as she yanked it hard enough the collar tore down the center and was likewise thrown away.

Despite the hurried nature of it, I couldn’t deny that my mind was loving every second of the situation. The shifting of positions, the expression, her instincts over taking her nature and yet still gentle, with my person anyway, as she could be without harming me. Even the slamming of my back was barely a slam and more of a firm drop. Nonetheless, I moved my hands as fast as they could, yanking my trousers open and as far down as my position allowed, my undergarments following suit and swiftly throwing my member into the heated open air.

Something strange crossed her eyes as I did so, her pupils shrinking again as her tongue began to wildly flick in and out of her mouth. Her eyes searched briefly, head craning downwards as she followed the source of this new scent she was enticed by. My own eyes widened to saucer plates as I felt her shift down and away from me, leaving me no longer pressed down as she had brought herself to inches away from my flagging length. Though I would have never bragged about it, I was blessed and cursed with a large endowment, always slightly too big or long for comfort for my usual partners. Almost never getting a chance to fully seat myself wherever it was, leading to a curiously unsatisfying life of pleasure. In the end, the sex itself never had enticed me so much as the creature comfort of simply having another body to hold.

This was a different situation, however. Not only was I laying with someone far larger than me, she likewise had indulged my unspoken need for physical intimacy. Allowing me to pleasure her for my own sake, holding me close as she climaxed, looking me in the eyes anytime she could. All tiny, wonderful things that congregated to a mounting peak of my sexual career, if I was going to be bold. Even now, as she stared at my girth she was regarding it, and myself, with some level of caution.

“It is different... Than I had expected.” She finally spoke, that growling baritone underlying each word spoken. It was a terrifying side of her that I frankly would not admit had caused myself to throb unchecked as the words hit me. Finally, she brought a hand around to carefully wrap around the base, smooth scales holding me like I was made of glass and with a touch so feather soft I was left shivering. Even with my dulled senses, the simple actions of her constant vigil of my health had amplified what I could still feel. “Is it as sensitive.... As my own are?”

I sat up onto my elbows, regarding her as her eyes shifted to me. A brief look of curiosity overtaking the lust in her mind. I bobbed my head from side to side, distracting myself by any means possible to ignore the breath hitting the tip of the spear. “U... Usually, yes, it can vary from person to person, but... Due to my augmentations, my senses are actually somewhat dulled. Which is fine, it just means that a uh... end might take longer for me to achieve.”

The explanation had the opposite reaction that I thought, a hint of a sparkle in her eye as I felt that hand shift up the length and straight back down to the base in a painfully fluid manner. How long had it been since I’d even tried to pleasure myself? Far too long, really. And even with my hands, the cold metal and textured rubber pads had never really felt all that pleasant. I was shocked at how well they’d worked on Sunshine.

“So that just means.... I must work harder?” She said in a tone I’d never heard from her. It was equal in tone to the growl that’d not yet stopped, underlined words that came out in a purr thanks to her rumbling throat. My eyes couldn’t get any bigger, my mouth no dryer and my heart couldn’t have possibly beat any harder. “What can I do? To help you end.”

“U-Uhmnn....” How was I supposed to explain any kind of foreplay to her when my mind was wracked with such painful throbbing reminders of where I was and what I was doing. “M... maybe try... Using your.. Mouth?”

I had never felt so unabashedly out of place, my usual boldness having left me as this outright beginner had seamlessly transitioned into the most lurid hostess of pleasure I’d ever seen. And we hadn’t even gotten to the main event. The statement had caused her to crane her head, jaw slightly opening each time her tongue came out farther than its tips length. Eyes shifted from me to my member, carefully watching it like it may react poorly. Her nose drew close, pressing against it and forcing another shudder to rip through me from hip to heart. Then the tongue came, serpentine in more than just appearance as it instantly coiled around my base and slithered up and up until I lost track of how many times it’d looped. This alone was causing my hips to jerk in place, reflexive actions taking hold as memory and experience surged from memory and added their phantom sensations onto my dulled ones.

Her head tilted down, laying her cheek onto my hip while her tongue did all of the work for her. The long and dexterous muscle retreated and renewed its position in a pulsing rhythm that threatened to drive me insane, a sensation I’d never experienced in my life. She must’ve known her methods were effective as she had doubled her efforts in speed, the tip of her tongue lashing against the tip of my member at the end of each ascent. Desperate for any kind of hold onto reality, my hand shifted down to her head to hold onto her.

As my hand made contact, she shifted slightly, going to position her cheek into my palm and nuzzle into it without breaking her tongue’s contact with me. My heart began to beat out of my chest as feelings I’d long since squashed away slammed into the forefront of my mind and broke through whatever walls I had buried them behind. She brought up her hands, one going to hold onto mine that laid against her cheek before she raised her head up, all the while swirling that wet muscle around my shaft like a kind of impression of a tornado.

I didn’t stand a chance against her, even as she slowed to a halt and carefully withdrew her tongue, I found myself twitching with a begging need to hit that climax. I didn’t know how long it had been since she’d started, but I knew if she did anything more than what she had, I was doomed. A point that was swiftly proven as I saw mouth open and like the viper she was, attacked my length in one decisive swallow. And for the first time in a very very long time in my life, my mind was blank.

The hair trigger she had built up snapped to fire as months of repressed vigor and vitality poured out of me in heavy ropes. Neither of us had been ready for it, as I saw her eyes near bug out as cum flooded her mouth. But it was like a pressure seal had suddenly been made, muscles contracting and convulsing around my pole as I bucked and tried to drive myself deeper into that suckling maw of hers. I didn’t even see a dribble from her mouth as each pulse was met with a swallow, each spurt greedily taken before she pulled away, coughing slightly, from the surprise rather than the payload I suspected.

The first thought that entered me was one to apologize for the lack of warning but that was swiftly squashed as I felt her hands squeezing mine against her cheek. She was smiling at me, looking so very pleased with herself before she slid across me, heavy breasts briefly encompassing my member in a way that I immediately wished had remained, bringing her face back to mine.

“Was that pleasing enough?” She coyly asked while still turning her face into a nuzzle against my palm. My other hand had to come to join it, carefully holding cheeks in my hands as I tried to summon any kind of wording to express just how I felt in that moment. I pulled her down to me and crammed my lips against her sensitive nose as she’d taught me. I heard that roiling growl simmer down to a pleased, almost silent hiss.

“Heaven save me, Sunny.” I managed to breathe as I pulled away. “You are gonna kill me if you do that to me again... I don’t even know how you managed that...”

“Merely did as asked.” She said, her shoulders lightly shrugging from her position atop me. I felt her shift more and more until a sudden broiling heat hovered against my member. “Do... Can you still...?”

That shy hesitance she had this morning came back, even as she was poised and primed to drop. She still waited, eyeing me. I gasped for some breath, feeling the life in me desperately try to claw its way back. I had no need for help to keep myself erect, the look in her eyes, the warmth of her body and her general presence being miles away enough. My hand left her briefly before pointing past my head, unable to even shift my neck with the exhaustion that wracked me for the moment. “If I could have some water, first.... Then... Yes. God above, yes, I can still do it.”

She seemed to understand, leaning and reaching well out of my view and grabbing the gallon jug I’d brought with me and held it up for me. Summoning what strength I had, I began to sit up, her tail sliding up behind me to offer me some kind of support that I was ever so grateful for. The cap came off and I drank deeply of the water, letting the cloying dryness in my mouth wash away. Gasping after a few heavy gulps, I offered the jug to her which she seemed likewise grateful for. As she drank I wondered if she was just as thirsty or if it was to wash the taste of spunk from her senses. I’d imagine her nose and tongue being connected as they were for her, whether she liked it or not, might’ve been overbearing.

Once we both had settled our breathing and drank our fill, I capped the jug and slid it away before looking back at her. The hiss had shifted to that roiling growl once more, though the sound didn’t match her softened and gentle eyes. Shifting myself up just a bit more, I waved my hands at her head to bring her closer. Without a word, she drew near and I cupped her cheeks as she so clearly enjoyed, and began to gently press my lips against her sensitive spots. This had the effect that I wanted as she began to swivel and swirl her body around us. Her hands found my shoulders again as she pressed into me, wanting the affection more and more with each passing kiss.

Eventually, I had to pause, her nose tucking under my chin and pressing into my neck, tongue flickering all across me as she took in my scent and taste. I must’ve had something good with how she was crushing me against her. My hands pat her sides to catch her attention one more time, drawing her head back. “So... How would you like this to happen?” I asked.

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His question caught her by some surprise, as she didn’t quite know what he meant. She just assumed that she’d position herself and spear herself onto him as her dreams and instincts often had enticed her with. But that seemed almost fickle and lackluster after everything that’s happened between them. The way his hand had so swiftly driven her to her mind numbing, body seizing climax. How her gentle ministrations and, evidently powerful, finishing blow of putting him between her lips had caused such an intense reaction from him and nearly choked her in surprise with his own finish.

She quietly leaned down to regard him with all of the emotion she was feeling. She couldn’t place a word to it, the warmth that sat beside her heart and the terrible panging fire in her loins. How when he looked at her it sent blossoming tingles across her scales. His touch that had made her feel so cared for and safe. Her jaw shifted as she realized he was waiting for a response. And as she thought longer on it, she realized what she wanted. Her tail began to maneuver beneath him, going to help push him back to a sitting position and give her space to scoot backwards.

She pressed her back against the far rear doors of the van, perpetually locked as Gus one told her. They squeaked in protest as she leaned her weight against them and displayed herself for her human mate. She saw the look on his face, something akin to a ‘Puppy’ as she’d seen in their media. Wide eyes regarding her with the same wordless emotion boiling in her own chest. Coils settled around her as she outstretched her arms for him to come to her.

“Is this acceptable?” She asked, her growling of want unceasing in her throat. She was going to feel raw later if this pleased sound didn’t cease anytime soon, and she suspected it wouldn’t. The man before her dumbly nodded before slowly coming to meet her. She wanted to watch as it happened, to see his expression and hold him while they finished this whole affair together. It was so tender, so compassionate, nothing at all like the thoughts and words her sisters, and herself, had once talked about. This was far more than just mating. It was something unique, something blisteringly pleasurable beyond what she thought was possible.

His weight settled on her, the feeling of his girth twitching against her scales as he straddled her tail. No words exchanged as she brought her hands to his shoulders, pulling him closer to her until she was holding him down between her breasts in a tight hug. His height was absolutely perfect for this, as she felt his member trail against her folds and sent a shiver through her. He looked up at her, his hands squeezing her sides in a wordless request. Her response was to raise her hips to grind their genitals together, spreading her warm slickness to his own wettened tool.

Without any more incentive needed, one hand from her hips to position himself and he aimed carefully. The tip spread her open and he began to slowly descend, causing heat to surge through her stomach and pleasure hitting her mind in numbing waves until he had bottomed out. Despite the sheer size difference between them, his impressive endowment had perfectly seated within and touched the depths she’d never known to exist. Her growling had clipped to a squeaking hiss coupled with a full bodied shiver as she did all she could not to start shoving herself repeatedly against him.

He looked to be faring no better than her, eyes fluttering closed and teeth gritted so tight she feared he might chip them. It all ended in a throaty groan from him before he started to carefully remove himself until nothing but the tip remained and plunged back into her. Each thrust sent new heat coursing through her, each desperate squeeze of her body sending lightning to her mind. He had told her this whole affair was more than just mating. He had told her he wanted her to feel good. If this moment alone had been all he had shown her, she’d have believed him. But now, she knew that this was something she could’ve never had with just the express purpose of reproduction or some kind of quick stress relief.

His hands traveled up her body, stroking in between his thrusts, squeezing almost in tandem with a rhythm only he could hear. She did her best to match it, rocking her hips up to greet him but found that she was swiftly becoming weak and jellylike the longer it went on. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes felt like hours as they coupled together again and again.

Eventually, he had begun to do more than just mate her, his lips had found her breasts and a newly found sensation blasted her mind and caused her growling retort to return in full force. Her throat rumbled and vibrated as his tongue ran over her scaled mounds, at one point his teeth had gently clamped onto her and she had seized in place. The tightening of her body seemed to double his efforts as his pace picked up in speed and his fondling, groping and teething of her body continued with more fervor.

Her tail lashed in the van with near violent movements, slamming into the mounted shelving and the sliding side door. At some point, her tail had started to curl around the driver’s side seat, squeezing it until she saw the cushioned seat buckle and bend in place. It was the last thing on her mind as she was rapidly and almost harshly approaching another climax, her arms wrapping around her human.

That’s right. She thought for a moment as the feelings started to make sense. Talons raked down his back before wrapping in haphazard positions around his back, her head craning down to squeeze him even further as her jaw seized in place, tightening until she thought she would snap the flexible bones in her mouth. This is my human. Goose is mine.

That one simple thought had been the key to perhaps the most blinding pleasure she’d receive. Her loins tightened into a vice to stop him from even considering pulling away, her arms shifted, one hand pushing at his rear to force him into place and the other smothering his head into her chest. Then she felt it, that same throbbing force that’d splattered her throat with that warm, so pleasantly scented substance. A growl of his own rumbled into her bosom as she began to feel his thrusting turn to grinding, dumping everything left within him squarely into her belly. The heat was indescribable, the sensations pooling within her without measure and the sheer volume of relief that’d hit her had sapped any and all strength from her body.

No thoughts held in her mind, her growling lust simmering away into a weak and soft whistle. Her tightened embrace around him turning into the barest of loose grips, she felt herself slide and hit the corner of the van, gasping for breath as the world was filled with stars and strips of vivid color that told her she might’ve been holding her breath. The man held against her had likewise gone limp, weakly humping into her until his body simply didn’t have the energy left and nothing more left to give her.

Weakly holding onto one another and heaving for breath, they looked to one another. He was covered in sweat, hair clinging to his face and a smile on his face that looked so terribly happy.  She had no doubt her own expression was one of exhaustion, ultimate satisfaction and haggardness in its own right. There was a grunt that emitted from him as his head tilted down and he carefully pulled himself from her, the limp organ no longer held in the grip of pleasure. The sensation rippled one last beat of pleasure from her as the end of events dribbled out of her and onto their makeshift bedding.

Her tongue flickered in and out of her mouth, catching the scent of his seed, his musk, her own sickly sweet essence and the volume of hormones that escaped from both of them. She tried to engrain the memory of it all into her mind, carefully putting every detail she could away. There was a tired sigh that they both let out as they finally relaxed, exhaustion hitting in full and relief washing over the both of them. She tilted her head down just a bit more to see the man squirming to get comfortable and laying himself squarely between her large breasts with just enough room for his nose to still draw breath. He looked ready to fall back asleep, but his eyes lingered open with that same silent determination to continue the day. The same look he always had when he knew he couldn’t sit still.

“... Goose?” She rasped, gaining his attention and making his head shift up until he could look at her. “.... Thank you.”

From his position between her mounds, she could still tell that the words had struck home. His cheeks lifting in a way that told her he was smiling, confirmed as he shifted to raise up. His mechanical limbs carried him upwards, now towering over her by about a foot before his hands came up to cup her cheeks. He leaned down, his core quivering in an attempt to keep the position, and planted one more kiss on her sensitive heat spot. The warmth of his lips piercing the veil of tiredness.

“It was my pleasure, love.” He tiredly said before he practically fell back on top of her, arms hanging away as his chin laid on her breasts and his mop of hair hid away his face. Love.

That was the word that was missing. She’d heard it so many times before, from humans to other humans, from the movies and TV shows, from his games. From the books she read. Such a powerful word that was so innocuous to her. Her jaw worked up and down, trying to formulate a response before her arms wrapped back around him to squeeze and hold him in place. “Mine as well.... Love.”

As the word left her lips in such a tentative breath, she felt him shift, one eye peeking from behind the veil of dark hair. That amber eye told her more than she ever needed to hear in words, a lifting of his lids telling her that smile had returned. A hand patted her hip and he resumed his leisurely rest. Sunshine did the same, going to shift them both back onto the quilt, laying her head back as she stared at the ceiling of the van. The claws of sleep tried to steal her away, but she resisted with all of her might. Her eyes still closed, but she was determined to stay awake so they could continue the day. Something to focus on, anything to keep her awake. The thrum of the engine that still grumbled distantly from the van, the wheezing of the air vents giving their last breaths of warm air, the sensations of her nethers that trembled still with excited remnants still leaking from her.

That thought only served to heat her back up until she feared she’d begin to sweat somehow. And while the rather enthusiastic thought to ask him to mate with her again slid in, her even attempting to curl her belly was met with hoarse pangs of discomfort. She’d truly used all of the muscles she had. That would be what she’d focus on, writhing each and every part of her body she could, letting the pain of their fierce mating work through her to keep her awake. She didn’t know how long they laid like that, how long she moved to keep herself coherent, but eventually, the man started to rise from her.

“.... Think you’re satisfied?” He asked, straddling her once again. His genitals had shrunk down to a diminutive size compared to what had previously been spearing her, a wonder how it’d really even gotten so large in the first place. A prideful thought came that it was entirely her fault for its engorgement. A firm nod followed her as he held out his metal hands for her to take. Rather than that, she rose up and planted her head into them, wanting to feel that padded warmth of his mechanical digits. Her tongue flickered again. Oil, leather, earth and now... herself. It all blended on him into an aroma she’d found quickly intoxicating now. “.... Sunshine...? I know I might’ve done well, but I don’t think the littlest soldier can fight any longer....”

His words had plucked an exact string of humor he’d given her over their time together, causing her to weakly chuckle. Her hands rose to meet his and he carefully pulled her up to a reasonable position. He started to get dressed, looking at his shirt she had rather aggressively torn into and sighing but still putting it on. She looked around for her own clothing, lazily swinging her head from side to side. She felt her shirt she wore be tugged back down over her chest, turning back around to see Gustave having more or less gotten himself back in right order, save for the clear wobble in his posture and the lack of his leather long coat.

He had such a happy look on his face now. It made her belly burn with that same fire from before, different from the one that’d spurred this whole encounter, but no less pleasing to her body. At last, despite the length of time that’d passed, she found her voice. “I am very satisfied. You were right, Goose. Mating can be..... Quite the experience. Is all of your.... Kinds mating like that?”

“Depends on the pair, I suppose...” He said as he snuck out of her coils to find his coat at the front of the van, going to turn the key and shut the machine off for the final time. He had a briefly solemn look on his face before it faded away with a pat to the dashboard and a toss of the key to the absolutely ruined seat. He looked at it as he pulled away, no doubt connecting how it’d ended up bent as it was. “Usually that kind of intensity comes from... Well, excitement, of course, but also... y’know... Couples. People who’re... in love with one another. Or feel very strongly for the other.”

The words seemed to embarrass him as he slipped his coat on and pulled his hair back. Her head tilted left and right before she drummed up the courage to ask the question beating in her heart. “.... Are... Are we in love?”

His whole posture changed over a matter of seconds. Where it’d been tired and a bit sluggish, now it was upright and almost military in how he held himself. His eyes searched for a moment, a deadpan expression that nearly made her heart stop before it split away into a smile. His fingers drew along the hem of his coat before he turned to face her.

“Depends, I guess... Do you love me?” He finally retorted. Sunshine stared intently at him, that same warming smile he always had. That confidence to face things that came at him with a dogged tenacity. And that damned disarming sincerity he used against her like a weapon of war. She chuffed, a thing she’d seen him do many times now, an action that seemed to amuse him as he raised a brow.

“I.... I am thinking... Perhaps I do.” She said with finality as she finally found her coats and began to put them on, one over the other. As the second coat slipped over her form and she adjusted her clothing to be comfortable, she found a pair of metal hands coming to help zip her up to her neck.

“Then I think we are, hun.” His words tore her vision up to look at him with a hope in her eyes she prayed he didn’t pick up on. A futile prayer as she saw the look in his eyes before his hands tilted her head down, another kiss to that warming spot on her nose. “Love you too, Sunny.”

Just like that, worries vanished. Heat, confidence and a fury that threatened anyone or anything to take this moment and feeling away all boiled over as she felt moisture drip from her face. And for once, the feeling wasn’t her own as she saw the ever cheery cybernetic man bring up a hand to wipe not only her eyes, but his own.

“C’mon. We have work to do, Sunshine. And a new home to find.” Exhaustion in her bones were gone, pain in her muscles faded to weak aches and renewed vigor filled her head as she watched him slide the door open and hold out a hand to her. She took it firmly and followed him out without a second thought. Only for her to suddenly begin quaking and move to scrunch down and cover her pelvis with her hands. “Oh fuck, right, let’s get you cleaned up first...!”

New humble beginnings awaited both of them, one clumsy step at a time. And she couldn’t be happier about it.

Chapter Text

The grasslands blew harshly as the heavy jets of the skyranger roared against them. The engines burned the foliage that was unlucky enough to be right where it settled in place. Marching boots were out on gravel and grass before long, the heavy rear door of the transport roughly seating itself against the earth. Out poured six separate soldiers outfitted with magnetic weaponry, their varying armor and thick combat helmets. The first two stepped out, hefting massive cannons, the humming energy whirring as they examined the area. The heavy E.X.O Suits they wore made moving with and shifting the intimidating tool of war easier, allowing them to march forward as they simultaneously scanned the area.

The next pair were wrapped in basic predator armor, giving them a pleasant mixture of resistance and mobility, allowing them to get in close with their shard guns. One carried a heavy looking axe that was well worn but still carried a wicked edge, the other an arc blade that sat dormant on their back. 

The second to last walked out with a drone hovering over their shoulder, equipped much the same as the last two, but carrying a standard mag rifle in place of a shotgun.

The final one stepped out carrying a Mag rifle same as the previous, but their helmet had a long opaque mask covering their face as opposed to the gasmasks and goggles each other soldier wore. Thin, near invisible, strands of wisping purple energy flicked across their finger tips as they marched out, rifle resting on their shoulder.

“ Fisher Squad, this is roughly where the readings centered around. The last energy signature we got was four days ago, but the traces are still being picked up. ” The radio crackled in each of their helmets. “ Be advised, if this energy source is what we think it is, you are authorized to use force, but to keep the target intact. Just look for anything that glows or looks at you funny, then bag it. ”

A collective snort and snigger filtered through the squad as they moved towards the farm house through the grass. The heavies took up the front position, the two rangers following close behind with the Psi-Operative and the Specialist watching their rear. When they finally breached out of the grass, one of the rangers lazily hacked through a barbed wire fence to do so, they all paused at the sight in front of them. Bodies. And a lot of them. The Specialist pulled up their radio while the rest fanned out and gingerly approached forward.

“Command, this is Fisher, Cobra requesting confirmation, are you seeing this....?” Cobra asked, their voice denoting them as a young man. He stepped over a corpse, gently prodding it with his foot. “We’ve got corpses. A lot of them. Most look civilian, but they could’ve been resistance as some are bearing tactical vests and body armor. Plenty of bullet casings around too...”

“ Confirmed, Cobra, we see them. This is what the command was afraid of, what else can you spot? ” The voice filtered through. Cobra turned and regarded the rest of the area in a wide panning sweep. His wrist came up and he tapped a few commands on the PDA before the Gremlin-Class drone swept into the sky and began to ping scans all across the field. As he went to work, the Psi-Operative commanded the heavies to take a look at the barn while the rangers swept the house.

“Looks like nothing but a destroyed home, Command. One building with visible and severe damage on the outside, possibly inside. A Barn that’s been damaged by some kind of explosion from the inside, judging by the direction the debris is in. And abandoned cars, a few lined up like a pseudo barricade.” Cobra listed off, walking a few steps and peeking over the hood of a truck that had a mounted turret stripped of ammo. “There’s a small cluster of destroyed Army trucks a bit beyond the road, looks like the majority burned out. There’s a handful of bodies over there as well.”

A low sigh escaped from the radio. “ Copy, Fisher Squad. Keep up your investigation. Let’s not rule out the possibility these folks weren’t just simple resistance or civilians, but keep it in mind. ”

The Psi-Operative’s voice entered the radio next, wispy and almost androgynous in tone. Had Cobra not known that the psionic soldier was a woman, he may’ve never even guessed. “This is Jail Break, I’m finding signs of livestock, chickens specifically. None that can be seen, however.”

Her voice had a ghostly tone to it that always set Cobra on edge. Cobra had turned in place, looking towards the buildings again. Jail Break was walking around the edge of the barn, waving a hand at the pair of Rangers as they exited the house, giving the sign for all clear. His eyes traced over what appeared to have once been some kind of garden, though the plants had all withered in the winter air. “This is Hammer and Nail, residence shows signs of living, but it’s too small to be more than a small family, only two bedrooms.” He heard the two rangers report, specifically Nail was speaking.

“Cricket and Hardcase here.” Spoke out the first of the twins, the heavy units that were always front and center for any conflict that they were directed towards. The one speaking was Cricket, the man, while his sister Hardcase remained silent. She wasn’t ever a talker. “We got something you all might want to see. Cobra, get to the barn with your Gremlin and show Command what we’ve got.”

Cobra wasted no time, shouldering his rifle and jogging to the barn with all the haste he could muster. The two heavies stepped out while the rangers joined him, leaving the close range units to keep him safe as he investigated and the more suppressive forces to protect their exterior. As his feet crunched through bullet casings, wood shards and a number of other debris, he spotted a corpse laying on the ground. Multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, likely died moments later. But that wasn’t the part that had intrigued him, the heavies had pulled out a large plastic tote that had numerous prosthetic limbs inside.

As the Gremlin shifted its focus, he began to pull them out and examine them each in great detail. Thighs, caves, forearms, biceps, hands, fingers, foot plates, uncountable screws and bolts, tubes for hydraulics and so much more than the poor specialist was familiar with. He had seen the false limbs on others back at base before, but this was an insane amount for people to have. They all roughly came out to the same size, most were severely damaged however. One in particular caught his eye, a whole leg yet to be disassembled that’d been bent harshly at terrible angles.

“Command...?” Cobra barely started before a response buzzed through his helmet.

“ We see them, Cobra... Hold for a moment. ” The radio briefly was filled with conversation before a new voice picked up, this one no less garbled, but more recognizable as the head engineer, Lily Shen. He could recognize that voice easily with how often he saw her about repairing his drone and upgrading it. “ Cobra, can you zoom in on that limb for me? Look for any insignia that might not be damaged or scratched off, I need to confirm something. ”

He did as he was ordered, carefully turning the bent metal leg over and over, searching for anything that’d be a signifier until he looked at the connection plate, eyeing a series of markings. Instantly, the voice chirped in his ear. “ Oh my god, no way... That's the first generation. ” 

“Is that a... Good thing?” Cobra asked only to wince slightly as the voice almost shouted into his ear.

“ It’s insane that those even exist! First generation prosthetics were used for MEC Soldiers at the start of the war, made right before HQ was assaulted and we had to scatter. They were only in production for a few months, but they helped with countless missions across the board according to my father’s old work and Central’s reports.” She rambled before continuing on the point she was trying to make. “They were discontinued after production was lost, unfortunately, most of the former pilots were either retired or died in the line of duty. Their Suit blueprints, however, are what were used in the creation of the SPARK Units. That all being said, if there’s just a box of first gen limbs sitting around.....”

A long pause filled the air, some more muffled communication came before Shen returned. “ Fisher Squad, prepare to extract, but bring everything mechanical you can find on that property, every nut, bolt, screw, anything that looks remotely like it’d go to a machine. I’ll need to examine it all thoroughly to see if this is just a really freak coincidence. If Ockham’s Razor is right, Central’s worries might be founded. ”

“Affirmative, Command, we’ll gather everything we can and regroup.” Cobra stated, feeling a bit underwhelmed by this rather short mission. But at the mention of the SPARKs he had a sudden sinking feeling in his stomach. Those were towering, heavily equipped machines built for going toe to toe with the scariest of ADVENT’s forces. He breathed out a few words of concern as he dropped the leg back into the crate and picked it up. “Hopefully, Central’s wrong for once....”

``````````````````````

Sunshine and I had been traveling for a little over a week with Nicholas’ caravan, usually only stopping when we had to sleep, break for eating or refuel. Occasionally we’d make a pit stop at a town that looked relatively safe to drive through. As of today, we stopped once inside a small abandoned podunk that had about as much as someone might expect. The only stores in town had nearly nothing to offer outside of a handful of undamaged cans of food and a tiny selection of taco spice packets, somehow left undisturbed.

The sheer volume of constant driving had taken a hard toll on Sunshine more than me. My mechanical limbs offered me a modest amount of comfort as I could effectively lock everything into place, although my back would oftentimes be my main source of complaints. For her, it was like she was being boxed in. The only way I was able to help her was by letting her lay across my lap as I drove, her head resting on my left arm while my right stayed firmly on the steering wheel. Another benefit of my cybernetics was I never suffered from sleeping limbs. Prime property for pets, or your giant serpent lover’s head.

This was the position I had found myself in for the last three hours. Snake on lap, hand on steering wheel, foot on pedal. We had woken up, ate, stretched and exercised a bit so that our bodies wouldn’t feel shriveled after a full day of riding in a car. Nicholas had told us this morning that we’d be approaching an intersection that’d be where we’d split ways if we truly didn’t want to try and find any kind of solace out in the eastern states and cities.

I could feel a grimace forming on my lips. A glance down to the sleeping serpent on my legs reminded me of why I was even driving along with the caravan in the first place. I was still largely undecided on if it was a good idea. The thought of going and being, no doubt immediately, found out for what I was didn’t sit right with me. Another came to mind of what’d happen to Sunshine, if she’d be immediately taken away from me and put into one of these ‘Detention Camps’. The mental image that grew forced the already wide frown deeper down my lips. My free hand protectively curled around the large head cuddling into my stomach, a delighted hiss emitting as I pulled her just slightly closer to myself.

In reality, I couldn’t tell if my own paranoia was just painting the future a lot more bleak or if things just might’ve been that bad. My logic comes to the conclusion that if camps existed for the aliens that may’ve been like Sunshine, truly free and no longer loyal, then XCOM wouldn’t just start executing them. That’s what I hoped at least. The longer I ran through the many scenarios, good and bad, the more I felt myself growing steadily unsure of the whole situation. My experience told me to just buckle down and wait. Find a place to get situated and watch the whole scenario unfold, that way we could choose if we wanted to join in whatever efforts may’ve been put in place.

Sunshine had been quite encouraging of the idea. She didn’t believe things were going to be nearly as harsh as I did, evidently having become the optimist between us, but did think earring on the side of caution was the best course of action. Her thoughts were that even if things were going in a better direction as a whole, XCOM hadn’t fully purged the ADVENT presence out of the country yet. No doubt things like Chryssalids and berserking mutons were in the wild now, hybrid soldiers were still very much a problem if any had chosen to maintain their directives and there were still plenty of people like the bandits to be wary of.

My mind shot back to the bandits as my thoughts wandered to them, flashes of the red mist that’d decorated my suit and the earth fresh as they’d been when it happened. It made me wonder what those three we let go were doing. If they survived and escaped, if they saw the rest of their cohorts get demolished. I didn’t think about it terribly long as I saw the caravan slowing down to a halt at an incoming intersection.

The road signs had all been chopped down and piled together beneath an erected, thrown together sign made of wood and plastic. In bold letters it said:

RESISTANCE CAMP THIS WAY And pointed straight down the road without turning.

FREE CITIES, BE PREPARED TO BE SEARCHED Pointed to the left and in noticeably fresher ink than the other two options. It’d been painted over the old wording in a different color so much so I couldn’t tell what it said before. 

DEAD LANDS, CAUTION Pointed to the right, causing my eyes to drift towards that side of the road. Dead lands made me think that there must’ve been something out there that was dangerous. It could also be a misdirection, but I don’t know if the risk was worth it.

The last marking was just a warning of, ironically, bandits pointing the way we’d come from. I saw Nicholas get out of his truck and start to head towards me while everyone else piled out to get in some quick stretches and little jogs around in circles. I carefully shook Sunshine awake, a little easier than usual given how cramped she was. “Wake up, butter cup. We stopped for a bit, go and get some moving time in and stretch those scales.” I told her, giving her head a soft pat.

She said nothing, just leaning up to press her nose into my chin, tongue flicking against my neck briefly before she pulled away and did as I bade her. I undid my seatbelt and slipped out of the truck with a hop, only sparing a passing glance at the slithering grace behind me. Nicholas was at my bumper by the time I settled on my feet, wobbling briefly as my center of balance skewed just slightly. An amused laugh lifted his lips before a firm slap to my shoulder was given. Thankfully, not the one I’d been recovering from. New stitches and a fresh bandage had done wonders to the healing process, but I’d rather not test that.

“Gustave, my boy! It’s that time, I suppose... Are you certain you won’t try to come with us?” He asked, worry pressing his brows together and his big beard just barely unable to hide the growing frown. “I know you’re worried about your friend. But from everything we’ve heard, they’re being treated fairly as the situation can handle. Entire blocks given to them for housing, plenty of food, education...”

“I know, Nick, but... I got this gut feeling it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I don’t know where it’s coming from. We plan on eventually coming to find you all, but for the while going forward, until we get more information, we think this is the best option for us. After all, I’m effectively a criminal and she’s an alien invader, so....” I shrugged my shoulders, watching him sigh and run a hand over his balding head. “Like the start of a bad joke, huh?”

“A deserter and an Alien walk into a bar.” He mumbled, earning a laugh from the both of us. We sat in silence for a few minutes after that, both turning to face the crowd gathered in the streets. Children were having a quick recess with one another, even going as far as to pull Sunshine into the mix of it all. It was astonishing to me how swiftly they’d all grown to accept her. The adults were still cautious, but no longer rigid. Jessie even smiled at her once in a while. And the children absolutely adored her.

They always asked for her to play with them, asking her what she could do, sometimes overwhelming the poor viper with their enthusiasm. It’d helped Sunshine open up a lot as well, telling them all kinds of things about her life with me and more or less not talking about what she’d done working with ADVENT. Always the excuse being that ‘The connection broke memories’. A fine excuse, as it seemed to make sense to the children and even kept the others from asking themselves. A warm smile plastered across my lips as I watched her and the rest mingle.

She’d pick a few up in her arms, swirling around in a circle before setting them down, letting the smaller ones climb onto her tail and use it as a makeshift slide. She’d even play a kind of exaggerated peek-a-boo with her hood, making silly faces, as silly as she could anyway, at them and waggling her tongue like she was using one of those party favor horns. Despite her sheer size all of her movements, all of her actions, were so very gentle. Like each child was made of glass.

“They’re going to miss her, y’know.” Nicholas started, looking at me. “Sunshine’s all they talk about in the cars, drives Jessie nuts. All these questions, all of these requests...”

My head lowered to look at my feet, my boots wearing out enough that I could see the leather fraying around where the rounded corners of my feet were.

“Yeah... She’s probably gonna miss them too. She tells me how much she wishes she could’ve met you guys instead of the people she had before me.” I spoke, fondly remembering the nights before around the fire, her staring at the children as they played and smiling so happily. Like their joy was all she needed. “Were she a human before ADVENT showed up, I bet you anything she’d have made an excellent teacher.”

“What, you don’t think over twenty feet of a snake woman wouldn’t make a good kindergarten teacher?” Nicholas asked, sounding almost incredulous before we both started to laugh. It was enough of a laugh that my stomach actually hurt, my mind putting the viper into a rather corny looking teacher’s outfit, some comically sized cat eye glasses on her nose and a bunned up wig. My grin didn’t leave even as we finished hollering, bringing up a thumb to wipe my eyes. “We’re all gonna miss you too, Gus.”

“I know... I’m gonna miss you guys too. Best customers I ever traded with!” I said, giving the man a playful smile and a soft nudge to his side. He chuffed and gave me a small shove in return.

“More like robbed! All of my cumin and paprika! You’re lucky you helped us with dinner those nights we stayed at your property.” Another chuckle emerged from my lips as I waved my hands in front of myself as if it’d stay his mock anger. “But either way... You know you’ll be welcomed by us when you decide to come along. Both’a you.”

“I appreciate that more than you know, Nick. Be sure to tell Martha my goodbyes.” I said, starting to walk back to the truck. As I swung the door open and hopped in, I heard him speak up again.

“Not gonna say it yourself?”

“I don’t do well with them, I’m afraid. Ugly cryer.” My retort stole one last mirthful snort from the portly man as he raised a hand to wave one more time. “Be safe getting there, Nicholas. If I can ever find a way to send some communication, I’ll gladly stay in contact.”

“You best, Gus, or the kids won’t let me ever hear the end of it.” He said, finally turning in place to start moving. His voice opened up into a whistle to start bringing everyone together, a finger raised and circling in the air as their collective sign to wrap things up. I heard a loud series of whines and bemoans come from the clutter of kids that surrounded Sunshine. 

I didn’t need to hear the words that came next, Nicholas walking up beside her and giving her a soft pat on her wide hip. His lips moved and instantly I saw all of the kids gasp and storm her like she was a castle being sieged. To say she fell like a tree in the forest was an understatement as she was practically tackled into the ground. The adults had to come and wrangle the children away, tears being shed, promises being asked, final goodbyes being given. I felt a bit bad, sitting in the truck as I was, but a part of me felt that she needed the social interaction more than I.

In the end, it seemed a lot harder for Sunshine than the children, the ways he carefully wrapped each one in a hug before scooting them off, delicately picking up one or two of the tinier, younger ones at a time in the same way. A few hands shook hers and then she was left largely alone, only pausing to give Nicholas an all encompassing hug. I could see the man’s look of surprise from my position, toothily smiling as I saw him blustering and doing his best to try and hug her in return. Jessie even came out, giving her a firm two handed handshake.

In mere moments, I watched as the cars loaded up and prepared to move out before lazily taking the turn to their, hopefully better, new life. Sunshine sat in the road, watching with big eyes and a lightly waving hand as the cars rolled out of view. I had no need to rush her, resting my arms on the steering wheel as I saw the last dust cloud lifting over the horizon. One of her hands came up to rub at her face before she turned to slither back to me, coming to the driver’s side to come up to me through the still open door. Those ruby eyes were a bit wet, not quite dropping tears, but on the verge if left unchecked. I leaned over and took her chin in my palm, giving her a gentle smooch right between her eyes that reflexively closed them.

“We’ll see them again, Sunshine.” I told her, waving for her to come inside. She nodded in my grasp before pulling away and closing my door. Seconds later she was entering her side, getting all of herself comfortable before sliding over to her usual position, this time, however, her head came up to rest on my shoulder and her arms hooked around my back. “.... I’m sorry we’re not going with them. They aren’t that far, we can still catch up, if you want.”

“I know...” Her words came in a quiet huff. “But you were right. We don’t know enough. And if our fears... are justified? I don’t want to... be taken away. Separated. I’d not see you.... Or them. Or anyone for probably...a long long time.”

Her arms squeezed around me just a bit tighter as my own arms came up around her, trying to soothe her heavy shuddering shoulders. She settled down after a minute or two of stroking her neck, the gesture enough that she pulled away and settled herself into my lap. It was hard to think about how things had gotten here, the time we’d spent together, the misery we’d overcome and now effectively on the run from threats real and possibly imagined. A heavy, low sigh emitted from her as she’d settled into place. “Do you want to watch something on the Laptop while I drive...? You’ve been sleeping quite a bit.” I asked, receiving a shake of her head in response.

“Can you continue to... pet my head? I’d rather be awake... and relaxing than bored.... And watching.” I gave a small nod, my left hand going to work at her request while the other put the truck in gear and started us back up onto our new life. We couldn’t go towards the cities, resistance camps were no-go’s, especially if we were going to be settling somewhere. I pulled the map out of my coat, new markings from both my own information and Nicholas’ more expansive set.

Checking the local area we were at, I scanned the surrounding area. The cities were in the direction they’d gone, denoted with a haphazardly drawn series of buildings. It was well away from a previously built one, but that wasn’t too surprising. It was shockingly close as well, all things considered, maybe a full day before you got to it. The way ahead likewise had a small little tent with a flag for the Resistance camp. Finally, the dead lands. I traced the road, but found no symbols in that direction whatsoever save for one. Just a question mark beside a town that wasn’t terribly far away. I frowned, looking at it intently. It was at this point Sunshine had raised her head to see what I was doing, my lack of petting causing a small huff from her.

“.... We are going there?” She asked, seeing where my eyes lingered. When I grimaced and gave a small shrug, she took a closer look. “Are you worried? Think there’ll be trouble?”

“I’m not sure, is the thing. Dead lands usually means that there’s something in there that’s hazardous, like how we call the metropolises that fell ‘Dead Cities’ though in those cases it’s more of a double meaning.” I muttered, bringing up my hand to pinch at my bottom lip as I thought. I couldn’t get the unshakable feeling that we’d find something worth in there, if it was marked as ‘Dead Lands’ that meant most folks save for only the weathered and most equipped would dare to venture inside. But that likewise meant anyone we did find in there would no doubt be a lot more trouble than most would be. Even more so if there was a group.

“Where else could we.... Try and go?” She asked, sliding up a bit more to glance at the map. “What about here...? This is the forest, yes?” 

Her finger poked a dark green patch that expanded in a wide blotch across the map. I raised an eyebrow at that, humming faintly. “Well, a forest wouldn’t be a bad idea at all, but we’d have no shelter unless we found like... a Fire watch tower or an abandoned cabin. Or a cave.”

She thrummed in thought, dragging her finger away around the edges. “Then what of around? Surely there are places.... That we could stay?”

“Also not a bad thought, my only concern would be how out in the open it’d be compared to much else.... Ideally, we’d find another home like we had. I can’t imagine we will, not one that was as pristine as we had.” I sighed, leaning back in my seat hard enough it creaked and rustled the bags behind it. “I just don’t know, Sunny... We have everything to start a new life, easy, but we don’t have any idea of where to go...”

“.... We could always just.... As you say... ‘Wing it’.” She offered, looking at me. I raised an eyebrow at her before it drooped into place and had me thinking more seriously on that. It’d be risky, with how much we were hauling with us. But without a plan, what choices did we really have? Gamble for places we know nothing about or gamble on the road for what we might find.

“I suppose that’s one of the better options, really... What do you think? Should we just wing it then?” I said, giving her a small grin. A firm nod followed before she took the map from my hands, folding it carefully and then putting it away into my coat pocket. All of that effort was done so that the moment she laid her head back down onto my legs, she took hold of my hand and planted it on her head. “.... You just wanted to make a choice for this, huh...”

I got no response save for that thrumming hiss. My eyes closed while a deep sigh came and went. I took my foot off the brake and settled it onto the gas, hearing the puff of exhaust start our journey once again. The gentle turn tilting us both, nearly sliding more of her against me than necessary. My eyes focused on the road, making sure any obstacles were driven around when possible. “Here’s hoping we’re not on the road for months...”

````````````````

Chief Lily Shen paced around her department, glaring intensely at the pile of parts that were the living proof of her father’s genius. She’d run test after test, disassembled and reassembled pieces, put things together, finding that she was missing some crucial components to these limbs. That was no doubt why they were locked away in a plastic box in a barn. It infuriated her. Who could just leave such incredible things to rust away? Of course, she had an idea of who it was.

John ‘Central’ Bradford was the one who’d enlisted her help on this mission, telling her it wasn’t one he wanted the commander to know about quite yet. Of course he had told them all they wanted to know, but deemed it secondary to their reclamation of the states. The details being that this was possibly a rogue MEC soldier from years before. She raised a hand to run through her black hair, staring at the identifiers within the connecting plate. This was what was bothering her.

MECS.LMB-Mk.1-P0

A Mark One Prototype. The first soldier ever turned into a cybernetic warrior. A pioneer. Her eyes glanced over to the open manilla folder with the appearance of a tannish man with semi-long wavy black hair. Amber eyes and a rugged amount of stubble that told her he must’ve been quite young when he joined up. He was close to, if not in his forties by now. She leaned over and pulled it closer, staring intently at the details once again.

“Gustave Wylder, Code name Goose. Formerly a support class soldier who achieved the rank of Sergeant before augmentation. Grievous injury in the field, vitals stable enough after recovery to attempt augmentation.” She grimaced, sifting through the graphic details of his horrible injuries he’d sustained. Torn apart by a Muton and exploded by a grenade. She thought to herself, worrying her lip between her teeth. How did he even survive the first half, let alone the following procedure...?

She continued to read on, noting down his response to augmentation. “Paitent has recovered well, having adjusted to the phantom sensations and is quickly adapting to moving and manipulation with his new cybernetics. Suspect that he’ll be active within the week. A week, huh...? Meld must’ve been some shit if it could’ve put a man back together and let him get right into a big metal suit.”

Her eyes glossed over the rest of the report on how it had affected his pre-existing conditions and worsened them to a degree on top of creating new ones, unique to him alone. The psychiatric and therapy treatments he underwent to fix them, how they had stagnated. And then the final part of his notes, following a promotion to lieutenant, of how he’d gone AWOL and abandoned the mission at the very end of it.

Foot notes were made with pencil and pen in the blank spaces of the paper that had caught her attention, whose handwriting she couldn’t say, though she had a feeling it may’ve been the doctors who had been treating him at the time. “Suspecting that cognitive functions were overridden due to mental instability, the soldier attempted to finish the mission, carrying his wounded squadmates and the recovered intel to the evac before displaying very erratic behavior and disembarking from the skyranger before it could close. Was seen sprinting away as far and as fast as the suit would allow.” She mumbled, looking over the paper. “One week was spent attempting recovery and medical treatment before he was deemed MIA, possibly KIA, due to moving into a Chryssalid nesting zone.”

The paper was put back into the folder, leaving the picture staring back at her. He had a smile on his lips, a thin one, but it looked genuine as it reached his eyes. A pang shot in her heart at the thought of such a look of life being sapped away by grievous injury and constant war. Some part of her mind hoped this wasn’t this poor man, that he’d found peace at last somewhere out there. But sadly, she had a feeling that this man was the exact target they were looking for. There was too much evidence that’d been given to her. Between photos snapped of the massive entrenched footprints that matched treading on blueprints, the thumb sized cartridges that littered the field and the corpses alone.

She grimaced again, pinching her eyes shut to push the mental image out of her mind. Like popped water balloons. A thought that roiled bile up her throat for just a brief second. She shifted her attention to what had even tipped them off in the first place, one of their radars having picked up a very familiar signature. The presence of a Meld based energy cell. It had been faint at first but quickly became very prominent, enough that they were able to roughly pin the location within a thousand feet of the area. A quick scouting with a skyranger had allowed them to spot a small home that they suspected may’ve been the housing location.

And now they are gone. Run off and not yet being seen again. Likely not to be seen for a while either. Central had told her it was their duty to make sure that this man hadn’t just simply snapped and gone on a rampage, that his cybernetics hadn’t somehow gone haywire after reactivating his suit and his mental condition had just caused him to start fighting what he perceived as threats. His biggest worry was that if this man had been frayed to the last string, he may go after survivor encampments or alien detainment zones. And no one needed to say what a metal titan wielding a mini-gun with bullets longer than a hand could do on their own. They’d seen the evidence.

Frankly, it was a wonder why this wasn't a higher priority, though once again Central had had an answer for that as well. He’d been missing for five whole years and this was the first instance they’d seen a signature of that kind since they’d retired the last of their MEC soldiers, and since it had disappeared that meant that the suit had been powered off once again. He had theories, but he said he hoped most of them were wrong. If the signature came back, they’d be on it like green on grass, but until then, they had to direct their resources to tangible efforts.

Her eyes shut, resting her elbows on the table and her face into her hands. Finger tips rolled against the corners of her eyes as she muttered to herself. “Let’s just hope he’s not snapped and this was purely self defense....” She said before sitting upright to get to work. If they wanted to find this man, or even try to track him down, they’d need something specialized or at the very least, a trail to follow. So without much more to think about, she turned to march to her lab and begin drafting.

````````````````

Over the past week of travel, Sunshine and I had very quickly found out why this area was called the Dead Lands. It wasn’t because of some great threat or lingering hazardous material, it was just legitimately a place of scorched earth, sometimes literally. Towns were effectively wiped off the map, remnants being piles of concrete and house frames. Roads were all but destroyed, more like black gravel pathways you could drive on more than poured asphalt. Sometimes the foliage was so blatantly thick and overgrown we had to just risk riding through to find another somewhat maintained place to drive.

It was the Dead Lands because nothing was left here.

But the warning of caution had made me nervous as I rode through the remnants of yet another ruined town. This one seemed to have fared at least somewhat better than the previous four we’d seen. It had a couple of buildings that were still standing, somewhat intact save for shattered windows and somewhat crumbling corners. It was the best we’d found in the last two days, the entire week having been spent in the back of our truck, shivering and scrunching together for warmth more than usual. It’d been especially hard on Sunshine, the cold starting to finally get to her. If these places were safe, it’d at least mean a somewhat comfortable night of sleep.I slowed the truck down and parked it in front of the closest building that seemed the most structurally sound. I left the engine running in case something decided to jump out at us while I took a small look over it.

The sign had long since fallen away from the two-story building, windows were all broken out although some on the second floor looked blocked up by something. Probably some previous survivor or tenant trying to keep the elements at bay. The front of the shop was overgrown as they often were, but too dark for me to make anything out in the waning twilight of the setting sun.

“You stay here, alright, I’m going to check it out.” I started, feeling Sunshine grab my arm before I could start to go. “Sunshine, you know I can ha-”

I was interrupted by her pressing her snout straight into my lips, cutting off what I was saying. I felt that thin tongue of hers briefly run over my teeth before she pulled back and smiled warmingly at me. “I know you can. And remember, Goose. Less than Ten minutes. Come back or else... I’ll be coming in. And if I hear... Any struggle, I am... Going to come faster.”

“I’ll make it less than five, Sunny. This might be the best place we can stay for the night that’s not the bed of the truck or a shitty lean-to. Keep an eye out for anything or anyone and don’t be afraid to defend yourself.” I said, going to reach behind our seats to pull out the semi-auto shotgun Sunshine had given me from the pile of bandit’s weaponry. She said it was the same one Nicholas had used and had given back to her, citing ‘Too rich for my blood’ as he did. I double checked that the tube was full and checked the chamber, empty as it should’ve been. A swift pull and release of the charging handle got me prepared along with a swift pat down of my coat.

Knife on my belt, pistol under my arm, heart on my sleeve and steel balls in my drawers. I thought with a small chuckle to myself and my poor joke. Slipping out into the cold air, I pulled my scarf over my nose to cut the wind and tugged my beanie down until it almost covered my eyes. Turning on the flashlight I carried with me, I scanned the immediate area and didn’t see a single thing that’d wig me out. Knowing Sunshine had already started her timer the moment I’d entered the building, I went to work scanning the area. The weeds that’d started to grow inside softened my steps as I carefully walked through the run down building, taking note of its interior. It was an old electronics shop, TVs on the floor, radios decayed on the shelves and plenty of boxes of miscellaneous wires and doohickies.

A hand came up to tug my scarf down just enough so I could bite onto the end of my small flashlight, holding it steady as I raised the shotgun and began to sweep the area. I really didn’t feel like I needed to do this, given everywhere else we’d seen hadn’t had much more than some really big rats, most of which Sunshine had greedily gone after. The worst I think we saw was a single, frail dog that ran the moment we tried to get close. It didn’t even growl at us. But it was always better to be careful than to be sorry.

I found myself stepping straight to the back of the store after checking behind each of the counters and behind every shelf. Sunshine looked at me from the window and I gave her a thumbs up. She turned it before tapping her wrist, as I’d once shown her, and signaled my remaining time with three fingers. I nodded before heading towards the employee only door. My shotgun was tucked harshly into my shoulder, mechanical arms locking to hold it firmly aimed as I carefully opened and pushed the door open. Nothing.

Swinging myself inside, I saw a lot more nothing, though this part of the building was noticeably cleaner. Dust still layered the ground in all directions, but it wasn’t overgrown or rotting nearly as bad as the front was. There was a set of stairs leading to the second floor and a door that’d been busted off of its hinges leading to a spacious storage room. Looking into the storage, I saw a closed garage door and dozens of unopened boxes across the floor and shelving. Might be worth picking through tomorrow when it’s light outside. I thought to myself.

Gritting my teeth around my flashlight, I began to round myself to the staircase and carefully made my way up. As I started to ascend, I heard the floor creak beneath my weight, but nothing more. I got up to the door and carefully raised my hand to grab the handle and jiggle it. Locked. A sigh escaped me as I thought about blasting the lock off of the door. When I’d eventually decided it might not be a bad idea, as we could just prop it shut, I took a step back and aimed.

Then I heard it.

A clatter of debris. The sliding of dirt and dust falling and shifting. Something was behind me.

I spun in place, putting my military training into practice and took a step upwards as I backed from my possible assailant. Nothing. My eyes shifted and scanned the room, just in time to see something else that caused my shoulders to droop just a bit. There was a trail in the dust, a wide long pathway that started at the door I’d entered from and went straight into the storage area. Feeling just a bit relaxed, I called out.

“Shunny, dat you...?” My speech just a tiny bit slurred around the flashlight. I was going to start drooling around it if I wasn’t conscious about it. There was a bit more noise before I saw a familiar yellow face pop out from the corner. “Gahd, Shunny! Shcared meh haff t’deth!”

She rolled her eyes at me, slithering around to meet up with me, holding her assault rifle in her hands. “You weren’t back. So I came in.” She said plainly, making me wonder how much time I’d spent just looking around. Nothing seemed particularly out of place. “Did you find anything? Others, resources, candies maybe?”

I lowered my shotgun and pulled my flashlight from my teeth, pointing it at the ceiling. “Afraid not. That storage area might be good to check out when the light comes back in the morning, I suspect with the doors closed, a lot of the stuff might still be good. We might be able to find some replacements for all of the stuff we left behind!” I said with a hopeful smile on my lips. “Other than that... There’s a door upstairs that’s locked, I was gonna blow it open to check it out.”

“Blow it open? What if there are... People on the otherside...?” She asked, tilting her head at me. I opened my mouth before realizing she had a point. Even if it was extremely unlikely, it wouldn’t have hurt to at least knock just in case.

“Aah, you’re right, Sunny, as usual.” I muttered, turning on my heel to start walking back up the stairs. She followed after me, using her natural height advantage to maintain a look over my shoulder and a decent enough difference to allow her rifle some clearance if I just ducked down. As I got to the door, I raised a hand and gave it three heavy knocks. “Hello....? Is anyone alive in there? We’re just passerbys looking for a place out of the cold...!”

“You sound like bandits.” Sunshine deadpanned, looking at me.

“What!? It’s the truth! What am I supposed to say ‘Open Sesame’ and then grab the handle to-” I started, grabbing the door handle and jiggling it. Only this time when my hand jiggled it, the handle went down far farther without that stop partway down. I blinked and looked at the door. “..... This was locked...?” I said more as a question to myself than a fact.

Looking back at Sunny, her seeing my clear trepidation, she raised up just an inch more and flicked the safety off on her rifle. I crouched down for her sake and pushed the door open, looking inside. Neither of us held them up, just in case someone was inside. “Hello....?” I called out, bringing up my flashlight. “We really are just travelling...! Anyone...?”

I felt a chill run up my spine as nothing responded, yet still getting the undeniable sensation I was being watched. I looked over my shoulder at Sunny, once again repeating that two-finger-flick gesture at my lips. She caught it immediately, slipping her tongue out several times. She even leaned in past my own head, catching the air from the doorway.

“I smell old decay.... But nothing else. Someone died here long... long ago. They might be old... Clothing and bones, but... Nothing alive.... As far as I smell.” She said, slowly relaxing. I nodded and rose up, going to walk inside while she followed after. A creak spooked me, causing me to raise and level the shotgun on my forearm and spin in its direction. The only thing I saw was an old coat rack falling apart, the stand itself actively falling apart as I looked at it until it clattered to the ground, snapped in the middle. “You are easily spooked.”

“I am not!” I retorted, going to walk inside, twisting the flashlight in my hand to be able to sweep the area with my weapon as I looked around. The room was rather barren save for a few things to make living somewhat easier. Anything that might’ve been of value had long since been looted, desks had been demolished for parts and firewood, chairs had been left and seated around a barrel turned into a fireplace, windows had been boarded up and finally there was a series of what looked like bags of packing peanuts arranged in a pseudo bed.

Sadly, much to Sunshine’s accuracy with her nose, or tongue in this case, there was an old desiccated corpse in the corner, slumped on a chair. My expression fell into a quiet solemnness, my steps carrying over to them as I finally shoulder the strap of my shotgun. They had an old square bottle, its label had been worn away by time, and what might’ve once been their last meal. I wouldn’t know what killed them, but I offered a quiet few words that they were at peace. “Sunshine, you mind helping me haul this guy out and rip the boards off of one of these windows? I’d rather air this place out if we’re gonna spend the night.”

She gave me a nod and we spent the last few twilight hours we had getting the room prepped up a bit more than it already was. We took down the boards and tried to give some fresh air, throwing some old lumber into the barrel fireplace and getting it started with one of our trusty fire starter bricks, though only a tiny piece of it this time. Past that, I drove the truck somewhere a little more discrete behind the building and in an alley. The last thing we did was gather a handful of things to give our night at least a modicum of comfort. The laptop, a few DVDs, a good few MREs and lastly, our big blankets we’d been huddling in the past several days. Sunshine seemed ever thankful for just having the fire beside us, though she did grumble at not being able to completely close up the room.

I had begun to tell her, in a very long winded explanation, about how corpses could leave behind terrible airborne bacteria, but she shut me up very fast with a kiss and yanked me over to the fireplace to start helping her get the MREs prepared.

“You talk too much.” She had said, planting me down and passing me the few things that needed some hot water to start them off.

“And you talk too little!” I snorted, earning an amused chuff from her. That did make me wiggle my nose for a moment and made me look at her. “Why.. Is that, by the way? Is it something with how you were bred?”

Sunshine looked at me as I asked, in the middle of actively shaking a pair of drink bags. Frankly, were I around other company, I might’ve made a much more crass statement. Sadly unless Sunshine had looked at lot of more illicit content when I wasn’t looking, or had even found any, she wouldn’t have understood.

“I am third generation. We were made to... Be soldiers, peace keepers. Only needed to know... Handful of words. Stop. Go there. You may pass. Things like that.” She explained, setting the drinks down and opening one up to dip her tongue into before taking a small sip with a satisfied hiss. “I never spoke often... To begin with, even... When I worked. The human tongue is... Very hard to replicate... Without the proper equipment... It’d be like you... Trying to speak my... language.”

“Huh....” I blinked again, nodding along as it had made sense. You didn’t need them to do more than follow orders and ignore the pleading of whoever you were subjugating, I suppose. “Makes sense... But your own language, huh? What does Viper tongue sound like?”

Sunny looked over at me before slithering over and carefully planting her hands around my shoulders, loosely hanging her hands off of me before leaning in close and- “ Tssskhsk Chrrp Rkksspkt Spskt Ttskshaaa Sskht. ”

I stared for a long time before raising a finger and rolling it in a lazy circle. “.... Run that by me again? I think I almost got it...” I joked, getting an eyeroll and a vague chuckle. “Seriously, what did you say! Sounds like you were trying to talk my ear off!” 

“I said... You are precious to... Me.” I smiled. “And you drive me... Up a wall occasionally.” And then I slumped. “And you have... A very good pe-”

“OKAY...” I said, raising a hand and pointing it at her. “You did not talk about my dick in your crazy serpent language!”

“Maybe I did. Maybe I didn’t.” She said, shrugging before sliding away. “You’ll never know, anyway.”

A sound of pure exasperation escaped me before I went about pouring hot water into various meal bags, muttering to myself. “Stupid sexy viper, saying stupid sexy things in her stupid sexy hissing language....”

“I heard all that.” Putting one last nail into the coffin of my pride as someone who didn’t get riled up very often. Apparently all it took was a big serpentine woman hissing sweet nothings into my ear. I wondered very briefly if this was what it was like when people used to tell me how Spanish or French got their hearts pounding, despite not knowing a lick of it.

“My grumblings aside....” I began, trying to regain some kind of footing in our verbal duel for the sake of my pride. “Do you think it’d be possible...? For me to learn some of that, that is. Not even for the sake of speaking, but.. If I knew how to kind of put it together, you could talk to me like that without having to hurt your throat mincing english.”

Sunshine had been about to eat a bit of flat bread she’d smeared with peanut butter and jam before pausing. Her eyes rolled left and right as she thought about it before putting the sweet morsel down and looking back at me. “I suppose it’s not.... Impossible. But the conversation will... Be harder for sometime...”

“I don’t know if you realize, Sunshine, but...” I raised a finger and tapped the side of my head. “I don’t forget things. So I might not be able to draw it out all the time, but I’ll pick up on it quicker than you think, I believe!”

“We’ll see about that...” She said with a small smirk. She raised a finger, tapping my nose before bringing it under to poke at my throat, right where my jawline connected to my neck. “The sounds you’ll make... Come from vibrating this... general area. You do not have... the same organs. So it might be... harder to make appropriate... Sounds. AS for just understanding... That might be possible.”

“So, how about it then? You wanna try and teach me some viper words? Maybe tell me how to find the library or ask where a bathroom is?” I chortled, earning a confused look from the large serpent. She blinked a few times before tilting her head.

“Why would I teach... you to say that? Pointless. We relieve ourselves wherever... and there are no... more libraries.” She said, reaching back down to grab for her bit of bread. As she did her fingers tapped the floor, looking down to see the morsel was not where she thought it was. An annoyed snort escaped her before she grabbed the tasty snack and threw it into her mouth. “Must be better about... Moving my tail around. Always hitting something.”

“Well I certainly don’t mind it...” I teased, giving her a gentle nudge with my elbow before she looked down at me with a slightly predatory look. One I very quickly recognized. “Oy oy oy, you know the rules...!”

“Yes yes.... We eat first... Be prepare second... ‘Fuck’ last.” She said, huffing before licking a bit of peanut butter off of her finger. “... Stupid rules....”

“I didn’t hear you complaining two nights ago.” I replied, looking away as I began to spoon the mushy approximation of potpie into my mouth. I could instantly feel the leering gaze burning a hole in my neck, letting out a quiet hum as if everything was alright. “Mmmh, this one’s not bad... Could be better. Might passing me that tabasco-”

I barely had time to swallow before I felt her grab my head and turn me back around to look me squarely in the eyes. Once again, a fantastic display of how strong she could be and yet how she was so gentle with me. Her brow was furrowed and her eyes began to squint at me. I kept my eyes locked with hers, my face as stoic as possible. Seconds began to pass before I scooped another lump of, honestly not that bad, potpie and held it out to her snout. The offering was smelled, tasted and then accepted as she bit onto it and pulled away, deliberately taking it from my hand.

“Wow, greedy tonight, aren’t we...?” I further ribbed her before I saw her head sink down and that look returned, this time giving her the best winning smile I could.

“.......... Are all humans... So eagerly inclined to... Prod until the limits... are tested?” Sunny asked, going to stab the spoon back into my bag for another sampling. This time, she dabbed a tiny bit of that delicious red sauce onto it and stuck it into her mouth. I’d discovered that she had a rather deep love of spicy flavors developing, despite not being remotely affected by the heat. Luckily, I had a few pepper seeds I could try for when we settled down.

“Sunny, my love, that’s part of the tag line of my species. Smack it till it works, Test our limits and anything is better fried.” I stated, listing them off on my three fingers. “So, how’s it working out for me so far...?”

The toothy, shit eating grin I put on must’ve been the final straw as when she looked at me from the side I had almost no time before she slithered up to me, spoon handle sticking out of her mouth and a hand was put onto my chest before shoving me onto my back. The spoon was deftly maneuvered to the side of her mouth before I felt her lips press against mine, very briefly forcing them apart with her tongue. That had been a very hard thing to get used to, feeling that thin appendage coil around my own tongue. I’d gagged hard the first time she’d done it, and even now it was all I could do to suppress the reflex. Though this time, I didn’t even have to think about it, as the kiss lasted only long enough for her to make her point.

And leave the spoon sticking out of my own mouth now, lazily resting on my tongue. I could taste the tabasco she’d used on that last bite. “Your first lesson, Goose.... Is this. Tsskh. Haachstk Ssskht Aahsshy Viper.”

I could only blink, a little dumbfounded by the sheer forwardness. I wasn’t unused to her being a bit aggressive with me, but this had been bold as far as her standards went. She usually wanted me to pamper and spoil her, but this was very different than usual. Can’t say I’m not into it...

Only to feel the other mind agree with its own nod. I swallowed around the spoon before I pulled it from my mouth, going to stick into the bag that I’d been forced to hold as I was thrown on my back. She seemed rather amused by my reaction, and with good reason. My skin was flushed and my usually dead libido had knocked on the door of my mind. It didn’t help that she was deliberately giving me all too familiar looks of what she had in mind.

“What does that mean, exactly...?” I said only a little dazed.

“Sorry. I don’t speak viper.” She informed me only for my face to deaden into the most unamused expression I could muster. And it was all she could do not to break out into laughter, a hand going to cover her snout as she began to snicker into her palm. “You should see the... Look on your face. You thought it was... Something more, didn’t you?”

“After you tongue fucked my mouth, yeah, I kind of did.” I replied, my brow scrunching and an exasperated smile forming on my lips before I scooted over, giving her hip a soft smack. That, however, had gotten a reaction. She went rigid, going straight upright before looking down at me. I blinked, holding up my hands. “A-Ah, sorry, Sunny, did that hurt? I didn-”

“Do that again.” I blinked. “Goose. Do it again. Same spot.”

I raised an eyebrow at her in a quizzical fashion, but she didn’t relent, in fact turned her hip towards me. Her eyes and head shifted downward before nodding at me, as if to encourage. I tilted my head in a moment of apprehension before rearing my hand back and giving her hip another soft smack in the same spot. It was only then did I notice where exactly I was smacking. It was near that more fatty area of her body, where hips began to end and her tail started. It was the rough area that I’d once thought had given the viper a very vague representation of a ‘Bottom’. I wondered why it might’ve been causing this reaction, however.

It might be due to the closeness to her privates. Could also be a natural erogenous zone from her genetics before they were tweaked, or even could be a by-product of human DNA being added to it. I had grown so deep in my thoughts, I had completely missed the fact that I was now actively squeezing the area with my palm and digits, kneading the shockingly supple flesh. I jumped slightly in surprise at my own spacey behavior, about to pull my hand back before I saw a large hand clash with mine to keep it in place.

My eyes trailed upwards and I saw Sunshine’s mouth slightly apart, leaning down just ever so slightly with wide eyes and heaving breaths. “.... You best get eating. And prepare, Goose.”

No other words escaped her as she began to slowly settle down, coiling lower and lower to the ground until she had to pull my hand away to let herself settle into her own rings of scales. My hand was gently put back in my lap before she almost urgently went to distract herself with food, almost mindlessly horking down the meals. A harsh, hard swallow took away the lump in my throat that’d formed as I realized I might’ve just given my lover, newly acquainted with bodily pleasure, a brand new kink.

I looked at my hand, grimacing slightly. What did you do, you bastard? I thought directly at my metal palm. Though I suppose I couldn't be mad at it anymore than I could be mad at myself, having had the exact thoughts not too long ago. A sigh filtered through my lips, a smile forming seconds after and I went back to eating. She had been right, though, I did need to eat. I scooted just a bit closer, going to turn and lay my back against her coils, something she hissed in approval at. As I settled in for the night, my eyes turned towards the open window. While recent events hadn’t all been great, this was probably a happier point in my life. Happy enough that I had to wonder where my own family was. If they were okay. If my sister was okay.

My eyes closed as I recalled the last time I’d seen her.

Mother was bawling, my sister was clutching my leg and my Pa had practically stiffened when I’d told him the news. I told them I was going to go and join the army, no other prospect in my life seemed to be where I wanted to be. They offered post service education and even a bit of help financially.

At least there I could do some good. Again and again they asked me if this is what I wanted, if this was the right thing. They never directly asked me to stay or told me it was a poor choice. The worry was evident all through the weeks leading up to it. My sister clung to me like flies on crap the whole time. She made me watch movies, play games, take her out to see things and every other activity she said I was going to miss while ‘Off playing soldier’. She was ten years old then. Her birthday was just last month. I had bought her a game console she’d been begging for since she’d seen it come out, mom and dad bought her a few games for it.

I wished I had done more. Wished I’d said more. Said anything other than what I had said before taking the all too small bag I packed and smiling. They hugged me and I waved, asking me to write or call, do whatever I could to stay in touch.

“I’ll see you guys soon! Just a few short years, then I’ll be home, I promise.” My sister made me pinky promise her.

Ten years old... The thought lingered in my mind. She’d be thirty by now...

The sobering thought hit me harder than the feeling of the processed beef I was chewing on, the lump it’d formed in my stomach with how tough it’d been. I looked down at what I was eating, not remembering picking it up. ‘Hamburger with Barbecue Sauce’. I must’ve overcooked it, as I remembered this one being quite delicious before. Or perhaps my reverie had taken away what flavor I could enjoy. My heart sank for just a moment after I swallowed. The memories I had of my sister stung like never before. When was the last letter I sent her?

Tears formed in my eyes as I realized I had never sent a single one. The aliens had arrived months after my deployment, XCOM had scooped up all able bodied men and women who were willing to fight and die for their planet. I had been one of them. And of course, who had the time to write one measly letter when the fate of the world rested on your young shoulders?

Suddenly my appetite no longer was with me. Sunny had given me a small shake as my expression fell, a worried look passing over her face. “Did it happen again...?”

A small smile formed and I quietly nodded. She had asked me during one of our days with Nicholas’ caravan about my ‘Mind and Body Cognitive Dissonance.’ That’s what my doctor had labeled it as officially. It had been easy to explain. Her eyes grew more worried as I lost focus of the world again.

“That sounds extremely disconcerting.” She had said, pressing against me with no small amount of worry in her voice. “I’ve noticed it happens... Quite often. Does it scare you?”

“At first it did. And it used to be way worse. Used to be like a damn alarm clock, every hour on the hour, down to the second. After a lot of time and mental gymnastics, we got it down to just a handful of times a day. It’s kind of nice, sometimes, now that I’m used to it. When they’re good memories, at least. My body goes on auto-pilot and I can just relieve the good times.” I grimaced a bit. “Sucks when they’re bad ones, though.”

I looked down to see Sunshine staring at me with a startling amount of concern I think I’d grown so numb to the feeling and how often it happened, that perhaps it wasn’t as ‘Normal’ as I’d thought it was after god knows how many years. “A-Ah, it’s not so bad anymore though! Not with you around! You’ve chased the dream demons off more times than I can count. Having you keeps me grounded in reality pretty well. Can’t stave them all off, but... I’ll take only one or two a day as opposed to anytime I get nostalgic.”

Her relaxing smile warmed me so much.

“Goose...?” Her voice called me out before I blinked and rubbed my eyes. “Goose, are you feeling... okay?”

“Yeah...! Yeah, I’m okay, Sunshine, really. I was just thinking of my sister... It’s been twenty years since I saw her. I’m just hoping she’s okay.” I said, pressing my palm into my eyes to try and keep them from getting wet. “I’d not even recognize her, honestly...”

The warm pair of arms around me did wonders for my sanity and emotional state, even more so when she dragged me into her chest and let me rest against those delightful mounds of hers. My eyes shut slowly as I relaxed, hands idly gripping the bag of food I’d been trying to enjoy. Ever since we’d decided this was our relationship, life had become so much more bearable. No more tip toeing, no more awkward looking away. We could stare at one another and smile, she could lay her head on my lap without me fearing my natural reactions. My head could rest where it was now and be pure comfort. The sex was amazing, I’d never deny that.

But as I was now, being cradled in the arms of this massive serpentine woman with the body of a regular gym goer? I’d give up everything else just to have this every day. Thankfully, I didn’t have to give anything up with her. After a moment, I held up the bag to her. “Here, trade me whatever’s left for this. I can’t stomach it right now...”

“Goose...?” I heard her say, still taking the bag from me. When I looked up at her, she had an odd expression. It looked almost apprehensive. “I... I have... A gift for you.”

I blinked. A gift? Where in the hell did she get a gift? We’d been driving nonstop for two weeks. Maybe she found a chocolate bar or something at one of those ruined gas stations or stores a while back. I thought. Maybe it’s just a trinket or a shiny stone she found. I like shiny stones. Oh, or maybe a hat pin?

The thought that she’d spotted a piece of sea glass or a tiger’s eye marble somewhere and thought it something special warmed me very quickly. Instead, she carefully sat me back onto my butt and patted my shoulders. “Wait here. Left it in truck.”

“Are you sure it can’t wait until tomorrow? It’s dark out there, Sunshine....” I said, a bit worried. She grinned at me and tapped her eyes then her nose. I sighed, waving a hand. “Right right, you see in the dark.... Go on then!”

She left in swift motion, pulling the door open and leaving behind with a soft click. I thankfully didn’t have to wait very long, just as swift as she’d left, she returned, hiding something under her coat as it bulged out some. Slithering over to me, she waved a hand at my face. “Close your eyes.” She instructed.

Giving in with a small, amused, huff I relented. She carefully took my hands and positioned them out in front of me before I felt my sensors go off. Cold. Stiff. Paper. Smooth. Glossy.

I wondered what it could’ve been. My hands and fingers traced what I felt, clearly a box of some kind. It wasn’t very big, perhaps a foot long, half a foot wide, barely a couple inches tall. Was it a box of cereal? God I hope it’s cinnamon toast....

“Open your eyes now.”

As I tilted my head down and looked, I felt my eyes widen and my heart skip a beat. A blue and white box with big bold red lettering and that all to recognizable golden, creme filled pastry. My jaw worked a few times, going up and down, desperate for words of any kind. It was genuinely enough to make me start tearing up as I stared down at the box. When was the last time I’d had anything like this? Anything so sweet? So absolutely positively decadent?

I felt myself choke on words. The flaps were peeled open on the sides, but ultimately the box looked intact. It wasn’t smooshed, smashed, the corners weren’t even really that roughed up. It gave me a fleeting hope that maybe, just maybe, that there was at least one inside that wasn’t ruined by time and nature. My hope was rewarded and in spades, no less.

Ten perfectly wrapped little cakes. A couple of them had been slightly flattened, a few had cream leaking out the bottoms, but they all looked so perfect. I knew these were probably stale and the chances of them being even edible was a long shot, but the fact I was looking at anything of the old world I used to know was a blessing and a half. I felt memories of old times sitting with family flooding to the forefront of my mind. All of the times I’d gotten injured or had a good report card. Every time I saw my got to go into the town with my dad and he’d get me a treat at the local corner store. Even if I couldn’t enjoy them properly, having all of those old memories return was almost as good.

I quietly set the box down, scooting it safely to the side. I’d decide later if I was going to see if all of the old rumors and jokes of Twinkies lasting beyond time were real. But for now, I had a job to do. She looked worried when I sat them down and a bit more so as I began to start to get up. When her hands rose to, I assumed, stop me, I in turn went to grab hold of the woman by her shoulders. I wasn’t nearly as graceful as what she did to me, but I managed well enough as I pulled her towards me and out of her own coils. I did my absolute best impression of an old black and white romance and swung her down to ‘Dip’ her to the ground, though realistically, she was just suspending herself. It was like holding a living scaly pipe cleaner.

My legs positioned and locked in place to keep her steady while one hand went to cradle her head. The other around her back held her steady and I pressed my lips against her scaled features. Her hands had come up to wrap around my shoulders, all the while a shocked look permeated her face. It melted away after a moment, eyes closing before she pressed into it.  That, too, was worth more to me than anything else I could find.

I knew they were just cakes. I knew they were probably well past their dates. But the fact that she had listened to me bemoan and talk about all of these incredible things I’d once had, she had found them sometime, somewhen, and had held them to give at just the right moment. It unintentionally gave me hope that my sister was still out there. That my Mom and Dad could still be alive. That just because I was gone for this long, that they hadn’t forgotten about me, or written me off as having died in the war.

When I finally pulled away, I saw a very confused, but elated, look on her face. She didn’t draw away from me, still holding my shoulders as if she’d fall without them. “G-Goose, a-are you okay? Y-You’ve never acted so..... Dramatically before.” She asked. “Was the gift... That much to you?”

She stared back at me with a sheer volume of wonder before I leaned in and kissed her nose on that sensitive heat spot, lovingly as I could manage. She held me in turn, one of her hands coming up to rest on the side of my face. It cupped my cheek and talons lightly scratched the back of my neck.

“If I had realized... how precious these little... things were to you... I’d have given them... Much sooner.” She stated as I stared into her eyes, trying to gather up the swimming miasma of pleasant and happy memories to push them aside long enough to form a response. After a minute of my quiet stare, and no doubt dumb smiling, I let out a breathy sigh.

“They’re just... Wonderful reminders, Sunshine. I know it’s ridiculous, and if there was another human around to see how I’d reacted, I’d not live it down for the rest of my life.” I said with a soft chuckle, realizing how I must’ve looked to Sunshine. But to hold a piece of my past, after holding the memories of my family in my mind and by the viper, no, the woman that I loved? I could only take a deep breath and beam at her. “Sunshine, I can’t really explain what this meant to me. Maybe tomorrow after some rest, but for now, I just want you to know that anything you want that I can do, just ask for it, okay?”

“Anything?” She quietly asked, her hands shifting to my shoulders. I nodded firmly. “Even if it’s....”

There it was. That gentle, almost cautious, propositioning. Her eyes flicking downward, earning a soft laugh from me. I leaned forward and gave her one more intense kiss to her nose. “Even if it’s a good ol’ romp in the hay.”

Her nose scrunched. “I do not want... To do a romp... In the hay. It might get into... Uncomfortable places.” I paused, tilting my head at her. “... Oh, it is another... One of your idioms.”

“Bingo, Gorgeous.”

“You humans have such.... Very strange ways of... Twisting words to new meaning.” She expressed as I finally started to pull the two of us up, feeling my back protest with a few soft pops. She slid up easily, still not removing herself entirely from my arms. “But I suppose... That’s part of the charm. Always learning, always novel.”

I grinned before I felt her tail encircling me, a loose coil starting to build around my legs. A small hum escaped me before I nodded towards the sacks of packing peanuts. They’d been strangely untouched by any of the decay, barely dusty as well. A pleasant enough place to sleep as any other.

“If you’re ready, I’ll put our trash away and double check everything, block the window too. Then the night is ours.” I said, earning a small bump of her nose against my cheek. “Before we get down and dirty with anything, we should unload our guns’ chambers, just in case that big fat tail of yours starts thrashing again.”

“..... I can control myself.” She objected, looking away from me as she spoke, slowly leaning back. I noted her hands had not left me, even as she seemingly had tried to display any kind of self control. I raised an eyebrow at that, going to grab one of those scaly palms of hers and hold it barely an inch from my face, just enough that my warm breath hit the cool scales. The shiver was instant. As if she’d suddenly been caught stealing, she pulled her hands away from me, straight to her chest in that classic nervous tick of hers. “Okay! You made your point! Good heavens you’re terrible, Goose....”

A shake of her head and she began to slither away from me, going to grab our firearms and begin to unload and double check everything. She had become so fluent in human weaponry, I was genuinely impressed as I watched her unload, eject the fresh round and repack it into the magazine. She did the same thing to my shotgun, carefully pulling the charging bolt until all of the shells were ejected and reloading the firearm so we didn’t lose the shells. The words didn’t slip past me either, chuckling softly at the way she was claiming my more exasperated words.

Without a second thought I went to work, scooting up all of our trash and saving the things we hadn’t broken into for a morning meal, meager as it might’ve been. My newly given Twinkies stayed in my sight for a while, deciding how I was going to make use of them. Ultimately, I’d try tomorrow and see if I got ill from them. If they turned out to be fine, I’d be delighted, if not, then my feelings would remain the same.

 A pleased, happy breath came from me as I threw the paper scraps into the barrel fire, along with a bit of extra tinder. My last few acts of the evening was to pick up the board we’d pulled down and place it as best as I could in front of the open window, the large sheet of wood doing enough to at least block the majority of the opening, but allowing the smoke and stale air to exchange with fresher, more breathable air.

Another came as I went to the door we’d come in from and locked it, triple checking that it actually worked. The thoughts of hours earlier when it’d been locked and just opened on its own came back to me with a bit of a frown. Not wanting to take any chances, I grabbed an armful of various debris and placed it across the bottom in hopes of at least slowing anyone who might’ve jiggled it open. By the time I was done, I went to wash my hands free of the filth that’d clung to them and was promptly grabbed by an extremely needy Viper. Flung backwards into her middle, one of my legs was taken hold of in her tail and her arms wrapped around my waist, finally blinding me by wrapping my head up with her own.

I laid there for a few moments, just listening to her thrumming happy hiss, before I raised a hand to gently pat the back of her head. “Phunny, ‘h ‘an’t ‘reathe.”

“Oh. Phooey. Just hold your breath.” She replied with no small amount of playful sarcasm. She squeezed me tighter for a few seconds before slowly releasing me and letting me tilt my head in a way that at least let me get a draw of air in some fashion. “We can copulate later. I just want this.... for tonight, yes...?”

“As long as I don’t wake up suffocating. Can I take off my coat at least?”

“No, I am too... Comfortable to let you... Get up. I will let you... Adjust however..”

“Aaaaah... C’est la vie.....” I said before a loud yawn began to claim me. It was hard enough to stay awake after a long day of constant driving, but having suddenly been wrapped up in my loving viper had made it all the more difficult. “Don’t forget to put the blanket over us. I don’t need you sneezing in the truck again. We lost half a day letting the poison air out.”

“I know, I know....” I heard her grumble and felt her tail slide away from my leg to seek out the heavy woolen blanket we’d taken from our home. It was pulled over the both of us, further obscuring the world from me. I felt my heavy eyes fight against me for a few moments as I shifted, feeling Sunshine carefully adjust with me until my head was laying against her chest and her head was curled around to rest on my shoulder. Her hood had shrunk against itself, no doubt to preserve every last scrap of warmth we could.

As sleep finally claimed me, I felt my mind swirling to thoughts of family, my military career and then settling on the future ahead of me. I didn’t know what it could possibly bring me more than I already had, but I had a mind not to tempt fate anymore than I already had. One final heavy intake and exhale escaped me, my hands raising to lay across Sunshine’s. Sleep took me only moments later.

By the time I awoke, I had felt the calls of nature urging me upward. Sunlight very slightly filtered through the crack in the window’s covering and the small slats that showed where the other windows hadn’t fully been sealed away. Sunshine herself had let go of me part way through the night, favoring to simply lay herself across my middle as she often did. Her head on my stomach while I rested with my back arched and legs raised in the kiddypool of scales she’d become. An amusing thought of trying to see how much water she could hold like this flitted through my mind as I groggily began to rise.

She grumbled and nipped at something she was dreaming of, but ultimately didn’t wake, even as I carefully removed her head. This had become routine for us. Find a place to sleep, snuggle together, usually I was the one to wake up first, get breakfast started, wake Sunny and finally go back on the road. A small bit of exercise was put in there at some point, but we did that as we woke up typically. Today, however, as I pulled myself out of her enticing and comfortable coils, I saw something that made my blood curdle.

The door had been opened. I slowly panned around the room, pulling my memory of the evening back to my quickly adrenaline-filled mind. It was all imperceptible differences, things I struggled to see, but saw nonetheless. The fire pit was shifted, there were fresh trails in the areas where dust was heavier, our bags we’d brought in had been moved just slightly away from where we’d put them. Something had come in, yet left us alone. That worried me more than anything, as that meant it was likely someone instead of some animal. My hands slowly shifted towards where I remembered Sunshine placing our firearms, only for my hands to touch the floor. My breath stilled as my eyes slid down to see my shotgun several feet away from me, closer to the door. Sunshine’s rifle, however, was nowhere to be seen.

I hastily began to shake Sunshine’s shoulders. “Sunny! Sunny, wake up!!” I hissed. She groaned and wearily swatted my hand away. “Sunny, something got in here last night!”

That seemed to catch her attention as I felt her whole body tense. She blearily rose up, rubbing at her eyes swiftly before looking at me. Her eyes went past me before landing on the door, pupils widening as she instantly began to look around the room. I tapped her shoulder to catch her attention again, going to grab my pistol from inside my coat that I’d forgotten to pull off last night. I carefully flicked the safety off and began to offer it back to Sunshine.

“I’m going to try and get my shotgun.... I can’t find your rifle.” I told her. “Keep me covered, yeah? I’ll go low.”

She nodded, taking my pistol. I passed her the spare magazine with it before I got onto my hands and knees and started to carefully make my way towards the shotgun. A part of my mind told me this had to be a trap. There wasn’t any way I was going to get out of this without some kind of injury. My eyes stayed locked on the door, only seeing it as the viable point of contact. No where else an intruder could’ve gone. They might even already be gone by now.... I thought.

Each press of my fingers and boots into the floor made me more anxious. The only solace I could find was the sound of Sunshine behind me, rising to no doubt have a better look over me and keep me out of the line of fire, best as she could anyway. I swallowed hard as I got within touching distance of the shotgun. My eyes flicked from the open door to the gun and then back as I slowly began to reach out. I stretched and stretched, scooting just an inch closer so my finger tips could grab the weapon’s strap.

As my metal digit hooked it, I yanked my hand back to slide it to me. Hands found their places on the weapon and I moved my hand to rack the bolt on the weapon, launching myself upwards into a crouch. A dissatisfying click is what I was met with. It was empty. My eyes slowly traveled down to the locked back charging handle. I barely had a moment to turn before I saw Sunshine raising the pistol in my direction, her mouth starting to open to say something.

“GOOSE!”

I barely heard her cry my name as something grabbed me from behind and yanked me towards the ceiling. Puffs of the roof exploded around me as I saw her desperately shooting where she assumed the intruder to be and yet I was still pulled away. As my body registered the danger, I struggled hard, swinging my arms back and forth. I hoped to strike my assailant or at least find purchase on something to delay my capture. It was short lived as I felt a spike of pain in my head. Colors desaturated as my mind went blank, mechanical limbs squirming before ultimately going limp as I slipped back to unconsciousness. 

Chapter Text

The human slumped harshly onto the rooftop, a thin trail of blood dribbling down off the side of his head. They’d heard the crack of his head against something as they’d dragged him off and away, using all of their body’s strength to do so. That effort alone had been exhausting, but had done a little bit to warm them up. It was barely anything out here in the absolute hell of the winter winds, shivers wracking their black scaled body as they looked at their bargaining chip. The sounds of savage roaring and vicious searching was audible even with the layers of the building that separated them from the now rampaging kindred inside. They were thankful it wasn’t one of their generation, they’d not have gotten away otherwise. She looked like an older one, perhaps second or third given her sheer size. This viper easily dwarfed them by more than double their length, what they estimated to be, twenty-three feet, give or take a handful of inches. Not to mention they were not a thin or petite variant in the slightest, likewise doubling their own width.

A thunderous crash from below signaled that their next few moves would have to be extremely careful and quick if they wanted to get out of this without any injury, or alive for that matter. They had initially assumed that the Viper had been taken hostage somehow, or that this human was using some kind of mind-control. Imprinted memories of humans wielding such power came to mind, but had quickly faded after he’d been knocked out. If he had those powers, being rendered unconscious should’ve likewise removed the mind control. The sounds of violent searching told them that this was probably more a companion human than some kind of forced cooperation. That or this human had something very important tied to them, information or otherwise.

It doesn’t matter the reasons. They thought to themselves as they went to the human and began to strip the leather coat and scarf he wore. They’d leave the layer beneath to keep him from dying to exposure, but they needed at least this to stay out here for any length of time. Tucking their lithe body into the warmed long coat, they breathed a sigh of relief. The scarf was wrapped around their neck upwards until it covered up to their jaw where they tucked and tied it off. They breathed a sigh of relief, though their tail was still frigid, their core was now at least protected and insulated. They stripped him of anything that might’ve been dangerous. A knife from his belt, handfuls of shotgun shells, a medical kit on his hip and what looked like a handful of human candy, glossy white and red striped discs. It was all taken and put under some rubble for safe keeping and out of sight. The human still needed to be bound, however, just in case he woke up.

They had gotten something for this in preparation, a small worn out bag full of thick, flat plastic bands with square locks at the top. A nifty little invention from humanity. They were laid by the human firearm, the one the viper had been wielding with the bent magazine. Another piece of their plan, though it would be a gambit if it’d go the way they hoped it would. Slithering over, they snatched up both, swinging the rifle onto their back by its strap and quickly going to expose the human’s hands to tie up. Their eyes went wide as they yanked up the sleeves, pulling them up further and further, removing the gloves he wore soon after. Machined pieces. Soft, rubber pads that felt like gel, servos and joints, plates and screws. The metal went all the way up to his shoulders.

What happened to this one to have a need for something like these....? They thought, a very brief pang of sympathy came before they shook their heads fiercely. No, this is not the time to give pity to a human. His kind are the reason I’m resorting to this in the first place. Not like I plan to make things worse than it already is for him.

They yanked the human’s mechanical limbs up and tied not one or two, but five separate zip ties around his hands, weaving the plastic through some of the openings in the limbs. Hopefully, if they were stronger than normal limbs, this would be enough to keep him from going anywhere. They did the same thing to his legs, finding just the same as his arms, that they were machined pieces as well. Perhaps they’d ask the viper below about it. Likely not. Swallowing harshly, they began to summon up their courage. I can do this. I have the pieces, this kindred only has strength. She hurts me, no more human! She helps me, she gets the human back. Everybody wins, nobody gets hurt. More than they have, at least.

The thoughts tried to muster up any kind of vigor to slither down where they needed to go. The sound of another savage, roiling growl rumbling just loud enough to be heard by their sensitive ears forced an unpleasant shiver through their spine. But the deed was done. What more did they have to lose? Their life? They were going to die out here without food or water, not including possibly death by exposure. If this failed, they just hoped it’d be a quick death. But if it worked? Food. Drink. Warmth.

One massive breath and they moved as swiftly as they could to the edge of the roof, finding a thick rain pipe to cling to. They were light and lithe enough to slip down it unimpeded, almost silently as they had once been trained to do. It took less than a minute for them to filter through the alleyway to the front of the run down building. Once in place, they slowly pulled the rifle from their back, carefully examining it to ensure it had been properly prepared. Then they pointed it away from theirselves, aimed at the torn up road and fired at a single road. It was indescribably loud for the midnight scaled viper. Silence had reigned for a moment before they heard it. 

Faint at first but very quickly becoming louder before familiar scales came into view, coupled with the angriest pair of eyes they’d ever seen. The incredibly vast serpent slithered with a speed that was more than impressive for her size, her sheer volume began to move over the counters, audibly cracking and crunching as her weight broke through the old material to leave deep, wide indentations along the tops. Shelving that wasn’t seated was shoved out of the way, falling and clattering before being further shoved by the ever increasing mass of serpent that spilled out. The bits of hard plastic and glass that lingered across the ground splintered and crackled, breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces while her weight and scales ground it against the ground. The display was enough for thoughts of retreat to flash in their mind. Mistake. This was a mistake. Flashed in their mind again and again, but now far too deep into the situation to change.

“You.” Came a snarl, fangs and hooked teeth already being menacingly exposed as that low, guttural growling rumbled in the air. They held firm, doing their absolute best to ignore their instincts screaming in their mind. She was a threat. This was going to be the end. She was bigger, stronger, and frankly scarier than they could’ve ever been. Maybe even faster than they were with how malnourished they’d become. They knew at this moment, if they turned to leave, that the chance of being caught was higher than escape. “Where is he?!”

She was speaking in their old tongue, ingrained in their DNA. This was the moment. A deep intake came out as a shuddering breath before they spoke, their slightly high tenor voice returning to them finally. The rifle was pivoted towards their advancing kindred with slightly shaking hands and they spoke. “Stop right there!”  

They managed to get out, just in time for the early generation Viper to halt in the dark of the building. Just at the edge of the storefront, in the shadows of the early morning, it painted a visage so very unsettling. Willpower squashed their fear, if only barely, as they opened their mouth to speak.

“Your human is safe. He hit his head in the struggle, but he is unharmed otherwise.” They spoke steadily, trying to impose their training to enforce a kind of authority into their tone. They hadn’t a clue if it was working as that shadowed head tilted at them. They noticed the pistol that clutched in her right hand, almost laughably small in her palm. It was trembling with her rage. “But if you want him back, you will listen to me. First, you drop your weapon.”

“You would be wise to not make demands in your position, sister.” Drawled the larger viper as she slipped out of the building, raising well into the air into a staggering thirteen feet upwards. Their eyes widened as instinct screamed at them again. They hadn’t completely realized just how large this viper was. Broad, thick corded muscle tensed beneath the morning colored scales, a frame sized up to dwarf them, arms that strained the coat she wore as she flexed them, finally a look upon her face that told them if they faltered even slightly they were done for. “What makes you think I won’t just gut you before you can get a lethal shot? If you even could get the shot.”

“That you won’t find your human if you kill me.” They bluffed, taking a hand off of the front of the rifle, but training it still on her center mass. A hand tugged at the coat they were wearing, earning an even more intense stare coupled with her head canting to the side. “I have scattered clothing and hid him while you rampaged inside. Plus I have been moving with this on. His scent is everywhere. Impossible to track before he’ll catch hypothermia or frostbite. It is your choice, Kin. Kill me, he dies. Help me, he lives.”

They prayed their lie worked. This was the gambit. She was absolutely right about the prowess of their own lethality. With a plasma rifle? This easily would’ve been a different situation. The human’s firearm was clumsy in their grip, not built for their long fingers and wide palms. It didn’t help that their hands were trembling as they desperately fought to maintain their stoicism. They could see the pistol shuddering in her grip, knuckles looking like they’d pierce through scales if she gripped it any tighter.

Her head coiled, tongue flicked and her tail lashed behind her in a manner that made them think they should get ready to react. It made them feel like they were figuring out their falsehoods, maybe even already smelling the human’s scent well above them. Their arms carefully shifted to fire as they watched. Only for the viper to slowly begin to lower herself down to a more reasonable, but still looming, height. Her fingers loosened around the pistol until it swung downward with its own weight, hanging from a single finger before being lowered to the ground. “If even a speck of frost is on his skin, Sister-”

“ I am not your sister!” They hissed, jabbing the rifle at the other more brightly colored viper. “I’ve no more sisters to speak of! Now, that truck you arrived in. What supplies are in it? Food? Water? Protective clothing?"

The titan before them nodded, eyes beginning to narrow. “ You’re going to go and get me some of it. I don’t want or need all of it, but I need at least a month's worth of rations.” They demanded, reshouldering the rifle as they spoke. “And clothing, enough to wear to protect against these blistering winds, and a blanket! A thick one! ”

There was a silence that followed their list, only the harsh winds blowing against the both of them. They shivered slightly in place, the cold starting to numb their fingers while the metal clung to their scales. The look on the viper’s face was a mixture of near disbelief and borderline rage, the fury simmering behind her eyes likely the only reason she wasn’t likewise shaking in this cold. Perhaps her size also helped with that.

“ Come on then, don’t make me wait! The long you do, the less time that Hu-” They started only to flinch when a thick hating and deep tone rolled out to cut them off.

“.... You have stalked us, ambushed us and stole away my human... For this purpose...? ” Sunshine stated, head leaning forward with a tilt of her head. They felt their throat dry up. They had to repeat in their head to not retreat. Do not move back. Retreating is weakness, do not show weakness. She will eat you alive if you show any hesitation. “Do you have any idea the kind of man who you just stole away? Who you’re threatening with shivering death, you petulant runt ?”

The words stung, forcing a grimace and a spiteful scowl in return. They raised the rifle to their cheek, awkwardly aiming down the top of the gun, vaguely using the iron sights. The viper began to raise up again, fists clenching as her eyes pierced through them with vitriol they’d only ever experienced from the humans and the handful of traitorous hybrids they’d killed.

“ That Human is the only reason I am still alive. ” She hissed at them. The statement caught them off guard. The viper began to flick their tongue out rapidly, catching their scent mixed with the human’s no doubt. It’d muddle them enough that they could escape if they discarded it. She slowly began to circle around them, keeping the same distance that she was at. “ He offered me shelter when I was withered, when I was nothing but Skin and Bone . He offered me food and comfort after I had attacked him.”

“ You’re lying. ” They said, feeling the hypocrisy and training the rifle on the other viper as they coiled in place to allow themselves to not shift and keep their aim steady. It was clear her kindred was trying to find an opening to strike from. “What human would even bo- ”

“ THE ONE YOU TOOK FROM ME.” She roared, lurching forward with her body threatening to follow up in a menacing full bodied strike. The black viper nearly pulled the trigger, only staying their finger because she hadn’t actually moved any closer, only going as far forward as her body could stretch. It was still terrifying the distance she closed. “He took me in. He clothed me, gave me shelter, gave me means to clean myself, protect myself and even cooked food for me! ”

She continued to encircle them, their long trailing tail almost a perfect half circle as they slithered around them, despite how the end whipped and thrashed. “ S-So.. So what does that matter? You met one good human, go ahead and praise the elders for it.” They sneered sarcastically, desperate to keep their position in this verbal battle. “ None of this changes the state of the field.”

“ You could’ve just asked and he probably would’ve happily fed you! clothed you! He’s sympathetic to a fault! Even if it’s wildly undeserved! ” She finally spat at them, pausing when they’d almost finished the full circle, her anger seemingly having started to have faded. Her ranting was done to calm herself, as far as they could tell. “I would’ve objected perhaps. It wouldn’t matter in the end, as he’s stubborn in his morals. Instead here we are, getting your food through this subterfuge banditry. I hope your meals taste bitter on your tongue. ”

Guilt bubbled into their stomach as they quietly regarded the story being spoken. It all was a lie, it had to be. There wasn’t a single chance that the human strung up on the roof was some kind of gentle hearted man who cared for more than just his own species.

“ Your fantastical words of peace and pampering won’t fill my empty stomach. Go get the food. Once it’s out here, in front of me, I’ll go and get your human then you both can leave. ” They remarked, voice far softer now, but still loud enough to carry to her. “ There is nothing personal about this, kin. I am hungry, and you two have food. That is all there is to it. I will apologize, if it makes you feel better about this. ”

There was a genuineness in the statement they hadn’t realized they had. The thought that there had even been a chance to just ask for these things would not be pushed out of their mind. It was enough that they almost didn’t notice the sound of stones shifting. A sound neither of them were making. It was coupled with an awkward shuffling, one that didn’t sound like either of the two tails on the tarmac. “Y’know....” They heard, blood running cold. That voice was laced with an exhaustion and held an air of what they almost assumed to be disappointment. “I have no idea what you two are yappin’ all about... but it really doesn’t help the concussion I probably have. So would you kindly keep it down?”

Their eyes flicked upwards, just in time to see that heavy mop of hair hanging over the edge of the roof. Amber dots looking down at them as the man raised up a small knife between his metal forefinger and thumb, wiggling it slightly. It wasn’t any bigger than his fore finger. “Piece of advice for the future, if a human wears boots, check inside them. We like to keep stuff in there. Oh and Sunshine, be gentle with’m yeah?”

They were dumbfounded. Such an easy thing to do, so easily forgotten, and yet it somehow wasn’t their greatest mistake of that day. That was taking their eyes off of ‘Sunshine’. The feeling of a long tongue, a feature that had been lost in their genetic deviation, wrapping around their arms and shoulders. Dark eyes widened to their maximum size before they were harshly ripped from the ground to their, no doubt imminent, demise. The rifle was held tight against their body, pressing into them as they landed on the ground beside her. Hands harshly yanked them from the ground, tearing the rifle from their grip with about as much effort as a child would tear a sheet of paper. They desperately tried to fight back, twisting in place to try and bare fangs against them only for a massive hand to clamp and squeeze their snout shut. Their claws raked against her, but did nothing but leave thin lines of yanked string on her coat.

The pressure that came from their mouth being clamped shut alone caused them to wince and whine in discomfort. It was all quickly overshadowed as the larger viper coiled their long tail over them and began to squeeze to lock them in place. Panic. Fear. Anger. Resentment. Bitter memories. It all flooded their mind as they struggled and wailed behind Sunshine’s palm, fighting with all of their withering might to try and escape, gain any ground in any meaningful way. Then pain set in across their whole body as the larger viper squeezed tighter around them, more and more until breathing became impossible. Quiet whimpering gasps escape through the tongue hole in their snout. Each breath they could suck in was nothing more than a wet whistle.

As darkness lined their vision, they heard the two voices of their would-be killers speaking. No words could be made out as they clawed to no avail at the body that was currently crushing them.

```````````````````````

Sunshine regarded the assailant with about as much kindness as they had displayed, only barely easing up enough that their body could begin to take in enough air to survive. Nothing more than that, as she didn’t want them waking up too soon.

“So, Goose, what do... you have in mind... For this one?” Sunshine asked, looking up to Gustave. She’d only been trying to render the black serpent unconscious, but the bastard had fought her until the moment their eyes shut.

“Is she still alive....?” He asked, head still peeking over the edge. She tilted her head down to listen. A faint breath wheezed out and hit the side of her face before she nodded. His face disappeared after that, voice getting quieter as he walked away from the edge. “Then I’ll be down shortly, I just gotta... Figure out how the hell she got me up here.... Don’t tell me I gotta start climbing pipes again, man, that shit’s so sketchy....”

Sunshine took a few, deep, calming breaths as she had to keep herself from simply snapping this petulant whelp’s neck. Her face curled into a snarl as she looked at them. Unfortunately for her foul mood, the longer she looked at the viper, the less her rage stayed with her. Just like she’d been, they were gaunt around the face, skin stretched around their jaw. Her scales no longer lustrous or gleaming as they should’ve been. Looking at them now, they noticed their nose had a bit of pale white, cream colored, scales that tapered down to the lower jaw and covered the whole of it before turning back to black down the rest of their body. She wondered briefly what kind of subspecies this one must’ve been. She’d heard of and even saw a few different kinds in production, always curious as to their more honed in purpose.

But something else was off about them, aside from their genetic deviation. They were small. A thing she had mocked to try and get a rise out of them to no avail. This could be easily chalked up to malnutrition, but even Sunshine was still at a respectable size when she was at this state. This one, fully extended, wouldn’t have even reached her middle. Was it possibly their change in DNA or perhaps they were defective? The only other thought was that Sunshine in particular might’ve been an anomaly with her size. She was certainly well fed. Her eyes searched the tar black body for a moment, tongue flicking out, examining them in depth as she listened to her human mumble things.

“H-Hey, sunny, this is embarrassing to ask, but.... Do you think you could uh...” His voice picked up before drifting off. Her eyes were torn away from the viper again before she saw him awkwardly leaning over at her again, hand on his head. “I was joking before, but I might actually have a concussion. I’m swimming a bit up here. Think you can grab me?”

She raised an eyebrow. Another human idiom. She looked down at the unconscious viper before slowly releasing them. She’d already taken back her rifle, going to pick it back up and swing it over her shoulder for safe keeping. “Yes, I can. Is there a way... To come up?”

“If you don’t mind scaling a wall, there’s a pipe over here....” He said, slowly shuffling along to show her. She grabbed the viper and dragged them along, laying them down in the alley way before going up to grab Gustave. First thing was in order, she grabbed and squeezed him close to her. Fussing over his head injury, chastising him as he swatted her hands away and then finally carried him down to solid ground again.

 “Well I’ll be... I’d heard about subspecies before I left, but I didn’t think they were real. Dark scales, kind of milky white snout.... No hood? Curious. I wonder if her breed has venom like you do.” He rambled, wobbling a bit in place before leaning on the wall. Sunshine started to move to help him before he held up a hand and waved her off. “I’ll be okay, Sunshine, really. I just need some rest for a while until the dizziness fades away... For now, we gotta... Do something about this gal. And get my damn coat back.” 

“Goose... What are we going .... To do with her?” She asked, looking down at the viper and crossing her arms. Both of them went quiet as he rubbed his face in thought. She saw him slowly squat down beside her, using one hand on the ground to balance himself out as the other continued to brush over his stubble, as if rubbing the, admittedly pleasant, chafing hair would allow him more wisdom. Then she saw it. That glint. That softened expression she’d seen so long ago. “.... Goose... Goose, no, we-”

“Sunshine.” He cut her off, looking back up at her. “Did I leave you behind to starve after you attacked me?”

She bit back her words immediately, having used that exact same excuse when she was yelling at this viper. “N... No, you did not, but-”

“Look at me, Sunshine. Am I harmed outside of this, probably minor, head injury?” He asked, waving a hand at himself and doing a small, dizzying spin that made him go back down into a crouch. She exhaled and shook her head slightly, looking away. “I... I won’t say that we’re going to just... Take her with us. But I think we should at least offer. Give some food. Water. A blanket. I’m going to hazard a guess and say that’s what she was wanting to begin with, if these ribs are anything to go by.”

She turned to see him having opened his coat that the viper had taken, examining her body with a clinical eye. She felt something in her gullet twitch as his fingers traced over the near flat chest of the viper. It wasn’t a feeling of memories, either, something else brewed. A distinctly unpleasant one that made her want to grab Gustave and pull him to her instead. “Seriously, she’s only maybe a week away from being how you were, love. I can’t even imagine how she was able to drag me around as she did...”

“Do not praise...! The viper who kidnapped!” Sunshine retorted, gently swatting the man' s shoulder with an annoyed expression. He winced out of reflex, but otherwise didn’t react. “You shouldn’t even consider... Giving care to her! She attacked us! Rifled through our things! Stole our firearms! Stole you away!”

“And she could’ve killed us in our sleep, Sunny. She could’ve killed me after she grabbed me, and she probably could’ve killed you too given how she ambushed me.” He said, turning his head up to look at her in a way that made her feel more guilt than anger once more. She looked away again, arms crossing over her chest. “Again, I’m not saying we even take her with us. She probably is going to hate us, distrust us, and want to be left here alone, but at the very least we’re going to make sure she’s better after we leave than when we got here.”

“But-”

“I’m not arguing about this, Sunny. I’m going to help her. It’s the right thing to do, even if she acted out. I’m alive, relatively unharmed and she’s starving and probably going to die if we don’t do something. ” He said with a finality, looking up at her. There was that look. That soft, quiet determination. It made her mouth shut before she could even think of words to retort. Then he offered a quiet smile in return. “But we won’t be stupid about it. This lil rascal found zipties. Left them up there with me, if you get those and maybe some of that paracord we have left, we can lash this gal to something and take her inside. Keep her still so we can talk.”

“...... Very well.” She finally sighed, turning in place to start heading to the truck.

“.......Not even gonna argue with me? No more protesting?”

“Would it even matter? Would you change mind?” She asked, head turning to regard him. She watched as he took a very deep breath, letting it slip from his nose after a moment.

“...If it truly bothers you so much that you’d fight me on it, we could just leave her food, water and a blanket. Leave right after, just get in the van and drive off somewhere safer so I can rest. That’s at least a compromise.” He said, raising a hand to rub at his wounded skull, wincing as he found the tender spot. “So... It’s up to you, Sunny. What’s your choice?”

Sunshine’s lips tightened before her eyes lazily floated to the now steadily breathing, unconscious viper. She could see their rips, the hollow where their stomach was, the way their scales didn’t relax or flow because there was barely any muscle left to do so. Gustave had been right, they really must’ve used up the last of their energy in this desperate attempt. She raised her hand up and quietly rubbed her face. Months ago, she’d have shot the runt and been done with this. Now, the thought sickened her, as did the idea of letting her just wither away alone. After a long pause, she spoke, a soured expression on her face. “We will help her. But Goose...?”

“Yeah....?”

“Please. Don’t make this habit.”

“No promises.” He replied only for her to groan loudly in response, putting her face into both hands as she slithered off. 

`````````````````````````

My head throbbed with pain. Even as I dump a pair of the glossy blue pills into my mouth and chase them with some frigid water, I can’t help but grit my teeth in hopes that it’ll make the headache go away faster. With what knowledge I had from my experiences from before, during and after XCOM, I knew this was going to be a multi-day affair. Another pulse of pain snapped through my head as I looked over at our former assailant, trotting over from our bags to squat beside her. Sunshine was in the process of binding the near solid black viper’s tail to the front of her hips, a tight knot forming that looked more than a little uncomfortably tight, pressing hard into the scales. The hands were bound behind her back with the same black zip ties I’d been cuffed in, though they looked almost imperceptible against the dark scales. Just barely a shade lighter. Sunshine had even done the additional security of linking a pair of ties together and then zipping them tight around the snout, just to ensure no tom-foolery could happen.

“Bit much, don’t you think?” I asked, staring at the dark viper for several moments as I heard Sunshine slither away. She made no comment, only a huff coming out as she moved towards our bags. She’d grabbed more rations for the morning, along with another tiny piece of fire starter and some kindling from the ruined buildings outside. “.... Are you mad at me?”

“No, I am not.... Mad . Annoyed, certainly. Upset, quite a bit. I am frankly shocked. You should be the... One who’s angry.” She spoke up and drew my attention back to her, exasperation well on her face. “You were ambushed, kidnapped. Stolen away into darkness. Got knocked out, being... on purpose or not. Woke up outside, cold... Without your belongings, bound. Are you truly.... Not upset?”

“Well, maybe a bit.... But being captured and dragged off into the dark isn’t exactly a new, novel experience for me. Terrifying, sure, but...” I raised a hand and pat myself down, starting to stand and walk over to her. My eyes traced over her, the stiff and extended posture she had. I’d truly never seen her so tall before, head nearly scraping the roof. “Save for the bruise and bloodied noggin I got, I’m not exactly injured or hurt. Some care was taken to ensure I wasn’t, for whatever reason it might’ve been. Hell, Sunshine, she could’ve killed me and lied to you that I was okay!”

“I suppose that’s true. That does not, however... make feel any better.” She said smoothly, striking a flint and steel into the barrel as I stepped beside her. A soft glow emitted before she leaned in, blowing the embers to ignition. As the fire began to burn, she carefully set a few more pieces of kindling along the side to start burning when the fire got roaring. I felt a small frown forming on my face as I looked into the smoldering start. The small shuddering movement beside me pulled my eyes back to Sunshine. “I was terrified, Goose.”

She was doing her best not to tremble, clutching the pieces of firestarting equipment tightly in each hand. A hard look was plastered on her face, eyes narrowed, brow furrowed, lips tight enough their scales were almost blending together. “I tore this place... Apart looking for you.”

As her head turned to face me, I could see the damage she was speaking of behind her. The holes in the ceiling where she’d been shooting, the trail of torn away roofing panels and the haphazard pattern that trailed away. Even the door that’d been left open had been forced out of position, no doubt as she’d been trying to get out of the room as fast as possible. I could even recall, from what I saw coming back in, the damage the rest of the store had taken. Another reminder of the sheer force she could exert if she was motivated.

“I thought you were...... Gone .” The last word came out in a near whisper. It was silently emphasised as she sunk down to a height I was more familiar with. I wiggled my nose as the words hit me, a realization of how negligent I’ve been with my own safety as of late. Got hurt in the town, nearly shot to pieces in front of our house, marched out in my mech like I was invincible. And now this. I took a deep breath before letting out a low and slow sigh. A hand came up to quietly touch her arm with my knuckles.

As her eyes shifted to me and I spoke. “I’m sorry, then. I’m... Kind of still unused to having someone else to think for again. I promise I wasn’t always this clinical about my wellbeing.” I offered a weak smile to her that seemed to at least relax her partially. Her shoulders went down and she carefully put the firestarter away into its pack and tossed it away to our bags. “I’ll try and make it up to you sometime, if I can.”

“You can by not... Being so reckless again.” She said simply, going to poke my chest and frown. “You might be augmented.... You are not invincible. I am at least... Way larger and less... Likely to get just... Grabbed.”

“Fine, fine, I promise. No more reckless behavior if I can help it.” I said, holding up my hands in a placating manner. Her eyes squinted harder at me and I rolled my neck away, hand moving to my neck instead. “Alright, no more in general. But know if something happens to you, all bets are off. You’re not the only one who gets to worry if the other is in danger, fair...?”

“That is.... Acceptable.” She said finally, giving a small nod. Her vision left me and switched towards the dark viper. “So. What do you think? Of that one.”

I followed her eyes and started to walk back over to our captured viper. We’d wrapped her up in one of my spare coats and laid her on top of a folded pair of blankets so she wasn’t laying on the ground. “I think she’s a fascinating look into how the ADVENT looked to incorporate different advantages into your kind. Though, she’s super familiar with the kinds of snakes I used to see around home. No offense, of course.”

“I was not shifted... Beyond my base generics. Save for the obvious. So no offense taken. Her, on the other hand.” She slithered up behind me, the edges of my vision catching her nose peeking into my peripheral. “She might not be... So happy about it.”

“Agreed... But again, she’s... So different. From you, I mean.” I spoke, waving a hand over her. “Size difference aside, look at all of this.... A bit longer face, slightly more narrow head, big dark pupils surrounded by a thin brown ring and scales so dark it’s not a wonder we never saw her. She doesn’t have nearly the same kind of bodily structure either, almost no chest to speak of, closer to a man’s pectorals with how they look. Hips aren’t remotely as wide, it's making me think that she’s been built to be some kind of speed demon.”

“That would make sense. When you were grabbed... It was like you.... Were yanked away by... Some invisible force. I was only able... To briefly catch their face... Largely because I think... You were too heavy.” She explained, raising a hand to her chin to scratch it. “But aside from those.... Differences, something else bothers. Their scent is completely... Different. Not unexpected, of course. But it is not....”

She trailed off, lips closing as she glared down at the viper. Her arms crossed as she seemed to mull over whatever was locked in her mind. Her tongue flicked again and again, eyes shifting over the sleeping viper’s body. “.... How familiar are you... With Viper anatomy, Goose...?”

“With yours, intimately.” I quipped, earning a pointed but amused look from her. I chuckled and likewise raised a hand to scratch at my chin. I was going to need to shave soon. “In general, I know a good amount. Like where your organs should roughly be, lungs, heart, poison sack locations. Similar but very different biology compared to earth serpents, given your upper body. Why?”

“Something about this one.... Keeps bothering me. I cannot tell why. You are not me. Not a viper. Does your eye catch... Anything that might be... strange?” She asked. I looked down at the viper, quietly reaching over and going to examine the dark scales in a bit more detail, trying to find something I might’ve not caught before. I shifted over and quietly picked up the viper’s head.

It wasn’t nearly as weighty as Sunshine’s, almost just small enough for me to lift with one hand easily. Fingers carefully brushed over their features, peeling up their lip where I could and noticing the same monotone coloration across her mouth’s interior and when my hand shifted upward and I gingerly pulled up an eyelid with my thumb. It was like staring into a bucket of black paint. Just a total void, so dark I wouldn’t be able to tell there was a pupil were the edges were not lined with that chocolate brown coloration. Her head went back to the floor with a gentle hand before I moved over to examine the length of her tail, carefully running my hands over.

My brow furrowed as I focused on my investigation. Each hand squeezing and tensing against the muscle as I tried to figure if there was anything beneath that may’ve been catching her attention. It was as I got closer to the hips I heard Sunshine make a displeased sound. It was the closest thing to a whine I’d ever heard from her. My focus broke as I looked up at her, hands coming up with me and resting on my legs. “Something wrong, Sunshine? Hear something or figure it out?” I asked.

She had quite the look on. It wasn’t quite anger, it wasn’t quite sadness. It was certainly an expression I hadn’t seen before. “... Must you grope her...?” She huffed at me, leaning down to lock her eyes on mine.

“... I mean, I guess not? You asked me to see if I could tell any differences.” I stated, raising a forefinger to point at Sunny.

“Could you not do... That with just eyes?” She asked, starting to shift and move around me. Her tail slithered between me and the viper and she began to almost possessively encircle me. She didn’t close in and trap me, but it was clear she was becoming distressed.

“Well, yes, I suppose I could. If you were worried about me getting attacked again, you did an excellent job on keeping her in place.” I said as I felt her press her chest into my back, hands on my shoulders and her head leaning around. Her eyes no longer tried to maintain contact with mine, staring down at the other viper instead. It was then that I felt my mind prickle with memories, drawing small conclusions together. My expression shifted to one of very mild amusement and a bit of flattery. “..... Sunshine, are you jealous?”

Her whole posture stiffened before her hands shifted forward to wrap under my arms and around my chest. “Certainly not! I simply think you... Do not need to... be molesting others. Especially after capture. It is rude.” She said, trying to play off my suspicions. “Besides, there isn’t anything... More to glean from... Just rubbing them, yes?”

“Well....” I started, bringing a finger to my chin, already having horribly cruel, teasing thoughts. “You know what they say, Sunshine, you have to feel the world with all of your senses.”

“What?” She asked, incredulous, head snapping back to me with furrowed brow. “What are you going... To do next then? Taste them? Sniff them? Your nose and tongue... Are not like mine. They cannot detect subtleties.”

The face she made caused a wide and toothy grin to form on my face. It was equal parts baffled and insistent. She didn’t seem to catch on to my teasing quite yet, so I pushed just a little further, slowly leaning back into her and tapping my chin again, looking away. “Well you never know, Sunny, could be a flavor and smell there you just can’t pick up.”

I felt her hands squeeze around my sides and a lowly hiss rumbling out of her. My eyes flicked to hers, smile not lessening, as she coiled around me a bit tighter and locked eyes with me. We held that gaze for several long moments before she relaxed and yanked me back against her, starting to drag me away towards the barrel fire.

“You are horrible, Goose. Teasing me so soon. You had me going. For only a moment.” She finally admitted, letting me go as we got close to the warmth. “Perhaps I am jealous.”

“And that’s fine, Sunshine, truly it is. I have no intention of going after other vipers we come across. Much less ones that kidnap me, afraid I’m not into ropeplay or shibari.” I said and gave her a happy laugh that swiftly shut itself down as the action sent an unpleasant pang through the back of my head. The hiss that left my teeth caused Sunshine to look at me, hands hesitating away from me as if she were to cast a spell to fix it. “Ah, it’s okay, Sunny. I took some medicine for the pain, but I’m probably gonna be a bitching mess for the next couple days.”

“Mmnh. As long as it’s... Nothing more serious. Let me make the... Food tonight, you rest.” She started to turn away before I leaned over and grabbed her wrist, making her halt. “Yes, Goose...?”

“Why don’t I actually cook this time? Something properly warm and a bit more flavorful than just MREs and crappy breakfast bars.” I offered, getting a collage of different emotions from her. The mention of me cooking once again instantly perked up her mood but diminished as she looked over me, as if to ask if that was even okay for me to do. I smiled again. “Sunny, it’s a concussion and a cut. Not a bullet hole or broken bones. I can cook us something nice.”

She still looked like she was going to hesitate before looking over at the viper. And then back at me. She slithered over, poking my chest with one of those long, taloned fingers. “If she wakes up... You don’t move. Got it? You wait until.... I return.” She ordered and I raised up a hand to give her a lazy salute. I watched her slither out of the room after that, not so subtly staring at those waving hips as she left. I hate to see her go but I love to watch her leave. I thought with a silent chuckle.

I peeked towards the windows as sunlight poured in, barely warming the air it hit. A deep breath came to me as I stared, wondering how much long we might’ve had until winter was gone and spring would come back. Things only kept getting colder as days went on. At least here the warm air would stay longer. Then soon after, my eyes turned over towards the unconscious viper. Only to see she was no longer unconscious. Her body was subtly writhing, looking for any leeway to work from.

“I wouldn’t shift too much, Sunshine got those pretty damn tight. You’ll just start cutting into your own hide.” I said, earning a shift of the head towards me. There was a soft hiss that escaped from through the tongue hole in her lips. Eyes opened and narrowed as they looked at me. “Oh, don’t give me that look, you grabbed and dragged me through the ceiling. You hardly have a right to complain right now. Although I guess Sunshine did squeeze you pretty bad, so... This might be a touch more escalation.”

The only retort I got was another writhing on the ground, a deep sigh escaping through my nose. “I’m just trying to be honest here. If you don’t fight us too much, we’re going to leave you alone and leave some food and water with you too. I’m perfectly happy to part ways amicably if you are.”

Her glare didn’t stop, even as I had finished speaking. She didn’t stop occasionally twitching or stretching in an attempt to get herself free. My eyes lingered on her, watching the struggle go on and on. She made no progress as one might’ve suspected. I figured I might as well keep my eyes on her, just in case. She continued to fight against her bindings, actively stretching the paracord around her tail but never getting it to do anything more than tighten the knots further. I felt a bit bad, knowing that if she kept this up circulation was going to get cut off. Eventually, Sunshine returned with a small box filled with a few ingredients. No surprise or shock on her face was apparent when she saw the struggling Viper, evidently having known she was going to wake soon. No wonder she told me not to move.

“Here you go, Goose. I brought cutting board. Figured you didn’t want... To cut food on... Nasty floor.” She said with a hum and put the box in front of me. Her head turned towards the viper still squirming in place before slithering over to her. The pitch black viper turned stiff as stone as Sunshine loomed over her, almost curling into herself as the towering figure stared down. “She been awake long?”

“Pretty much since after you left. For all we know, she could’ve been pretending to sleep for a bit now.” I said with a small shrug. “But either way, she’s been fighting it for a bit. You did a good job binding her.”

“Of course I did.” She replied, leaning down and going to carefully tug at the rope before nodding. “Used to do constantly. Was part of purpose. Not specifically others of... my kind. But humans sometimes need... Special treatment for their... Otherwise ludicrous actions.”

Satisfied, she slithered away, Sunshine’s presence deflating the vigor the black viper had. I felt my face give a small look of pity before I went about getting a breakfast ready from what Sunshine had grabbed. Nothing fancy, but enough to give us a better breakfast than we’d had in some time. Eggs from the chickens, the five hens and one rooster we’d manage to find in our search. Some sweet peppers, an onion and a handful of other spices. Nothing grand, but I could make something nice with this. She’d even brought me the small squeeze bottle of oil I had , packed away with the pan and spatula.

I knew what was in here wouldn’t be enough for her to eat when split up three ways, but it’d at least be a pleasant diversion from the constant MREs and dried goods, even if she’d have to eat some anyway to fill up. I clapped my hands together and turned to the barrel fire. It was time for a proper meal.

The next half hour for me was spent preparing ingredients and talking with Sunshine about how she wanted her food prepared. She rather liked having just plain scrambled eggs with whatever toppings mixed in. ‘Easier to eat’ was the wording and that was fine by me. Easy and quick to make, not to mention delicious regardless. I had attempted to talk with our ‘Guest’ and see if they had any preferences with the use of yes or no questions, but it proved to be wasted breath as she did nothing but glare at me the whole time.

Sunshine’s meal was made first, of course. Through all of the trauma I put her through in this last month alone, I figured she deserved to have the first hot properly cooked meal we’ve had in a while. I even cracked an extra egg into her already large portion when she wasn’t looking, knowing she’d have protested, but recent events told me she’d earned such a simple thing. I added some sweet peppers, onion, salt and pepper. It wasn’t fancy. But it didn’t have to be. Everything cooked together quick enough and after a bit of fancy pan work, I dumped the contents into one of the very few bowls that hadn’t been obliterated by gunfire. It was a bit chipped, but that was okay.

“Here you are, hun.” I offered the bowl and in an instant she took it from my hands with an amount of reverence. She didn’t bother with a fork or spoon, simply blowing on her breakfast just enough that it wouldn’t burn her mouth before spearing each morsel with the talon on her forefinger. A warmth bloomed in my chest as I saw her smile and wiggle in pure delight, savoring the flavor that she’d missed out on for so long. It was enough of a blessing to her that she seemed to fully relax for just a moment, coiling in place by the fire and taking her time to eat and enjoy each bite.

For myself and the only other viper in the room I cracked the remaining eggs into the pan and tossed in the last of the ingredients, stirring everything together as I had with Sunshine’s own meal, but this time I let it set for just a moment. Once I was confident there was a layer of cooked omelet, I carefully began to fold it over onto itself. It was a bit of a delicate process, and somewhat awkward with my slightly dulled senses. After a moment or two of steadily tapping the pan handle with my wrist, I got the omelet to roll together into the shape I desired. I let out a very satisfied hum of delight before I cut the dish in half, putting one half in a bowl for myself and the other for the viper.

“I’m gonna let mine cool for a moment, so I’m going to just go ahead and make sure she eats something.” I told Sunshine, earning a bit of a look before I raised a hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful. Besides, what’s she gonna do? Chip her teeth on my metal hand?”

A soft shake of the head, and now a constant vigil being set upon, I grabbed one of the many plastic spoons we’d stolen away from MREs. It was still wrapped, shiny and new brown plastic catching the sun and firelight. Tearing off the plastic as I walked over, I sat in front of the black viper, holding the bowl of food in one hand and setting the spoon on top of the omelet. I extended the bowl towards her and let her tongue, that hadn’t stopped flickering out since I’d begun cooking, get a taste and whiff of what I was offering. If her eyes didn’t tell me she was interested, the growl that emitted from her gut said even more.

“I’m going to give this to you, alright? No catches, no tricks, all I’m asking is you don’t try to bite me, no spitting poison, no shenanigans. Fair deal?” I asked, waggling the bowl in front of her. Her eyes were locked onto it before she looked up at me, squinting. “... Are you worried I poisoned it or somethin’....?”

I saw a firm nod follow. My eyes rolled in my head before I picked up the spoon, cut out a piece and showed it to her. Her eyes stared at it before I popped it into my mouth and happily chewed. Fluffy, moist and just a tiny bit creamy from that slightly uncooked yolky goodness. It wasn’t quite as good as I could’ve made at the old house, but it was still delicious compared to the constant processed meals we’d been eating. After I swallowed I sat there, quietly tapping the spoon to my lips. “.... Hmm, Yes, I do believe I’m dying now.” I sarcastically replied, looking at the viper. “I’ll probably be dead in another forty or fifty years. Tragic, really.”

My humor was only appreciated by the voice behind me snickering, but ultimately, the viper before me softened in expression. They gave another, small, curt nod as I once again offered the bowl forward.

“Right, I’m going to cut those ties off of your mouth. Don’t freak out when I get my knife, I’m not going to hurt you.” I said, very deliberately setting down the bowl and spoon before bringing my hand to my belt. I blinked, realizing that she’d stolen that away and I hadn’t yet found it, groaning softly. And instead went to my boot, grabbing at the tiny two inch emergency knife I had folded and strapped to my heel. It came out, revealing the wide and short blade. “Okay. No sudden movements, I don’t wanna cut you now.”

She remained eerily still as I leaned forward, going to gently take her jaw in my hand so I could work the blade between the plastic and her scales. Her eyes never looked away from me, or at least that’s what I assumed. It was still impossible to tell with how dark they were from this angle. The well maintained blade easily worked the plastic off with a snap and I pulled back slowly afterwards. Her jaw worked in place for a moment, shifting left and right, up and down. 

And then I got a very, honestly terrifying, showcase of the viper’s own brand of muscular control as she opened her mouth very slowly in a grand yawn. I saw the fangs extend out at a snail's pace, just as long as Sunshine’s but thinner and needle-like and similarly small hooked ones lining the sides behind the fangs. The part that bothered me the most was how I saw her jaw work, visibly unhinging and each corner shifting independently of the other. It was shockingly uncanny as I saw the dark flesh within, only broken up by the black and pink tongue that flicked out occasionally.

Her mouth closed after a moment and she seemed satisfied with the stretch she’d done, her whole appearance going back to that almost adorable wide eyed stare. Well, it would’ve been adorable had I not just gotten a front row seat to a fantastic recreation of the alien’s face from the movie ‘Predator’. “.... Feeling better?” I asked, not expecting an answer.

“.... yes....” She offered in return. A blink. I heard shifting behind me, telling me even Sunshine had turned to look. “... Do I still get the food?”

Her speech sounded more developed than Sunshine’s, our previous conversation coming to mind about the ‘Need’ to have the ability to talk at length. Her tone was almost like a higher tenor, more masculine than Sunshine’s as well.

“Yeah... Yeah, of course, sorry.” I stated, a bit baffled. “Hope you don’t mind omelets, best I could do with what we had.”

I spooned up a chunk of egg before carefully offering it out. Unlike Sunshine, whose mouth more or less had to open all at once, this viper’s mouth could almost operate in a similar fashion to my own. She made a small ‘O’ with her lips that I deposited the spoon into before tilting it upwards and retrieving it. That was somewhat where the differences ended, as she ended up still having to partially smack her food to consume it. Though as she did, she slowed down, eyes moving in her skull as for the first time now I was able to notice the pupils in her eyes contracting to reveal more of that dark brown iris. It struck me how different they were from Sunshine’s almost puppy like with how wide they were.

“Wh... What is that?” She asked, head stretching forward to the bowl. Her tongue flickered out again and again in quick succession, trying to steal more tastes of the dish. I didn’t really want to deny her, so I brought the bowl forward. I didn’t get a chance to reply as her nose dived into the bowl and I felt her jaw working to hork down the whole of it. Watching her pull her head back and work to pull the remaining omelet into her jaws was a lot like seeing a bird eat a fish. Jerky motions to use momentum to throw it deeper into her mouth until she was able to masticate it as best as her jaw would allow and swallow it down. Her tongue licked and lapped over her face, going to the bowl to clean it of any remaining morsel that hadn’t gotten taken with it. I was lost in my stupor as her nose was stuck in the bowl.

“Uhm.... Those were eggs, veggies and peppers. Like it?” I asked, chuckling to myself as I finally pulled the bowl back, dropping the now useless spoon back into it. I started to feel like an odd man out using my primitive human utensils. She gave me a firm nod before opening her mouth. No words came out before it slowly closed. “...Were you going to ask for more?”

Her head turned away. I could feel my expression soften, turning my head about to ask Sunshine to bring my bowl over, only to see that she’d already done so, loitering behind me with an all too amused smirk on her face. After I took the bowl from her, her hands came around to rest on my shoulders and she leaned down past my own head to speak.

“I told you, kin. He is soft hearted.” She stated, earning a bluster from me. Her eyes trained onto me before she pressed her nose into my cheek and snickered. “What? It is true. You’re planning to give... her your own breakfast... Aren’t you? I can tell. You’ve that look again. This is fine. I’ll get more eggs. There were some left.”

I opened my mouth to retort before shutting it and grumbling to myself. “My sympathies and desires to help aside... Do you have a name?” I finally managed to ask after pushing aside my embarrassment at being read like a book.

“.... I have an identification, yes.” She replied with a small nod.

“Hooo boy, here we go... Lemme guess, it’s some string of numbers and letters to tell me what your purpose was and the unit you’re tied to, correct?” I started, earning a bit of a surprised look before I nodded my head towards the large serpent behind me. “I’m a bit familiar with the lack of naming conventions. I’m asking if you have something beside that that I can call you, something you’ve been going by outside of it. I don’t really wanna have to keep thinking ‘Miss Viper’ in my head, or call you Ma’am for the rest of our time together.”

There was a small grunting noise from her before she shifted, leaning upwards just a bit with the balance she could muster. “I do not have one. If you want to give me one, I do not care. It is not like we’ll know each other long enough for me to use it more than today.”

“Well that’s a lot of responsibility, there, Miss...” I said, scratching the side of my face with my digits. “I’ll think about it then and try to give you a real nice one, and not somethin’ dumb like... Charcoal or Midnight.”

A brief snort escaped me as I humorously thought on the juxtaposition of the two vipers around me. “Hell, maybe we should call you Moonlight and call it a day. You’re the complete opposite of Sunshine after all.” And while I chuckled, I felt Sunshine shift behind me and saw the viper in front of me tilt her head so carefully. “..... I.. .I was joking, you don’t have to-”

“Moonlight it is.” The newly dubbed ‘Moonlight’ said to me. I planted my face into my mechanical hand, digits rubbing at my eyes as I heard the near silent mirth of Sunshine behind me. At the very least I’d never get the names mixed up. “.... So do I still get seconds...?”

Chapter Text

Creamy, savory, smooth, so soft it almost literally melted in their mouth. They were taking smaller bites this time, being fed them on the spoon still. The man had told them to slow down with their food or they were going to get a bellyache. They scoffed at the human initially, though very quickly felt their guts start to rebel as the lump of ‘Omelet’ as the man called it landed in their stomach. A small sympathetic look came from the other viper as they squirmed in place and tried not to be found out. Their eyes shifted to look at their massive counterpart, finding her having slithered away to continue eating her breakfast. Tearing into a series of brown and green pouches and consuming the contents with a rather lackluster expression, evidently not quite as pleasing as the cooked meal had been. Sunshine, she’d named herself.

An appropriate name, assuming it was meant as a descriptor of her appearance. In the light her scales shined as if polished, giving her the vague impression of literally glowing when caught at an angle. Deep red eyes loomed over them for barely moments at a time, staring so intently as if she was studying them. It was always when the human was beside them. It had a possessive quality, like a mother protecting their eggs, or perhaps a mate. The latter would explain the raw hostility and the way he managed to utterly relax the titanous distant sibling. Or elder in this case, knowing her generation was far older than their own.

A mate... The thought boggled their mind. They supposed it wasn’t entirely impossible, looking at Sunshine, they could easily understand the attractive qualities. The sheer size, the strong body, her even more powerful tail, the almost illuminating beauty, the protective heart she held. All good things to look for in a mate. The thoughts instantly caused a detraction in their mood. And here I am. A runt. Captured, too weak to even snap these stupid plastic ties.

Their eyes pulled away from the impressive specimen that was their elder and let their head drift downward, not noticing the spoon that was still hanging in the air. A soft click of plastic against ceramic sounded out before the bowl was set a small distance away from their nose. The smell was still as enticing as it’d been after the first bite, but now their hunger was replaced with an amount of shame that soured any appetite. Then the human spoke. “Hey, is everything okay there? Your stomach hurting?”

“No.” Yes, it was.  

“Alright then. Did you get your fill?” That baritone voice echoed out to them. Strong and gentle in delivery, unacceptably warm to them despite their actions. Their head rose up, a glare forming in their eyes before it instantly began to waver as they met the man’s amber hues. How could someone’s eyes be so kind? How could someone suffer and feel no want for recourse?

“... No... I am still hungry. But I think I must wait a moment.” They admitted, going to slowly lay their head back down, eyes closing. “If that is acceptable, at least. Otherwise, I will eat what I have left, even if it threatens to return.”

“No no, that’s fine, we can wait for your stomach to settle.” He said, waving a hand just barely in their sight’s edge. Shifting their chin slightly, they saw his legs, crossed as he sat, and his fingers laced together. His thumbs idly pressed and fidgeted with one another. “I was hoping, actually, to talk to you some. Now that you’re awake, and partially full, I’d appreciate it if you humored me.”

Their chin shifted away again. When they didn’t answer, a small sigh emitted from the man. He began to speak again.  “Look, how about this. I’ll cut you a deal.” That drew their attention, but they didn’t move. “If you answer the questions I have, honestly, I’ll have Sunshine undo your tail bindings.”

“What!?” They instantly heard Sunshine’s voice retort, hearing her slither over with no small amount of speed. “Absolutely not, Goose!”

“Sunshine, do you really think they have any way of doing anything meaningful to either of us in this state...? Look at them!” They heard him state before they felt the soft cloth of the cozy coat they’d been given get yanked up. The act instilled an instinctual burning in their stomach before it was pulled back down. “Skin and bone, Sunshine! They couldn’t break a twig as they are!”

“Just because they are... Malnourished, doesn’t mean they... Aren’t dangerous, Goose.” Sunshine stated, filling Moonlight with just a little bit of pride. At least that was a level of respect compared to the current situation. “If we don’t leave.... Them bound, they could... Still attack you. Break your neck or...!”

“I won’t attack you. Either of you.” They muttered into the ground before shifting their head to tilt towards the two of them. They both were staring at them, putting a sinking feeling in their stomach. The amount of emotion this situation was building, forcing into their mind, was making their guts do flips and twists that made them want to vomit. “There’s no point. If I attack him, Sunshine will break me. If I attack Sunshine, she’ll still break me, but no doubt ‘Goose’-”

“My name’s actually Gustave, for the record.” The man chimed in with a slightly raised finger. They groaned and turned their head again.

“No doubt Gustave would help you. I know when I’m beaten and I’m not stupid enough to try anything now. You’ve fed me, given me water and a coat. Best treatment I’ve had in.... I’m not sure how long. I will cooperate, as long as I’m left alive by the end.” They finished, the silence they left filling the air. They wanted to curl in on themselves so badly, feeling the unseen gazes boring into the back of their head.

“Of course you’ll be left alive, we never had any intention of killing you.” Gustave stated, sounding so incredulous it almost bordered on insult. “You only threatened us- er well Sunshine, given what she told me. Only knocked me out, unintentionally at that. Hardly warrants a bullet to the head.”

“I would’ve considered it. I did consider it.” Sunshine started, making them curl slightly tighter in place. “But Goose made many.... Many good points. Atop of the fact... We both wish to... Not have to kill... Anyone who doesn’t directly... Try to kill us. As much as my... Emotions got the best... of me. Harm was done. Killing was not. I think being bound... Like livestock punishment enough.”

Slowly, they shifted their head to look back at the two. Sunshine had her arms crossed and was looking away, finding the holes in the ceiling interesting and looking all too intensely away from Gustave who had that, almost smarmy, warm smile on his face. It almost looked like he won something. “.... If you are being honest, then I will do my best. I have no more loyalty to my creators. They abandoned my sisters and I. They failed to keep promises.” They finally relented. “I will not lie, assuming that you will unbind my tail. The rope is digging into my flesh. It is uncomfortable.”

Gustave seemed pleased with this, even going as far as to pull out his boot-knife again, carefully offering it up to Sunshine who took it with a small grumble. The knife looked almost comically tiny in her hand, barely held within the two fingers wrapped around it. 

 “I still think... It’s a poor idea.” She said, looking down at Moonlight before pointing at her own eyes and then at them. “No funny business, Understand?”

“Crystal clear, kin.” 

“Good, now then. Despite what I said before, I would like to know what your designation was and what you were doing when communications all stopped. But if you’ve anything else to add onto it, I’d be happy to listen.” Gustave began, leaning forward and lacing his fingers together again. The genuine curiosity on his face was almost pleasant. The fact he knew about the drop in overall information and communications was unsettling. Then again, he did have another older generation viper traveling with him. Not to mention his mechanical components tied to his body. No doubt he knew much more than any other common human. They shifted just a bit, moving to get upward as much as they could from their bound position.

“My designation was Special Operations and Information Gathering. My Batch number was the fifth and my generation was twelfth. I was put in the eastern quadrant.” They started smoothly, as if reciting it from a page. “I was engaged in a priority class mission to start scouting efforts to find expanding Resistance camps and any others that had begun to crop up. When everything went dark and silent... It wasn’t pleasant. My squad retreated back to our forward operating base and tried to reestablish. It just went to chaos after that.”

“Care to elaborate or...?” He asked, waving his metal hands in front of himself. They looked away for a moment, considering how much this information might affect things going forward. In the end, honesty would likely allow them a higher chance of getting out of this unscathed.

“I am sure you could imagine what it might be like, being in control of your thoughts for the first time. I was given horrible headaches, as many others were. Plenty of us fell to sickness as their bodies began to reject implants, some even went completely crazy, abandoning the base and lashing out.” They shrugged quietly. “Many of us stayed to help one another, but we were only a group of thirteen by the end of everything. A leader was elected, but nothing really lasted long. Questions arose, no answers were had and worst of all, some of my sisters began to get restless. Things changed so very quickly after that, in many many ways. I fled after some began to pull rifles on one another.”

That was a partial lie, but they would rather not reveal the other more sordid and unsettling details that occurred. They couldn’t trust these two with such a sensitive topic.

“A complete breakdown, huh....” He mumbled, hand coming up to his chin in thought. “That makes sense... Does make me wonder how you did so well out there, Sunny.”

“I didn’t.” She said simply, slithering around to loom behind Gustave, tail coiling around him in a wide loose circle as she slowly lowered herself down. Once again, her arms wrapped around his waist and her head laid on his shoulders. “First day of freedom.... Was crying. Mourning lost comrades. Screaming for any kind... Of help, peace, anything. The second was burying. Gathering weapons and supplies. After that was running. And I kept running. Looking for outposts, checkpoints. Other roaming patrols. Nothing showed, however. When you found me... I’d been on the... Move for weeks.”

“I.. I’m sorry, Sunny, I didn’t know.” He said, bringing his hand up to rest on her head. A serene, peaceful look Moonlight hadn’t yet seen appeared on her face. Her eyes shut and her nose tilted into his jaw. His fingers delicately ran over her scales, earning a very pleased sounding hiss.

“I never told you. Didn’t matter to me. Still does not. I am here now.” She plainly explained. Her cut speech had a kind of simplistic finality. She said exactly what she meant without trying to play around terms or words. It was blunt. Moonlight rather respected it, despite the sometimes awkward translations. Gustave, not wanting to linger on the sore subject, turned back to them and began to speak once more.

“Okay, so you were almost like a special kind of forward scout. That does explain your coloration and body. You’d need to be quite slim to be able to hide and spectate. Does your specific uh.... ‘Batch’ have any qualities that are different beyond the size and color changes?” His free hand gesticulated at them, waving over their body and forcing another grimace to their expression. Something he seemed to notice, but elected not to speak on.

“You would be right in your assumptions. My generation was designed for the purposes of swift and decisive action and long period observation. Our internals were changed for many things. We lost the ability to produce poison like our older kin, we cannot throw out our tongues like they can either.” Moonlight stated, earning a quizzical look from both the man and Sunshine. Both of them seemed to be asking the silent question of ‘Why’ as they began to speak again. “In place, as you stated, we are faster. Much faster. In your human metrics, with our minimalistic gear attached we can get a top speed of around thirty to forty miles an hour on average, or a top speed of sixty five kilometers in the alternative approximation.”

“Thirty to forty miles.....?” The man stated, brows pinching together as he thought of that number. “... That’s insane, you’re going almost the same speed as a trained horse or a deer on the run.” 

“My fastest when I was healthy was forty-nine miles per hour.” Moonlight somewhat smugly stated, bordering on gloating. “I was the fastest among my peers. Despite my size, I was capable of taking down any target asked of me because of my speed. Regularly appointed for missions that required movement or discretion.”

“That does explain much. How you snuck around. How you took him. It was, in hindsight....” She paused, halting on the word as she saw the man’s amber eyes track onto her. Her snout shifted down under his chin, pushing his eyes away from her own as he started to grin wider. “... It was impressive, respectable. Retrospectively.” 

The man said nothing, but the look he had made him think he would be gloating or speaking to her later about something. The affection on display did not go amiss either, the closeness, the careful tension, the nosing .

“... May I ask a question...?” Moonlight started, earning a raised eyebrow from the man before he attempted to nod, only managing the slightest incline as Sunshine refused to let his chin fall and ruin her pleasant position. “.... Are you two...” Their eyes shifted between them, trying to find the word. It almost came out in a squeak. “Closer... Then I think you are?”

Sunshine seemed to tense, clearly trying to find a way to explain it as her head rose up. And then out came the man’s voice from his tilted position. “Yeah, we fucked already too.”

Silence reigned for barely a few seconds. Moonlight had honestly seen many things in their relatively short lifetime. From adolescence to advanced adulthood in the blink of an eye, they saw many of their peers die in training, many of them caught and torn apart by withering gunfire. They’d seen humans get their heads twisted around, spines snapped and berserking mutons crash into incoming vehicles like they were hitting a thin wooden wall. But never in their entire life, had they seen this.

Sunshine had swiftly encapsulated the man in her tail, yanking him from his position and turning him upside down beside her as she glared so intensely into his eyes that Moonlight truly wondered if she was about to see some kind of homicidal transition of affection to wrath. And yet, despite the amount of surprise on his face, he was grinning a wide, toothy grin. He almost looked like he was enjoying her sudden tantrum.

“Must you announce that!? So casually!?” Sunshine snarled at him, though there wasn’t any real vitriol behind it. Moonlight was frankly more scared for the man than he was, if anything he looked like he was enjoying the experience. “What if...!?”

She couldn’t quite get out the words she clearly wanted to get out, chuffing and snuffling angrily. The man offered a small chuckle, hair hanging out of his face now enough Moonlight got a proper look at him. A short beard was on his jaw, amber eyes were underlined by some very small dark rings of clear stress and he had a patch of metal replacing one of his ears.

“What if what, Sunshine...? If we were going to offer a place in our truck, it’s not like she wouldn’t hear it eventually. I’d rather have cards on the table. Unless your problem is her knowing just how loud you g-” His mouth was shut by her hand, an audible clap as scales met skin in a swift action. Her breathing was quickened and her face tight with exasperation. Sunshine’s eyes snapped straight to Moonlight, the lithe viper trying to hold her hands up out of instinct. They only managed a shrug that stayed as long as they were glared at.

“... I do not care if you have mated or not! I was merely curious! I smelled the two of you on one another constantly, though I assumed it was just from slumbering together for warmth.” They said somewhat quicker than they intended. “It is not like I cannot understand. My sisters often lamented that they weren’t allowed to ease their urges. I think it’s good for you, for finding a man not repulsed by the idea. Even if it is a human .”

That seemed to be enough of a smooth talk that Sunshine’s demeanor relaxed some. Her glare turned onto the man, reorienting him back onto his butt and loosening up. She resumed their previous position, but now she had curled her head entirely around his neck, hiding her face away behind his head. It almost looked like he was wearing a kind of trophy. That smug smile on his face had somehow gotten as wide as it could go, stretched across his face as he chuckled deeply. A hand came up to gently pat Sunshine’s neck.

“I’m sorry, Sunny, I am!” He said, getting a very soft series of hissing replies before he sighed in acceptance. His smile lessened into more of an apologetic expression. “I understand. I owe you even more now. I’ll make sure to repay the teasing in abundance and with interest. Am I forgiven...?”

There was a small motion that Moonlight assumed to be a nod as Gustave nodded in return, his smile only dimming enough that his teeth weren’t showing any longer. His eyes trained back to Moonlight before continuing to speak. “Getting back to topic, is there anything else your uh.. Generation, as you said, was created with? No offense, but losing such offensive abilities and size seems quite a waste when you only get speed in return.”

Moonlight slowly nodded. “Yes. We are actually capable of going for three times the time without food or water. We can remain dormant, but still mentally active. It is like hibernation, but without the need to sleep for longer periods. It is somewhat like being sick without being sick, to describe the feeling and sensations.” They explained, not knowing the extent of the human’s knowledge. He seemed to understand, nodding along.

“A kind of metabolic stasis then? You can slow your entire body down so that you don’t burn up energy unnecessarily. I assume that’s a state you’re more vulnerable in then...?” He asked. They were shocked, but nodded somewhat eagerly this time. This human was at least knowledgeable enough they didn’t have to explain more in depth.

“Yes, actually. Though not as you might assume. We can wake up in an instant, but it causes severely slowed reaction times and nausea. We’re trained to wake up only certain parts of the body first, like a single arm and hand to grab for weapons or our tail to throw ourselves out of danger. When we’re in such a state, we only really need to worry about sleep. Usually in intermittent bursts.” Moonlight further explained. “Along with this, we were given the ability to manipulate our body with more precision. Our bones can almost separate without disconnecting, if that makes sense.”

“Ah, like your jaw when you yawned earlier...?” He pointed out, earning another nod. They demonstrated again, moving the corners of their mouth independently, even tweaking their nose and jaw in a manner to draw a single long fang out before retracting it.

“That is not all. We are also capable of doing things like this.” They began slowly starting to bend and raise their arms behind their back. There was a soft, almost unsettling, series of pops and snaps as their shoulders completely shifted to allow her arms to rotate in place and go over her head to land in front of her. “As you can imagine, it makes evading capture quite easily. When we’re awake, at least.”

“........ That was incredibly unsettling and shocking to witness, Moonlight, thank you.” Gustave said with wide eyes. Even Sunshine had a single wide red eye staring. Moonlight suddenly felt a little under the spotlight, more so than they already were. But the praise made their chest feel just a bit lighter and easier to continue. “So, you have incredible bodily control, can effectively hibernate when you wish, are fast as a sprinting horse, any other kind of super-viper feats I need to know about....?”

Moonlight thought on that for a moment, bringing their hand up to their chin and carefully tapping a talon against their milky-white scales. “Unless you count our tongues being a lot more tactile and articulate, then no. They cannot stretch out for meters, but I am still able to stretch it about three feet out.” She explained, lolling the long black and pink appendage out as it stretched down her person before sliding back up.

“... That’s still incredible, Moonlight. Thank you for sharing.” He said, bobbing his head in thanks, best as he could anyway with Sunshine still wrapped around his neck. “I guess honestly... That really only brings me to my last question. Why are you out here? How did you get out here? It’s the middle of nowhere, you must’ve traveled for miles to get here.”

The viper wilted slightly at that. “It... Is a long story, that I am sure you don’t want to hear.”

“Nonsense. I’m asking because I want to know, it’ll help me understand you better.” Gustave spoke, earning a furrowed look from Moonlight. They kept their eyes locked for a moment before quietly turning their head away. “If it makes you uncomfortable, you do not have to, but I would appreciate it.”

A few long moments passed as they summoned up the heart to go through the whole story as they could remember it.

“... I ran, as I said. But my sisters were not happy with that.” They spoke, once again thinking hard on how to avoid certain details, but ultimately spilling as much as they could otherwise, like a faucet had been turned and left on. “They thought I was running off to the humans, to try and beg for sanctuary. They’d got it in their head that’s why the others darted off. I’m certain I lost them after the first couple of days, but I never stopped running until I collapsed from exhaustion. By that point, I was so lost, I just kept going. I scavenged from other checkpoints and ADVENT camps I remembered, most of them were occupied by human forces. I, as you can imagine, ignored those ones. The others were abandoned or destroyed, only the hidden emergency caches usually remaining. After a while, I gambled. I snuck into a human camp and boarded one of their transports, clung to the underside like a beetle with nothing on me but a torn stealth sleeve and whatever food I could tuck into it..”

Moonlight shifted uncomfortably, unhappy that they were reliving these memories but Gustave and Sunshine listened with rapt attention. It gave them at least a bit of confidence to continue on with this unpleasant retelling, almost a kind of comfort that their story was going to be told to people willing to listen. 

“I was almost spotted multiple times for various things, trying to eat, get water, relieve myself, even rest in place for a moment. They became paranoid and started checking everything, even beneath their transports. My scales kept me safe enough, but it became too stressful after some time. The idea being caught by so many humans. They stopped at this ruined town and I chose to steal away a good amount of supplies and just... Stay here.” They shrugged. “I did the same thing going forward to other human groups. I tried a couple times to stow away again, but they were always so skittish or particular about their belongings it never worked out. I stole what I could where I could, enduring my stasis in between and trying to make my food last. It wasn’t pleasant, but I was and am alive.”

The more they spoke, the more relieved they began to feel, as if simply explaining everything was giving them a bit of peace of mind. They likely couldn’t relate to it, but the idea that it might help them further understand their predicament made them continue. “But I made a mistake. I had left my stores of supplies in this room, but forgot to lock and barricade the door like I usually did. I’d not been getting any visitors lately, so I had grown lax. Then people showed up. They investigated, found my supplies and stole away with it. Food, my extra water, even the clothing I had cleaned and hung.”

“And I could do nothing about it. I was pulling myself from my hibernation as fast as I could without making myself sick, but they just grabbed it all and didn’t bother to stay. By the time my body wasn’t feeling numb, they were half way down the road. Then winter came, leaving me with just barely any water and a single calorie stick I’d had left. That was weeks ago. I ate the last of it only about four days before you came. I woke from my stasis hearing you two talking. And I knew I had to act, as it’d likely be my last chance... That is why I did what I did to you two.”

At the end of their rambling, they found themselves taking in a very deep breath they didn’t know they needed. As if their entire talk had just been a nonstop single run along sentence. In a part of their mind this all had felt incredibly cathartic, to put it all out into the air. Even more so, a hope blossomed in their chest that this, while not exactly a good enough reason to just attack someone, may at least give them context. Talons fidgeted against talons and their eyes shifted between the human and elder viper, trying to gauge their reactions.

Sunshine and Gustave were quiet, staring at Moonlight with expressions they could only describe as pity. It made them feel sick and ashamed. It made them want to twist away and hide in the dark as they were trained to do. They turned their head away once more, taking in quiet and long breaths to calm themselves. It was then they felt something grab their bindings and with a soft yank and a gentle snap, they felt their body suddenly become a lot more loose. No more resistance on their tail. Their head twisted around, seeing their tail freed from the cord, able to wiggle and writhe. It was enough of a shock that they only started to rise to a comfortable position after a few moments.

Sunshine had been the one to cut the bindings, leaning forward off of her coils that were still circling the man. Her hands moved forward and grabbed Moonlight’s own, bringing the knife between them and yanking it upward to snap their ties. And just like that, they were free. Fingers wrapped around their wrists, nursing the uncomfortable soreness that rested in them. They were slightly weathered and tender, but no blood was showing through. Their tail had a clear indent where they had fought so hard their bindings had tightened, but was largely unharmed. However a very faint static feeling came back in full as blood rushed through the limb. 

Moonlight stared for a moment, hands massaging their loose tail to get the pins and needles away. They had half a mind to bolt right then and there. The two seemingly expecting it as they had pulled away to allow them the space to do so, as if waiting to see their next move. But a thought stayed their movement. Their head dipped down, staring at their hands. What did they even have to run from at this point? Where could they even run to? Another ruined building? Into the endless fields of dead grass? And with what purpose? Somehow, the sudden freedom seemed so pointless.

Their brow furrowed and their hands fiddled with one another. After another long silence, something slipped into view. It was the bowl that was filled with the remaining portion of the eggy dish the man had given them. The metal digits held it firm and unmoving, allowing their eyes to trail up to Gustave who, humorously enough, had to stand and bend over Sunshine’s coils to reach them.

“I’m sorry that’s what you had to go through, Moonlight. Really, I am, but I’m not gonna say I know what that must’ve been like for you.” He began, pausing to let his jaw work on words he’d not yet said. After a moment, his arm reached out a bit more to put the bowl into their hands. “I really don’t got anything I can say more than that. I wish I had some kind of comforting uplifting speech or series of words to make it all better. All I can really offer is a hot meal and even that’s gotten cold now.”

Moonlight’s hands carefully cradled the ceramic and stared into the food. It wasn’t steaming anymore and was likely cold, but it still looked just as delicious. Their stomach contorted just looking at it, feelings and realizations subduing any appetite they’d previously had. A talon came up to quietly pick at the omelet, tearing a piece off to lamely stick in their mouth. It was cold and yet the flavor still delightfully tingled their senses, just enough of an encouragement to keep eating. Slow, methodical bites that were smaller than they’d usually take. Anything to stop the leaping discomfort their guts were doing. 

They heard the two strangers beginning to whisper to themselves, a small tilt of the head revealing Sunshine had turned him around and more or less wrapped herself in a way to keep their voices blotted and muddled. They couldn’t help but wonder what the conversation was. If it was deciding what to do with them. If it was disposing of them, kidnapping them as they had done. The thoughts of either almost seemed relieving. Their vision dropped back to the bowl, scraping the contents of the remaining scraps into their mouth and licking their talons clean.

At least I got a meal out of it. They thought dryly. A very faint smile tugged at the corners of their lips. It was the best meal they’d had, in truth. A lifetime of pastes, chewy sticks and the very rare sweetened drink all came to mind, but compared to such a powerful aroma and set of flavors that the ‘Omelet’ had it might as well have been heaven. Their fingers fiddled with the bowl a bit, feeling the edges that had a chip in them, the cracks that didn’t quite go all the way through and the very plain pale blue color. 

“Moonlight.” Their new name made them perk up, turning their head upward to once again see Gustave leaning over Sunshine’s coiled tail, elbows resting on the length of it as he stretched past it. “We’re intending to leave you some supplies, but... Do you have any kind of plan? Like, somewhere you want to go or something you need to get?”

“No. Nothing at all. My hope was to find a place that I could lay low and wait for instructions or... Perhaps some kind of rescue. But neither of those things has happened and given what I have seen, I’m fairly certain that my quadrant has fallen.” Moonlight stated and slowly shook their head. Gus turned to Sunshine who gave him a slow blink before a low, sigh emitted from her. She slithered forward, leaning over in tandem with Gustave but not going past him. 

“You would be correct. But more than that. The ADVENT is losing.” Sunshine informed and while the information was somewhat shocking, it didn’t surprise them as much as they had thought it would. Humans were running rampant, their presence had expanded along the outskirts and wilds fairly dramatically and with every checkpoint they had seen along the way either destroyed or overtaken, it all painted a very bleak picture for the ADVENT.

“That being said. Why don’t you come? With us?” They heard Sunshine offer. There wasn’t a possibility they heard that right. Their head rose up, looking at the viper who had only moments ago been the scariest thing they’d ever faced. They had a compassionate look now, one that was made more confusing by the shocked, if not happy, expression on Gustave. She didn’t look down at him, focused entirely on Moonlight. “You said it yourself. You wanted to leave. But don’t know where. Never had a chance regardless. Gustave already had the thought. He wanted to offer. Rejected the idea, initially. But now... Your story is familiar. It is a struggle. One I know. And like myself... You deserve a chance. For a normal life. A peaceful one. If that’s what desire.”

The massive elder slipped back, once again slithering behind Gustave to rest her hands on his shoulders and peek from beyond him. Gustave took that as his moment to speak up, as Sunshine gave him a gentle encouraging shake. He seemed more amused by it than motivated but spoke nonetheless. “As she said, I had considered asking if you wanted to come with us. I was going to wait until we were going to leave, but your story drummed up old memories of my own. I figured since I gave Sunshine a chance after our rather tumultuous start, you should have one yourself. So.... You’re welcome to come with us, Moonlight.”

Their large eyes searched the two of them for any kind of deceit, tongue flicking out rapidly for traces of hormones shifting or anything to tell them that this was false. It had to be. This wasn’t something that just happened. This wasn’t just blind luck. Why would they even want a weakling like me...? The thought made them look back down at their hands wrapped around the bowl, seeing the withered state they’d been left in for so long. Stasis hadn’t been kind. The world hadn’t been kind. Life simply hadn’t been kind. So why are these two being so kind to me?

“You have time to think about it, if you want. We wanted to be leaving around a little after noon, so that should give you a couple hours. But we’ll stay a bit longer if you think you can come to a choice.” He said while looking at a watch on his wrist and slowly starting to rise from Sunshine’s coils. “If you don’t want to or don’t trust us, we won’t force you. We will leave you some supplies and clothes, but other than that we’ll just make sure you aren’t gonna die from starvation.”

The larger viper pulled away from him and went back to their belongings, starting to pack everything up. Moonlight slowly started to rise to their most comfortable height, the man’s eyes looking at them and tracking them over. Moonlight barely stood taller than him, perhaps by a little over a half foot. His hands shifted to his hips as they stared at him and fiddled with their hands.

“I...” They didn’t really have a response. The man raised up a hand to pause them before they could try to force words out, offering that same lax smile he’d been giving the entire time.

“You don’t have to decide now. Think about it, really. Even if you want to join us just to get out of here, that’s fine. If you want to follow us around for the hell of it, great. If you just want company, even better. But ultimately, if you don’t think you can come to trust us, then we’re probably better off going separate ways.” He said, turning his back on them and walking away. The gall alone to do such a thing to viper. It would’ve brought her much more anger and irritation had it not been for the fact he was constantly around someone three times as large as they were. “We’ll be outside, I gotta pull the truck around to the front. There’s some electronics inside this shop I wanted to look at anyway, so.... Take your time. We won’t leave until you have an answer.”

And like that, the two left them alone. Gustave left first, Sunshine giving them a small wary glance before sliding out of the room. The crackling of the fire that was on its last smoldering embers sounded out. They still were holding that blue ceramic bowl. Despite themselves, they were immediately considering it. Being able to get out of here was a huge plus. Being fed was even better. Having a place to sleep that wasn’t exposed by the elements was up there in the pros of the situation. Not to mention there was strength in numbers, especially if a trust could be built.

The cons came around swiftly enough. They were still strangers. They could still have ulterior motives. At any point in this agreement they could be turned on and they’d be able to do next to nothing except for escape. The last fact reared its head in their mind as they regarded the, once again, empty room.

If the two left without me, I’d once again be alone. And that was almost just as bad as being betrayed. Almost.

Slithering to the barrel they coiled beside it, setting the bowl down to warm their hands and scales with the embers. They had been treated so kindly regardless of their actions. They were clothed, fed, hydrated and warm. Even the conversation, however stiff and formal it may’ve felt, had been such a nice change of pace. They missed the comradery. They missed the companionship, the feeling of not having to watch their back every waking moment. Is that why Sunshine was with that man? When she was clearly so much stronger than him, so much more capable, and yet she approached him like an equal. Perhaps it was because of how he simply was that made her stick around.

Sympathetic to a fault. They recalled Sunshine yelling at them. Clothed her. Fed her. Kept her safe. And all for what? What did he possibly gain from it? A strong ally, I suppose. Is that why he’s offering a hand to me?

The questions lingered and piled up as they began to stare into the embers. So many questions they wanted answers to before they gave their own. Taking a very deep breath, they resolved to do just that. They scooped up the bowl and began to make their way out of the building. They took their time, not wanting to upset their already anxiety riddled stomach. Each moment that passed was another moment they got closer and closer. They heard the truck rumbling into the road, coming to a squeaking halt and the engine cutting out. The sound of boots on a gravely road and the slithering of a much, much bigger viper. They waited in the shadows of the store, the sun not quite reaching far into the building.

Neither of them seemed to notice as they began walking back. Even as they crossed into the building, blinking a bit as the light shifted. Even Sunshine had a hard time spotting her until she squinted. Though her reaction wasn’t dramatic, she did halt Gustave with a small pinch to the shoulder of his leather coat. He turned to look at her before he was directed at them, jumping in place as he seemed to finally notice. “Jesus...! Ah- Sorry there Moonlight, I didn’t see you... Those dark scales really work wonders, huh.”

They quietly nodded before their thumbs fiddled with the bowl. Why was this suddenly so difficult? They’d never felt this much at someone else's mercy when they had so much freedom. After a moment they finally managed to speak up. “May... I ask some questions? To both of you. I believe they will help me decide sooner. I do not wish to disrupt your lives more than I already have now.”

“Well, sure, I don’t see why not... What’s on your mind?” He said crossing over towards them and going to lean on the countertop, briefly looking at the absolutely ruined furniture that had a heavy, crackling crease in it. He leaned against it after he was positive it wasn’t going to fall apart. Sunshine slithered up beside him, as she often seemed to do. Each time so far, she’d had the same look. It was possessive.

They took a very deep breath and began.

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Sunshine watched as the two talked. The questions were simple ones, easily answered and didn’t leave Gustave in thought for very long. Where did you come from? Why were you there? Are you some kind of trader? Of course, he didn’t explain he was a former XCOM, though that was certainly going to come up at some point. Her hands were wrapped around his middle, tail protectively coiled and chin resting on his shoulder. She had begun to zone out, fixated on just the ambient sounds and physical reactions her lover made. It was only when more deliberate questions came out that she perked up again.

“Why did you help her?” She heard Moonlight ask, her eyes drifting over to the dark viper who hadn’t stopped toying with the dish in her hands. “Why did you want to help me? Save for the humans living in the cities, most people scream or instantly draw weapons.”

“Well I did, when I first saw her. Would you believe me if I said we only got to talking after I stuck my fist in her throat?” He said with a small laugh. Sunshine thought back to that moment, the distinct metallic taste coming back in the corners of her jaw. It made her smack her lips. “But... I was a soldier, Moonlight. I won’t lie about that and I don’t regret it either. I’ve fought so many of your kind, both those awful thin-men and as you all are now. I’ve been dragged into alleyways, yanked off of buildings, poisoned and had to scramble to save comrades who’d had the same done to them. Hell, fighting ADVENT lost me my arms and legs.”

The more he spoke, the more the viper started to wilt in place, but she didn’t run or leave. She listened intently. The man carried on, gesticulating lightly as he did. “When I stopped being military, when I ran away from it all, I had made myself a promise I was done fighting. Done killing people and aliens alike. I wanted no part of it. I’ll defend myself, and have, but that’s not the point. My actual point being....”  He pointed his whole hand at Moonlight. “When I met Sunshine, I had the same reaction you said. We fought. We toiled and tussled. She sent me through a god damn glass door, but what made me not pull the trigger at the time was that she hadn’t been trying to kill me. Same as you.” 

The thought weirdly warmed Sunshine’s heart. That her want to keep him alive had in turn kept him from ending it all despite the advantage he had. The mental image of that barrel aimed at her eye still haunted her dreams sometimes, but it always melted away into better ones. “So I guess to answer your question there, Moonlight. I don’t really have a reason outside of just not wanting to start taking lives, even when I’m in danger. You weren’t trying to kill me for one reason or another. So I returned the favor. You didn’t hurt Sunshine neither, despite having her gun, so I appreciated that. That's why I fed and clothed you.”

He stopped talking finally, letting it all sink in. It took a few minutes of silence but he spoke up with one last statement, his hand moving back to scratch at his beard. “And to be honest, Moonlight, I just like helping folks. Makes it all seem worthwhile. Gave me purpose again. Same feeling I had when I signed up.”

“I see....” Moonlight’s head dipped down to look at the bowl. She continued to fiddle with it, not knowing what else to say. The answers she’d gotten seemed to be battling it out in her head with whatever views she had left over from all of her ADVENT training and experiences. “... I have one more question. But for Sunshine, this time.”

She raised her head, curious now. Gustave looked at her as well, earning an affectionate pressing of her nose to his head. This earned her a happy hum from him and that smile she loved to see. She noticed how Moonlight squirmed when she showed the man this much kind attention, but she had a feeling as to why. She didn’t think her kindred, distant or not, would approve of this. Not that she really cared at this point. Then the old tongue came out.

“Kin, why did you stay? Why did you accept his kindness? Was there any trickery?” Moonlight asked. Sunshine leaned her head up, having to stretch her throat out to get the proper sounds out once again. Curled up as she was made the old language harder to get correct and she’d rather not waste breath with bad pronunciation.

“He did not trick me in any way. What he offered is what he gave me. A roof. Food. Water. Company. He gave me the same offer as you. Join him for as long as I like, leave whenever I wished. All he asked was for help in his daily life. But I have lived with him for so long I have grown attached, as I’m sure you’re aware.” Sunshine explained curtly. Not out of malice or mistrust, she simply didn’t like the political dance of words bureaucrats used back when she was still a policing unit.

“Yes, your mate was quite.... Profound with his announcement of it all.” They stated making Sunshine bristle remembering just moments ago Gustave’s very blunt proclamation. It had made her so horribly embarrassed and so painfully offkilter. If she did not love this man as she did, she’d have thrown him out the window. “... So he tells the truth then? No tricks? No strange psychic power? No implants or bombs?”

“Unless you count the fact that he’s a teasing bastard sometimes, then no. No tricks. He might be formal with you at first, but as you two gain one another’s trust, he will loosen. He did with me.” Sunshine carefully said, not wanting to paint the man in a bad light. He was an absolute hooligan sometimes with his antics, but never in a way that made her actually angry.

“May I ask one more question, then?” She began, earning a small nod. “Are you going to be okay with me around?”

“Do you intend to steal my mate away from me?” Sunshine asked, raising an eyebrow and squeezing the man against her chest. He let out a soft ‘oof’ as he was pulled off balance into her middle. Moonlight instantly shook her head, hands coming up just as quick.

“No! No no! I won’t say I’m not curious, but I would never! I have my pride, kin!” She instantly retorted, waving her hand in front of her swiftly, almost a blur. Her head drooped afterwards, eyes going to the inside of that blue bowl once again. “Besides, I am not nearly as enticing as you are. You’re so grand, I feel like a worm in comparison.”

Sunshine felt her heart soften at the words. It almost hurt to hear such a belittled mindset. She certainly wasn’t going to allow anyone to take her man from her. He was hers and by right and claim, they’d made one another their mates. But perhaps some gentle affection could not hurt. The poor thing looked so meek. Her eyes closed as she considered a few possibilities before raising a hand. She beckoned Moonlight over, the viper hesitantly doing as she was bade. In the same moment, she uncoiled from around Gustave and pulled away from him.

“If we are to travel together, I want to be clear. As long as you don’t attempt to seduce this man, I could care little for anything else. No doubt he’ll want to befriend you as he did with me, and if anything I greatly encourage that. It changed me for the better, I believe. Gave me hope and made me feel things that made me rethink much in my life.” Gustave seemed confused, looking at Moonlight and then twisting to look at Sunshine. She gave the man a soft comforting pat on his shoulders before looking at Moonlight directly. “I know what our lives are like, Moonlight. Without the constant orders the quiet is maddening. I had the luxury of having this man, and his home, to distract myself with, among other things. One of them was when I started to learn about physical affections. Modest ones that were platonic in nature. Do you know what a hug is?”

“No? Is it a hug when they’re dragging one another to safety?” Moonlight asked, head tilting left and right.

“It is similar, but it is not typically done in combat. A hug for a human is a show of trust and affection. It is... Something that is hard to explain. Watch and experience this, then I think you’ll understand.” She said, leaning down and speaking to Gustave back in the English tongue. “Give her a hug.”

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“Eh?” I began, looking at Sunshine with a confused glance. She didn’t reply, simply pointing with her eyes and nodding her head towards Moonlight. I pivoted to the other viper who looked just as confused, if not a little surprised by the order. “... I mean, if you insist. That okay with you?”

They’d been talking so much in that mildly grating hissing that I had frankly lost track of anything that might’ve been a context clue. Really the only word I picked up was ‘Bastard’ and I knew it was Sunshine talking about me. It’d gotten a hearty chuckle out too. But this seemed a bit dramatic of a step to take with someone, especially coming from Sunshine. Nonetheless, Moonlight seemed to nod along. A quick set of hissing sounds from Sunshine directed her to put the bowl she’d been carrying down on the counter I’d been leaning on and awkwardly open up her arms.

“Well, here goes, I guess. Dunno what’s supposed to be accomplished with this.” I said, stepping forward and opening up my own arms. It was a much different experience than it was with Sunshine, for some subtle and more obvious reasons. One of the obvious being that there wasn’t an abundance of flesh keeping our chests from meeting and giving me an easier time of getting my arms around her back. Her stomach was pressed so cleanly against my own that if it was Sunshine I may’ve even called this intimate.

The height difference was almost normal, by human standards anyway. Sunshine oftentimes had to lower herself down just to avoid breaking my neck from looking at her constantly. So the ease of which I wrapped the dark scaled viper in my arms was almost no different than hugging an old human friend.

As my hands gently clasped around her sides I felt her stiffen. Another set of hisses instructed her further, arms wrapping around my shoulders in turn. The rest started to fall into place after that, her weight leaned into mine, her head rested on my shoulder as Sunshine often did. Her body felt much different too. Lean and lithe, I could easily feel the soft wiggling her body did trying to position herself more appropriately. It was honestly nice, hugging someone I could actually easily wrap my arms around. It was almost alien to my mind how long it’d been since I’d hug another person near my height. Then the shivering came. She began to tighten her grip around me, talons digging into my coat and hitching breaths coming out. Oh no. I thought. Not again...

I didn’t want to be responsible for making two separate vipers, women no less, cry after just a first meeting. I felt her starting to sink and I doubled my grip to make sure she didn’t fall down, squeezing her tight to not let her simply fall away. That seemed to worsen the trembling and the breathing, but she didn’t let go either. I didn’t know what else to do, so I tried my best to pivot and pull her along so I could lean against something and let her balance her weight a bit easier on me. Sunshine must’ve anticipated this, yet again, as a look of understanding was plastered across. It was almost knowing. 

Oh...

Memories came back of when Sunshine had first tried to hug me, how awkward, and kind of frightening, it’d been. I let my eyes close as I briefly felt something wrap around my leg, just around the ankle and no higher. I trusted Sunshine to keep me safe if this had been some trick, but I doubted vipers knew to start sobbing to play on human pity and sympathy. They usually just kind of tried to kill you. Usually.

Letting old parental instincts take over, I began to rock softly with her in my arms. The hitching didn’t stop, but it didn’t quite sound like it’d gone to tears yet. More like someone was finally getting a chance to breathe easily for the first time in god knows how long. I spoke quietly, not wanting to disrupt whatever breakthrough Sunshine had forced upon this younger viper. “Hey, easy now. You’re safe, no one here’s gonna hurt you. It’s probably been a long while since you took a moment to just relax, huh?”

Hitched breaths turned into proper whimpers and whines. A gentle sigh escaped me. How many times had I had this exact situation play out? Not necessarily with vipers, but in general. Being the man to comfort others. With my eyes closed, it was easy for the memories to flood back.

I was holding a toddler in my arms, back when my limbs were still flesh and blood. My helmet jostled on my head as I ran into the skyranger and leapt inside, just in time for the bay door to begin closing. It was a young boy, he hadn’t stopped crying since I had found him. He and his family had gotten separated but had been rescued by my allies on a separate Skyranger. We just had to get him back to HQ and they could be reunited. It took me the whole ride to get the kid to calm down. He didn’t let go of me the entire time, my arms burned from holding him. Only when we saw his parents did he finally let go, running to them. He called me ‘Goose’ since he couldn’t pronounce my name. I’d gone to my sergeant to change my callsign after he made me promise not to forget him.

Memory blurred as the face of my sergeant changed to a night sky. 

Mama Bear was clinging to me, shaking like a leaf, out in the open air outside. She’d been told that her siblings hadn’t come back from their missions, one KIA and the other two MIA. It’d taken me hours to get her to calm down enough not to march out into the world and chase them down. And right after I’d managed to convince her, she had locked me in a hug that I’d not get out of for hours more. But I didn’t mind at the time. I just remembered my little sister that was back home, my mother and father wondering where I must’ve been. The night ended when I pulled her back inside for a few drinks to soothe her nerves and help her sleep.

A handful more memories flitted through my mind, none managing to stay as I was pulled slowly away. Still, faces loitered behind my eyelids. Yui, Mama Bear, Rascal and D4. They were all his old squad that oftentimes had lost friends or family, had a bad mission or just generally were having a bad day. They held him in his moments of weakness too. The thoughts, while bittersweet, still warmed his heart that he could remember them all the same.

I could feel Moonlight’s grip loosening on me, but not by much. Not in an attempt to let go. Just enough to know that she was calming down. More memories tried to take hold but I forced myself to ground and did my best to stay in the here and now. It was easier to do when I had someone else to focus on, feeling her body shuddering still. Eventually I started to pull my arms away to try and get a good look at her, only to feel the arms tighten around me further. At some point, much like how Sunshine often did, she’d wrapped around one of my legs. The only real difference between Sunshine and her now was that I was at least someone certain I could carry her without dragging any of her tail behind me.

“Hmmmnnh... Maybe you are ... A Viper Charmer, Goose.” I heard the teasing, dry voice rasp. My head turned to see that same knowing smug. I rolled my eyes, a smile forming as my own humor was tossed back at me. I had to somewhat tug Moonlight off of me, which was something of a process. At first a small part of my mind thought she was going to try and do something more, but that quickly dissipated as I heard that soft snuffling of a viper that’d been doing her best to hold it together. A sound I was unfortunately becoming more familiar with as time went on. She only truly started to come off of me after Sunshine tapped her shoulder and spoke up again. “Was that satisfactory? Do you understand?” 

Moonlight started nodding, pulling away in full and coiling just a pace or two away from me. She didn’t move from that spot for a few moments as Sunshine leaned over and nudged me for my attention. As I turned my head, she nodded towards Moonlight and spoke in a whisper, almost too quiet for me to hear. “Apologies in advance. Might be worse than me.”

I raised an eyebrow at that, turning a bit more to whisper back. “What, did you give her permission to pester me for affection or somethin’...?”

I didn’t get an answer. The smile I had on my face started to shrink as the silence dragged on. My vision flitted between Sunshine and now the embarrassed looking Moonlight. As my eyes turned back to those mischievous ruby eyes I saw a twinkle in there that I hadn’t seen before following one last whisper into my mechanical ear. “Payback. For announcing our ‘Fucking’.”

And like that she slithered away from me, a pep in her movement that hadn’t been there before as I was left dumbfounded. The dark scaled Viper wiggled in place, looking as Sunshine left before returning to me. Her voice came out moments later, sheepish and with a hand extending outward to me.

“I... If the offer still stands. I’d like to take it?” It sounded more like she was asking herself than me. And for a brief moment, she looked panicked. “Elder Sunshine didn’t make me do something taboo, did she...?”

“Ahh... No, no she didn’t.” I said, leaning off the counter and going to take her hand in mine. “But if you’ve any requests of me and my time, just be mindful of whatever I might be doing at the time. And no bothering me while I’m driving.”

She almost instantly looked away from me. Her hands pulled to her chest again, a habit I noticed Sunshine also did. I wondered what caused it, if it was some kind of instinctual self soothing or perhaps just a want to appear smaller. Taking a breath, I walked past her, giving her shoulder a small pat on the back of it while I moved. “C’mon then, Moonlight. If you’re gonna be with us, you’re gonna work with us. Help me salvage whatever we can from this place before we get a move on.” I paused, turning on my heel to point at her as she began to follow me. “Oh and don’t mind the combat suit in the back of the truck, that’s mine. Anyways, I need HDMI cables, possibly old RCA video cables.”

She nodded as I turned away, listening to her almost silently slither behind me. It was only after we got into the hallway leading to the storage area that I heard her chirp behind me. “Did... you say combat suit...?”

Chapter Text

The solution to our transport problem had been one of a curious nature. Ultimately, we discovered there was just enough room in the cab to accommodate all three of us, but it was not going to be pleasant. An emergency ‘Oh shit, we gotta go’ kind of ride along. Thankfully, a bit of poking and snooping around, I discovered that the cargo truck had a small emergency hatch in the rear of the cab. Pulling all of our traveling trash and spare jackets aside, we were able to hoist it open, swinging outward into the bed of the truck. Of course, this meant we had to go back into the truck and rearrange most of our cargo, but in the end it didn’t take too much longer and Moonlight looked to have a decent mode of traveling with us. We all three sat in the rear, watching her squeeze in and out through the hatch in relative ease. I had to admit I was still impressed with her ability to contort. In a freaked out uncanny kind of way. I mentally mused.

She could bring herself up and in between me and Sunshine without taking up considerably more space. It was frankly almost ideal, with the way I watched her go in and out of it. Her whole body contorting with a freakishly liquidity that put even Sunshine’s natural grace to shame.

Not that I’d ever tell either of them that. I thought with a small amount of amusement. The thought was made doubly insured as I watched Sunshine attempt to slither through the opening, but her hips got caught on the edges. Sure, she could probably force herself through if the door was to be used as it was intended, as an emergency exit, but for the ease of coming and going, she was stuck riding up front with me.

“Too bad, you got too much junk in the trunk, there hun.” I stated, giving her a wide complimentary smile. All I got in return was a very blank stare. “Uhhh... you’re packin’ a real wagon!” Now Moonlight was staring at me. I felt oddly intimidated and not for the reasons I should’ve been. I grasped for any kind of semblance of non-idiom to try and make my compliment known. “Uhm... you got a really fat ass....?”

“Goose, are you okay? You’re talking weirdly again.” She said, leaning forward with just a modicum of concern in her voice. Moonlight tapped her larger counterpart, earning a swift returning glance at her.

“Is he always like this...? I know he said he was a soldier, but must he speak in code too?” She whispered just loud enough I could still hear it.

“He does say many... Strange things, but usually... They are somewhat decipherable.” Sunshine replied, giving me another glancing look. My face went into my hands, rubbing at my eyes for a few long minutes before I eventually took a very deep breath. Letting it out in a sigh, I moved over to Sunshine, going to carefully urge her upwards just enough that I could get where I wanted to be. And then I raised up both of my hands and clapped them onto her hips, giving the extremely powerful muscles a firm squeeze. The sound that escaped her was like if someone had made a bass drum squeak.

“I’m saying I like your broad and very filled out hips, Sunshine. I like your body and are very attractive to me. I was using old human sayings to try and compliment you. You don’t have an ass because of your biology, no matter how much my brain tricks me into thinking you do.” I stated, earning a mix between an embarrassed glare and a very tender smile. Clearly, my compliment had hit its mark, but the embarrassment came from the politely silent Moonlight who only sat there with her hands carefully folded over her lap. Very patient, this viper. Uncomfortably quiet, however. “A-Ah.... Ah.... Sorry, Moonlight.”

“It is fine. I know I am the intruder among this relationship. But it is fascinating to observe.” She stated, bobbing her head up and down as she spoke, raising and falling as if trying to get better angles to view us both at. My hands slipped away from Sunshine’s hips, allowing the semi-flustered viper to reorient herself and give me a loving, if not withering, look before looking back to Moonlight. “The idea of one of my kind, old generation especially, mating with a human is something I’d never thought would happen. Of course, sisters would often make humorous jokes about it, but such things were often punished with migraines if we made them more than once every blue moon. But seeing it in person is almost mystical.”

I cleared my throat, feeling a bit awkward from having aggressively flirted with my alien lover in front of who was effectively a total stranger, not to mention of the same species, regardless of the future relationship we might have. The feeling of being put under such an analytical observation made me feel like I was back in the doctor’s offices and engineer labs getting my check ups. Made my limbs tingle with phantom sensations. “Well, I’ll try to uh... Keep my enthusiasm to a minimum until we’re all a bit more comfortable...” 

Sunshine mumbled something under her breath that I didn’t quite hear though Moonlight’s posture went rigid as the larger viper vanished out of the truck. I blinked, about to ask what she said only to watch the pitch black serpent leave my view to crawl through the hatch and wait for me inside the cab. Another deep sigh escaped me as I turned to start walking out, going to eye the bag that had the old twinkies still in it. I still had to try one of these soon. Perhaps when we found a more suitable place to hunker down for a few days.

The jaunt to the front of the truck was a quick one, taking longer for me to open the door, climb in and get the whole truck rumbling. It was a strange sight to behold, not one but two of my former enemies relaxing in the cab. They were even hissing at one another in their weird alien tongue, Sunshine evidently being very emphatic with how her hands were moving. Moonlight seemed more subdued but listened with rapt attention. I hadn’t a clue what they might’ve been talking about, but I’d not pry. I trusted Sunshine not to cause Moonlight any undo stress. Not much, anyway.

The truck lurched as I hit the gas and we started down the road again. My elbow found the arm rest on the door and I leaned my head over into it, resting my chin on the soft rubber pads of my palm. The trip went on without much happening. Turns out, save for Moonlight, we hadn’t really discovered any kind of proper.... Anything. The buildings we’d passed were often ruined, cars were recklessly abandoned in the roads and more often than not there’d be little to no signs of others even passing through recently. My eyes drifted out to the side, scanning the horizon for anything of note, anything of remote value. Nothing and nothing and more nothing.

My eyes shifted back to the road and then briefly to the dark scaled serpent who appeared to be calming and relaxing more and more as she spoke with Sunshine. Whatever they were talking about seemed to be at least a comfortable topic. It made me smile while more serious thoughts began to slip in between the cracks. The coming few days were going to be an important series of lessons for me regarding Moonlight. Vipers in general, really. I’d never seen more than three in a pod at once before, and that was usually heavily dense patrols. They weren’t free then, either. My focus shifted to the road while my mind ran through what I did know.

Sunshine had taken me over a month to get her comfortable enough to move around the house freely and talk with me when she was bored or wanted to know something. After that it was her sudden want for physical attention, hugs and sleeping together. Even after the time past and between those moments, especially going forward, I was still learning her little quirks and habits. The way she held her hands when she was nervous, how her hood would twitch when she was thinking hard or the various ways her eyes shifted as her mood did. How happy she looked whenever I complimented her in any way. The way some foods made her scrunch up her nose or cause her tongue to rapid-fire from her lips. More intimate thoughts slipped in as well since we’d shared that morning together. That dazzling glazed over expression after a particularly delightful evening. A smug smile formed on my lips. 

It melted away as Moonlight came to my thoughts, the seriousness of the situation taking a bit more of a sobering tone in my mind. This new viper was a complete anomaly to me. She was nothing like Sunshine save for a few exceptions.

She did the same hand motions when she looked nervous, but had a constant vigilance that was reminiscent of a meerkat. She was relaxed now, but I could still catch her stiff posture, how her eyes would occasionally track things through the windows. Her understanding and use of English was different as well, eloquent and fluid, if not a bit too literal sometimes. I suppose it’d have to be to be able to accurately report back to others. But it was also almost too formal, like she became a private first class under my command. I really hope she doesn’t think of me as some kind of C.O. I really don’t want to have to start acting military again, just to get her to relax.

It didn’t help that despite my offerings to bring her along I had my quiet distrust of her. My own safety was weirdly my biggest concern, having seen first hand how efficient Sunshine was at containing the, comparatively diminutive, threat. The time we’d be spending together should likely be done for the sake of building some kind of trust. After swimming in my thoughts as to how to even begin, I finally decided to speak up. A soft clearing of my throat that caught Sunshine’s attention, who in turn tapped Moonlight to listen, I spoke up to the two. “So. Moonlight. Since we’re stuck together for however long you want to stick around, how about we try and get to know one another a bit more?”

A small glance in her direction caught that milky white jaw of hers shifting. It really was the only way I was able to tell if her expression changed at all to begin with, almost no visible line of her mouth showing. “How so? I have already told you everything that there is to know about me.” She stated, head tilting afterwards. “I have little else to offer, I’m afraid. Unless you wish to know scouting routines or perhaps some tips as to quiet your loud limb movements.”

“.... They aren’t that loud, are they...?” I mumbled, looking at my hand for a brief moment, suddenly self conscious about how loud my passive movement was.

“They are very loud, to me anyway. You’d be a terrible scout for close engagements. I’d discover you within moments.” She astutely stated, leaning over towards me and gently poking at my elbow. “I’d suggest using some kind of rubber to cover the joints to minimize the sound emitting from them. You could even get something similar in the form of a glove for your hands, though you might lose some articulation.”

“Well, I can’t do that, I’m afraid, I can barely feel through these things as is.” I said, raising a hand to squeeze and release. That caught her attention as she leaned into my view. “I’d rather not feel like I was in my big suit all the time.”

“You can feel through those false limbs?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes. It’s a bit hard to explain, but it’s like someone in my head describing what I should be feeling as opposed to me actually feeling.” I said, doing my best to explain my mechanical condition. Sunshine perked up and spoke next.

“I’ve been wondering, actually. Can you feel when... They are disconnected? I’d assume not, but...” She pondered out loud, head hovering just over Moonlights. “What about through... Your big combat suit? Sounded like sensations numb.”

“No, not when they aren’t attached, otherwise I’d be going haywire with all of those spares I had to remove and fix.” I explained, waving my hand in the air. “As for my suit, it’s a lot more.... Blunt. Less detailed. Just if I’m touching something or not, whether or not it’s breaking, if I’m squeezing too tight, that kind of thing. If the metal gets shot I’ll know, both audibly and physically, but there won’t really be a pain so to speak, more like... Someone is tapping you. You know it’s happening, you feel it, but it otherwise doesn’t bother you much.”

“That is very fascinating.” Moonlight said, eyeing my hand. “Would you be upset if I asked to inspect it at all? Ask questions about it?”

“As long as you don’t take it off or drive us off the road by yanking me around, go for it.” I said, pulling one hand off the wheel and offered it over. A pair of scaled hands wrapped around it, moving and twisting it all which way. The fingers would halt at a perfect ninety-degree angle upwards, but manage to curl all the way inward to make a fist, my thumb acting much the same way. She spun the wrist in a complete rotation a few times, moved it around to test the flexibility.

“Incredible. You feel through it, you can articulate it, it's impressive humanity was able to create something like this.” She mumbled. “I never saw anything close to this while I was scouting.”

“I’d be surprised if you did. My kind of soldier was discontinued after XCOM HQ fell.” I stated. I felt her hand tense at that, hard enough her talons were starting to puncture my pads. “If you’re worried about me taking you to them or anything like that, don’t be. I’m on the run from them just as much as you are.”

“... How so...?” I heard her tentatively ask. A grimace fell over my features, not exactly what I wanted to get into. This was supposed to be my attempt at getting to know our third a bit better.

“I deserted after I completed my last Mission. Ran off into the night and barely made a getaway. I’ll tell you the whole story someday. I still owe the same to Sunshine, after all. Just a bit of a.... Uncomfortable story.” I diverted, going to carefully pull my hand back. “But I can promise you, hell I’d even pinky promise, that I won’t be giving you up to anyone. Not you or Sunshine.”

There was a soft hiss of approval from Sunshine that seemed to catch the smaller viper’s attention, turning her head. A glance over at the two showed that Sunshine had begun to speak in that snake tongue of theirs, raising up her hand and extending out the last and smallest of her digits. She pointed at it and rather emphatically hissed, clenching the other hand into a tight fist to make a point. That seemed to be enough of an answer for Moonlight, for the moment at least. 

“This.. Pinky Promise... The Elder says it is a great bond among humans? Shows of immense trust?” Asked Moonlight, slithering a bit closer to me. I gave a small nod and a slight chuckle, remembering the same conversation I’d had with Sunshine Not so long ago. “And you would... Pinky promise not to give us up? Give... Me up?” 

“I’d even promise to protect you like I protect Sunshine, as long as you promise to do the same in turn. Promise to be your comrade in arms as long as you don’t hurt us and trust us to do the same.” I furthered with a small nod. If this was an easy start to build up some mutual trust, I’d take it in a heart beat. Pinky promises were no joke, as I’ve suddenly come to realize.

It wasn’t very much, but as I glanced back at the viper one more time I offered out my hand, pinky extended. That look of seriousness that seemed ever present on her face withered just the tiniest bit. Like a crack had formed. She wasn’t going to trust me over such a small thing, that I knew. But it was a good step, if she chose to embrace it with me. Hesitance covered her features right after as her hand slowly came up. I looked back to the road, making sure we weren’t going to fly off the edge or ram into any abandoned vehicles.

As I gently swerved the truck to the side to avoid a ruined sedan, I heard a quiet breath and then felt my pinky get snagged. One last glance showed me a dark finger wrapped around my metal one. I gave the action a small shake in place before pulling my hand back, receiving a very pleased hiss from Sunshine. Evidently, she trusted that action a hell of a lot more than I did. They’re such literal creatures. Though I suppose it’d be more apt to say humanity’s just a strange bundle of idioms and backwards talk.

Much like Sunshine had done on her first promise, the viper was staring at her hand, fingers slightly curled save for the smallest of them. She seemed fixated on it for a good part of the trip before she began to ask me more questions, just a bit more enthusiastically this time. Sunshine had joined into the banter at some point, having decided Moonlight had absorbed enough of my attention. I could already feel my throat getting a bit dry from the sheer volume of talking we’d done in the last hour. I dreaded to think about what it was going to be like if we kept talking until we stopped for the day.

`````````````````````````

A giant, half rotted and very faded image of a can of ‘COCA COLA’ with some brilliantly smiling woman was our choice of stopping point for the day. The large billboard stuck to the earth was a good enough wind break to allow us some measure of peace from the nightly winds that we’d been getting. It’d allow us to actually sleep by a camp fire for once rather than bundling up in too many blankets within the back of the truck. The peeling paper and a single corner missing was the only real concern of the stop, Sunshine and myself having gone to check to make sure the structure wasn’t going to fall apart at a moment’s notice, but it seemed to hold up well against the wind with just the fluttering of the loose imagery in the wind. 

Satisfied, we both turned to make our way back to the truck only to simultaneously jump as we saw those glossy dark eyes staring at both of us, Moonlight’s dark scales blending seamlessly into the shadow of the billboard. Between the setting sun and the deep shadow cast, it was like she wasn’t even there, save for her eyes, the white patch of her jaw and that loose gray hoodie she wore. I had a hand to my now aching heart while Sunshine breathed her irritations out.

“Apologies. You two left me behind without any ideas of what to do. So I decided to follow and watch your flanks.” She stated, though there wasn’t anything in her hands to indicate how she’d have accomplished that. Then again, with how swiftly she’d appeared behind us, I get the feeling I had my answer. “Is this location feasible enough to make camp and rest?”

“Yeah...” I started, taking a small breath to calm myself before continuing. “We won’t need very much. We don’t really have a tent for the cold, but with a good fire, we should be okay to sleep through the night unless it starts snowing. I’ll be taking the first watch, so you guys can rest up for a while.”

She tilted her head, slithering along with me opposite of Sunshine. It was a weird feeling, being flanked by two of the more formidable of my former enemies. Almost felt like one of those many VIPs we had to capture over the years. I raised a hand up, going to rub at my jaw, feeling the bristle of my beard. A frown muddled my expression as I scratched at the offending hair. I didn’t mind having it, but I never liked having it longer than stubble. A shave every few days had been my routine for a while, and without it I was feeling more and more like a ragamuffin.

As we got to the truck, I swung the tailgate down and hopped into the back. Sunshine glided up with me, not even having to exert much effort as she could simply raise up and slide in behind me. Moonlight, on the other hand, had a bit more of a labor. It was a curious thing to watch, not being able to really ‘Jump’ but rather she sprung like a high tension coil. It was almost cartoonish the way she bundled and leapt. It got the job done regardless.

Camp was swiftly set up, as there wasn’t much to set. The heavy blankets me and Sunshine used were brought out and laid out for us, a couple extras placed not too far from us for Moonlight, along with a couple extra blankets seeing as Me and Sunshine had one another. The firearms we normally carried were brought out, the old over-under shotgun I had used being given over to Moonlight. She didn’t see quite happy about it, looking almost displeased. While Sunshine started gathering up old dried out wood from the old billboard, I gave the dark viper a cursory look over before speaking up.

“Not fond of your firearm?” I asked, realizing I was carrying the semi-auto shotgun that I’d used to replace the shotgun she now carried. She looked up at him, mouth opening slightly before closing and giving a small shrug.

“It will suffice. I am simply not used to human armaments. They are so.... Thin. Unwieldy. The weight feels off and this one seems to require constant rearming.” She said, quietly cracking the weapon open as I’d shown her when I passed it off. “Inefficient. I had assumed a former XCOM agent would’ve been a lot more..... Equipped.” 

“I was a MEC soldier, Moonlight.” I jerked my head to the truck. “That big lump under the tarp was my equipment. And I can’t really use it if I want to stay ahead of the same people I ran from. I did, however, keep one thing from my old soldier days. And if the shotgun won’t work for you, I’ll let you have this instead, but... Be warned, I only have two magazines for it.”

I produced the pistol, carefully pulling the magazine out and pulling the slide back to disarm it and pop out the round snuggled inside. The bullet was awkwardly caught as I reached out to snatch it, my mind sorting through the boxes of ammo we still had and how each bullet was important. The bullet went back into the magazine before I offered out both to Moonlight.

“Try this on for size.” She looked at it curiously, going to slither over and rest the shotgun on her tail, barrel facing away from the both of us, and carefully leaned over to take the pistol. She blinked at the weight it had, but seemed a lot more accustomed to something that was a touch heavier for its size. She gave me a small look as she held up the magazine to the pistol and I nodded, allowing her to load and chamber the fire arm.

“This is.... Acceptable. Fits my hands much easier. Lighter too, won’t restrict my movement. Won’t get caught on as much.” She said, almost sounding pleased. The most emotion I’d seen out of her since we had her tied up. I suppose this was her being about as relaxed as she could be, given the circumstances. “Are you sure I may wield this?”

“As long as you don’t lose it, I don’t mind. But if you’re not going to use the shotgun at all, I can go and put it back in the truck.” She looked over it for a moment, quietly examining it in all aspects, aiming it out away from me and Sunshine. She seemed rather pleased and nodded, carefully holding it away from me with the finger out. Good trigger discipline. At least the ADVENT are good with weapon safety. I mused, holding out my hand to her for the shotgun she had in her lap.

“Make sure you keep the safety on when you’re not using it.” I instructed as she passed me the Over-Under. A quick trip back to the truck earned the group a small snack and a celebratory drink, a trio of the many, but limited, cans of soda I’d been saving up. I grabbed a few other things in my arms to go with it, specifically a pot and a good amount of things to throw into it. Nothing like a good hot stew on a frigid evening.

As Sunshine and I returned to the camp, I saw Moonlight still examining and fiddling with the pistol. She seemed to rather like it, unloading and repacking the magazine to see how it functioned, carefully disarming the pistol itself and giving it a testing dry fire once or twice to feel out the trigger. If I didn’t know any better, I might’ve assumed she was lost in her own thoughts. Regardless, the stew wasn’t going to cook itself.

I got a fire going, striking the flint against my metal finger to send sparks and carefully stoking and adding lumber to the pile until it was at a pleasant size and burning hot. Sunshine coiled up beside me, lounging in relief as the fire began to warm the area around us. Moonlight came over moments later as well, as I’d gotten the cooking stand set up and got my pot settled into place.

Not too close, but not too far either. It wasn’t going to be a lot of food, but it’d be a hot meal and a good way to break the ice with Moonlight. That omelet from this morning had been an excellent way to get her attention, I could only imagine how she might react to a well seasoned and hot meal. My only wish was that cows were still around. I’m sure they had to have existed somewhere in the world, but as it stood I wasn’t going to be getting any cream or butter anytime soon. Shaking myself out of my food lusting stupor, I set about getting everything ready.

A small plastic cutting board was my choice of method, carefully balanced on my lap. I pulled out my knife and began to prepare dinner with practiced ease, dicing vegetables, cutting up strips of jerky and finally deciding what of my box of spices I’ll be adding into this pot of mediocrity to give a bit of pizzazz. I ended up deciding on something relatively simple, but for myself a bit of heat added into the pot. From past experience, I knew these Vipers wouldn’t be able to enjoy the agony of a truly well and spicy dish, but I figured the smoky addition wouldn’t go unnoticed at least. 

It was only part way into the process, when I was added in a little oil and beginning to get everything cooking, soft and getting that delicious brown glaze at the bottom of the pot, that I noticed Moonlight was...... Watching.

It wasn’t like Sunshine who was settled over my shoulder, eyes relaxed and just happy to endure the hunger-inducing smells and sights. It wasn’t like how Buck used to watch me, making sure I didn’t hurt while out in the backyard on the playset with my sister when we were kids. This was like being under a microscope. There wasn’t a lick of predatory intent, no malice or watching to see if I was going to screw up to jump at me. It was pure fascination.

Sunshine oftentimes had an interest in what I was doing, but never like this. It was modest curiosity, nowadays often coupled with an excuse to seek affection. Moonlight hat her eyes absolutely locked onto the working area, watching my hands do their work and carefully moving to not miss a single detail of how I was making our meal. It made me realize that I’d absolutely  felt this feeling before, a brief flash in my vision taking me away as I added water to the pot to begin simmering and stewing properly.

My little sister was watching me make tomato soup from scratch, wonder in her eyes. Every swirl of the spoon, every spice to the pot, every dash of a lil bit of cream or butter. She watched it all with wide, excited eyes. It had been a very cold winter day and I had been craving something fatty and easy. Of course, the hand made soup wasn’t necessarily a cake walk, but I figured if I was going to cook I should really cook.

“You wanna try it, Agna?” I offered, dolling out a small portion onto the wooden spoon I had been using. She nodded excitedly a few times, reaching for it while I withdrew it. “Easy, there, blow on it first! You’ll burn your tongue!”

A firm pout plastered on her face before she relented, reaching up a bit higher. A smile warmed my face as I let her take it. And as I had asked, she carefully and gently blew on it to cool the savory red deliciousness. The happy squeal of delight told me all I needed to know, my hand coming up to rest on her light brown hair. A soft tussling and I went to grab a frying pan to start on the sandwiches. “I’ll get working on the rest then, alright, Agna? Go and grab some plates and bowls, will you? Mom and Dad will be home soon.”

“Okay, Goost!” She said, passing back the spoon and ran to start setting up the table for us. It wasn’t often I was able to do such things for my family, but it was all worth it when I got my chance. 

The memory faded out as I realized I’d just been staring into the pot this entire time. Moonlight had gotten closer to me as well, almost leaning on me as she likewise stared at the bubbling concoction of foodstuffs. A quiet hum escaped me as I settled back into reality, startling the black viper only a small bit. “I think you’ll really like this. Nothing like a warm soup to really make you warm up in the cold.” I said, turning my head to look at her properly.

I shifted myself back as well, ending up leaning against Sunshine once again, the happy hiss emitting from her as she wrapped arms around my shoulders and brought me back to lay against her coils, slithering around to rest her upper body onto me, head laying on my chest. Moonlight’s posture shifted as she witnessed the sudden onset of affection, eyes flickering from us to the pot more than a few times as the silence drew on. “..... Something wrong, Moonlight?”

“No, not really. I am still simply unused to seeing this interaction. Most of my experience has been lots of.... Terror. Screaming. Fighting.” She said, head bobbing left and right. “The elder told me many things while we were traveling. She spoke of how kind you were. How you brought her back to health. She yelled these things, too, when we were....”

She paused, lips tightening. Sunshine tilted from her position, waving a dismissive hand. “You need not be.... So timid, Moonlight. You made the promise. You do as I did. As long as you... Do not betray us.... Speak your mind. Do as you wish.” She said, going back to her position on my chest and moving up just a bit further to tuck her nose against my chin. And in an instant she retracted, rubbing her nose on my shirt. “..... You need to shave that.” 

“Believe me, I know, but unless one of you is hiding a mirror, I can’t really shave.” I chuckled out. Sunshine let out an audible huff before going back to my chest, one eye closing while the other only partially remained open, keeping a track of Moonlight. Said darkened viper was fidgeting again. She did it differently than Sunshine did. The larger viper would weave her fingers together and wring them in a twisting motion, as if trying to strangle something unseen. Moonlight pressed her finger tips together and moved her hands into various positions and sometimes shapes to distract herself. “What’s on your mind? If we’re all going to be traveling together, it’d be better not to have anything weighing that can be helped.” 

Dark scales shifted in place, those pale white scales moving up and down as she worked her jaw to form words. “.... I am... Uncomfortable.” She finally managed. “I am out of my element. I am among my enemy and one of the older generations. Further, my enemy and my elder are bonded as mates and all that entails. I feel..... Out of place. More so than I was when I was hiding and stealing.”

The words sat with me for a moment. The bubbling of the pot and the crackling of the fire fighting against the wind’s hoarse whispering from beyond the wall we’d settled behind. I took a small breath, raising up my hand to pull my hat from my head, scrunching the beanie up to stuff into a pocket. Fingers itched my scalp as gently as I could manage before running down my features to hold my chin in thought. “.... Well, that does make a lot of sense. I’m sorry you’re not comfortable around us, but I hope it’ll grow to become normal for you sooner than later.” I offered with a weak smile. “And you are welcome to decide if you want to go at any point. Same offer I gave Sunshine all those months ago.”

Moonlight didn’t seem reassured from the words, rather almost more uncomfortable at the thought. Her eyes searched for anything to try and further explain her predicament before eventually starting to slide to the ground, laying on her own coils and resting her chin onto her arms. She was considerably more bendy than Sunshine was, almost looking like a spring rather than a pile. “I hope I will grow used to the company. It is much different than when I was with my sisters. Before they all started to fight, that is...” 

“Mmnh. Well... I will say that despite humanity starting to take earth back...” I began, leaning up enough that Sunshine emitted a displeased hiss. “From everything I’ve heard, anyone who’s shown signs of simply wanting to... not fight and simply live or survive, they are taking measures to secure them. If you’d like to try your chances with that-”

“No!” Moonlight snapped, startling me just a bit. She recoiled into herself, going to tuck down into her coiled body and poke her nose out from under one of her layers. “... No, I... do not trust that idea. I mean no offense, but I barely trust you. The elder’s affections and words are the only thing in my mind telling me you’re safe to be around.” 

That hurt a little bit to hear, but I could absolutely understand why she was feeling this way. Were I in her position, I think I’d have long since gone crazy. I took a small breath and shifted in Sunshine’s scales, bringing my hands down to wrap around her smooth features. That thrumming hiss emitted as I began to carefully brush and pet the now very happy viper. “Is there anything I can do to change that, Moonlight? Anything that’d be a step towards building that mutual trust?” I asked, eyes shifting from Sunshine to her.

I saw her nose and glossy dark eyes peeking out more as Sunshine thrummed in delight, her head raising up and pressing into my palms when they brushed over particular spots along her neck and over her head. She watched with very keen interest, almost as intensely as when she was watching me make the stew. Eyes flickered here and there before she slowly retreated back into her coils only to return back over the top and rest her hands on her tail.

“.....” Her mouth opened to speak but slowly closed as she sank back into herself. “... No. Not yet, at least. I think simply traveling together might be the only solution until I can think of something. But I am more concerned with ensuring mutual understanding entirely. Between you and me and Sunshine as well.”

I gave a small nod. “Very well. In the meanwhile... Here.” I began, taking Sunshine’s large head and resting it on my shoulder so I could free up my hands. She protested audibly with a displeased chirrup. “I know, I know, but I have one for you too, hun....”

My hands went to my coat and produced two of the cans of soda I’d retrieved. The bright red cans were reminders of what the billboard had once been advertising, bringing a small smile to my face. I held one up in front of Sunshine’s upset visage and watched as it swiftly perked up. Her large form retreated to take hold of the can, comically small in her palm. The other hand held the game out by its top and towards Moonlight.

“Consider this a peace offering and a lite celebration of our little partnering.” I offered. The inky serpent slinked towards me out of her coils, turning into a line of darkness against the firelight before she reached me and Sunshine. Hands carefully took the can as she looked it over, eventually finding the pull-tab. She went to pull on it before I let out a small stutter. 

“A-Ah! Hold on a tick!” She flinched immediately, almost letting go of it. “Sorry, sorry! Just... Tap the top of it a couple times before you open it. Just in case it got shook up. Don’t want it to just spray you in the face.”

She eyed me and then the can before doing as I said. Two fingers came up and talons clacked against the top of the can before she took hold of the tab and carefully peeled it back. The soft hiss and crack startled her as she held it away from herself as if it were going to explode further. When nothing happened, her tongue flickered out several times, luring her closer and closer to the sweet drink. When her tongue flicked some of the drops that’d lingered on the edge, her eyes widened just a touch. 

I saw her jaw work for a moment, tongue flicking out to gather up a few more drops before she looked up at me, the question plain on her face. A light chuckle came to my lips as I heard Sunshine crack her own soda open, pressing it to her lips to enjoy. “It’s a Cola, Moonlight. A carbonated drink from before ADVENT’s reign. I’m not sure what the cities had, but I’m sure they don’t really compare to the old stuff.”

She looked down into the can, both hands cradling the aluminum with a tenderness that she’d shatter it somehow if she held it in too much of a certain way. It put a smile on my face and enough of a pep in my step to pry myself from the warmth and comfort of Sunshine’s body. It was a fight, not with trying to get up, but rather the serpent who was having a hard time trying to decide what was more important. Me finishing making our dinner or her getting more comfy time with her living heat rock that pets her. Eventually, her stomach seemed to win out as I was allowed to get up. My boots hit the ground and I went to the pot to check on everything, finding it all boiling away and the soup had turned a bit thicker and gained a very pleasant browning.

A quick stirring released that ever so pleasant aroma, one that had almost instantly brought both of the vipers to my back. Sunshine at my shoulder, talons lightly digging into my coat while Moonlight’s sniffer appeared in the corner of my vision, both tongues flicking out around me. I briefly had a memory flash to me of my time watching the Alien movies in an old theater that liked to run the classics. I hummed and quietly grabbed a pair of bowls from the same box I’d stored the ingredients in and began to dole out the food. Two large portions for the pair of vipers and then a more modest one for myself. Something I, once again, noticed Sunshine takes a mild offense to. I sighed and gave myself just a bit more, if only to appease her.

A nod and she was content to go to her own bowl, not bothering to take a spoon as she recoiled in place. Moonlight did much the same, though she was seeming to have a hard time deciding which liquid she wanted to enjoy first. Her soda or the Soup. It was almost like I could read it on her face.

The Soda is sweet and delicious, but cold. The soup smells divine and is warm, but how does it taste? Is what I imagined her thinking. The thought was enough to drag a chuckle out of me before I leaned back onto my butt and brought the bowl to my own lips. The idea of having more dishes to wash is what kept myself from using a spoon, but the idea of taking gulps from a bowl didn’t seem all that unappealing. The silence was palpable for the next few minutes, paused only by the occasional satisfied sound one of the three of us made.

For once I actually did go back for a second, smaller, portion, making sure the other two got the rest split between them. The rest of the night went similarly, none of us speaking and merely enjoying the night for what it was. Mostly quiet, warm for once and well fed. It was easy to see Moonlight had relaxed more with a full belly and the sweet drink still being delicately nursed, looking all too downtrodden that it’d be finished off sooner than later. My final act for the night was to get the pot cleaned and the cooking stand away from the fire to cool off so everything could be put away before I slept.

From there, I could only get blankets out for the two, seeing as they didn’t really need a sleeping bag or some such, just something to keep the wind off of them. Unfortunately, I wasn’t going to be able to enjoy Sunshine’s comforting body while I stayed up for the first watch, knowing very well she’d drag me into the delightful paralysis of sleep the second she had the chance. It’d made the last week of travel somewhat unfortunate as with having to camp out in our truck, we had to take turns sleeping and watching. If we’d done the same before with Moonlight’s previous hideout, we might’ve caught her rummaging through our things, but alas, we’d thought we were safe.

But now that she’s traveling with us... Maybe she could help us identify places that’d be far more discrete and easy to sleep in without fear of disturbance. I mused. I walked to the truck and grabbed one of the lighter boxes from inside and brought it out to sit on with my back towards the billboard. The shotgun went across my lap as I sat down, no shell chambered but loaded with a full tube. I’d chosen slugs this time around, as if anything decided to close in, I’d need that stopping power and accuracy.

Sunshine and Moonlight both bundled up under a pair of blankets for each of them. Sunshine practically balled up, the blanket contorting and molding to the shape of her body as she wrapped herself tightly from the hips up. She’d once said that her tail wasn’t particularly susceptible to the cold, but her upper body was. So as long as she had at least a blanket to wrap in to insulate, she was going to be fine. Moonlight, on the other hand, coiled into the tightest ball of viper I’d ever seen, to the point where she loomed almost like the pitch drop experiment. Only after she’d gotten into, what I’d hesitate to say was comfortable, position she tugged the blanket over her whole form and made sure to wrap her head until only her nose poked out. 

The sight brought a smile to myself. I knew, by all accounts, that I should’ve been far more uncomfortable with Moonlight around. Hell, I shouldn’t have been remotely comfortable with Sunshine. But having spent time with the larger viper had opened my mind up to the possibility of what could come next. Could the Sectoids likewise be amiable? What about the Hybrid soldiers? I’d heard rumors of an outfit of them hiding in the dead cities, pursued by those rugged ‘Reapers’. I shuddered thinking about those awful places. The night was going to be long enough without such horrible thoughts creeping in.

I took out the last can of pop that'd been tucked away into my coat, saved just so I could have it as a pick me up for the rest of my time on watch. I gently cracked it open and took a tentative sip, eyes closing as the old flavors hit my tongue, one last memory carrying me away for the night.

It was a boiling hot summer night, sitting on the porch with my family as my dad grilled hotdogs and corn on the cob. He had kebabs next on his list, along with pieces of fish for quite the variety of flavors for the evening. My mom and sister were talking about plans for the rest of our time together, wanting to go and see new movies coming out and maybe even visit a waterpark. I’d been more excited about videogame releases and the chances to go out to lakes for swimming rather than overly crowded amusement parks.

My dad largely had no opinion, citing only his want to enjoy fried foods and cold beer wherever they decided they wanted to go, with the occasional jab at me about kicking my ass in whatever game I decided to get with my allowance. I had a cold glass of cola in my hand, ice still barely alive in my perspiring drink. The taste had been so refreshing in the heat that I’d nearly forgotten that it was even summer. The family plan was to binge some of the old Alien movies, our favorite series, and then wake up tomorrow for an early rise to hit up our favorite diners for hearty breakfast and then a quick shot to town for a walk around the mall. A busy day ahead, surely, but that left us with nothing to do outside of relaxing and enjoying the night air.

There were so many stars out, too many to count, and even some planets visible. I’d always wondered if aliens were real....

The rest of my night was spent lingering on old memories, leaving them just at the edge of my mind so that I didn't slip into anymore. My queue for the turn over would be when the fire ate the last of the wood Sunshine had prepared and died out to only warming coals. 

It’s going to be a long night . I thought as I moved over to the campfire to add in a couple more pieces. 

``````````````````````````

“We’re going to be assigning the Fisher squad to a purging mission out in the east sector, southern quadrant.” Central stated, pointing to a spot on the map. “The reclamation teams have been reporting more and more instances of Chryssalid movement, so we believe there’s a hive somewhere in this area. Your job is going to be eliminating every bug you find and if possible, pinpointing where their hive is located. For this mission in particular, you’re going to be assigned a SPARK unit, leave the frontline to it for the time being. We don’t need no heroes, Fisher Squad, understand?”

The squadron saluted together, announcing the same- “Yes, Sir!”

“Excellent, gear up and deploy, dismissed.” The man began before one of the squad spoke up, Cobra the Technician.

“Sir, if I may, could I ask one question before we leave?” The Sergeant asked, snapping a salute out of respect. Central nodded without a second thought, more relieved that if there was a concern it was going to be voiced. “Is there any news on that last mission we went on? Are we going to have to be worrying about a rogue machine running into us?”

The question, while one of concern, was not one Central had wanted to hear. The truth was he didn’t know, ever since the signature had faded, they’d nothing to go on save for the limbs that were recovered. “I don’t think so, Captain. As far as I’m aware, Shen has been working on a way to track our rogue unit whenever she’s been able. She’s even started recruiting the help of our good doctor to try and come to a fast solution. If you do somehow run into the rogue element, your orders are the same as they were before.”

“Attempt Capture, but don’t get killed for it, sir?”

“Correct, Captain. Any further questions?”

“Sir, no, Sir!” Cobra snapped, saluting once again. Central returned the action and once again dismissed the squad. Once they were out of sight, the man brought up a hand to rub his tired eyes. The news that a signature had been discovered had been shocking to say the least, even more so after they learned who it might’ve belonged to.

He’d thought at first it was just some brainiac scavenger who’d managed to get a suit up and running without a pilot, but the situation had quickly gone in a different direction. If it was that one Lieutenant, he owed that man the courtesy of at least finding him and seeing what was going on. In the worst case, his illness finally caught up to him. Best case, he was defending himself. Evidence pointed more towards the latter, but assumptions wouldn’t make his mind relent. Shen had been all too excited to learn that she was going to be able to study the effects and products of Meld construction, even more so if they would manage to bring the soldier in alive. 

The gravity of the situation wasn’t lost on her, he knew that. After seeing the images and what had occurred, old mission footage and even the many old reports, she had become far more serious. The statements now were made in an attempt to bleed the stress of finding him out of her, to help her focus on her work by giving a better task to step towards.

Central rubbed his eyes one more time before standing tall and going back about his day. He’d get a nice hot cup of coffee, or whatever approximated it nowadays. Something bitter and scalding to get his mind set straight. He had a job to do. ADVENT wouldn’t expunge itself, aliens wouldn’t be free without them and humanity wouldn’t start full rebuilding until they had finished this war in full. The elders were dead. Now it was just the clean up.

``````````````````````````

Cobra sat in the Skyranger between the rangers, both of which constantly tried to pick a fight with the other. His mind was locked on the dossier they’d been given when they returned. Shen and Central both had told them they were going to be the squad on the mission when it arrived. It made him squirm in his seat, uncomfortable with the idea of having to fight one of their own. Even more so if they were going to have to figure out a way to capture a man who was armed with the kind of artillery you’d mount on an armored jeep. Not to mention that the man would be encapsulated in a heavy suit of alien steel.

The thoughts were enough that he eventually growled and brought up his hands, smacking his knuckles against both faceplates of his allies. “Enough, you fucking jackasses! Nut up and sit still for a few god damn seconds, will you?! We’re going into zombie bug territory, so I don’t need either of you getting the other killed because you want to do a funny lil’ gag, aight!?”

Cobra watched as both rangers very quickly simmered down. It wasn’t often Cobra spoke to them like this, it was enough of a statement on how stressed he was, given that they started to idly check their equipment to occupy themselves instead. He felt a little bad, but his words weren’t any less serious or important. They couldn’t afford to have any kind of lax behavior. One of those damn bugs could easily wipe out their squad if they weren’t careful. That’s why they had the SPARK unit. His head shifted to look at the massive robotic companion they were being given, equipped with an Auto Cannon for its bullet count and wave clearing potential. A heavy looking metal block with a single barrel rested on one of its arms, the Shredder Launcher he’d been informed. Like a frag grenade and a shotgun had a baby, it was a single large slug that exploded in a conical spray of flesh emulsifying shrapnel. The other arm was equipped with a pair of red fuel tanks with a nozzle and tiny lighter at the end. It goes without saying a flamethrower was going to be extremely useful in their mission.

He took a deep breath and breathed out slowly through his lips in a steady stream of air. His eyes traveled away again until they landed on the opaque pink visor of Jail Break, she was staring right at him. She must’ve been contemplating his outburst, given how her fingers were steepled over her rifle. After a moment of staring she bowed her head at me and looked away, tilting her head downward instead to start double checking her firearm. I slowly began to do the same, making sure everything was settled into place. The Mag rifles weren’t the best we had in the base, but for Chryssalids you didn’t need anything better than just high calibers and good aim. It’d be more than enough.

His eyes traveled over towards the twin Heavies, both with their heads down and sleeping. It was a smart move, none of them knew how long this might take. Best to get as much sleep as they could before they got onto their purging of the area. Their primary mission was the hive, but every bug killed was one less chance to get killed. He said a soft prayer to himself before closing his eyes and leaning back in his seat. He’d do his best to get as much sleep as he could manage. The last thought he had before he slipped to sleep was Let’s hope this goes smoothly.

```````````````````````````

Sunshine was shook awake, groaning and digging into her blankets. It’d not been nearly long enough for her to have gotten any kind of good sleep. The feeling of that cool metal on her head however, did bring her to a more alerted state. It bit her scales a bit, the cold touch, but it woke her up just enough to peel herself out of her woolen cocoon. Bleary eyes blinked open, seeing the human she loved tiredly smirk at her. “Rise and shine, eh, sleepy head? S’been about four hours.” He told her through a small yawn. “Woods more or less gone, I got some of the scrap you left over at the billboard to let you sleep in a bit longer.”

That brought a smile to her lips as she nodded, rising up to give the sleepy man her equivalent of a kiss, bumping her lips against his. A titter of a laugh escaped him before he held up the shotgun to her, one large hand taking it while the other went to grab and pull him down into her coils. “Oy, oy, no snuggling in, you go-”

“I know, I know. Can watch and wrap. You know that. You get some sleep. You’ll keep me warm. I’ll keep you warm. Win-Win.” She said gently, curling her tail around him so his back was at least propped off the ground and he was protected by her encircling. The blanket was tossed over him soon after and he barely could manage a protest before they turned into incoherent mumblings. She’d done this for a few nights now, waking up after him and allowing him to sleep beside her. It was for the best, as far as she was concerned. She was bigger, faster and stronger than he was, so having him close meant she could pick him up and run if needed. Not to mention the closeness meant any firing of the gun would instantly wake him up, abruptly as it might’ve been.

The sky was slowly changing color, though not by much. Winter made the nights last so long now, by the time the sun was rising, she would already be sleepy. But that would be fine, she could sleep in the truck, as uncomfortable as it was. She had considered riding in the back many times to get a proper nap in, but with the newest addition, she didn’t quite trust Moonlight enough to leave her with him, alone. Speaking of the curious new viper, her eyes rolled over to her, staring down at the snout peeking from the blankets.

“..... You’re not asleep. Are you, Moonlight?” Sunshine asked, settling in place. She didn’t want the other viper thinking she was going to simply blast her at a moment's notice. The whole bundle twitched as she was called out, watching as the head poked out just enough that her eyes became visible. It truly boggled her mind, how in this darkness, even with her sight and her ability to pick up heat, it was hard to even pinpoint the viper. She was truly built to be as hidden as possible. “Do you sleep? Do you even need?”

“Technically... No. But also yes.” Moonlight softly spoke. “I don’t really... sleep unless I am knocked unconscious or extremely exhausted. My kind of sleeping is my stasis, as I spoke of. It dulls my mind enough where it can rest, but I am oftentimes still lucid enough to experience the world. I suppose I could sleep properly if I was fully relaxed, but...”

Sunshine nodded as she trailed off. She understood. It took her a few nights in the beginning to be fully comfortable with the idea of being around Gustave. But each night became easier and easier. She hoped the diminutive viper would warm up to her mate sooner than later, not wanting there to be unnecessary tension among the trio. Especially if she was considering sticking around them. The thought bothered Sunshine, but not in the sense of mistrust. It was almost like having another try to lay claim. Unpleasant. Invasive. She had a good understanding that Moonlight wouldn’t try anything, but it didn’t stop instincts from cropping up.

The smaller viper must’ve noticed this as she wilted into herself a bit. “.... May I....Ask more questions, elder?”

“Do not call me that.” Sunshine quietly snapped and Moonlight flinched.. “Say my name. Do not call me... That dreadful title. I am not one... Of the traitorous leaders. They bred us as... Tools of war. Lead with empty promises.”

“I... I am sorry, Sunshine. It is just odd to say. My own new name is hard to associate in all honesty.” She softly spoke, retreating into herself until only her snout was visible again.

“Do not apologize. Just do not do... It again.” Sunshine said smoothly. “Now. What are you curious about?”

She felt rather good about herself, able to consistently reach five words at a time now. It still hurt her throat, but less and less with each passing day. Who knows, maybe she’ll get to full sentences by a years time? Moonlight peeked again and spoke.

“Are.... The human. Gustave. You said you were his mate, and he’s said many complimentary things to you, some of which you very clearly embraced. May I ask what draws you to him? Is it merely instinct? The amount of time you’ve spent? I am wishing to understand so that I may try and adjust.” Her question came, making Sunshine tilt her head left and right in thought. The larger viper raised a hand to itch her chin as she often did when she went into thought. Her eyes scanned the surrounding fields of grass and grains, seeing nothing coming from them and hearing nothing either.

“He is kind to me.” And that was it.

“....T... That’s it?”

“Yes. He is kind. He treats me fairly. He acts like I am.... Nothing more than another. I am not something... To be feared. Not to him. I am something to.....” She paused briefly, the words lingering on her tongue in a way that tasted so sweet. “.... I am something. To be loved.”

“.... Love? What is that? Another human idiom? He does say quite a few of those, often too. They are difficult to understand sometimes.” Moonlight stated with a bit of an annoyed tone lacing the last words.

“No. It is something more. It is....” Sunshine had to chew on the words, thinking intently on how to phrase it in a way that’d make sense to the inexperienced youngling. Sunshine was inexperienced no less, but had more than this poor thing had. Likely more than any other viper in this country. “Think of mating. That feeling you get. That heat that spreads?”

Moonlight went quiet for a few long moments before Sunshine noticed her writhing beneath her blanket with a bit of discomfort. “Mmngnh. It is strange to think about without the tingle of disapproval halting it. But... Yes, I think I understand. The sensation is pleasant. Longing, almost.”

“It is like that. But without the want. Without the lust. The needing.” Sunshine tried to explain. “A simple desire. To be close. To be held. To be kissed.”

“.... Kissed?”

“It is what he does... When he is pressing his... Lips against me. Or when I press... my nose against his.” A long finger came up, tapping the edge of her lips, still feeling just a touch of lingering warmth on her scales. It pushed a tiny smile along her already widened maw. 

“That is all very confusing. I experienced that ‘Hug’ you told me to try, and it was..... Interesting. It was very comforting. It reminded me intensely of when my siblings would coddle me after particularly hard training sessions. But it felt less... mechanical. Less necessary and more affirming.” Moonlight pondered at her, head sliding out of the blanket as the conversation became a bit more analytical. Something Sunshine noticed the viper liked to do. The examination of her feelings or situations seemed to calm her. “Do you think he would be willing to try that on me?” 

A scowl instantly formed on Sunshine’s face but she swiftly turned her head, playing it off as if she’d heard something. The shotgun was brought up slightly, pointing into the grass to further play up this little physical lie. Just enough time for her to wiggle her features and lighten up enough to speak without any kind of vitriol or possession in her voice.

“I do not think... He’d want to. You are not his mate.” She smoothly stated. “And I wouldn’t want... You to either.”

“... Oh... Is it something reserved for only mates to do?” She asked, a hint of disappointment in her voice. She had a feeling it was less about any kind of intent and more about another thing she’d not get to experience. “I suppose that makes sense, the human did not try and kiss me. Even the hug seemed reluctant.”

“That was likely because... Of the kidnapping.” A soft reply came.

“I did apologize, did I not?” Was Moonlight’s annoyed retort.

“I coiled around you... And choked you to unconsciousness. Would you want to... Come and lay with me?” Sunshine said tersely.

“...... no......” Came the meek acceptance.

“He is already doing... Much by letting you join... Us in the cab. It is not small... thing to allow someone... Who intended hostility to you... To sit beside you. For hours, no less.” Sunshine tutted. “He is already trying... His best to move past. To allow you some respect. Though he is perhaps... Somewhat used to allowing this. With having me around.”

“Even if I had intentions to do any harm, which I do not to be clear, I wouldn’t be able to do very much outside of perhaps sabotaging materials. You’re quite fearsome, Sunshine. Even now, my instincts scream to stay away.” The shadowy viper admitted, hands coming up to press her fingers together. “I am trying to push it from my mind, that you two are allies. But it is difficult.”

“And it will be. For quite some time. But know that he truly.... Truly does want friendship. He is not like others. He is open hearted. Wears his emotions on sleeve. Never says what he doesn’t... mean to say. Unless he simply misspeaks. Which does happen. Or uses one of his... many strange human sayings.” Sunshine stated, turning in place to look in the opposite direction, fanning her hood out to capture more sound.

They sat in silence for a few long moments while Sunshine scanned the area again and again. It wasn’t until she heard the soft crackling of the embers and coals falling apart that Moonlight decided to try and speak up again. “Sunshine....? May I make... One request?”

“You may ask. I do not know if... I will allow it. If it is strictly for.... Me to allow or deny.”

“Could... I try and sleep beside you and your mate?” Moonlight gently requested. “It is.... It’s cold. The fire is gone and this blanket isn’t enough.”

The words came as if she were a hatchling again, staring at her with hope in her eyes that she’d be allowed this tiny bit of succor. The first voice of her mind screamed in the negative. That this was just a trick to steal him away again. To scoop Gustave up and sprint into the grass where she’d truly never find him. The other, more understanding, voice spoke up, quietly asserting itself over the other. It’s freezing out here and you’re only doing well because you have a living heating element cuddling into your body.

“I..I promise not to try anything. But if you do not want me to, I will be fine. Just might take me some more time in the morning, when we leave. I won’t pester further.” She spoke, already starting to pull herself back. Sunshine watched her retreat, quietly shifting until she was back into her tightly bound coils. The staring was a long one, minutes going by until she saw it. The tiniest, almost imperceptible shiver. Like she was trying not to show any weakness. 

“Fine. You may lay by me. You may even wrap about. But you keep your.... Head by my hips. Not near him.” She said firmly. The statement, near command like, caused the viper’s head to snap forward at a speed that almost made Sunshine flinch. That little viper truly was built for speed. Her hopeful, large eyes stared in wonder and mild bafflement.

“A-Are you-”

“Do not make me repeat. Get over here or not. I won’t assert my kindness.” Sunshine quipped, looking off. With only some mild hesitation, Moonlight slithered over and carefully layered her coils against Sunshine’s side. She felt the smaller viper shiver in relief as the warmth from her much larger body was shared. The blanket was tucked around her upper body and her black tail gingerly tucked under Sunshine’s blankets where it could. It wasn’t until the smaller viper very carefully laid her chin on Sunshine’s tail that she spoke again. “Does this feel better? Are you comfortable?”

“This is incredibly better. I am... So much warmer. I almost feel like I may actually be able to sleep properly.” Moonlight said, though her tone made it sound like an attempt at a joke. Perhaps it was. Sunshine gave her an amused snort, just in case. “..... Sunshine...?”

“Hmmmm?” She grunted.

“I am... Sorry for taking Gustave away. I really did not intend to hurt him.” She softly spoke. “I could not tell you why. But I did not wish to do away with him. So I apologize for the distress.”

“..... You are forgiven. On the rule that from... Now on, you protect him. Like I shall. And like he protects me. Do that. Then you are forgiven. And I will then protect... You as well.” Sunshine said firmly. She could feel the small unconscious nod of Moonlight against her scales, not needing to look now to know the confirmation.

“.... Sunshine?”

“What is it, Moonlight?” Sunshine almost growled, beginning to get annoyed. Her head tilted down to finally look at the dark viper, eyes narrowed slightly. She saw two big dark eyes slowly closing as they looked up at her. The sight made her relax ever so slightly.

“.... Thank you.... For whatever it is worth.” She mumbled. “You are scary. But knowing you might one day protect me, makes me... happy.”

Sunshine’s shoulders slowly fell slack, the strap of the shotgun holding it aloft as her posture bent ever so slightly. Her hand drew from the grip of the firearm, going to rest on the smaller viper’s head, giving her a gentle pat and a little rub as Gustave had often done to her. “Do not thank me. Just get some rest. You’ve had a hard time. You’ve earned some proper sleep. You can make up for... Mistakes when you are rested.”

Moonlight’s answer was muffled against her scales, the gesture had evidently been the final nail in the sleepy dark scaled viper. She must be exhausted. Sunshine thought, recalling what she’d said about sleeping. Hopefully, she’s serious about this forgiveness.

Sunshine straightened up again, back to the silence and panning herself around the area like a living radar. In the back of her mind, the subtle need to get even more diligent came to alter her motivations. Suddenly, there were double the reasons to be as on guard as she could be. 

Chapter Text

Moonlight was currently filtering through the ruined guts of a desolate motel. Walls had crumbled between many of the rooms, leaving enough debris and dust to choke one even through a filtered mask. The scarf that was wrapped around their nose and mouth helped enough that coughing was infrequent at best, but their clothing was going to be absolutely filthy after this. They didn’t particularly mind, they’d traveled through considerably worse conditions before. Small openings between walls and rubble allowed them to squeeze through, pulling themself into the new areas that’d otherwise be inaccessible to the other generations of their species, mutons, sectoids, humans, really anything that wasn’t smaller than an adult human or their breed. A child might’ve fit. 

They felt the opening widen before they slipped out, grunting as their clothing was snagged and slightly torn from the numerous rocks and pointed bits of debris. Slithering out into the open area, they looked about, blinking a few times to allow their natural night vision to paint the world in its monotone renderings. A desk, a wall full of keys and a hallway to the side of it. Slithering towards and around the desk, they found a few skeletons slumped against the floor or in the hall. A quiet stare was given before they moved on, pulling out the human’s pistol from the holster he’d given them. Safety flicked off and double checking it was chambered, they brought the barrel to point. Just in case a Chryssalid was hiding out. 

They’ve grown so much more aggressive without the Elder influence. They thought.

Thankfully, nothing was in this building that they saw that’d suggest this was anything more than a poor mausoleum for those that died here. The hallway was short lived, ending in a busted open door that hung off its hinge into a room that was equally trashed. Scattered bones, ruined furniture and a few not so subtle darkened spots on the floor denoting what may’ve happened. A small grimace formed before they looked around, trying to see if there was anything of use. Anything that might’ve been unpleasant had long since decayed and dried up, leaving only small fetid clumps of mold or piles of insect husks.

A small cork board had fallen along with a series of labeled keys, maintenance rooms, janitor stores, a small pile of individual room keys and a master key. Scooping the most important looking ones up, they started to make their way back, finding the door leading outside collapsed in on itself with a small pile of rubble blocking anyone else from getting inside. Anyone save for them, of course. Slithering up to the debris, they poked around before finding a spot they’d be able to squirm through, carefully tucking all of their clothing together before tossing the keys into their mouth to hold so they didn’t lose them. The tang of metal and the faint odor of decay rested on their tongue, but it wasn’t anything that they’d not experienced in some capacity before. 

They slithered through the tight space, jagged stones threatened to pierce their hide. Blessedly, they were moving fluidly enough that nothing truly could hurt them unless they sped up or something gave way. Such a thought did cross their mind as they moved through, but Moonlight was far too deep into the crevice now to really have a choice. It was either back out and go through the other hole in the wall or escape to the outside via this hole in the wall. It was an easy choice for them. Eventually, the smell of musty rot was replaced by the cleaner air of the outside. Their head popped free and soon the rest of them started to spill out of the ruins.

Cool winter air greeted Moonlight once again, the land slowly turning into a sheet of white as flakes of ice fell and lingered on the frigid ground. A grimace formed on their face as they shifted uncomfortably in the open air. Gustave had been elated to see the white stuff piling up, stating how it reminded him of where he used to live when he was younger. Sunshine and Moonlight, however, were not nearly as enthused. The cold had gotten colder, the snow made moving around slick and uncomfortable, and keeping warm in the night had become all around harder for them. Well. For Moonlight, at least. Sunshine abused the fact that her mate was warm blooded and coiled about him like he was a living campfire. Moonlight had to be content with just sleeping beside the two, sapping whatever warmth emitted from the pair. Gustave seemed tickled that they’d gotten comfortable enough to start sleeping beside them, stating it wasn’t a small step in terms of trust. Moonlight hadn’t the heart to tell him that it was purely for their own survival, though they’d admit they had begun to trust the pair more as the days went by. 

Pushing away the thoughts, they took one last look around the ruins in case they’d missed something a bit more obvious. The whole motel wasn't particularly glamorous, Gustave had even admitted that it probably didn’t look much better when it was still intact. Moonlight’s nose swinging up towards the disheveled sign that mockingly stood with barely a scratch on it save for natural wear and tear. ‘ Last Night Motel’ it read in formerly vibrant colors. 

“Sounds like a cheap place where people with bad habits or nowhere else to go come to stay.” He had said, grimacing a bit. But he had said that it was the best place they’d found in some time so if they had to throw away some disconcerting items, so be it.

They started to slither away, spitting the keys into their hand to look over them again. They would hopefully allow the small group to sleep without concerns for an evening. Hopefully . They thought with some amount of bitterness. The cold had been the reason they couldn’t leave that town to begin with and the thought they could be trapped again made them ever so annoyed. At least I’ll have company, this time if I’m trapped.

Making their way around a corner to the parking lot, they spotted Sunshine and Gustave fiddling about in the snow. More accurately Gustave was rolling a massive ball into place while Sunshine watched with palpable confusion, occasionally handling smaller balls to pass over. Moonlight stood still for a moment, head tilted, as they observed the pair play around. Gustave rolled the massive ball into place before repeating the process again and again with incrementally smaller balls leading away from the other one, Sunshine still watching in confusion as she awkwardly mimed his actions and assisted where he seemingly asked her to. Before either of them realized it, Gustave had constructed a, very poor, representation of a viper out of the snow.

Admittedly, it looked more like Moonlight than Sunshine, as when he tried to pack snow onto the sides of the head for the hood it all fell off. Really, it just looked like a big snake, as he’d not found anything to put in place of the arms. And then the snout fell off to the ground. Moonlight felt a chuff of exasperation escape them as the soft cries of shock came from Gustave, Sunshine doing her best to console the wannabe artist of snow. 

They couldn’t believe a whole week had passed already, and as Sunshine had inferred, it was hard to stay on edge around the man. He was affable and frankly a little stupid sometimes. These strange trances he fell into had often unsettled them, but Sunshine had said that they were commonplace with him and hadn’t been serious issues yet. Gustave had made it hard for them to want to run or to keep their secrets hidden, the man foolishly displaying himself like an open book. He’d even allowed them to assist with one of his maintenance sessions with a limb. It had been equal parts disturbing and fascinating. Another chuff escaped their nose as other likewise wholesome memories slipped in. He’s like a padded bear trap. The capacity to hurt, sure, but it’s your own fault if you slither into it. And even then you might get away unharmed. The thought amused Moonlight.

After a few more moments of pondering and watching, Moonlight decided they’d leered enough and slipped around. Their old habit of moving as swiftly and efficiently as they could hadn’t lessened in this time either, within seconds sliding up behind Gustave and going to carefully tap the man on the shoulder. Silent as the snow that fell, a fact that swelled no small amount of pride in them. The human leapt out of his boots for a moment, shoulders and hackles raising in equal parts.

“GAH- FFffffhhhoooo... Moonlight, do you have to do that?” Gustave asked, turning around and giving them a bit of an exhausted look.

“I find your surprise and reactions very amusing.” They said with a small tilt at the corners of their mouth. His brow furrowed before Sunshine’s snickering came into the air and his hands were thrown into the air in mock frustration.

“ Lovely! I’m surrounded by viper comedians and pranksters! Going to be episode one on the next hit TV show!” He exclaimed, a sigh following afterwards. Moonlight held up her hand, jingling the set of keys at him to catch his attention. An eyebrow raised as his head turned back to her. “Oh! You found something, and a good something at that from the looks....”

Passing them over, the man let out a cheery whistle, grinning from ear to ear. “Excellent! We should have our pick of the litter from the rooms that aren’t destroyed, assuming there are any....” He said, turning to give Moonlight a soft pet and pat across the top of their head. They’d never admit it, not to Gustave, not to Sunshine and especially not to themselves. But that affirmation, and the action, felt pretty good. “I’ll go and start checking rooms, see if I can’t find a clean one. Maybe if we’re lucky we’ll even have working water, eh? Probably not, at least not during winter. Pipes are probably frozen shut, but that doesn't mean we can’t use a tub to bathe ourselves in. Plenty of water falling around us, y’know!” 

“I’d suggest checking the second floor. Where I went in was the bottom floor, most of the rooms were destroyed, opened up to the outside or caved in. If you can find a room that’s above and not damaged, it’ll probably be safest.” Moonlight instructed, gaining an approving nod from Gustave. He tossed the keys in the air before swinging a hand to snatch them on their descent. The shotgun he often carried was tossed onto his shoulder by its strap and he started to walk off to the motel’s staircase. A deep breath was had before Moonlight turned to face Sunshine and was given a nod to the truck from her. “Same supplies as before?”

“Gustave said to bring out... Some more of our supplies. He thinks we should as.... He said...” She raised up a pair of fingers, mimicking an action she’d seen Gustave do a couple of times. “ ‘We’ll need to hunker down’. So might as well be... A little more comfortable. We must also free chickens. Feed them too. And then cover them up. Double blankets this time, since... We’ll have our own space.”

“Sounds reasonable. I’ll come and help in a moment, I forgot to ask the man something. And I wish to spook him again.” Moonlight said with a nod and their slight smile that grew just a bit while Sunshine rolled her eyes and waved them off.

``````````````

As per usual, I was lost in my thoughts as I ascended the stairs and started my search.

The past few days had been a strange series of events. We had passed through a few separate decrepit towns, a few tiny farm houses that either had been burned down, shot apart or were abandoned so long they had collapsed into themselves. Sunshine had been teaching Moonlight about a few things, like the Laptop and the movies we brought along. They’d both shared in some comradery watching everything from war movies, zombie flicks, horror films to more light hearted things like cartoons, comedies and the occasional slapstick sitcom. From there, music had been another thing. Moonlight turned out to be something of a metal head, only wanting to listen to the grungy, hard hitting stuff. I certainly didn’t mind, but I had to halt it halfway through to give Sunshine a break with her country songs and ballads. The war of the Radio might begin once again between the two. I thought with no small amount of amusement.

At another odd point, Moonlight had started sleeping beside us. I woke up nose to nose with her one night, almost screaming when I opened my eyes to a pitch black nose puffing hot air on my face. Thankfully, Sunshine had been there to both halt and inform me. Finally, Moonlight had somehow finally finished her onslaught of questions a couple nights ago, enough answered that she seemed content to sit and relax with us from there. She truly had started to loosen up, but her almost stoic levels of inexpressiveness were hard to understand sometimes. Thankfully, Sunshine was almost like a mood detector for me, so I wasn’t entirely off balance.

The door I unlocked swung open and revealed a fallen through floor, cool air wafting up from below. “One of the ruined rooms, I’m going to suspect.” I chuckled to myself. All in all, the past week had left me in a pretty good mood. A new friend, an incredibly useful one at that . 

I moved onto the next door, swinging it open just the same, finding the room relatively in one piece, but as I stepped in a horrid stench made me instantly back track. I didn’t bother going further in and slammed the door shut. The next few doors all ended up the same, with either a hole being in them, some kind of mold spreading across the floors, one of them had confirmed my worries about busted pipes as the floor had frozen over with a slick sheen of ice. The final room, at the very end, had been my last hope as I swung it open. It was in complete disarray from the looks of things, a few opened bags of luggage and noticeable plasma scorches across the walls.

But, save for those few things, it seemed more or less intact. I walked further into the room, examining it with ginger steps and a careful eye. A window was on the far side, so I could at least make a fire if I could find a good container for it. Something metal, preferably. The beds inside were quite large, both queen sized, their sheets ruffled up and clearly whoever had been in here before had been captured or escaped, given there were no bodies or blood smatters. There even was a TV on the wall, but I highly doubted the electricity even worked. I breathed through my nose, trying to see if any foulness settled in here.

Blessedly, at least to my pitiful human nose, I couldn't detect anything. 

Moving to the side of the room, I flicked at the switches and, as one might’ve expected, nothing happened. Couldn’t be wrong for once? I thought. Oh well, can’t be lucky every time.

I marched to the bathroom and swung it open, looking inside to see nothing of note save for a pack of very old, unopened, condoms on the countertop. A snort escaped me as I grabbed the box, shaking it next to my ear. It was almost empty. “God damn.” I muttered with a humored smirk, turning to toss the box into the nearby bin. “Someone did a lot of fuckin’ while they were here.”

“Who did?” I heard the ever stoic voice of Moonlight come in from behind my ear. My heart jumped out of my chest as I launched forward into the sink and spun around to see that same nightly serpent staring at me with her big eyes. Frustration broiled to the forefront of my mind for a split second before it bled away into exasperation. “You’ll get used to my presence appearing eventually, I am sure.”

“I think a heart attack is more likely before that happens.” I grumbled, shoving myself off of the bathroom counter and moving to the doorway. She was carrying a small sack that we’d given her, full of couple shirts to exchange as others got dirty and for whatever else she might find to want to carry with her. “What’s up, Moonlight, did you need anything? Or are you just checking out the spot I’m thinkin’ we staying at?”

“Yes. And yes. I was going to ask for permis-” She began before I raised a hand at her.

“Moonlight, we went over this, you don’t need to ‘Ask Permission’ for anything. Just be sure to tell me or Sunshine where you’ll be goin’ so if you don’t show up we know where to start lookin’. Once we’re settled in somewhere as a proper home, you won’t even need to say anything.” I said through a sigh, going to start squeezing past her. I felt a hand catch my sleeve, making me turn to look at her as she quietly wiggled in place. Her eyes said everything to me as I closed my own and rolled my head back. “........ What was it you wanted permission for?”

“I want to further investigate a small cafeteria area inside, past some rubble. Bring back anything I could.” She said quietly, as if I’d just admonished her. My eyes opened up and I turned in place, going to rest my metal palm on her head, gently petting the top of her head as her eyes closed briefly.

“.... I’ll keep this up only until you’re comfortable enough to stop asking for it, mkay? But...” I pulled my hand away, took a breath and rolled my eyes as I spoke the words she wanted to hear. “Permission is granted, go ahead and look to your heart's content, but no more than an hour, okay? If you’re not back by then, I’m getting Sunshine and we’re tearing this place apart to find you, got it?” 

The words seemed to relax her, that soldier part of her mind needing its confirmation. Sunshine had been similarly rigid to start, so I didn’t expect this to stick around forever, but it left a sour taste on my tongue. I watched with an impressed, and slightly amused, expression as she dipped low and practically slipped out of sight like she was a wet bar of soap in a waterslide. Liquid ink flowing out of the door. Shaking my head, I went back to looking around the room. I knelt down and began to dig through some of the luggage, seeing if anything inside was going to be useful. “Maybe there’s at least a tube of toothpaste or somethin’ in here.” 

``````````````````````````

Sunshine hauled several bags up the stairs, sliding out of the way as she saw Moonlight slip out of a room and whip past her. It was always fascinating to watch her younger kin move the way she did. The newer generations certainly were different, but she felt that the niche each of them filled might’ve been a bit too specific. But it didn’t bother her too much. The snappy viper was excellent at her job, scouting ahead, giving them advice on what might be the best entry, even calling out a few stray beasts that’d been stalking them a few nights ago. Nothing particularly dangerous, some stray dogs that’d grown bold. They’d gone down easily and made for good meals for her and Moonlight, much to Gustave’s distaste.

Needless to say, she had grown less concerned about the petite black serpent tagging along with them. Her attitude and personality had changed slightly as well, a bit more teasing and far more obedient to the point of nearly turning military again. That detail bothered Gus to no end, having told her in private that he wished she’d drop the need for the ‘Permissions’ and ‘At ease’ or ‘Stand down’. Told her it reminded him too much of his military days that he’d been wanting to keep tucked away. She had brought it up to Moonlight while they were driving to a new location, in their old tongue as to not alert Gustave knowing he’d be a little upset at such intervention and revelations of his concerns, at least with ones he deemed so minor. Moonlight had been understanding, but explained that it wasn’t entirely her own want, that she’d been conditioned to be a ‘Yes Sir’ kind of viper. Orders were her life and now with her recognizing Sunshine and Gustave as her new ‘Squad’ it was hard for her not to seek such validation and commands.

It was all a bit of a headache, really.

To make matters worse, intimacy hadn’t been allowed in its fullest with Moonlight having turned their pair into a trio. At first, it hadn’t been so bad, but nights where she’d cuddle up to Gustave and feel the itch begin to take hold, she had to satisfy herself by forcing Gustave to lay upon her endless amounts of affections as he’d done the night before their first time together. And it’d worked, well enough at least, but it was like patching a leaking dam with glue. Sure, it’ll work for a little while, but each time the leak came back, it was worse than before. Before long, that dam was going to break.

This thought was on her mind as she slithered into the room, depositing several bags onto the ground. She saw her mate squatted down beside a pair of square luggage containers, having already emptied them and sorted out their contents, a pile of torn, weathered or otherwise just unwearable pieces of clothing and then a small folded set of various garments. Pants were set aside in their own pile for Gustave, at least ones he believed he could fit into. Her presence was noticed almost instantly, Goose’s head snapping up to see who’d invaded this new home of theirs.

“Moo-Oh..! Oh sorry, Sunshine, I thought Moonlight was sneaking up on me. Had a brief thought, maybe my ears finally were pricked up enough to catch’er! Ah... But alas.” He said with a weary laugh, standing and walking over to take the bags from her. They didn’t weigh her down much, but she figured he was just being polite and nice. It was rewarded as she bent down, nuzzling her nose into the side of his head and earned a happier sounding laugh from him. “I think you’re going to like this room, it’s not quite as cozy as our home was, but... If I can get a barrel or even an old pot from that kitchen Moonlight’s investigating, maybe we can actually be warm enough to take off our coats! Though, we might have to push the beds together.... If I remember right, you stopped fitting on that old queen.”

Her eyes drifted from him to the beds, humming a hiss out as she remembered her old room. It was trivially empty, but it still had been hers . She missed it. Though something had taken her attention as her mind wandered. “Moonlight’s investigating? What is she after?” She asked, setting the rest of the bags down and helping him empty them out.

Small power banks and solar panels taken from the old Van were settled down, a handful of kitchen supplies as well, pots, pans and utensils, along with bowls and plates. Finally, their blankets they could spare after tending to the chickens. He sorted through things as he often liked to, getting them neat and organized. When he looked at her, he smiled brightly and spoke up. “Apparently she spotted a kitchen during her excursion into the rubble. Wanted to see if she couldn’t spot any old cans or supplies that might be untouched. Told her she had an hour before we went looking for her.”

An eyebrow raised. “An hour?” She mused, thoughts already peeling away at her mind. Indecent thoughts, no less. She had to squash them back, trying her best not to give in.

“Yeah, she seemed to think that’d be enough. You know how Moonlight tends to get very thorough no matter what she’s doin’. So I honestly doubt we’ll see her until the very last minute.” He explained, waving a hand in the air before standing up and going to walk back to the luggage. “We’ll have to get some food up here too, anyway. I’m thinking we'll break into those packets of hot chocolate again and see if the twinkies are actually any good!”

Sunshine blinked. Pulling herself into the room, her tail tip slowly curled behind the door and slid it shut with an audible click, a soft thumping following as the end began to twitch sporadically. The man didn’t seem to notice. She slowly slithered up behind Gustave, hands sliding around his waist and her head bending down pressing into his chin. This had, as one might imagine, immediately caught his attention. “So, you are saying, yes? We’ll have one whole hour? To ourselves?” Her words came out in slow, heated whispers that caused the man in her grasp to shiver.

“I,uh, yes, that is what I said.” Gustave began, slowly turning his head to see her, his hand coming up to rest against the side of her large head. “Though, she could come back any time, y’know, Sunshine, so-”

“So. We’ll just be quick then.” She cut him off, one hand already sliding towards his trousers while the other carefully tugged at the collar of his coats. “Won’t even need remove this. You already know where... You’ll be going anyway.”

The man swallowed hard. His eyes flicked behind her, noticing the shut door and realizing that while he knew if he denied her, she’d release him, but the look in his eyes told her he’d been rather pent up as she was. His next words came out in a bit of a frustrated, but accepting, tone. “Oh for saint peter’s sake...” He grumbled, turning around in her grip and grabbing her face in both hands. “Fine, but we have to make it quick, alright? I don’t want to be caught pants down  and buried in you when Moonlight returns.”

“We’ll see.” Sunshine sing-songed, already knowing from their past evenings of intimacy that a ‘Quickie’ wasn’t always that quick. Regardless of how much they did, she was going to revel in ever moment, already bringing her hands down to his hips. The man didn’t seem nearly as amused as she was, but nonetheless pressed his lips against hers and pulled her along towards the beds.

No more words were exchanged as she moved with him, getting herself into place and taking no time to grab Gustave and pull him onto her. Her hands moved to yank her pair of coats open and tug up her shirt to free her chest, almost regretting it as the cool air hit her now exposed middle and breasts. The look the man, her mate, gave in response however, more than heated her enough to ignore any nipping cold.

“You are going to be the death of me, you know that?” He grumbled at her, yanking his trousers down just enough to get himself ready to be freed, sliding up her middle to position his head just over hers as he squatted on her abdomen. Sunshine did nothing but give him a bright smile, eyes narrowing and sticking her tongue out at him in a manner he’d once called ‘Sassy, but cute’. Immediately this had an effect of him diving against her, hugging her head against his chest while he peppered her with affection. 

They weren’t going to be having just a simple ‘Quickie’, she’d be making sure of that. But she’d do her best to not go past their allotted time. 

````````````````````````

Moonlight had been quietly timing themselves as they sifted through the kitchen for the final time. Quietly counting in their head the minutes until they’d be sought after if they didn’t return. Having a time limit on the task was certainly more invigorating than merely doing it. It made more sense to have a limitation on it, it forces efficiency. And efficient is exactly what Moonlight was. They’d already cleared out the pantry of all of its cans, found a clean(ish) tall pot and more than a handful of very useful looking cooking implements. Big spoons, flat tipped handles, a big two pronged fork and more all carefully sat inside of the big pot. The cans were stuffed into a wooden crate and the pot was placed atop it, along with some jugs of what looked like clean water. There was more in here, but they’d tell Gustave about those and ask to return.

Slithering through the ruins once again, they heard something strange. Lots of shifting and scuffling, the occasional series of thumps and more than one shout. It briefly caused them to panic, thinking that maybe something had shown up while they were within, but a glance out the window they’d come in from told them no one else had arrived. Moonlight didn’t spy any tracks either, save for those that Sunshine and the chickens made, their own trail included. A wiggle of their nose, a small flick of their tongue, nothing was revealed. It must’ve just been Sunshine and Gustave getting into some kind of playful argument.

It’s exhausting being the serious one. They thought with a quiet huff. They carefully moved out of the room, making sure to avoid any sharp edges of glass as they slithered out into the snow. The sun was finally beginning to set, so Moonlight made sure to head to the truck and take one of the two electric lanterns packed away. When they got there, they’d found that both had been taken, much to their surprise. Sunshine must’ve grabbed them before going up.

A small breath of relief came, though it wasn’t for their own need. The darkness was less obfuscating for them, almost no different than the low light of dawn or dusk. It was mostly for Sunshine and Gustave. Especially Gustave.

Thoughts of the man came back as they went to climb the stairs, humming very faintly the tune of a song he’d shown them. His smile when he explained things about his home came to mind, along with the way he fussed over Moonlight whenever he suspected even a scratch. Sunshine’s words still ring in their mind about how harmless he was. They knew that was false, he was a former XCOM, they’d seen how he handled his shotgun, how he cleared rooms, how he crouched when one of them was behind, his hand signals, his curt descriptions. He wasn’t just harmless, he’d chosen to be that way. And that’s what she respected, that hidden capability. Like his clever bootknife. 

They had no doubt if they hadn’t gotten the drop on him, Gustave could’ve easily fought them off. Had he not gotten knocked out he could’ve likely fought them off. Even now, recovered as much as they were, they thought about how he could probably still wrestle out of their coils if he was determined enough. Something Moonlight might ask to see one day. The thought caused a very brief beat of something in their chest, a tiny sparkle of warmth. It wasn’t unpleasant and they certainly weren’t going to squash their emotions anymore. Be stoic, sure, but not dead to the world. This little spark was comforting somehow. The thought of Gustave truly becoming one of their first two proper friends was a very warming one.

Even a smile tugged at their lips. They arrived at the door and set their findings down, flicking their tongue as they found it shut. Gustave must be trying to keep the worst of the cold out. Smart! She thought to herself.

The door was still unlocked, as they had expected, and they swiftly opened it just enough to slide in and bring their belongings in. However, they paused as the sounds they’d been hearing became considerably more clear. That wasn’t shouting or yelling. That was moaning. And a lot of it. 

Moonlight’s mouth suddenly felt incredibly dry, their body going still as if they’d gone into their stasis. Loud thumping and the soft quiet claps of flesh on flesh came filtered out into the night past them. Moonlight wasn’t stupid. Moonlight knew the two of them were mated. The sounds of intercourse couldn’t have been more apparent and instincts screamed in their mind at the scene they couldn’t see. And the scent that was escaping from that thin crack in the door was almost suffocating.

They had to cram a hand over their mouth, forcing their tongue to remain between their lips with how it was rapidly drinking in that aroma. Hormones, pheromones, that tang of human sweat, something else that lingered on teh tongue, all of it was thick in their senses from the handful of tastes they’d gotten. Breathing suddenly became much harder, deep and heavy breaths through the nose the only way they could stay still. Everything in their mind was screaming to go in, to take a peek, perhaps even join-

NO. Moonlight had to clench their eyes shut, even going as far as to open their mouth and bite down on their knuckles. They probably have been waiting for a chance to do this since picking me up! I need to let them have it! Go back to the kitchen! I’m early, they won’t notice if I go now!

And yet their body didn’t allow them. They did everything to force their tail to slither away, and yet it didn’t respond. There was a loud floor shaking thump as the small crack in the door gave sight to Sunshine, having positioned herself chest first on the floor like she was making ready to crawl at speed, talons digging into the carpeted floor. Her tail was raised well up behind her, a set of familiar metal hands and leather sleeves wrapped around it. Moonlight felt their throat tighten in a harsh swallow as their hand moved of its own accord, just slightly pushing the door open enough to get a better look.

A lantern was set up a few feet from the door, casting the shadow of the viper and human’s coupling and perfectly illuminating the scene itself. The massive dawn colored viper pressed to the floor, eyes pinched shut and teeth bared in her excitement, tongue rapidly snapping in and out of her mouth like a machinegun. Her clothing had been pulled up enough to reveal her bare chest and powerful abdominal muscles, painting a far more provocative image of the otherwise stalwart warrior. In an instant the image had shifted from a former great soldier to almost a matronly visage. The whole sight stirred something low in Moonlight’s belly that they couldn’t push away. It almost hurt with how forceful it was beginning to well up within.

The second piece of the sight had truly hammered home the already problematic situation. It was Gustave himself, the look on his face from what they could see, was one of pure devotion to the task. He wasn’t moving for pure carnal desire, it was a decisive need to bring his mate to a pinnacle of what he could provide. It wasn’t beastial, it was passionate. And it further did not help that the tool he’d come equipped with had forced another dry swallow.

Moonlight felt their body react far quicker now, old instincts and carnal thoughts slamming into their mind to force reactions they’d hoped to never have again. The curse that Moonlight had been avoiding since their mental release from the Elders. The biological abnormality that’d occurred, the sudden mutation caused from too many females being in one place, that’d caused them to have to flee from their sisters. A set twinned phalluses that now twitched in the frigid open air, poking out from under the heavy hoodie that Gustave had given them. 

Given to him . 

The sight and feelings made Moonlight tremble, a hand going down to shove the coat well over and against them to avoid even remotely being able to see them. The rough texture of the coat on sensitive flesh made him wince. He yanked himself back from the door, going to slither to the side and lean against the doorframe so as to not give himself away. The sounds carried on more and more, evidently not stopping quite yet. He had to wonder how long they’d been going at this, the mixture of smells and the last time he’d seen Gustave made him think that it started not too long after he’d gone to pilfer the motel for supplies. Some quick mental math, panicked as it was, gave him a rough estimate of anywhere between half an hour to forty or so minutes. Another heavy thump followed, bodies shifting audibly from the crack in the door.

He hadn’t been discovered yet, he could easily get away. He should get away. And yet he found himself moving back to the doorway, feeling himself strain harshly against his hands and the cloth of his hoodie. A single eye peeked through the crack, finding that they’d once again repositioned, Gustave flat on his back this time with Sunshine atop him, practically suffocating him with the sheer size difference. The look on her face was a state of relaxation and relief he’d never seen in his entire life, not on her or anyone else really. He almost wished to see how Gustave was doing but he was sadly, to Moonlight anyway, buried away beneath the heavy weight of Sunshine’s chest. By the way his hands moved and wrapped around her waist, it appeared he really didn’t mind his place.

The movements grew more frantic with each passing second until the finish came within less than a minute of the viewing. Moonlight couldn’t look, the feeling that’d already been broiling like magma in his stomach had stewed to a frightful heat that made him yank himself away from the doorway and slither away at haste. The muffled cry of a viper hit his ears as he slipped around the corner of the staircase and practically slid down the snow covered stairs. His body skidded further than he’d wanted, throwing him into a small snow bank that’d built up on a dead bush. The sudden shock of the ice filling his coat and melting into his clothing helped to give him a moment of lucidity and even pushed all of the, frankly lascivious, images and sounds out of his mind. 

Snow fell into all crevices of his coat as he slipped upwards, giving himself a frightful shiver as his body was forced to calm down and hide his gender away once again. It was enough of a shock to his system he turned to find more patches and piles of snow to throw himself into. He wrestled with everything he could find, even going as far as to throw himself into Gustave’s failed viper. By the time he was done, he was soaked to the bone with freezing water and shivering like he’d never felt before even when he was alone. It was at that point he saw the door lazily swing open with the soft lantern light illuminating the entry. Gustave slipped out into the open night air with the spare lantern, speaking softly into the room. How long had Moonlight been thrashing like a rabid animal in this frost?

He heard the man’s boots clatter against what he’d left up there and his head tilted. He looked around for a moment before he started calling out. “Moonlight! Are you out here somewhere? It’s been about an hour!” 

By this point, freezing and exhausted from the emotional and physical whiplash, Moonlight slithered out into the dim light of the room and the man’s lantern. His voice was weak as he called up. “D-D-Down h-here.” I might’ve over done it on the snow.... He thought as his mouth quivered from the cold.

“Moonli-!? What happened, you look soaked!” He heard Gustave cry out, turning inside and shouting. “Sunny...! Sunny, take this pot out here and throw some kindling and a fire starter in it! Moonlight got drenched somehow! Grab the blankets too and whatever clothes we have!”

The man was running down after that as Moonlight’s frigid body slithered towards him. It was at a frankly normal speed, but it felt like a snail's pace to the midnight viper. The man rushed to him, hooking the lantern onto his arm before grabbing Moonlight by the shoulders. He could smell it all over him. The musk, Sunshine, Gustave’s sweat, the musty odor of the room, all of it clung to him like a bad perfume. And it was painfully intoxicating. It almost riled him up again but the biting icy liquid threatening to freeze over him kept him rooted in reality and quite docile. 

“Christ, Moonlight- You- How-” He sputtered out before he shook his head, going to yank the poor viper against him. “C’mon, up you go, I’m getting you out of this cold.”

And for the first time in Moonlight’s life, at least when he wasn’t unconscious or asleep, Moonlight felt the man do his best to lift and carry him. It wasn’t exactly.... Elegant. The man grabbed Moonlight under the shoulders and began to twirl in place, yanking up his tail with each twist like he was wringing up a massive garden hose around his waist. He’d placed Moonlight’s head on his shoulder and the viper had done his best to help, weakly coiling up around the man as he twisted and rested his hands on his shoulders, chin onto Gustave’s head. While Moonlight was impressed, only a single thought sifted through his mind.

This is horribly inefficient. The lazy mental remark came. Until it was slowly followed by one in a tone he’d never heard from himself and emotion he’d not felt in a while. He couldn’t carry Sunshine like this....

It wasn’t a pretty way to be carried, but he was still being carried. Not many humans could do that to begin with, and here he was not only carrying him but up a flight of stairs too. Never before had Moonlight felt a kind of pride at being so much smaller than his counterparts, but now it was swelling a different kind of heat in his chest. It wasn’t like at the door or before when he’d been accepted into their group. This was a blooming heat that somehow very briefly stalled the shivering. His thoughts were lost as he felt the environment change, seeing them pass through the door frame and inside. The supplies he’d brought had been moved, placed by the rest of the bags to be sorted later. Sunshine had done as she’d been told, turning that large pot he’d gathered into a pseudo stove, positioned near the window with it slightly cracked open to allow the smoke out. 

Gustave brought him over and set down by the heating fire-pot-place, promptly tugging at the viper’s soaked sweatshirt. It was torn up and off of his body with a shocking ease, leaving him wet and shivering. He walked off as Sunshine came in his place, coiling around him and carefully wrapping a blanket around him. Her scent was even worse on his tongue, the same palpable mixture of bodies and hormones, only there was a lingering detail he couldn’t quite pin down. Just as before, were he not so painfully frigid, he might’ve reacted a lot more dramatically. It was a blessing, and perhaps stupid, that he’d been so rampant in his haphazard snow assault.

“What even happened to you?” Sunshine asked, using one of the torn up garments from the bags of luggage to wipe his face down. The concern in her tone was genuine, the look in her eyes one of worry as he was dried off. A far cry from the faces she’d been making only moments ago. How had they realigned themselves to act like nothing had just happened? Was this normal for them? To go at it like animals and then move on with their day?

He weakly sighed and mumbled. “I slipped...”

It wasn’t quite a lie as he had initially. A sympathetic look fell on the serpent's face as she tightened up her tail around him, the thicker, fatter tail a blazing warmth compared to the cold scales Moonlight was wearing. Gustave came back moments later, throwing a thin metal grate over the pot-fireplace and putting a kettle over it.

“It’ll take a moment to boil, I filled it with snow, but I think we caught you just in time there, Moonlight.” The man stated, he walked around to Moonlight’s side with a couple of spare shirts to pick from along with a newer coat he’d not seen before. “Found this in the luggage. It’s a bit poofy, but it’ll keep you a lot warmer and it’s water resistant! And it’s big enough you can wear something else beneath it, like another hoodie or a sweater.”

The whole situation briefly struck Moonlight like he’d been slapped with a tesla-baton, hands mechanically taking the offered garments. Not only had he not been caught, at least not in the way he feared, by Sunshine and Gustave, they were both actively worrying and fussing over him. Sure, the man had fussed over him a few times since becoming an official part of the trio, but Sunshine hadn’t quite warmed to him to this extent. It almost brewed a sense of guilt in his stomach, that he’d peeked something so intimate and got away with it. The feeling must’ve shown on his face as Gustave raised a hand, going to gently cup his chin and tug it along to force Moonlight to look at him. That face of concern only made the guilt worse.

“Oh, poor lass...” He mumbled. That was another pang of guilt that stung in the moment. ‘Lass’. ‘Lady’. ‘Girl’. It felt like a lie he couldn’t admit to. His eyes slowly pinched shut while a shudder escaped him. “Sunshine, keep her warm, I’m going to grab some of the MREs and start heating them up. I’ll make the nice meal tomorrow.” 

Sunshine didn’t even complain, something that shocked Moonlight. When it came to food the larger viper was as literal and demanding as one could be. If Gustave said he was cooking, she held him to it, blizzard or storm, it didn’t matter. If Gustave said they were having a sweet treat, Moonlight could’ve bet everything in the world on her ensuring it happened. And yet, here she was, coiling about him and even going as far as to take the clothing he’d accepted and start to dress him. Something that now that his limbs and body didn’t feel so stiff and rigid, he fussed against.

“I-I can clothe myself, Sunshine!” He meekly snapped, waving his hands in protest to try and take the clothing to do it himself. Almost immediately he was met with that fierce glare she’d done to him more than a handful of times when he had done something she disapproved of. It was only a step away from being the same horrifying glare she’d given him back in that abandoned town. “.... I-I’m-”

“Going to get sick. Now stop complaining. Gustave will make you something... Very nice. Hot chocolate or tea, probably. Then you’ll eat something hot. Now stop fussing and leave... Me to help you out. You did a lot today... For us all. You’ve earned a little pampering.” She said much to Moonlight’s shock. He quieted down after that, suddenly losing the motivation to protest. Thoughts of all kinds bounced off the walls of his minds, shooting past like bullets and plasma shot. His lips tightened up as he felt the sleeves go onto his arms and his head passed through the neck of the cozy t-shirt, quickly followed by a thick sweater that was far too big for him. It must’ve been one of Sunshine’s, judging by the stretched out chest.

He stayed that way for a while after she finished clothing him, her arms wrapping around him to make sure he was staying warm even as the fire got hotter and hotter. He heard Gustave come and go, occasionally talking to Sunshine or checking up on Moonlight. It was all very overwhelming and exhausting simultaneously.

It almost felt like back when he had to run away from his sisters but not quite as horrible. Anxious, concerned and worn out but ultimately he knew he was safe. Probably the safest he’d ever be. And that somehow made the situation in his mind worse.

````````````````````````````

I sat cross legged by Sunshine, putting a pair of tea bags into the slowly heating kettle before returning it to the stand on the pot. My eyes shifted back to Moonlight as they had done many times now, worry crossed my mind while I tried to figure out how the poor viper had gotten like that. It didn’t make much sense, given how careful and thorough she usually was. I had a few theories, only supported by the evidence of the package of supplies that’d been left outside the door. Most of which were more alarming and embarrassing than I cared for. I didn’t voice them, my concern for her health more important to me than if she had happened to-

The soft hissing whistle of the MREs alerted me to our dinners being readied, halting my barreling train of thought. I blinked and sighed, raising a hand to rub my eyes before standing to go and get things prepared. I grabbed each of the hot bags in my fingers, uncaring of the steam boiling out of the bag onto my metal digits, and walked over. Each one was pulled out, opened and laid bare for the two vipers to pick and choose at. As usual, I wasn’t particularly hungry, but I made sure to grab myself at least a whole MRE’s worth of food between the veritable feast I’d set out for the others. I made sure each of us got a hot cup of tea to drink against the horrible winter chill we were getting.

Meanwhile, Sunshine fussed with Moonlight in a quite motherly fashion, much to the squirming younger viper’s dismay. She insisted on keeping her coiled up in her tail and almost got to the point she was about to start feeding her before Moonlight snapped with about as much emotion as a frigid snake could. She snagged the food from Sunshine’s hands and huddled deeper into the blankets, muttering something under her breath about ‘Being overly pampered’. Without any more to fuss over, Sunshine finally went to eat, though it wasn’t her usual meal-savoring self. It was snappy gulps and quick swallows of the food, almost never doing more than a single chew before it was gone. Clearly, she had other concerns.

It wasn’t until I stood up and offered her one of her more favored items from the MREs that she calmed down with her near ravenous quaffing. A simple package of vanilla protein pudding. She almost inhaled it like the rest before my hand came up and pressed against her lips before they could even open.

“It’s okay, Sunshine. Moonlight’s safe with us now. Look.” I said, nodding my head downward. Moonlight had set her cans and bags of food she’d eaten down onto the floor, coming to rest her head onto Sunshine’s tail. Sunshine’s coils left her head at about hip height for me. Her eyes were closed and she grumbled audibly under her breath while shivering ever so slightly now. It was only when Sunshine moved, inspecting the midnight viper for herself that she finally calmed down enough to take small pulls of the shelf-stable dessert. I squatted down, giving Moonlight a gentle prod to her nose that received only a single eye opening. “Are you feeling better now? Warm belly, fresh clothes, drying off?”

She looked away from me for a moment before a small nod came. “Tired.” Was all she responded with, turning her nose away from me. “I’d like to sleep by the fire tonight. If that’s okay.”

“That’s always fine, Moonlight. You don’t have to tell us, as long as you’re in the same room, or at least nearby.” I said, starting to slowly stand up. I grabbed my tea that I’d only been sipping and waved over my shoulder. “I’m going to go outside and have my drink out there. Sunshine, care to join me...?” 

“Mmnh...?” The massive serpent hummed at me, cocking her head as she sucked on the pudding sack like she was a vampire on a bloodbag. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt. Haven’t finished my tea either. Will you be okay, Moonlight?” 

“I’ll be fine, Sunshine...” She replied sullenly, already pulling herself free from Sunshine’s coils as the opportunity came quickly. She seemed almost eager to get away, coiling up near the fire as close as she could get before it became uncomfortable. “I’ll keep the fire going too, so don’t worry. But I am going to drink the rest of the tea.... And eat the rest of the peanut butter.” 

I didn’t say anything though Sunshine looked a bit annoyed. I’d learned that soft foods were a preference for the two, not having to chew it and only enjoy the flavor. Not to mention, it was likely a lot more familiar given what Sunshine and Moonlight both had told me of the kinds of foods they were typically allowed to eat. Flavorless pastes and overly chewy sticks. I shuddered just briefly at the thought. My feet turned without a second thought, dragging me away towards the door with Sunshine in tow. Thankfully, this was as common of an action as any other between me and her, oftentimes this being a thing we did together even before Moonlight’s arrival. 

As we got into the biting air, I drew in a deep breath of the cold air and let out a satisfied sigh that ended with a puff of visible breath. Steam rose from my cup as I brought it to my lips, letting the aroma and heat be my satisfaction for just a moment before taking a proper sip. The moon was waning, almost half gone now, providing just barely enough light to make out surroundings without much squinting. Sunshine slithered up beside me after closing the door, her own massive hands cradling the hot cup and curling up at my side. Her head came around to rest on my shoulder, likewise sighing out a plume of steam from her nose and closing her eyes. It was pleasantly relaxing before I thought about the question to ask, now that we were out of sight and out of hearing of Moonlight. I chewed on the question for a few moments before Sunshine spoke up. 

“Your heart is racing. Are you still working up?” Her voice lifting slightly to tell me she was trying to tease me. And it worked, making me ruffle in place and huff. “I am only joking. I think I know why. You are worried about Moonlight. It was quite obvious. Carried her up the stairs. Impressive, honestly. I thought you’d just..... Drag. Up by the shoulders. Like a hose.” 

Snorting, I turned my head to look at her, her flat head tilting so that our eyes met. “I couldn’t figure out any other way to do it, honestly. And with how cold she was, I didn’t think it’d be a good idea to drag her.” I remarked and brought up my tea to sip again. “But the cold aside, that’s not what I’m worried about.”

“Are you worried about.... Her knowing about our mating? Because, I can assure you. She already knows.” She said with a confidence and stoicism that made me choke on my drink. My hand shot to my mouth, coughing harshly into it while one of her big hands pat my back. “Easy there, Goose. Given you plenty of... Mouth to mouth today. You need no more.”

I hacked in between snorting laughs at the statement, turning my head to spit the phlegm that’d built up over the railing. “You really... Gotta work on your joke timing, Sunshine.”

She rolled her eyes at me before turning to look. “The first part was true. I promise she already knows.” And before I could even ask how, a finger came up and poked my nose. I went cross eyed briefly, spying the talon gently scratching between my eyes. “Our smell and taste are.... Far stronger than yours. You smell like me. I smell like you. More so than normal. And.... Despite myself, we weren’t really.....” She pulled her hand back and rolled her wrist. “... Subtle.”

I smacked my chest one more time before going to drink my tea again to clear my throat. One or two large swallows later and I was feeling a bit better. “You are awfully calm about this, Sunshine. You got all in a twist when I told Moonlight initially we were a thing.” I remarked, giving her a small poke to her side.

“That was when Moonlight was... Not an ally yet. And unfamiliar. And like you said. You already told her. We made it very clear.... We mated with each other.” Sunshine said, bringing her mug up to swallow half of the drink in one go, swirling the remaining liquid in her cup as she spoke. “It was going to happen... At some point anyway. Having the ability to relieve.... One another at any time.... Was something took for granted. What concerns me is that... She’s not spoken on it.” 

“... That’s what concerns you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. She nudged my cheek with her nose, equal parts affection and also a shushing gesture to let her finish speaking. 

“They were soaked to bone. Supplies left at the door. Tail tracks in snow. Leading away from the door. Could be a coincidence, sure. Could have happened as finished. It is not impossible. But what is weird... To me at least.... Is that there is no... Mention. No speaking of smelly air. No questioning of coupled scents. No remarks about noises. Not even a vague remark. No sass either. Or stoic statements.” She explained, her reasoning slowly starting to make sense. My brow furrowed as that almost began to confirm what I was fearing. “I think perhaps..... Got something of a show.” 

“Oh Christ alive...” I mumbled, putting my face in my hand and leaning out onto the railing. I heard a faint snicker from the viper as her tail curled around one of my legs. “That’s so damn embarrassing to even think about.”

“Now look who’s the prude.” 

“Oh hush you! How’re you so okay with this, anyway?” I snapped, though there wasn’t any real bite to my words, more flustered annoyance. Sunshine took it in stride, only snickering at my reaction. 

“It is in my blood. Sex is just sex. Purely for reproduction. Until you showed me... What it really could be.” She said, raising up and leaning her head down to wrap around my own, her thrumming hiss echoing around me. “Nothing to be embarrassed about. I have a strong mate. He protects me. I protect him. We are happy. Why would I care? My only concern is if... Someone tries to take you.... From me. Seduce you away. I’m not sharing you, Goose.” 

“Well I appreciate the concern, Sunshine, but Moonlight doesn’t strike me as the type.” I remarked, raising a hand to pat her nose and earning another appreciative hiss. It didn’t stop her from further wrapping around me and putting her chest to my back and her arms around my chest. I had to raise my arms as she did, just so I could keep drinking my tea. Her head rested atop mine, nuzzling into my long hair. I felt a little bad as it must’ve been pretty greasy by now. 

“Did you think I... was the type to try?” Sunshine asked, a mixture of playfulness and curiosity both. I chuckled and tilted my head back to look at her again.

“No, but you sure as hell didn’t make that distinction easy. Do you know how absolutely destroyed my mental wellbeing was when you just let me run into your naked chest after we got home from that town?” I said with a smile.

Her lips curled into that same mischievous smile. “You certainly weren’t complaining then.”

“What tit-loving man would ?” 

“Still think it’s funny. Your obsession with them. And my waist.” She remarked.

“And I think your constant sniffing and licking are weird.” I quipped in return.

“You smell good.”

“And you look nice.” The both of us stared before slowly dissolving into snickers. “Shall we call it a draw?”

“For now....!” She said, her bright smile never leaving as she swallowed down the rest of her tea. I did the same, sighing out in relief as the still somewhat warm liquid gave my throat one last reprieve against the night air. I thumbed the rim of my mug in thought as we sat in silence for a couple of moments. 

“... Should we bring it up? Your concerns and mine? With the whole.... Y’know, sex thing? I’d feel pretty bad if we did stuff like this again without any warning.” I asked, my eyes drifting towards the moon and pursing my lips in thought. 

“Not tonight. But yes, we should. I’ve a feeling she’ll be....... Not enthused to speak.” Sunshine remarked before slowly pulling away from me. “I am going to get... More snow, melt and boil. I want more tea. And hot chocolate.”

“You always want hot chocolate.” I stated, turning as I saw her slither to the door, her massive tail barely shifting from the less than a couple yards of distance we’d made from it. “But I guess one night of indulgence won’t hurt, we still got buckets of the stuff... But put a bowl out here. I’ll get it for you guys, I think I want to spend some more time out here.”

Sunshine paused at that, hand hovering over the handle of the door. Her head swung to me with a very light concern on her face. Her lips had tightened and her brow furrowed. “... Are the memories bad still?” 

“No, not today at least.” I said, feeling the smile I already had widen just a bit. That simple bit of concern made all the difference. “I just... Like the cold, is all. I’ll come back inside before I get a chill or if any memories blast against me.” 

That seemed to satisfy her, her expression easing out before she opened the door and went inside. Her voice perked up as she spoke just loud enough for me to hear. “Moonlight! No more sulking! Tonight we finish another episode.... Of ‘The Twilight Zone’!” 

The soft sounds of Sunshine’s heavy body sliding over carpet and the subtle shifting of bags and heavier items gave me a sense of comfort I’d not found in a while. It reminded me all too much of something I’d lost a long time ago. That sense of ease that came from familiar faces and safe environments. We weren’t particularly the most safe out here, but there was nothing for miles and miles. A part of my mind wondered if this would be a good spot to settle down, but it was shook away as I looked to my right and saw part of the walkway had fallen through and a bit of the ceiling with it. We had to find somewhere sooner than later, as we were going to run out of gas at some point.

I wonder if we could commandeer an ADVENT cruiser? Came a thought, turning my head as I went to lean back onto the railing. One hand came up, cool metal and lukewarm pads tapping at my lip. Sunshine and Moonlight are both former operatives. Surely they’d be able to override any locks or something, right?

My mind wandered from that point as I stared out into the darkness, catching the blanket of stars in all of their glory without all of the usual light pollution to get in the way. The view was honestly a bit better than back at my former homestead, no big porch lights or flood lamps to dull the gorgeous sight. At some point I’d gotten cold in my staring, not moving for so long that my metal finger had actually frozen to my lip. I let out a silent groan before starting to lick at my lip to heat the metal up as I turned to walk inside. Hopefully neither of the vipers saw this or they’d never let me live it down. 

I saw the large-ish bowl I’d used before sitting outside of the door and bent to grab it. By the time I’d gotten my lip free, filled the bowl and come back to the door, I could hear that opening track of the old 60’s TV series playing. A smile crept onto my lips as I swung it open and stepped inside, rosey cheeked and humming in soft delight to myself. 

“So.” I began as I walked over and started scooping snow into the empty kettle. “Which episode are you guys on?”

Chapter Text

Fisher Squad hadn’t ever seen anything like this before. It was a whole town with its buildings ravaged and each one turned into a pulsing nest of mucus, slop and got knows what else. They saw animals, people, aliens, any and everything that’d qualify for the barbaric reproduction of the horrific creatures. An elk had burst open, spraying its liquified entrails out from the wall it’d been pasted to, squealing monstrosities coming out in groups of three. Each one charged right at the group, uncaring of their newfound life, just wanting to feed themselves and grow.

Each one was stomped, shot or otherwise removed from the picture. Another corpse had started to rise, a fetid, pus filled thing that shambled towards them on its barely functioning feet. It didn’t get remotely close as one of the rangers pumped it full of mag-powered splinters, shredding it and whatever stewed in its belly. The SPARK unit had been more than an asset, only firing its weapon when it needed to, otherwise simply swatting, stomping or squeezing the foul monsters to death. 

Cobra hated this job. He hated that his team hadn’t been properly equipped with better gear, being told ‘It was enough’. The SPARK unit being here to make up for their lack of firepower. And it hadn’t even had to properly use its weapon yet. They had gotten a single raw burst from it upon landing when two or three pods of the bastards showed up, the SPARK unit alone doing most of the work. His team, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind their predicament. They seemed rather happy to be clearing out these major nests like it was some kind of lazy sunday walk.

Maybe I’m being too paranoid. He thought, looking left and right through the streets. His wrist raised up and he tapped a few commands into his GREMLIN and sent it off on its expedition. He’d discovered that the bugs didn’t care nor really acknowledge his drone, unless it was zapping them. They only acknowledged threats, food and breeding opportunities. The thought made him shiver. He looked to Jail Break who was examining a corpse and gave her a small pat on the shoulder. She turned up to look at him and before he even opened his mouth, her ghostly voice was speaking.

“Yes, Captain, I’ll gladly watch your back while you scout ahead for us. Think nothing of it, I am happy to be of service. No, I can’t stop reading your thoughts like this when you’re practically shouting them. Yes, I’ll do better to not encompass it, but I ask that you in turn learn to guard your mind more fluidly or wear a mind-shield.” She stated, giving Coba a gentle pat on his shoulder before hefting her rifle and taking pace behind him as they started to walk again.

While he did like Jail Break, knowing the soldier that she’d been before, this change to the psionic side of reality had done more than simply open her latent potential. It’d practically converted her into this walking case study. Mind-Shields did help with her presence, to those who couldn’t contain their thoughts anyway, but she could easily pick up emotions from anyone at shocking ranges. It’d been hugely useful in the field, spotting people behind walls, finding civilians hiding away, talking down conflicts between factions. She was incredibly useful in all ways, but she was so much more different than before.

“Thank you, Jail Break.” Cobra finally said. “Despite you already accepting it, it feels nice to say it aloud.”

“And once again, you’re very welcome.” She stoically stated. Her presence was a constant one, even when he couldn’t see her. It’d become a comfort now rather than a unease. His eyes flicked to his datapad, turning on the drone’s camera and starting to examine the area through its eyes as he and Jail Break followed in the SPARK’s path. He spotted the pair of rangers first.

Nail and Hammer hadn’t needed any more instruction than usual, being told to ‘Not Die and don’t do anything stupid’. The pair had also been outfitted with multiple sets of medical sprays, antidotes included in their mixture, and Hazmat had been given to not only them but everyone else in the squad too. Only difference between their equipment, really, was their firearms, ammo and the handful of firepower. Needless to say, while he bemoaned their artillery, their utilities were all top grade. This was further enforced as he watched Nail yank out their axe and swing it up into the jaw of an aggressing Chryssalid. Hammer had followed up quickly, spearing another that’d tried to sneak up on them.

They both yanked their tools out simultaneously before waving at Cobra’s GREMLIN. The drone bobbed in place before flying off to find the other two who’d gone further ahead of the main street. He saw them both spraying their wrist mounted flamethrowers into windows, patches of flesh and any nests they saw. One of them pulled out a plasma grenade and casually underhanded it into a second story window and was met with chunks of flesh flying out. As he’d come to realize, each of them were doing their jobs as efficiently as they could and clearly all trying to avoid thinking on what happened here. Or what they were doing.

All save for Jail Break who seemed at peace no matter the situation. He did envy that ability. To accept and move on. He pressed the return command on his wrist and stepped towards the SPARK unit, giving it a smack on its armored leg. Its massive head twisted and looked down, regarding him with the same energy a lazy puppy might its new owner. “ Captain, how may I be of service. ”

“We’re going to advance to meet up with Cricket and Hardcase. I think we’ve secured enough of the town we can evac and get some actual rest. Your job is to link up to my GREMLIN and provide constant surveillance so we can all get some rest after the Skyranger arrives. Understood?” He ordered, receiving a shoddy salute from the machine. “Excellent... Let’s move out then.”

His hand came up to his radio to start calling the others and inform them of his plan. They’d gone through a lot of ammo and supplies since coming here. The only thing they’d not run through was, blessedly, their medical supplies. Between all of them, only Nail had taken a nasty cut, but no bites. As they marched forward, watching as his drone came around and blinked a few lights as it paired up with the SPARK unit, he couldn’t help but at least feel a little more at ease than he’d been moments ago. It’d been a long few days. Constant shift changes, constant recovery, more than once they had to call in reinforcements just to allow themselves a chance to sleep without fear.

But now with the town mostly cleared out, they could swap places with the next squad and move onto some other job. And that thought, his mind drifted back to that beat up farm house. His eyes looked to the massive cannon the SPARK carried and grimaced. The evidence pointed that had been used against those people, but there wasn’t anything saying they hadn’t been the aggressors. While it wasn’t exactly the biggest problem on XCOM’s plate, it was one that bugged him. He’d just blipped into reality again and then disappeared.