Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Guardian. Guardian? Eyes up Guardian!”

Noooooo, shut up, I’m tired, lemme sleeeeeep.

…

Wait, what?

You knew that voice.

What was going on?

You blinked at the sunlight, squinting in the direction it came from.

“It worked… you’re alive!”

Wait, alive? You recognized that voice, that was fucking Nolan North, and the chirping, electronic notes intermingled with it…

Your vision finally cleared, and you looked up to see a floating white… cube… triangle… thing?

A Ghost, your mind supplied helpfully, but that didn’t make sense, how would a Ghost be…

“You don’t know how long I’ve been looking for you,” the little one was saying, but you were running your (gloved?) hands over your body, over your face (you were wearing a helmet, but you could see like nothing was there, it was so weird), trying to make sense of what you were looking at. 

Your body felt warm, in a way you’d never felt before— it wasn’t uncomfortable, quite the opposite in fact, but still, the fact that you’d never felt it before made the sensation obvious.

“I’m a Ghost. Actually now I’m… your Ghost. And you… well you’ve been dead a long time.”

“Dead?” you manage to croak out. Your voice was scratchy from disuse. “This doesn’t make any sense… how am I here? I was just…”

What had you been doing? Your head was fuzzy, making it hard to think. Your memories felt just out of reach, like you were lost in a fog of some kind. But you knew one thing; this was Destiny. This was the tutorial you were in right now, and that fact alone was so outlandish you were having a hard time getting past it.

“You’re going to see a lot of things you won’t understand,” he said.

You can say that again.

You took in the environment around you; overgrown weeds, sparse trees, rusting metals, and the massive, looming structure in front of you. Oh shit, was that the Cosmodrome?

It was all of two seconds before a low roar sounded in the distance, one that shot a bolt of fear right up your spine in familiarity. Your Ghost turned around at the noise, shell spinning. “This is Fallen territory, we aren’t safe here. I have to get you to the City.”

“The City?” The Last City? The more he talked the more confused you were. You… you lived in the real world, not fucking Destiny. Were you hallucinating? In a coma or something? There was no way this was…

“Hold still.” All of a sudden he vanished, and you startled, because you felt it when he did that, somehow, in the space between conscious and unconscious. It was like a hole in your soul had been filled, but you couldn't see him anymore, and you were on the verge of panicking before his voice sounded in your head. “Don’t worry, I’m still with you. We need to move, fast.”

Don’t have to tell me twice. If this was real, if you’d somehow found yourself in the middle of the Destiny tutorial, you needed time to think, time to figure out what the hell was going on. You couldn’t do that with Fallen on your ass.

But how were you— were you really going to fight them? You weren’t actually a Guardian, no matter what your Ghost said, you didn’t have experience with any of this in real life. Blasting aliens to kingdom come in a video game was leagues different than doing it IRL, you didn’t even have a gun for God’s sake. Though you supposed you’d be getting one pretty soon, if memory served. It’d been a while since you played New Light stuff.

For utter lack of anything better to do, you started off towards the wall. “This place is an old cosmodrome— a Russian spaceport. It’s quarantined now—and quite dangerous—but our only way forward is through that wall.”

“Um, what happens if we run into—…”

“The Fallen? Well, hopefully we’ll find a weapon before then,” he answered, and wow, having a voice in your head like that was going to take some getting used to. 

“But I don’t— even if we found one, I’m not trained with— I don’t know how to…”

“You’re a Guardian.” He said it so resolutely it almost made you believe him. “You were born for this, whether you remember or not.”

But this is different, you thought to yourself as you picked your way through scraps of cars, towards the small door you knew was waiting. I’m not actually a Guardian, I never was, I’m a civilian, this is just— way too much.

“So, uh, what do I call you?” you asked aloud as you passed through the door, now bathed in eerie red light. Were you playing this instead of living it, you’d be sprinting through this section, but seeing as you had human stamina levels to contend with, you figured you’d better save your energy for the inevitable firefight ahead of you.

You gulped. You were actually going to have to fight, weren’t you?

“What do you mean? I’m your Ghost,” he was saying, sounding genuinely confused.

“I mean yeah, but that’s what you are, not your name,” you explained. “That’d be like calling me ‘Human.’”

“Huh, I guess I never thought about that.”

“How ‘bout L? For Little Light? Cuz you got a light, and you’re… little.” Damn, could you have phrased that any more awkwardly?

“Hey! Don’t call me little!”

You couldn’t help but laugh at his sudden indignation. “But you are! That’s not a bad thing.”

He sighed in your head, obviously choosing not to fight you over it. “It works for now, I guess. What’s your name Guardian? Do you remember?”

“I, uh, yeah… it’s— Y/N,” you said. How did you even begin to explain what you knew? What you really remembered? Would he even understand?

“Well Y/N, I need to get you back to the City. To do that, we’ll need a ship. But first, I need to find you a weapon. Let’s keep moving.”

You were eighty percent sure that’s exactly what he said in the tutorial, sans actually saying your name. This was so weird.

You walked along a grate, and suddenly the red light vanished, and a much harsher white one flickered on in your vision. You started for a moment, whipping around, before realizing it was coming from the Ghost that had materialized at your shoulder.

“Careful, they’re all around us,” L warned, whispering harshly. 

Thanks for the reassurance, bud.

You climbed a short flight of stairs, and oh yeah, you remembered this bit. The large open area cut off into the darkness above, making you uneasy just looking at it.

L suddenly zipped away from you, flying out into it. “It’s a risk but, I’ll get us more light.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea…?” All of a sudden, you needed him back, by your side, or in whatever pocket dimension he hung out in when he was in your head. Having him out in the open like that, knowing what was out there… it wasn’t worth the extra visibility.

But L kept floating away. “Hard military system; check. Frayed wires and rust; check. When I flip this switch, expect… trouble.”

His blue glow disappeared from view for a split second, and the walls around you seemed to light up— illuminating the Shanks chasing L and flying towards you at full speed. “Not good, not good! They’re definitely not happy to see us.”

The only coherent thought that left you was a brief “L, what the fuck” before panic took over completely. 

He flew under a half-closed door, illuminating the oh-so-familiar Khvostov 7G-02. “There’s a rifle. Grab it!” You had three of those sitting in your vault from each of your characters, but picking it up for real was an entirely different experience.

Before you even knew what you were doing, you pulled out the magazine, checked the rounds, put it back in. Flicked the safety off, brought it to your shoulder and aimed down the sights. And then you pulled it away to just stare.

How did I know to do that? I’ve never held one of these before.

The Shanks had disappeared, though you thought you saw a flash of retreating red. L—from safely inside your head—was speaking again, and you held the rifle stock back to your shoulder. “I brought you back for a reason Guardian. You’re a Titan— that means you’re a fighter. So, be ready, cuz we’re deep in enemy territory.”

You were a Titan? That was good to know— but you didn’t even get to choose? What if you wanted to be a Warlock or Hunter? You guessed it checked out thematically, cuz this was— real life, not a video game, and it made sense that you wouldn’t be able to choose if that was just how you were rezzed. Still, it kind of sucked that you were locked out of all those other options—

Oh shit, did you have your Super by now? Probably not, right? What subclass even were you at the moment? You didn’t have a HUD, there was no convenient cooldown meter to check. What grenades were you using, dammit?!

You crept through the halls, jumping at the slightest sound, knowing what was ahead. “Are you alright Guardian?” L asked. 

“Yeah, just… never done this before,” you laughed nervously, even as you held the rifle like you’d done so your entire life. It felt like you had two separate brains; one that had all the skills L thought you did, and then the more prevalent one right now— the one that was two breaths away from a panic attack.

Cool blue light washed down on the hallway, and then the Fallen were on you— two Dregs that jumped up from a lower platform you didn’t see. You were hip-firing at the first one before you even registered they were in front of you. It fell to the ground in a heap—and when you finally got your stiff limbs to move—shot down the second one much easier (by actually using the sights). It wasn’t clean by any means, but you weren’t dead, which was something.

You couldn’t help but stare at the two bodies with a sort of morbid curiosity; the docked arms, the bullet holes in their armor, the dark blood seeping across the floor…

They didn’t bleed in the game.

Those weren't random AI-controlled ads. You… had just killed someone. Two someones.

Oh lord, you were going to throw up.

“Y/N? Are you alright Guardian?”

“I— yeah, yeah, I’m—“ 

You swallowed down your nausea—not like you had anything in your system anyway seeing as you’d just been resurrected—and stepped around the bodies. You could have a breakdown later, you needed to get out of immediate danger first.

You took a steadying breath, reloaded, and kept going, making sure to stay more alert.

Of course, that didn’t stop you from shrieking in fear when that damn Dreg dropped down from the ceiling. Every fucking time it got you, all three times you’d done this mission, and it got you in real life too. 

It was dead one spray of bullets later, but you needed to take a moment.

“I’m sorry,” you gasped, leaning against the wall. “I’m not— I’m— this is all so—…”

L flashed into being in front of you, fins twitching.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

“I don’t know,” you cried, helpless. I want to go home. You’re never going to be able to touch another FPS game after this. Why couldn’t you have landed in Slime Rancher or Animal Crossing or something?

L somehow managed to look concerned, which was impressive considering he didn’t have a face, and bumped the front of his shell against your helmet. “I know this has all got to be pretty frightening,” he said, “especially if you don’t remember anything. But I believe in you Guardian, we’re gonna find that ship and get out of here, I promise. But we have to keep moving, the Fallen might know our location by now.”

You nodded against him, choking back the tears that were threatening to fall. He disappeared, and you straightened, gripping the Khvostov tighter.

Okay, okay, alright, you could do this. Just get out of the Cosmodrome. Easy-peasy.

“You can, um, bring me back if I die, right?”

“I can, but I’d recommend trying to avoid that. I’d be vulnerable while rezzing you, and if I die, I can’t bring you back.”

You’d known the answer to your question before you’d asked it, of course. No Ghost equals no immortality. But having your Ghost destroyed was never something that happened to the player in normal gameplay, even if it happened to the other characters. It was just a necessary mechanic to make the game function.

But this isn’t a video game. You’d killed those three Dregs, would probably kill a ton more before you made it out of here, and if one of them managed to get in a lucky shot at you…

You shivered, straightened, and kept walking. It was the only thing you could do.

“Stay focused. If your tracker blinks, there’s trouble nearby.”

“W— tracker? What tracker?”

And as if you manifested it into being, the minimap in the top left corner of your vision flashed red. Had that been there the whole damn time? You hadn’t even noticed it. So you did have a HUD (of sorts, anyway, still no Super meter or ammo counter). 

You made your way to another open area, this time bathed in orange. And of course, there were more Fallen, and you managed to headshot one before the rest realized you were there. They whipped around as their comrade died, drawing their weapons, but you mowed them down before they even got a shot off, ducking behind old crates in between bursts of fire. 

“The Fallen are scavengers,” L said once they were all dead and you were continuing on, “alien pirates picking at humanity’s remains.”

“Why are they here?”

“I’m not quite sure why they’re here, in the Cosmodrome,” L admitted, “ but they’re on Earth to get close to the Traveler, the source of our Light. Oh, speaking of pirates— there’s a loot cache, let’s take what’s inside.”

There was a latch on the underside of the cylindrical chest, and when you flicked it, it opened up to reveal a shotgun with appropriate ammo. 

Well, it’s better than the damn Khvostov, you thought, setting it down to grab the shotgun. The rifle suddenly disappeared as you picked up the Stubborn Oak.

“Uhhh, L?”

“Don’t worry, I just stored it via transmat.”

“You can do that?”

“Yep, I can store a ton of things for you. Makes traveling light a lot easier.” That made a lot of sense, actually, if you had an inventory. How else would you be able to keep up to thirty guns on your person?

“Oh, that’s really nice, uh, how do I get it back though?”

“You can control my transmatting to a certain extent, at least for putting things in and taking things out. We’re linked, so if you just think about taking it back out, it should work. Try it!”

You weren’t really sure how thinking about transmatting something would translate into making it actually happen, but you did as he said, trying to will the Khvostov back into being.

And lo and behold, it materialized in your hands, and you fumbled with both it and the shotgun before you figured out how to transmat it away again. “There you go!”

“Wow, that was… kind of easy.”

“I knew you were a natural, Guardian.”

“I uh, I wouldn’t go quite that far,” you laughed a little. Regardless, now that you knew what you were doing, you might actually be able to swap weapons in the middle of a battle. As the old texts foretold; switching to your secondary was faster than reloading.

There were more Fallen in the next hallway, and you blasted halfway through the group before a searing pain erupted in your side, causing you to stumble. So that’s what it feels like to be shot. One of the Dregs got way too close, and your fist flailed out on sheer instinct. You connected solidly with its face, and it flew back and hit the opposite wall. 

You didn’t have time to marvel at your newfound strength, because they were still coming— and you used the rest of your shotgun shells clearing them out.

Regardless, you were slowly but surely getting the hang of this, and you didn’t know if it was just your armor or what, but your shoulder barely even hurt from the recoil. You felt that warmth in your chest spread through your body, towards the bullet wounds you’d sustained, numbing the pain and leaving behind only a distant tingling. “Did you heal me?”

“I did, as long as I’m close to you I can repair any damage you sustain.”

“Good to know.” That was… exceedingly video-game of him.

The next open area held, surprise surprise, a shit ton more Fallen, and one particularly mean-looking one with a shield you weren’t looking forward to. 

“More Fallen— hit ‘em with everything you got!”

You laid down a good spray of lead before diving behind a pillar, taking out a good chunk of them, thank God. But that damn Captain was still alive, and he was the first one you took out before focusing on the other ones that survived.

“Your Light is strong, Guardian!”

You’d gotten shot a couple more times, but now that you knew what to expect, you could avoid the worst of it. True to his word, L healed any wounds a couple moments after you sustained them. Your armor was a different story though, and you ran your hands over the holes and scorch marks a little sadly.

You entered what looked to be a disused air vent, massive fan still spinning lazily in the wind. 

“Keep pushing forward. I’ll locate a ship we can use to fly home.”

The vent led outside, and even though you were still wearing a helmet, the fresh air made you feel considerably better. But you remembered this section— wasn’t there supposed to be other people?

“Heads up— a Fallen raiding party. We’re in more trouble than I thought.”

You caught sight of the massive walker in the clearing ahead—

—and immediately crouched behind the closest wall, rifle clutched to your chest.

“What the fuck, I did not sign up for this,” you exclaimed, breathless. Your heart felt like it was going to beat right out of your chestplate. There isn’t even anyone else here, why?! There’s supposed to be other Guardians!

“That thing is massive,” you whispered. “It’d take me fuckin’ forever, I’m just one person.”

“Yes, but you have the Light on your side,” L reminded. “I know you can do it!”

That’s right— you still had your Super. But how did you activate the damn thing? It wasn’t like there was a hotkey.

“They came looking for a fight. Give ‘em one.”

“Okay. Okay, how do I…?”

Now that you were actively trying to figure it out, you felt it— the warmth, that felt like electricity the longer you thought about it, dancing along your skin, something like sparks shooting down your spine, gathering in your hands.

Huh. Fists of Havoc it is. Not the best one for this situation, but you had no idea how to switch subclasses, so you’d have to make do.

You glanced around your cover; the mech was immobile, you couldn’t miss even if you tried. The problem was, in order to use your Super, you had to get close to the thing, which was the last thing you wanted to do. 

Why couldn’t I have been a damn Warlock? I want a fucking Nova Bomb.

Your muscle memory (that didn’t actually belong to you) had gotten you this far, you could do nothing else but trust it. 

Okay, I can do this. Let’s fucking go.

“Hey L? So I feel like… is this Light? How do I use it?”

“From what I understand, you have to channel it through your body, and then it will manifest as a Super ability.”

Ah yes. Channel my Light. Simple. 

You took a step out from behind the wall, grabbed at the energy inside you, and pulled. 

To your shock, lightning erupted across your skin, electricity gathering in your fists, and—

You jumped, higher than you’d ever jumped before, hovering, dashing through the air so fast you heard it whip around your helmet. And then you slammed into the ground—bones vibrating from the impact—directly in front of the walker, bolts shooting out from your body and frying all the Fallen around you to a crisp.

And you kept doing it, over and over until the Arc Light faded and you came back to yourself, standing in front of the thing with nothing more than a shotgun.

“Oh shit—”

You leapt away, and that high jump was coming in handy now, landing on top of one of the storage containers to the left. You switched to the Khvostov and drained the magazine into the glowing weak spot that had been uncovered from your previous attack.

You dumped three more into the thing before it finally went down, dodging Shanks and Dregs and the occasional Vandal the whole time. You had no idea how you were this mobile while wearing this much armor, but you weren’t about to question it.

“Alright, nice work! I’ve got a signal from an old jumpship. Let’s track it down.”

You nodded, heading into the building on the opposite side of the clearing, before realizing exactly what it was L had just said.

Wait, wasn’t I supposed to hear something about Shaw Han or something? This is the old New Light. Just when in the timeline am I?

If you didn’t have to do the whole mission after this, that meant you had landed sometime before Beyond Light. But how far back, you had no idea. You could be in Destiny 1 for all you knew.

Wait, no, I’m like eighty percent sure that walker was never in the D1 tutorial, I don’t fuckin’ know, it’s been forever. 

“When we get to the City, you’ll start to understand why I brought you back. The people, the promise of a brighter future… and the Traveler— wait ‘til you see it.” The awe in his synthesized voice made you smile.

A chest in the next room held a dusty grenade launcher, of all things, with corresponding rounds. And any remaining doubts you’d had about the timeline were cleared up the second you turned the corner and spotted not a Hunter, but a jumpship hanging from cables— and the Fallen guarding it. 

“Here we go, let’s take that ship!”

“How the fuck do I use this, how do I— oh sweet shit—!”

There was already a grenade in the Hadrian-A, so once the Fallen had jumped off the ship, you aimed and pulled the trigger. It exploded at their feet, body parts flying everywhere—

“Oh gross!” you flicked at your pauldron, where some gore had landed. “Oh that’s disgusting, that is awful, holy fu—”

“Focus Guardian!”  

A Fallen came charging at you, and for lack of a better idea, you swung the grenade launcher like a club.

Can’t do that in the game.

It worked anyway, batting the alien away from you, and you managed to get to your Khvostov to take out the rest of the stragglers.

“Let’s take a look at your new ship.” L materialized and hovered up to the thing. “ It’s been here a while. Hasn’t made a jump in centuries.”

“Bad, I presume?”

“We’re lucky the Fallen haven’t completely picked it clean.”

“You know if it’ll fly?”

He glanced back at you. “I can make it work.”

He disappeared, and the shrieking of metal assaulted your senses. The engine started, the thrusters lit up, and you couldn’t stop a wild grin from spreading on your face as it shook in place and all the cables fell away. 

“Okay, it’s not going to break orbit, but it just might get us to the City! Now, about that transmat…”

Something growled behind you— you were aiming your rifle at it before you could think. 

A massive Fallen was crawling out of a pipe, eyes glowing, and you damn near shit your pants. “Uhhhhh, L?! Whatever you’re doing, do it faster!”

“Bringing you in!”

Your body tingled, and you got the distinct feeling of floating before your vision cut out for a solid two seconds. When it returned, you were sitting in a chair, staring out a windshield at the retreating ground. A control panel in front of you was lit up with a million different buttons you were scared to touch, not that you needed to— L seemed to be piloting the thing, taking you farther away from the Cosmodrome with every second. 

“We can come back for them when you’re ready. Let’s get you home.”  

You stared out the window as you accelerated, trees whipping past as you climbed higher into the sky. 

It took you a good fifteen seconds before you fully leaned back against the chair, making sure the safeties of all your weapons were on before you dumped them into transmat.

Oh boy. Just what the hell had you gotten yourself into?

Chapter Text

You stared at the clouds, not really seeing them, lost in thought. You had no idea how long you’d been in the air for, but it had been long enough for L to set the ship to autopilot and land in your lap. You’d taken your helmet and gloves off, and were stroking him absentmindedly, almost like a cat. The comparison had not been lost on you when his shell shuddered at your touch as he settled into your crossed legs. 

I’m in Destiny. Holy fuck. What the shit. I’m a Guardian. I have a Ghost. I’m sitting in a jumpship. I just killed like a hundred Fallen. I took down a walker. 

Oh damn, I’m actually kind of badass.

You hadn’t felt like it in the moment. You still kind of felt like you were just stumbling around and shooting things. 

Getting the true New Light experience I see.

At any rate, now that you’d had a chance to just sit and think, you couldn’t stop thinking.

Okay. I know for a fact I’m somewhere before Beyond Light cuz Shaw Han wasn’t there. Unless that’s not how that works, cuz this is real life, not a video game with scripted encounters… fuck, what if I’m sometime after it? How far forward would I be? Far enough that I’m in a DLC that hasn’t actually been released yet? How would that even work? Fuck, this is too much.

One thing was for sure though; you needed information. Badly. And you somehow had to get it without letting anyone know about your true origins. 

But… would that really be so bad? If people knew I wasn’t from here? You’d probably be able to tell L at some point, he was your Ghost after all, but everyone else…

I don’t know how they’d all react to someone knowing the future, if I am sometime during previous DLCs. Granted, you wouldn’t know until you got there, so all you could do for now was… wait.

Great. More long-ass loading screens. You snorted to yourself.

The view was awesome at least. You were high above the clouds, probably higher than modern commercial airplanes dared to go, and the planet looked so vast from up there— it seemed to go on forever. 

And there’s even more out there. Luna, Venus, Io, Europa, Nessus— there were so many different planets and moons you could just— go to. And stand on. And run around on with a breathable atmosphere. 

Thank you Traveler for your amazing terraforming abilities.

The longer you sat there, the clearer your mind became; that is, you were remembering what exactly you had been doing before waking up… here.

It was still a bit hazy, but you knew you’d been driving, though to where you couldn’t remember, you were in an intersection, and—

Did someone hit me? Did I die? Did I get… reincarnated or something, here?

But then why did you remember everything? Your life was as clear as it had always been, intact as far as you could tell. You could remember everything about your life in your world like it happened yesterday. It did, as far as you were concerned. But Guardians weren’t supposed to remember their past. And even so, weren’t they supposed to be fighters? Heroes? Someone worthy of being Chosen by the Light? You’d never so much as broken someone’s bones before today. And why Destiny, of all the fictional franchises? Did God have a sense of humor and this was some way of telling you to get a life because you played too much?

L suddenly perked up, snapping you from your thoughts, and you made a questioning noise.

“We’re almost there!”

He floated up, shell tapping against the glass with a small dink as he glanced out the windshield. “You’re going to want to see this.”

The ship flew into a dark stormcloud, lightning flashing around it. The Arc Light in your chest almost seemed to react, sparking at the energy outside. “The last survivors of humanity’s Collapse call the City home. This is why I brought you back; to defend them. And to reclaim our lost worlds.”

You burst out of the clouds, and you couldn’t help the gasp that left you.

“We’re here—... the Traveler.”

It was the biggest thing you’d ever seen. A dull white, obviously torn up, but all the more magnificent for it— you had your own face pressed up against the glass right next to L.

The City sprawled beneath it, walls standing high and strong, spreading so far into the distance you couldn’t even see where they curved around.

“Welcome home, Y/N.”

It’s… beautiful. No amount of clever skyboxes could ever hold a candle to seeing it for real. You could just feel the sheer scale of it as the ship coasted over the walls.

“I’ll transmat you to the Tower and find a place for this thing,” L said, turning to you. “And then we can get you settled in— they should have lodging for us somewhere.”

“A—alright,” you managed to get out, still starstruck. You grabbed for your helmet and gloves, which you’d set on the console instead of in your inventory. You doubted you’d be seeing this ship again, seeing as it was apparently centuries old, according to L. 

You flew past a familiar landing pad, and then all of a sudden you were standing on it, stumbling slightly at the landing. 

And… it was the Tower. You were standing in the Tower, L hovering over your shoulder, armed with a grenade launcher and multiple years’ worth of future knowledge. Postmaster and Eververse to your left, Rahool and Banshee to your right, courtyard sprawled out in front of you. There were Guardians running all around, some helmeted, some not, all in varying colors of armor with Legendaries and the occasional Exotic strapped to their backs.

It was like waking up in the Cosmodrome all over again. The sight before you was so familiar but so foreign, it took you multiple seconds to start moving again. At least you knew for sure you were in Destiny 2.

You were suddenly glad you’d kept the grenade launcher out; you’d feel a bit out of place if you were the only Guardian in the vicinity without a weapon on you. 

“So, uh… where to first?”

“We should talk to Commander Zavala, he’s the Titan Vanguard. He’ll be able to get us set up with everything we need.”

“Perfect, uhhhhh…”

“He’s directly ahead, right over there.” That hadn’t been what you were hesitant about, but sure, you’d take it.

You felt strangely nervous as you made your way across the courtyard, and the feeling intensified tenfold as you walked. More than one Guardian seemed to do a double take as you passed by, and there was a pair that started whispering to each other as you made it to the walkway Zavala was on.

There was someone talking with him, arms waving emphatically to go along with what they were saying. Your footsteps weren’t exactly quiet, seeing as you were still wearing armor and carrying a fucking grenade launcher, so they both turned around, and—

Holy shit, Cayde?!

The Exo must have seen the stupefied look on your face, because he immediately jogged over, cloak fluttering behind him.

“Hey there! You new? Oh— hey Z, it’s one of your’s!”

Said Vanguard stepped closer, and you couldn’t help but stare at the both of them. The way Zavala’s skin seemed to shimmer in the light, the way Cayde’s throat lit up orange whenever he spoke…

Do not pass out, do not pass out, do not pass out don’t you dare—

“Uh— hi,” you greeted dumbly.

“Greetings, I am Commander Zavala, Titan Vanguard. This is Cayde-6, the Hunter Vanguard. Welcome to the Last City, Guardian.”

“No need to be so formal Big Blue,” Cayde exclaimed, “no wonder you Titans are always so stuck up. Don’t worry kid, I’m the cool one ‘round here, I can show you around—”

“Cayde, I know for a fact there is a whole stack of reports you need to—”

“I’ll talk to you later Commander!”

He threw his arm around you and spun the both of you around, leading you away from the sighing Awoken behind you. “So where’d you wake up kid?”

You just blinked at him, brain trying its best to catch up with the realization that he was alive right now.

“I— I’m sorry, it’s just—...” you pointed back at Zavala, “he’s glowing, and you’re a robot, I don’t…” 

He burst out laughing, doubling over. “You got a good eye, kid, I am a robot! Exo technically, but my brain’s human, there was a whole thing with the scientist guy who made us, super long story— anyway, where did you wake up?”

“The Cosmodrome,” L answered. “Took down a Fallen walker too,” he added, a note of pride in his voice.

“Really? With that thing?” he motioned to the Hadrian-A. 

“Got that after, actually,” you cringed, switching it out for the Khvostov. Cayde’s eyes (optics?) widened at the sight of it.

“Damn! You’re crazier than I thought kid, we’re gonna get along just fine. Though after you get settled here and stuff you need to make a trip to Banshee’s, I’m shocked that thing didn’t explode in your hands the second you touched it!”

“Speaking of getting settled,” L interjected, “could you point us in the direction of the barracks?”

“Even better— I’ll show you!”

“W— hey! Wait up!”

-------

The apartment was sparse, but you’d been halfway expecting that. It was tiny too, which you were also expecting, but just how small it ended up being was a bit of a shocker. It was little more than a dorm room, to be honest, but at least it had its own bathroom, which you immediately tested out by taking the longest shower of your life. You’d been stewing in your own sweat and grime for hours, it was pure heaven to sit under the hot water and think about absolutely nothing. L was waiting for you when you finally finished, fresh towel pinched between pieces of his shell. You were expecting to feel some kind of embarrassment at being butt-ass naked in front of him, but he was technically a part of you, right? I mean, he hung out in your head half the time. Regardless, you gave him a little pat as thanks.

You swiftly changed into a plain white t-shirt and sweatpants, two of the handful of things you’d gotten before Cayde dropped you off. You’d made a stop at what looked like the biggest linen closet known to man, where Cayde had grabbed you an entire dufflebag full of toiletries, some microwavable meals, and most importantly, bedsheets and a blanket. 

You took full advantage of them, collapsing into the bed in the bedroom mere seconds after getting them all on. The mattress creaked, and it was a bit lumpy, but it felt like pure bliss irregardless.

“You should really eat something, you know.”

“But I’d have to get uuuuup,” you whined, pressing your face further into the pillow. “My limbs feel like they’re gonna fall off.”

“You shouldn’t have sat down, you’re going to regret it later, Y/N,” L said, in the exasperated tone of someone who knew they were right.

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuh, fiiiiiine,” you groaned, rolling over onto your feet. You brought the blanket with you, draping it around your shoulders like a cape as you trudged over to the small kitchenette. It was pretty chilly in the apartment, and you huddled on the couch—the only piece of furniture in the place except for the bed—while you waited for the microwave to finish. You’d put in what looked like some kind of chicken stir-fry, poured yourself a glass of tap water, and was taking a sip when L suddenly started.

“Hm?”

“Cayde-6 just… sent us a ton of glimmer.”

“... We have a bank account?”

“We do now,” he clarified. “There’s a message with it; ‘Get yourself an even bigger grenade launcher.’ Huh, that’s really nice of him.”

“Just how much did he give us?”

“... Enough to buy one of the grenade launchers Banshee-44 is selling at the moment,” L chuckled. “Though we might need to get you some other things first, I doubt you’re going to be sent on missions just yet.”

“Hopefully not,” you mumbled to yourself, standing at the beeping of the microwave. 

“We’ve also got a deposit from… Commander Zavala, I think, to use until we start earning some money properly. I was just expecting something from him, not Cayde,” he admitted as you took your meal to the couch, where you promptly curled into a ball and started devouring the thing. 

“I guess he was just bein’ nice?” you shrugged. You were still having trouble getting over the fact that 1) Cayde was alive and not, y’know, dead, and 2) the fact that he was real in the first place. As well as Zavala, and Ikora if you ever got to meet her, and Shaxx and Amanda and Osiris and… 

Damn.

You almost fell asleep right there after you finished eating, but you managed to pick yourself up and collapse back on the bed instead. L landed beside your pillow, shell drooping a little, and you smiled at the absolutely precious sight as your tired eyes slid closed. 

“‘Night, L.”

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

-------

Darkness. Utter Darkness. It was suffocating, all-encompassing.

There were points of light in the Dark, but they were anything but friendly, snarling and tearing and clawing at your flesh, you couldn’t get away, you had to get out you had to get away GETAWAYGETAWAYFROMME—

And everything changed, but not for the better. There were flashes, images— a set of three glowing, green eyes, an ever-expanding wave of Light, the crushed shell of a Ghost, four arms, large moth-like wings, dark ice crawling up your body, a red phantom, a raised chalice, a pair of blue optics dimming and then fading completely—

Then the Darkness was back. You cried out as it tore into your body, as unseen hands and appendages grabbed at you, you were drowning you couldn’t breathe this was the end this was it you were dying you couldn’t—

“Y/N? Guardian?! G u a r d i a n!”

You shot straight up with something in between a scream and a sob, body still tangled in the blanket. L was hovering directly in front of your face, illuminating you with a light from his eye. “Y/N? Are you alright?”

“I’m— y-eah, I just—“ Tears had started streaming down your face at some point, and you swiped at them, but they just kept coming. You hugged yourself, hands clutching your shirt.

“It’s okay, it was just a bad dream,” L assured, switching to a sort of ambient glowing light instead of the beam. Your body shook as you sat in silence for a long moment, eyes wide, flashes of the scenes appearing behind your eyelids whenever you blinked.

“I jus— I’m scared, L.“ He hovered closer at your confession. The nightmare merged with all the fighting you had done earlier, in the Cosmodrome, how it had felt to punch that Dreg and see its body collapse against the wall. “I— I killed all those Fallen, I took their lives with my own hands—…”

“If you hadn’t they would have taken your’s,” he reminded, gently, floating even closer. You reached out for him, and he let you pull him to your chest, holding onto him like a lifeline. His Light was comforting as you quietly cried into the dark of your room. From the single window you could see a chunk of the City, twinkling under the Traveler. 

The world around you was so foreign and yet you knew it intimately. It was so big and yet infinitesimally small because you knew it but not like this. The walls around you weren’t your own, you weren’t sitting in your bed, you weren’t living in your town, you were in this terrifying and violent new universe where one slip up would—

Kill you. 

And as you stared at all that life through your tears, all of a sudden the weight of your knowledge was too much to bare. Cayde was alive, that meant you were somewhere between the Red War and Forsaken, which meant that you still knew a decent chunk of the future no matter which way you sliced it. You knew all that, and the implications terrified you.

“L, I… I haven’t been honest with you.” 

He pulled away slightly to look you in the face. “What about?”

“I… this is hard to explain, but like—“ you sniffled, took a breath, started over. “I remember everything. From before the Cosmodrome. Like, my entire life, before all this, before being… a Guardian. But the thing is… where I’m from, all this, this universe, these people… they’re not real. This entire reality is a— video game. You guys still have those? Anyway, I— I have no idea what I’m doing here. I think I might have died in my universe, so now I’m… here. Reincarnated? Reborn? I have no idea. But I know things, about what’s gonna happen. Like Cay—…”

You swallowed hard, not even able to get the words out. “Point is, I know the future. Everything major, at least. And I don’t— I don’t know why I’m here, or how— I don’t know if it was the Traveler, or God, or the universe itself, or what that brought me here— but I can’t… I don’t know if I can do this,” you whispered. “I don’t even know what it is I’m supposed to do. Change the future? Alter destiny somehow? I don’t know, I just—…” 

Silence stretched between you. “Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to drop all that on you,” you backtracked. “I’m just so confused and I need answers and you’re probably the one person who could even understand.”

“Y/N, I…” L blinked at you from where you were still holding him. “I don’t know what to say. As far as I know this has never happened before. I’ve never heard of anything even close.”

“Great,” you sniffed wetly, tears still staining your cheeks.

“Hey, don’t worry, alright? We’re going to figure it out,” his said, sounding a lot more confident than you did. “I’m sure there’s some sort of explanation for all this. Maybe we can do some research tomorrow.”

“Yeah, th-at… sounds good,” you managed a smile. “Anyone ever tell you you’re amazing?”

His shell fluttered in your hands, laughing a little. “I think you’re amazing too.”

“I’m kind of— pathetic, actually.”

“What? You took down that walker today, didn’t you? Not bad for your first day,” he argued. “And you kept going even though you were scared. I’d say that’s pretty amazing of you.”

“Thanks L,” you mumbled, holding him closer. You tried your best to disentangle yourself from the sheets, getting resituated after laying back down. The sparkling lights from outside were comforting, but…

“Could you, uh, leave that light on?”

The glow coming from underneath L’s shell pulsed slightly with every syllable. “Of course.”

You turned on your side, still cradling him. “Uh, tell me if I accidentally crush you, yeah?”

“Don’t worry Y/N, I’ll be fine. Sleep well, Guardian.”

Chapter Text

L woke you up much later than you expected, saying that you deserved to sleep in, and you weren’t about to argue with that. And you managed to stall until lunch, claiming you wanted to get familiar with your new home, which wasn’t entirely a lie. But there was a part of you that was overwhelmingly nervous at going back out into the Tower, for reasons you didn’t fully understand. They were Guardians, if you could trust anyone in this universe it would be them. But the sheer distance between you and them was what made them intimidating, and you almost felt like a fraud pretending to be one of them.

But were you a fraud? It’s not like you stole the Light or something, the Traveler gave you L, you hadn’t tried to become a Guardian. 

… You were starting to question its wisdom. Why you, of all people? You knew some lore and had hit the powerful cap back in your world, sure, but unfortunately, you didn’t have the luxury of living and breathing Destiny content like some of the more diehard players. You had a job, a life, family and friends who—

Oh shit. Everyone you knew back in your world… did they know you were gone yet? How did that even work? Maybe instead of switching dimensions, you actually just shot forward in time, and everyone you knew was just dead. But that probably wasn’t true, right? That would mean someone at Bungie had some serious prophetic skills to make a whole ass game series based on it, so probably not that. Besides, hadn’t the Traveler made its way to Earth in 2014 in Destiny canon? That year has come and gone in your universe with no big discovery like that.

So… the multiverse was real, then. The paraverse, rather? Since you were paracausal? All those terms still made your brain hurt. Well, regardless, some form of the multiverse was real, and… you’d managed to fall into the one dimension that was a perfect recreation of the Destiny timeline. Great. Fucking fantastic.

You were torn between whooping with joy about how goddamn cool that was, and having a mental breakdown because holy fuck, out of all the universes, you just had to land in the one that was at war at all times, fuuuuuuuck. Living in a sci-fi, post-apocalyptic world was not nearly as fun as pop culture had made it seem. L had healed the worst of the bruising from the Khvostov’s recoil, but there was still the dullest twinges of an ache in your shoulder you suspected you’d never be rid of. Not to mention how freaked out you’d been back in the Cosmodrome, and that nightmare…

Oh boy. 

Okay, new plan— research first, existential crisis later.

Unfortunately for you, aside from the t-shirt and sweatpants you’d slept in, you had no other clothing, so redonning your armor was the only other option. That is, if you could find it. You’d left it on the kitchen floor after shucking it off before showering, but it wasn’t there anymore, and you searched for a few fruitless seconds before turning to L, who had been idly scanning every single item in the apartment all morning.

“Did you transmat my armor away?”

“Hm? Oh, yes, I needed to repair it.”

Said armor appeared in a flash, and directly onto your person, you realized with a start. And sure enough, all the damage it had sustained yesterday had been fixed completely. It was even a bit shiny. The other clothes you’d been wearing had disappeared and been replaced by the tight undersuit you’d had to peel off last night— freshly laundered, if the lack of dried sweat was anything to go by.

“Oh wow, thanks dude. How’d you even do that?”

“I took some glimmer while I was storing it and added it on while it was still data, since glimmer is both a physical piece of matter and data at the same time. It only takes a tiny bit to repair it and everything, don’t worry, you’d be surprised just how much stuff you can make with just a single piece. I mean, I only turned one into ammo for your rifle and you didn’t even use a tenth of it all.”

“Wait, is that why I never ran out of full magazines? You were just transmatting new bullets into them?” The thought had came to you on the jumpship ride to the City, but in all the excitement you’d completely forgotten about it.

“Yep! There’s a reason we use it as currency,” L said, a smile in his voice.

“Fair enough. So, uh, what now?”

“I can access the Tower archives from anywhere in the City, but it would go a lot faster if I was hooked up to a terminal manually. There’s one in the courtyard, while I’m looking for any information you can go get some new weapons, or just explore. The Tower’s a pretty big place, there’s a lot to look at.” 

“I… suppose.”

You had to face the real world at some point, because this was reality now, wasn’t it? You’d be fine, you tried to assure yourself. Who knew, maybe you’d even see Cayde again today.

You shoved your helmet on your head before leaving the apartment. It brought with it a strange sense of comfort and privacy. You didn’t trust your expression not to betray you as a New Light the second you got there. Strictly speaking, you weren’t, but seeing the Tower through a monitor and seeing it in real life were two very different things. And besides, your default armor would probably give that away for you anyway.

Luckily, L knew the way through the maze of hallways back out into open air, and for a moment, you just stared, leaning against a railing that dropped into nothingness.

You knew you kept thinking it, but the Last City truly was gorgeous. Even in the daylight, it seemed to sparkle, metal and glass reflecting off the sun and bouncing up to hit the underside of the Traveler. The protector of humanity.

L zipped straight over to the Monument for Lost Lights. “This is going to take a while, maybe you could go talk to Banshee about getting some new weapons. I don’t know how much longer that rifle of your’s is going to last.” He’d have shrugged if he had a body. 

“Uhhhh, okay,” you managed to get out. All of a sudden you were nervous, and wishing that L would come with you. At least he knew what he was doing, marginally more than you at least. How different would talking to a vendor be in real life versus in the game?

This is stupid, you thought as you rounded the corner, glancing at Banshee’s stall. He’s just a person, talk to him like a normal person. 

There was a small group of brightly armored people at the shop, one of them chatting emphatically with Banshee. He was a Warlock from the looks of his spiked robes, with the Crown of Tempests on his head and a sword strapped to his back. His entire ensemble shimmered so brightly, even in the shade, it was hard to look directly at him, star patterns slowly shifting over his chestplate and legs. Seven Sisters?

“Come onnnn, are you sure?” he whined, and the slightly synthesized noise told you he was an Exo.

“You gotta get up earlier, I keep telling you,” the Titan in the group sighed. She was helmetless, short neon green hair falling loose over red and blue armor (Atlantic Rush, if you remembered rightly).

The Hunter was probably the most sensibly dressed, armor Wayfarer’s Guise green. “Or maybe you could try using anything other than an SMG,” he chuckled. 

“I can’t aim for shit Aargren, you know this.”

“Like hell you can’t aim, I saw you kill an Ogre with a grenade from thirty meters away, you just like not having to aim.” The Warlock raised his arms in mock surrender, and you saw an opening, starting to skirt around them to stand awkwardly to the side of Banshee’s stall.

But the second you got close, all three of them whipped around, at the exact same time, and the synchronicity startled you into freezing in place. It was silent for at least three seconds, before the Warlock suddenly exclaimed,

“Oh hey, are you new?”

You blinked at him, exceedingly glad for your helmet now. “Uhhhhh, yeah…”

He yanked his Crown off, it disappearing into transmat a second later, revealing a green faceplate with purple painted highlights, breaking the rest of whatever spell had fallen over you all. He stuck his hand out, grinning as wide as metal cheekbones would allow. “I’m Premise-22, welcome to the Tower! When’d you get here?”

“Just— just yesterday,” you shook his hand, his grip stronger than what you were prepared for. 

“Anyone have a chance to show you around yet? Trust me, this place is complicated as all hell,” he laughed.

“Yeah, um, the uh, Hunter— Vanguard?— showed me a little—...”

“Cayde-6 showed you around? Aren’t you a Titan?” the green haired woman asked, almost incredulous. 

“That’s what— my Ghost told me.” It was easier than you’d expected to act like you had no idea what you were talking about. 

“Now that’s something I’d never thought I’d hear,” the Hunter chuckled, pulling off his own helmet to reveal luminescent purple skin with light green markings around his eyes. “Aargren Maaqas by the way, that’s Jane Beckett.”

“Nice to meet you,” Jane gave a pleasant smile. 

“You too, I’m— Y/N.” 

“You gotta tell me about you and Cayde later— oh, didja needa get at Banshee? My bad, sorry, was looking for a mod—”

Banshee hadn’t said a single word during that exchange, staring at the other Exo with somethin akin to amusement. “Whatcha looking for?” he turned to you.

“Oh, uh—” you glanced back to the trio behind you on instinct— what were you looking for? “Um, what do you have?”

Jane snorted. “What doesn’t he have?”

“What are you using right now?” he asked. “I could take a look.”

You grimaced, using that fancy new trick L had taught you to pull out the Khvostov. 

“I uh, found this thing down in the Cosmodrome…”

“Woooaah, what the fuck is that?!” Premise exclaimed, jumping back dramatically.

“Shit dude, good thing you came here,” Aargren said. “Thing looks like it’s falling apart.”

“That’s what Cayde said yesterday,” you laughed to yourself, making sure it was unloaded before handing it over. Banshee looked it over with an experienced eye.

“You like auto rifles?”

“I mean, it’s one of the only, uh— three guns I’ve ever used, so I don’t mind it,” you shrugged. 

“They’re good for beginners,” Banshee nodded. “Here. I’ll take this off ya, and…”

He briefly disappeared around the corner, coming back with a short-barreled rifle he set in front of you. “Halfdan-D. Good range, decent handling. Better than what you had, at any rate.”

“Oh cool— uh, may I?” Your hands hovered over it, and he nodded. 

Checked the safety, checked the chamber, aimed it at the ground to look down the sights— it felt nice in your hands, interestingly enough. This whole “being good with real life firearms” thing was still pretty new to you.

“You should totally get iiiiiiiiit,” Premise whispered theatrically, acting very much like a bad influence even though it was a good suggestion. 

“I totally should,” you mumbled, running your fingers over the barrel, the stock. “Um, I don’t actually— know how to pay, my Ghost’s over there, I’ll uh, be right back—”

You started to put the rifle down, but Premise suddenly slammed down a handful of glimmer and purple shards. “It’s on me!”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, really—” If people kept giving you handouts like this, you’d never even get a chance to spend the glimmer you’d also been given.

“Hell no! I got it newbie, you can pay me back by 1v1’ing me in the Crucible someday,” he grinned down at you.

“Prem, you gotta stop telling the kinderguardians that—“

“One of these days I’ll win one, I swear. If I can do that one bit of the Vault solo—because you people got shot, by the way—I can win a 1v1.”

“Keep talkin’ bro, but the Crucible’s the one place where I can kick your ass,” Aargren shook his head goodnaturedly— and Premise’s words fully registered.

The Vault? As in the Vault of Glass? Wait, is he the— The Guardian? The player?

That was—...

Okay, you hadn’t expected it to be you , obviously, but just running into the Young Wolf on your second day was not what you were expecting. 

Well, he’s not my Warlock. Looks like you wouldn’t be meeting your own characters anytime soon. Did this mean there were other universes where your characters were the Young Wolf? Or other peoples’ characters? Was every single OC story technically canon?

“Uh— thanks again, really,” you told him, hoisting the Halfdan-D onto your back. “Everyone’s been so nice.” 

“Harassing new Guardians is like crack for him,” Aargren drawled, and Premise playfully punched him in the shoulder. 

“Is not.”

“Is too.”

“Is not!”

“Are you idiots done?” Jane raised an eyebrow. You couldn’t choke back a little giggle that escaped you. “These two’ll be at it for hours if we let ‘em, we should get going. Devon, send my comm code to her Ghost, wouldja?”

A yellow Ghost with a large shell materialized near Jane. “If I can find her Ghost,” he huffed, and woah, you weren’t expecting his voice to be that deep. He glanced around, seemingly scanning. “Oh, nope, found ‘m.” Jane gave you another smile as she grabbed the back of Premise’s robes and Aargren’s cloak, dragging them further into the Tower towards the Bazaar, Devon following dutifully behind.

“We’ll see you around Y/N!” Premise called, waving frantically. You waved back, left standing in front of a very entertained Banshee. 

“Those kids,” he chuckled, staring after them. “Feel free to come back if you need anything else.”

“Yeah, uh, I will,” you assured. “Thanks again for the rifle.”

“No problem,” he nodded, and you waved to him too, retreating back out into the courtyard to find L.

He was still floating in front of the Monument, connected by a wide beam of light. “You uh, find anything interesting?”

“Nothing yet, but— who sent me the comm code for Fireteam Emerald?”

“Emerald?” Premise’s paint, Jane’s hair, Aargren’s markings— you could see why they called themselves that. “I— I don’t know, Jane—... Beckett? There were a couple people at Banshee’s, their Warlock bought me a gun,” you hoisted it over your shoulder to show him.

“Yep, that sounds like Premise-22. He and his clan are a bit of a legend around here.”

“Huh.” Learn something new every day.

“Anyway, from what I’ve seen so far, nothing similar to your situation has ever been recorded, but there’s still a lot of files to go through, more than I thought. This is probably going to take all day.”

“Great,” you sighed. 

“Don’t worry, I’m sure there’s something here. The City’s gathered a lot of information over the years, even if we lost a lot during the Collapse.”

You were about to respond, but a sudden shout caused you to peek around the corner, to where Shaxx’s area should be. 

The Warlord himself was standing in front of a holographic camera feed, of what you realized was a Crucible match. “Incredible! You’re on fire, Guardian!”

You grinned a little at his excited volume. It’d probably be a while before you found the courage to step into a game yourself, but it was good to know Shaxx was as enthusiastic as ever.

“You can keep looking around,” L said. 

“Uh— yeah.” You turned, looking back out over the courtyard. “I’ll, uh— can you find me if you finish early?”

“Yep, shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Perfect. I’m— I’m gonna—...” You pointed in the direction of Eververse, taking a couple awkward steps towards it.

“Have fun!” L called enthusiastically. 

“That probably won’t be an issue,” you mumbled to yourself. Despite how nerve-wracking the day had been, just being here, in the Last City, in the Tower, in Destiny, had been…

Not as scary as you were expecting.

-------

“What the fuck is up with that kinderguardian?”

“Oh thank the Light, I wasn’t imagining that?”

Aargren slapped the back of Premise’s head. “‘Course not, I thought the fuckin’ Traveler blew up for a second. That Titan’s…”

“Her Light feels stronger than your’s, Prem,” Jane continued. “Stronger than… anyone’s.”

“Bullshit, it can’t be that strong. Can it?” the Warlock immediately doubted himself. “She’s brand new, ‘s not like…”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Jane shrugged. “We all felt that.”

“She’ll be one to watch. Seems pretty nice at least,” Aargren said.

Premise hummed to himself, squinting into the distance as he thought. “I got an idea. Hey Rettie, can you see what bounties there are for the EDZ?”

“What’re you gonna do?”

The Exo grinned. “Oh, I’m not gonna be doing anything.”

“... I don’t think I wanna know.”

Chapter Text

You eventually found your way to the Bazaar, watching Ikora talk to various Guardians from afar, not able to summon the nerve to approach her yourself. Not that you had much reason to seek her out; you were a Titan and she was a Warlock, after all. Though you supposed if L didn’t find anything in the archives, she might be able to help with further research, but who knows.

You really needed to figure out if you should tell anyone about the whole… I’m from a different dimension thing. You supposed it wasn’t any less believable than the Exo Stranger’s story, but still. Maybe you should wait a couple weeks first, settle in, get a lay of the land. Also figure out if you could stomach shooting aliens in the face for a living. That might be a bit of an issue.

But come on, they were your enemies. They were actively trying to destroy humanity any chance they got, if you didn’t do it some other Guardian inevitably would.

…

Yikes. Now that was a thought.

“Hey Guardian!”

You let out a very unbecoming yelp and jumped at least a foot in the air, whirling around to see Cayde behind you.

“S-sir!”

“Pshhh, you don’t need all that, just Cayde works. Wait, I never got your name, did I? How’s Tower life treatin’ ya so far?”

Damn, he remembers me? “Uhhh— I’m Y/N, and it’s— been good. Everyone’s really nice.”

“Who’d ya run into?”

“There was a fireteam at Banshee’s, their Warlock paid for my gun,” you shifted slightly.

"Ooooooh, what’d’ja get?!”

You sheepishly pulled your new rifle over your shoulder, suddenly glad you hadn’t put it in transmat. You weren’t entirely sure of the range of your control over the thing, considering L was so far away. 

“Ooh, is that the new auto rifle? It’s pretty solid, from what I hear.”

“I guess I’ll find out. It’s not— it’s not a grenade launcher,” you admitted, a little embarrassed, “but my other rifle was in pretty bad shape and I figured I needed something better—”

“That was a joke kid,” he laughed, “use that glimmer however you want.”

“I’m not a kid,” you mumbled, petulantly, like a child. 

“I mean, you’re what, two days old?” he grinned at you. You sighed— had you not remembered your past life, that’d be true, but you couldn’t exactly say that yet. 

Well, technically you could, but this was neither the time nor place to do so— you needed to talk to L about it, after he was done with his research, and figure out what exactly you were going to tell people. You doubted you could just up and say I’m from another dimension with no warning. Hopefully you’d be able to think of something eventually.

Wait. How permanent was your situation? You’d been assuming you were gonna be here for a while, but… how long was a while? Forever? If you had actually died back in your dimension, it wasn’t like you could go back, right? Fuck, you were too out of it for this.

“Uhhhh, Y/N? You good?”

You snapped back to the present, Cayde staring at you with something like concern in his blue optics.

“Yeah, just— spaced out a second, I’m good,” you waved with one hand, the other returning the Halfdan to its spot on your back. “What are you doing down here?”

“Ack, boring Vanguard stuff, I’m trying to put it off by getting lunch. Speaking of which, riiiiight over there is a great ramen place, you eat yet?”

You glanced over to where he was pointing— the stall in the Bazaar where Cayde’s little portrait was, back in your world. 

The reminder of the unlikeliness of your situation hit you like a sack of bricks. If Cayde was alive right now, and Forsaken hadn’t happened yet…

That meant you could save him.

That realization hit even harder than the first one. If you could get on that Prison of Elders mission, if you were faster than Uldren, you could—

“I, uh— ate already, actually,” you forced yourself to respond when you realized Cayde was still waiting for an answer.

“Aaah, too bad, rain check on that ramen then!”

You blinked at him. “... Wait, robots eat food?”

“This one does!”

-------

The sun was just starting to set when you made your way back to the Monument, finding that while L was hovering much closer to the ground now, he was still going at it.

“Hey,” you greeted, sitting down cross-legged next to him. “Anything yet?”

“I’ve been through nearly every relevant file, and there’s nothing!” The exasperation in his tone was new to you. “There’s theories, sure, about trans-universal travel, but no evidence, no experiments, it’s all just Vex time manipulations and Cabal planet terraforming!” He finally turned to you. “I thought for sure there would be something, but there’s just… not. I’m sorry, Y/N.”

“It’s alright,” you assured. You’d halfway been expecting it, but despite your words, you couldn’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment. If there had been something, it would have made your life a lot easier. At least you’d get some hint of an explanation as to why you were here in the first place. That would have been nice to have.

But as it stood, you were mentally exhausted from hours of taking in your new environment, and you just wanted to go back to sleep. All of a sudden you missed your bed, the one you had in your world. The blankets, the pillows, the sheets, everything. You didn’t know when you’d be able to sleep in it again.

If you ever got to.

“I can keep looking,” L offered, but you waved him away from the Monument.

“Nah, it’s fine. If you really wanna you can keep looking tomorrow. I kinda just… want to go home.” 

“I do too.”

He zipped over to you, bumping his shell gently against your helmet, and you smiled under it as your hands came up to hold him for a moment. “Uhhh, you’re gonna have to show me the way back, I don’t remember.”

He laughed a little; “Of course, it’s down here.”

-------

You were sitting down in the shower, knees to your chest, arms wrapped around them. You’d been there for at least ten minutes, staring through the near-scalding water that was beating down on you.

You missed your own shower.

The novelty of your situation was wearing off, and reality settling uncomfortably in its place. You really didn’t know if you’d ever be able to go back. Maybe you had to die for real in this dimension to be sent back, but… if you had actually died back there, how would you be able to? And besides, to test that theory, you’d have to, y’know, die, and you doubted a superficial “normal” death like other Guardians racked up would count. It’d probably have to be a Final Death, which meant L would have to die, and the mere thought of that left such a deep chill in your bones that you immediately vetoed the idea. You couldn’t do that to him, even if it meant you could go back.

It was just a theory, anyway (a Game Theory!). In all likelihood you were stuck here. 

But why were you here? Why had you been deemed important enough to be thrown through space-time into a video game, that wasn’t actually a video game anymore? Was there some goal, some quest you’d been sent here to complete?

It’d sure be great to know what the fuck it is.

Well, even if you didn’t have a pre-ordained mission to finish, you could think of another worthy cause to pursue— saving Cayde. 

If you could just keep him from dying, everything would be different. That might get rid of the advantage of your future knowledge, but it would be worth it, if he got to live. He deserved to.

The longer you sat there, the more your resolve strengthened, and the relief of having some semblance of a plan was immediate and incredible. Okay. You knew what you had to do. That was great. Now how the hell were you going to do it?

Finding out when exactly you were in the timeline would help immensely. If you could find that out, you could figure out how much time you had, how long you had to plan and prepare. But you didn’t know if the same amount of time that had passed in your world passed here. Warmind had been, what, May of 2018? And Forsaken that September? If time passed the same here as it did in your dimension, that left you with… four months, give or take. Assuming the events of Warmind had just ended. Shit. You probably had less than that, again, assuming time worked the same. Still, you needed to find that out, just in case. 

And you needed to fill in L, on everything, when you weren’t fresh out of a nightmare and slightly delirious.

You took a steadying breath and finally rose to your feet, grabbing your wash cloth. Okay. You had a plan. One that would only get more fleshed out the longer you thought about it. And it wasn’t like you were completely alone, you had L.

You could work with this.

-------

Cayde was sitting on top of the wooden arch Ikora had set up in the Bazaar, legs dangling off the edge. The Traveler hung low in the night sky before him, a familiar sight.

“So you felt that too, right?”

Ikora glanced up from the tome she was leafing through as Cayde hopped down, landing lightly on his feet. “Of all people of course you did. She’s like a damn beacon.”

“If you’re referring to the New Light you were talking to a couple hours ago, yes, I felt it.”

Cayde had noticed it immediately, the second she approached him the day before. All Guardians could feel the Light of others around them, to a certain degree. Only Lightbearers had it, obviously, and certain artifacts like shards of the Traveler, but it was noticeably there.

Y/N, though…

“Didn’t even know someone’s Light could be that strong,” he commented.

“Yes, it’s certainly interesting.”

Most Guardians felt like emergency flares. Y/N felt like a Cabal artillery round.

Cayde hummed to himself. “Surprised you’re not chomping at the bit to learn more.”

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “Oh, I’m intrigued, certainly.”

He raised an eye ridge. “Hm. You’ll be watching her then?”

“I watch everyone, Cayde.”

He huffed at the response. “Lemme know how that goes, yeah?”

“Of course.”

Chapter Text

You didn’t sleep good that night either. At 5AM, when you awoke from yet another nightmare of gnashing teeth and suffocating Darkness, you resigned yourself to wakefulness and sat down on the couch, pen and pad of paper in hand that L had scrounged from somewhere. 

On it was a list, one you had been adding to sporadically as the City beneath your window started to wake.

- figure out timeline shit

- do more research on the theories L mentioned

- get better armor

- get better fashion current armor is Not It

- tell cayde

That last one you’d scribbled out, because you still weren’t sure whether you should tell anyone, Cayde especially. For all you knew, it would irreparably damage the timeline and he’d die anyway. You still needed more information.

The problem was, you didn’t know if that information even existed. L said that other than a couple theories regarding travel between dimensions, there hadn’t been anything on the subject, which meant you were pretty much flying blind here. There was no guide to this shit, you had to figure it out yourself. 

Not for the first time, you wondered why you, specifically, had been sent here. You weren’t especially qualified, you weren’t some shut-in gamer NEET or battle-hardened combat veteran— you were just… a random person, who happened to play Destiny. You found yourself cursing the uncertainty of it all.

L found you a little more than an hour after you sat down, fins twirling a little. “What are you doing up so early?”

“Couldn’t really sleep,” you answered, not untruthfully. He glanced down at your list, then back to you. 

“Planning?”

“Something like that.”

Silence fell between you for a moment.

“I heard you get up, figured you wanted to be alone for a while.”

You’d left L sitting on your pillow when you got up, the light of his eye dim in his rest mode, and while he hadn’t reacted when you’d left, it made sense that he’d known. 

“... Yeah, I guess.”

You’d elaborated on everything you knew late into the night last night, plotting out everything you recalled about Forsaken and the events surrounding it. It’d been a while since you’d played it, but you remembered enough to lay out a timeline of events for L. Needless to say, he was a bit shocked. 

“Uldren… I didn’t know he’d be willing to go that far.”

“He was desperate. Completely convinced it was Mara talking to him. At this point I don’t even hate him that much, I just kinda… feel sad for him.”

“I can understand why. Still though… what he did, back in your world…”

“I’m not gonna let it happen here. I’m gonna save Cayde. I don’t care what it takes.”

That conviction hadn’t wavered. You were going to save him.

L had told you last night that what you knew as the events of Warmind had ended two weeks and four days ago. So, if time passed the same between dimensions, you had roughly three months and twenty-ish days until Forsaken. Damn it, you wished you could remember what dates exactly the expansions had dropped, but it was better than nothing. 

So, until then, you needed to— get stronger, pretty much. Learn how to use Light grenades. Get more guns. Start making some glimmer on your own. Get close to Cayde so you’d know when Petra contacted him. 

… Okay, that last part sounded a little stalkerish. But it was for his own good, so hopefully he’d forgive your less-than-innocent motives. 

“If you want, we can go down to the firing range later today, so you can try out your new rifle,” L said. 

“That’d be cool,” you answered, less than enthusiastically, and your tone finally registered in your weary mind. “Sorry, I’m just— kinda tired.”

“You can go back to bed if you want,” L offered, “unless you don’t want to.”

“I don’t know,” you admitted. “I’ll just take a nap later.” You really didn’t feel like trying to explain the whole nightmare thing right now, even though L would no doubt understand, especially after your little breakdown the night prior. You hoped it wouldn’t become a recurring thing (the breakdown and the nightmares). 

“How did you like the Tower yesterday?”

“It’s… a lot bigger than I thought it was,” you admitted, that finally drawing a smile from you. Comparatively, there hadn’t been many places for you to go when you were playing Destiny back in your world, but in real life, there were tons of passages, hundreds of little nooks and crannies stuffed with supplies, you’d even stumbled across a department store on one of the lower levels— and you hadn’t even ventured out into the Last City proper yet. It was all unfathomably huge, and yet, in the grand scheme of things, it was all that remained of humanity. What little survived was gathered right there, underneath the Traveler. 

It was odd to think about. Places like Hong Kong and London and New York City were completely abandoned, in ruins. Good for the atmosphere you guessed, but little else. Unless the Traveler had gotten rid of pollution during the Golden Age as well, who knew. 

“Yeah, it can be a little confusing,” L agreed. “But don’t worry, you’ll learn your way around soon enough.” You nodded, still lost in thought. 

The way the living room window was angled only let you see a corner of the Traveler, not the whole thing, but you stared at it anyway.

Why me?

-------

The Halfdan-D was an immense improvement over the Khvostov, for obvious reasons. One; it hadn’t been sitting in the Cosmodrome for who knows how long, two; the sights weren’t cracked, and three; it was, y’know, an actual fuckin’ gun. 

Your aim was… not the worst, but certainly not the best either. Once the targets got more than ten feet away from you, your accuracy dropped drastically. Maybe you should stick to the shotgun, like any self respecting crayon-eater. Or get good. That too. 

The firing range didn’t exist back in your world, or at least, players couldn’t go there. It was situated right outside the Tower, on the very top level, “downrange” being “off the City walls into the wilds.” (Well, that’s the direction they were facing in. There was actually a huge hill of dirt and various debris acting as a backboard, then an actual concrete wall at least three feet thick, then a multi-story drop off the wall, but semantics.)

You’d discovered there was a designated area for practicing with rocket and grenade launchers, which you figured you should take advantage of. It was actually quite enjoyable when you weren’t being shot at. You also finally figured out how to use your Arc grenades. It was similar to summoning forth your Super, though it took considerably less effort. Cyan lightning crackled in your hand as you pelted it downrange, seeing it explode in a shower of sparks and feeling some strange satisfaction accompanying it. 

The frame/Guardian duo who ran the place seemed to have unlimited ammo, and you found yourself continually going back up to their counter to get refills. It was like you could feel the affinity for fancy space guns set in, and you weren’t even mad. It was actually kind of fun.

At least, until L beeped with an incoming call.

“It’s Aargren Maaqas.”

“W… the Hunter from yesterday? What does he want?”

“I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out.”

You dropped the grenade launcher you’d been practicing with into transmat as L answered the call, Aargren’s cheerful voice filling your helm.

“Hey, newbie!”

“Uhhh, hey, how’s it going?”

“Great! So Premise is on some special mission for the Commander and we need a third, everyone else flaked out on us, wanna go on your first ever strike?”

You jolted, sudden anxiety shooting through you.

“Um— I, uh— sure…?”

"Perfect, meet us in the hangar, see ya in a bit!”

The call clicked off unceremoniously. You glanced to L, who just stared back. 

“I panicked, I shouldn’t have said yes— fuck.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” L assured. “From what I hear, those three are really good, Maaqas and Beckett will have your back.”

“I’m— sure they will, I’m just— this wasn’t what I was planning on doing when I woke up today,” you laughed a little, apprehension evident in your voice.

“You can say you changed your mind,” L offered, but you quickly said,

“No, no, just— I’ll go, I just— I’m a bit… nervous, is all.”

“I believe in you, Y/N! I’m sure the anticipation is way worse than it actually is.”

“... I hope so.”

L suddenly perked up in the air. “His Ghost sent me the hanger number. Do you need to stop back at the apartment?”

“Nah, let’s just… get this over with,” you took a deep breath. 

You’d be fine.

Probably.

-------

Aargren and Jane waved to you when you entered the hangar, standing outside a jumpship. “Hey! Over here!”

You jogged over to them, L trailing behind. “Hey!”

“You ready to go?” Aargren asked.

You were sure you looked out of place against the two. They were all kitted out with endgame gear— actual fashion—and you didn’t even have any shaders. But if they were offput by your tutorial armor, you weren’t able to tell. Maybe you’d actually be able to get something better on this mission.

“Yep, should be,” you nodded. “Where—... exactly are we going?”

“EDZ,” Jane answered. “The Fallen causing trouble again. Rumor has it some Captain’s trying to start his own House. We’re just going out there to take care of it before it becomes, y’know, an actual problem.”

“Fair enough,” you mumbled.

Aargren clapped once, loudly, and you could imagine the smile he had on just from his tone of voice. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road!”

You piled into the jumpship, Jane at the controls, and stared at the scenery below as she pulled out of the hangar. You doubted you’d ever get used to that view.

It was close to an hour later when the ship slowed, hovering over a dense forest. Your Ghosts transmatting the three of you down into it. Your companions drew weapons the second they landed—Jane a Graviton Lance and Aargren a bow—and you scrambled to follow suit.

“Probably should have asked this earlier, but what subclass you run?” Aargren asked, nocking an arrow and glancing around the surroundings.

“Uhh, Arc,” you said, checking your magazine. 

“Oh perfect, usually Prem’s our Arc,” he exclaimed.

“Everyone on the same channel?” Jane said.

“Yep,” Aargen confirmed.

“Copy,” another voice joined in, much softer than his.  “I’m Silvey, Aargen’s Ghost. Nice to meet you.”

“You too, I’m L,” your own Ghost chimed in.

“Affirmative,” what you recognized as the deep voice of Jane’s Ghost sounded through your helmet as well. “Devon. Pleasure.” 

“Great, now that everyone’s acquainted, let’s go bag ourselves a wannabe Kell.” Aargen took off into the woods, Jane following wordlessly. You had to outright sprint to catch up with them.

-------

When you got close to where Devon said the camp was, the three of you slowed, peeking over the top of a hill overlooking a small valley. There were a decent amount of Fallen down there, patrolling around small tents and crates of supplies. Jane switched her pulse rifle out for a sniper, taking up position on the highest bit of ground.

“Alright, here’s the plan. Aargren, you go in from the front and draw their attention. Y/N, you can skirt around the side and flank ‘em. I’ll pick off any that make it out and act as backup. Should be a quick in ‘n’ out, but I did bring a rocket launcher just in case,” you heard the smile in her voice at that. 

“Don’t lie to the New Light, you always have that thing on you,” Devon interjected, and you chuckled a little. It was almost enough to distract you from the fact that you’d be on the opposite side of the camp as Aargren, far enough away that he probably wouldn’t be able to reach you if you were in trouble. Knowing Jane was keeping watch made you feel marginally better, but it was no substitute for having someone within arm’s reach. 

“You good with that Y/N?”

You started a little. “Uh, yeah, I’m— I’m good. It’s a good plan.”

“Alright,” Jane nodded, “just holler if you need help or somethin’. You should be fine though, there’s not too many out here.” You begged to fucking differ— you counted at least twenty you could see, and there were certainly more in the camp. But you swallowed hard anyway and set your jaw.

“Okay.”

“Aargren, wait ‘till she gets in position until you go, yeah?”

“Yep, sure, got it,” he gave a quick thumb’s up before jumping down the hill and skidding towards the camp. Jane just shook her head, fondness in the motion.

“Better get moving, Guardian.”

“R—right.”

You clambered off to the side, making sure to keep to the trees while you skirted around the valley. You found a spot behind a particularly thick trunk and tightened your grip on your rifle. “I’m ready.”

“Copy. Aargren, you good?”

The bright yellow flash of a Solar grenade was the Hunter’s response, and you thought you heard a whoop of enthusiasm over the chattering shouts of Eliksni and rapid gunfire that burst out. 

“Go now!” L helpfully prompted, and you burst out of the treeline, managing to get a couple meters into the camp before meeting opposition.

The Fallen had been heading towards the explosion on the other side of camp, so they weren’t turned towards you when you shot them down from behind. They soon noticed you though, and one came charging at you, swords raised. You had to take a couple steps back to avoid the swinging blades, managing to get your muzzle in between you and tearing its throat open with bullets. 

A grenade manifested in your off hand, and you chucked it blindly into the group of Fallen in front of you, ducking behind a crate to reload. Their death cries were still audible over the firefight.

The distinct bang! of a sniper round cut through the din, and you whirled, the Fallen that had been creeping up on you already collapsed in the dirt. You didn’t get a chance to thank Jane for it, hefting your rifle back to your shoulder and peeking over the crate.

Only a couple Fallen had survived the grenade, and you took them down before advancing. But it looked like the rest of them had either been taken care of by Aargren, or were on their way over there, because you didn’t come across anyone else as you made your way towards the other battle.

For someone using a bow, there was a surprising amount of explosions coming from Aargren’s side of things, and you hurried through the maze of tents as fast as you could.

And you nearly smacked into the backside of the biggest Fallen you’d ever fucking seen.

“Uhhhhh, Jane?!” your panicked shout was completely involuntary as you stumbled back, switching to your shotgun and putting a shell smack dab in the middle of his chestplate.

A shield shimmered into existence around his hulking frame, and you scrambled for ground. “ Shit, that’s our guy, Aargren, get over there, I’m coming down,” Jane’s voice rang through your helm, but you could barely hear it over the roaring in your ears. 

You managed to get a couple large containers in between you and him, pulling out your grenade launcher and taking aim. You didn’t get a chance to fire though, because Aargren came flying out of nowhere, vaulting off a tent support beam and triple jumping in midair— holy fuck he was fast. His entire body glowed as he spun once, twice, chucking flaming Blade Barrage knives straight at the Captain.

They all landed perfectly, and the Fallen let out a piercing scream as his shield spluttered and died. He fell to one knee, and Aargren leapt away and landed behind you, cloak fluttering, leaving you with a perfect line of sight.

You fired, the kick from the recoil knocking you off-balance a little, but you managed to right yourself and retreat further, reloading as you went. Half of your brain was shocked you were still alive, and that you were actually competent in the midst of such a battle. But you didn’t get long to dwell on the phenomenon, because he was already getting up, and damn, did he look pissed.

“How strong is this dude?!” you heard Aargren shout as he drew his bow, letting loose an arrow. It streaked past your helmet and embedded itself in an unprotected patch of skin near the Captain’s shoulder— not like it slowed him down. 

“Hey ugly!”

Jane landed heavy in between you and Aargren, hands outstretched, a large purple forcefield engulfing the three of you. “Go for it Y/N!”

You didn’t have time to question the order— on pure instinct, you reached for that Light inside you, dashing outside the Void bubble and slamming into the Captain shoulder-first. You knocked him back a good ten feet, collapsing at least two tents in your way, and you kept going at him, mind nothing but a blur, there was only the thunder in your veins and the opponent in front of you and the feeling of electric Light dancing along your skin like some sort of deadly performance—

The massive Fallen suddenly let out a long, deep roar, and crumpled to the ground, twitching a couple times before falling still.

The Arc faded from your vision, leaving you out of breath, limbs still vibrating from the leftover energy.

“Let’s go!” Aargren yelled, pulling off his helmet. “That was awesome Y/N!”

Jane’s Ward of Dawn had faded, and she stepped out of the lingering purple Light to clap you on the shoulder. “You did great, Guardian. I wasn’t expecting the Captain to be that strong, but you still took care of it.”

“Only after Aargren hit him first,” you protested. The Hunter shook his head, smirking.

“Accept the compliment, dude. You still finished it. And now comes the best part— loot! Maybe we can find you some new gear!”

Now that you certainly weren’t opposed to. 

“You get first dibs,” Aargren said, leaping over the Fallen bodies to pry open a crate and rifle through the contents. He tossed a couple scraps of metal aside, before reaching to the bottom and pulling out a large purple engram.

“Won’t know what’s in these ‘til we get ‘em decrypted,” he tossed it to you, and you fumbled to catch it before L transmatted it away. He turned back to the crate, apparently found nothing else of note, and moved to the next one. “But if I know the Fallen—and I do—there should be some normal… aha!”

He pulled out a shotgun, handing it over much more delicately. “’S in good condition, SUROS make, looks like.” 

You kept it pointed at the ground as you inspected it, L helpfully informing you it was a Requiem-43. “Good replacement for what you have now,” he said, and you nodded along with the voice in your head. 

Aargren had already gone back to rummaging, and Jane had joined in. You couldn’t help but chuckle at their enthusiasm, the adrenaline and leftover Arc energy finally fading from your veins. They were so exceedingly… Guardian, it was almost like you were playing with your old clan back in your world. Almost. The actual combat part was still jarring, especially after the fact, but even compared to the last time you’d been in a fight, it was getting easier to deal with. Maybe you were acclimating.

Which, now that you thought about it, was a little concerning. You shouldn’t be getting used to it this quick, surely that was a bad sign. Or maybe this was the Traveler’s way of being kind to you for once, easing your way along in this new life of your’s. That’d be nice, but who knew?

You were pulled from your thoughts by Jane, waving to you with something in her hand. “Hey Y/N! I found you a new chestplate!”

You jogged over, slinging your rifle over your shoulder instead of storing it, and promptly got lost in the post-mission looting.

Chapter Text

You had another nightmare that night.

It started normal— well, as normal as nightmares came. Still terrifying, but not out of the ordinary. 

Until it transformed into more of a memory.

The oppressive Darkness and mocking voices faded into your bedroom—the one in your world, not the Destinyverse—and you watched in third person as you went about your morning routine, made breakfast, brushed your teeth, slipped on your shoes and locked the door behind you.

You got to your car, pulled out, saw yourself roll up to an intersection. You went when the light was green—

—and got t-boned by a semi-truck on the driver’s side.

You jolted awake, sitting straight up in bed. L let out a startled glitched noise at your sudden movement. He tumbled off the bed, catching himself in the air mid-fall. 

“Y/N? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, just— bad dream again,” you said, trying to catch your breath. You reached down for a bottle of water you’d set there earlier— you were starting to anticipate these things. 

“You keep having those,” L noted, and the concern in his synthesized voice was not lost on you.

“Yeah,” you sighed, taking a sip and replacing the cap on your bottle. “Though I think— I know what happened, back in my world. I was driving, someone hit me— I probably… died.”

“… And then I found you.”

“You did. Even if I died over there, that doesn’t explain how I’m— here. With all my memories. Guardians aren’t supposed to remember anything from before they were rezzed, right?”

“Yes, nothing. I guess it’s different for you because you didn’t die here? You died in the other world? But… that doesn’t make sense. When I scanned your body before I revived you, you’d been dead for a good long while.”

“I don’t know, dude. There’s some fucked up space magic stuff going on that I don’t understand.”

You wanted to pound your fist into the wall in frustration. You almost did, settling for roughly placing your bottle back on the ground. “I’m sorry, I’m just frustrated. We still don’t have any answers.”

“I’m sure we’ll figure something out,” L tried to assure, but there was something in his voice that made you think he was beginning to lose hope himself. You sighed, laying back down, trying to get comfortable. You were too damn tired for this.

You settled on your back, and L landed on your chest, the shape of his Generalist shell causing him to rest at an angle. You ran your fingers over it a couple times, his eye flickering. 

“‘Night.”

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

-------

L was worried about his Guardian.

It was different from the blanket concern he had for her wellbeing, he doubted that would ever go away. Ever since she’d first admitted her true origins, he’d had multiple background processes running simulations nonstop in an effort to try and figure out if what she had told him was even possible. He believed her entirely, she had no reason to lie—and the simple fact that she knew so much more than she should was enough to convince him—but the idea was so weird that he had to know every last bit of information he could get his nonexistent hands on. 

He suspected it had something to do with how strongly she resonated with the Light.

Beyond the normal bond every Ghost had with their Guardian, there was something… other, about her connection to the Light. It was strong, abnormally so, like she had interacted with the Traveler in a way no Guardian before her ever had. He’d noticed it the second he rezzed her, but they’d had bigger problems to worry about in the moment. 

But now, he realized it probably had something to do with her not belonging to this universe. But how, he had no idea.

His working theory was that she was touched by the Traveler somehow, and it had dragged her through space-time to this universe. If so, that was world changing, the fact that it had the power to do that. But how?

The Tower archives had held little, and what remained of Golden Age records mostly focused on time travel and teleportation. Both useful in their own right, but not relevant for her situation. Unless teleportation was somehow connected, but trans-universal travel was fundamentally different than even things like transmatting. He was starting to run out of ideas.

And he hated it, he hated not knowing. Not knowing how she got here, not knowing why her Light was so strong. Even more than that, he hated seeing his Guardian struggle, seeing her suffer from dreams he couldn’t heal away. All he could do was be there for her, let her latch onto him as her one constant. Even if he couldn’t get her answers, he could do that much. 

He hoped it would be enough, if they never found them.

-------

The weeks passed. You went on more strikes with Fireteam Emerald, and discovered that Premise was even crazier than Aargren, and Jane was the only one in that fireteam with any restraint. You’d asked her once if she’d ever caught feelings for either of them, and Premise overhead and had launched into a (quite frankly) confusing tale about how all three of them were technically blood-related siblings. It had something to do with their confusing pre-Light lives and the order in which they’d originally died— Premise had looked so excited when he explained it, it was a shame you only caught about half of it with how fast he was talking.

Going on missions around the Cosmodrome and EDZ with them were becoming something of a routine, and you dreaded the day you’d have to go on one solo, or with other people. Outside of Banshee and a budding acquaintance with the cashier at the Tower grocery store, you didn’t actually know many people. 

Well, there was Cayde.

He had to be following you. Or keeping tabs on you, or something. Every time you were in the courtyard he was there, all but leaping over to chat with you about anything and everything. You didn’t even see Zavala as often as you saw him. He wasn’t even your Vanguard. 

Not that you were complaining— Cayde was hilarious, and had some solid advice for getting a better handle on your Light. You were just… confused, because, really, he had no reason to talk to you. You guessed you were friends with the Young Wolf’s fireteam, but that didn’t explain why he went out of his way to keep hanging out with you.

It was both easy and not, being around Cayde. It felt natural to banter with him, to regale him with tales of your most recent escapades. But sometimes he said a specific thing, or waved his hand just so, and all you could see was his prone form laying on the ground with dark optics and bullet holes in his chest. 

You didn’t know if he noticed, but you hoped not. You had no idea if you’d be capable of telling him about his fate in… just under three months, now. Just the thought of it made you sick with dread.

You were mature enough to admit to yourself that the bit of a crush you’d had on him back in your world had grown completely out of control here. That certainly hadn’t helped matters. Who could blame you? It was Cayde-Mother-Fucking-6, coolest Hunter this side of the galaxy, the guy who’d apparently decided you were interesting enough to hang out with. 

(You were at least 80% sure he shirked his Vanguard duties to do so sometimes, but it wasn’t like you could say anything. Well, you could, but you enjoyed his company too much, even if you were an awkward mess.)

The progress you’d made on the plan to save him was… minimal. There wasn’t a lot you could do, other than be a living shield for him and stick by his side the entire time you were in there. To be a Titan was to protect. Maybe it would be enough. 

There was also the possibility of convincing him not to go in the first place, but you doubted that would work even if you tried. There was no way Cayde wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to get out of the City for once, even if there was a greater-than-average chance it would end in an RTL.

So Plan A; stick to his side the entire time. Fuck game balancing, and the plot, and whatever Bungie had intended for the mission. You weren’t letting him out of your sight for a single second. Maybe you should learn how to use Void, so you could use Ward of Dawn, that might come in handy, you should ask Jane, fuck you wished you could use Well—

“Earth to Y/N, come in Y/N! You good?”

You blinked at the bowl of ramen in front of you, turned to Cayde sitting next to you. His chopsticks were halfway raised to his mouth, but his entire focus was on you. 

You tried to give him a reassuring smile, but you didn’t know how convincing it was. “Sorry, just… thinking.”

He brought his chopsticks to his mouth and talked around his bite. His voice wasn’t muffled in the slightest despite his mouth being otherwise occupied; perks of having a voice box and not vocal chords, you guessed. “You do that a lot. The whole—“ he gestured vaguely with his off hand, “—spacing out thing.”

“Do I?” Huh, you guessed you did. You weren’t trying to— you just had a ton of shit to manage.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about? Penny for your thoughts? Do people even say that still? We don’t use pennies anymore. Whatever, what’s on your mind Guardian?”

Your mind blanked. You couldn’t tell him. You couldn’t tell him. You couldn’t tell him. You couldn’t. The words wouldn’t come out. If you said them you’d make it real. He couldn’t die he was too good now that you’d actually met him you couldn’t live without him—

“Woah— hey, everything okay?” 

You’d completely frozen. If he didn’t know something was amiss before he definitely did now. Your face probably betrayed something. “I’m— I’m fine,” you choked out, gaze dropping to the half-finished bowl in front of you. L made a concerned noise in your head, and you tried to send back reassuring feelings.

“You sure? You kinda went all scared-lookin’ there.”

“Yeah.” You picked up your own chopsticks so you didn’t have to keep talking. Cayde didn’t look like he believed you, but he let it go, just glancing at you around the edge of his hood. 

“Hey, you try the Crucible yet? Shaxx is always searchin’ for more Guardians.”

“Uhhhh, not yet,” you admitted. “It’s a little…”

Intimidating? Difficult? Absolutely goddamn terrifying? You’d been avoiding it on purpose, mainly because it’d taken you this long just to get semi-comfortable with killing aliens for a living. You didn’t know if you’d be able to stomach eliminating other Guardians like that and were in no hurry to find out, no matter if the death wasn’t permanent.

“You should check it out, it’s a great way to train if you want extra practice.”

“Premise asked me to 1v1 him when I first met him,” you deflected, “but from what Aargren and Jane tell me he’s not very good.”

“Oh, that dude is awful,” Cayde laughed. “Even if you’ve never done Crucible before you could probably beat him. I have no idea how the guy who killed Oryx with a sword can lose a Crucible match that badly, but it’s actually kind of impressive.”

“I’m sorry, he killed who with a what?”

“Yeah, crazy fucker just charged right up there, ‘ccording to his clan. No idea how that didn’t end badly.“

“Damn.”

“Must’ve been one hell of a thing to see. Not that I’d know, I’ve been stuck in the City for years now, not counting the war, cuz, c’mon, that doesn’t even count.”

“War?”

“The Red War, I got stuck in a piece of Vex tech, long story—“

“There’s a lot of ’long stories’ around here,” you couldn’t help but joke. The whole damn game was one— it had taken you forever to get a passable understanding of the lore. Thank God for Byf’s YouTube channel.

”Well, not-so-long story; big scary Cabal guy attacked the City, took control of the Traveler, we lost the Light for a while, eventually smacked his ass back to space, got the Light back, all that jazz. I was stuck on Nessus for a bit, Premise had to bail me out— that kid and his clan’s done more for the City in six years than us veterans have done in decades.

“I mean, sounds like you’ve all been holding the fort down for a while,” you argued. “I’d say that’s pretty important.”

“Yeah, I guess. I just wish I was out there, y’know? Us Hunters weren’t meant to be stuck behind walls for so long,” he chuckled. 

“… Makes sense.”

You couldn’t stop thinking about it. Even now you saw Cayde falling through the Prison on a flaming chariot of wreckage, Ace in hand and cloak whipping around him. You forced yourself to push the image away and refocus on the conversation. “So like, not counting the war, how long have you been here?”

“Way too long,” he sighed. “Last time I left was to go catch some Scorn Barons over on the Tangled Shore but that was, geez, at least a year ago. Feels like forever since I’ve seen a damn tree.”

Shit, that was— now? This close? Fucking hell.

Well that was good to know. Put some things in perspective.

You managed to shake it off long enough to ask, “Are there any gardens or parks around here or something?”

“Not in the Tower, they’re all down in the City. Not that I get out there that much either,” he huffed. 

You suddenly snorted. “You need a houseplant, dude.”

“I really do.”

You took another bite of your noodles, half-formed ideas bouncing around your head. L finally seemed convinced that you were fine, settling deeper into your Light. You’d gotten better at feeling his presence in your head/body/Light whatever, though it was still pretty unclear where he actually was. But he was close, which was all you cared about. Apparently when he was inside your head like that he could sense your emotions to a degree, though how much you didn’t know. You were able to send feelings back and forth to each other as well as actual words, too, which was interesting.

You smiled inwardly at him, he returned it. Cayde hummed lightly as he took another bite of his ramen. 

You heard approaching footsteps, and turned to see none other than Ikora Rey standing behind you, arms crossed.

“Cayde, what are you doing up here? I sent a request for those strike results hours ago.”

The Hunter got a distinct “oh shit” expression on his face, whipping around a second later.

“Strike reports? Uhhhh, yeah, yeah, I got those, totally— Sundance?” Silence. Cayde blinked. “Uhhhhhhhhhh, I think I uhhhh, left them down in the hangar, I’ll just go grab them—”

Glimmer materialized on the table at the same moment he transmatted away. “Cayde—!” Ikora cut herself off, groaned, and rolled her eyes. You barely held back a snort at her expression. “That man sometimes…”

You just slurped your noodles.

Chapter Text

You were on your weekly grocery run when you saw it.

The Tower store was pretty much just a fancy Walmart— it had clothes, food, hygiene stuff, ammo (because of course it did), and occasionally, displays of various seasonal items. You came across one such shelf, staring at the succulents and cacti for a long moment. 

“Do you want to get one?” L asked.

“Well, maybe— I wasn’t thinking for me,” you admitted. L thought for a moment, then—

“For Cayde?”

“I mean—” your cheeks heated up, “he said he hasn’t seen a lot of plants lately, and I just thought— I mean— would that be weird? Giving him a plant?”

“I don’t think so, you should do it!”

“I mean like— he wouldn’t take it the wrong way, would he?”

“What would be the wrong way?”

“I— I don’t know,” you exclaimed, “I just— I guess—”

If he thought you were flirting with him you might actually die. Mainly because you secretly wanted to flirt with him but didn’t possess nearly enough confidence. Also, you had bigger things to worry about. Like saving his life.

“Fuck it.” You picked up the pot of a medium-sized snake plant, checking it over for rotten spots or unhealthy leaves. It looked fine to your amateur eye, so with only a little hesitation, you plopped it down in your cart.

You grabbed a small Christmas cactus as well, because your own apartment could use a little life. Or would it be a Dawning cactus?

-------

It was a couple days before you talked to Cayde again. Jane was filling in for another fireteam assigned to Venus, while you, Premise, and Aargren had been sent to Nessus. Apparently the Vex were making trouble again and Failsafe had asked the City for assistance. 

You, for the most part, were having a mild breakdown over the fact that you were going to be setting foot on another planetary body for the first time. All your missions so far had been to various spots in the EDZ and Cosmodrome, you’d never actually left Earth yet. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Premise told you before you took off, flicking a couple switches in the cockpit. “Space travel’s a lot more boring than you think it is.”

“For you maybe,” you mumbled, “how can going to another planet be boring?”

“Moon technically,” he corrected. “And fair point. But I mean like, it’s just Nessus.”

Aargren snorted. “Just Nessus.”

“Hey, in my defense—“

You laughed to yourself as they bickered all the way through the lower atmosphere. Premise’s jumpship climbed higher and higher, farther up than you’d ever gone before, and before long, the sky was darkening, stars sparkling in the vast expanse. You saw Luna, far off to the side, but even from this distance, you could make out way more detail than you’d ever been able to planetside. 

“Engaging in three… two… one…”

The ship lurched forward on Premise’s count, the stars becoming streaks of light before fading into the multicolored blur of FTL travel.

“Holy shit,” you breathed. 

“Cool as hell, right?” Premise grinned. “Just wait ‘til we actually get there.”

“And meet Failsafe,” Aargren added. “She’s certainly… something.”

“Oh I’m sure.”

-------

You transmatted down to Nessus, and the first thing you noticed was the huge fucking lake of Vex milk. Milk. Yep, Vex milk.

The second thing you noticed was how colorful it was. You knew what Nessus looked like, obviously, but seeing the gorgeous reds and grays through a monitor versus seeing them in real life were two very different things. 

“Aight, everyone patched in?”

“Good to go,” you said on instinct; L, Aargren, Silvey, and Premise’s Ghost Rettie confirming one after another.

“Hello? Hello? Am I muted?”

“Cayde?” you started behind your helmet.

“Hey— wait, Y/N? You’re on this mission?”

“Yeah, I uh— I thought Zavala was running this one,” you answered, glancing towards your companions. Aargren just shrugged and Premise idly checked the magazine of his Riskrunner, helms hiding their expressions.

“He’s— uh— I don’t actually know where he went, somethin’ ‘bout Delaney and her crew, he asked me to take over. Whatever, the more the merrier! Anyone hear from Failsafe yet?”

“I am here Cayde-unit!” a chipper voice filtered through your comms.

“Hey Failsafe!” Premise exclaimed, perking up immediately. “How ya doing?”

“I will admit Acting Captain, not very well! The Vex have been setting up installations quite close to the Exodus Black! It would be beneficial for everyone if they were removed as soon as possible!” “That means get moving, guys.”

“Don’t get your wires in a twist, we’re on our way,” Aargren grumbled, summoning his Sparrow and taking off immediately. Both you and Premise hopped on your own and shot off after him.

You’d gotten a basic one from Holliday, and actually weren’t too bad at driving the thing— it was just a really, really fast bike. With no wheels. That hovered. You were probably never going to get over that. 

You followed Aargren through the winding paths made by twisting tree limbs and vines, until you came up on a distinctly Vex-made spire in the middle of a clearing. Goblins and Harpies milled around, mostly idle.

Premise immediately ruined what element of surprise you had by letting out a whoop and driving his Sparrow straight into the group of them, chucking a grenade in their midst before hopping off. His Riskrunner was just a blur of blue and white as he mowed down an entire line of Vex coming up from the side. It didn’t even look like he needed your help.

You charged in anyway, Aargren taking up a perch on higher ground and taking out any stragglers.

You punched a Goblin that got too close, its golden frame crunching, radiolarian fluid spilling out of its joints and splashing on your armor. You didn’t have time to wipe it off, because a Minotaur was coming up behind Premise, and he didn’t see it—

He whirled at the last second, bolts of energy shooting from his hands. He whipped a sword out of nowhere and cut it down in one smooth motion, seamlessly switching back to his primary to continue the elimination.

Well damn.

It wasn’t long before the entire area was clear. Aargren hopped down from his perch and held out his hand, Silvey compiling above it. She had on the True North shell with a white shader, making her stand out as she scanned the Vex structure.

“I’ve got the locations of all the other installations,” she reported. “Marking them on your HUDs.”

“Geez Failsafe, you weren’t kidding, that’s close,” Cayde whistled through the comms.

“I would like to remind the Cayde-unit that I was able to go undetected by any forces on Nessus for five hundred years until you alerted them to my presence!”

“Oh come on, it was an accident,” Cayde whined, “When are you going to forgive me for that?”

“We should probably go, they know we’re here now,” Aargren reminded, and Premise resummoned his Sparrow.

“It’s ass kicking time boys and girls!”

“We haven’t been doing that this entire time?” you had to question, but followed them nonetheless.

-------

The mission was more like a public event than an actual strike; find the spire, kill the Vex around it, move onto the next one. Failsafe occasionally chimed in with other targets, leading you to them, with Cayde giving color commentary in the background. You actually quite enjoyed having him in your ear, shouting encouragement and generally living vicariously through you. Every time your HUD registered a precision kill, Cayde made his approval very known. 

(Was it just you, or did he seem to compliment you more than Premise or Aargren?)

The three of you made your way to the very last spire, according to both Silvey and Failsafe. 

You’d gotten more confident, leading the charge this time as you hopped off your Sparrow and thrust-kicked the closest Vex into the cliff face behind it. The two others flanked you, arrows and SMG rounds flying past your head to embed themselves in their foes. At some point, you started to enjoy it, the simplicity that came with finding a target on the field and taking it down in a couple shots or less.

Of course, that’s when things started to go wrong.

“Uhhhhhh guys, there’s a Wyvern, there’s a Wyvern, guys?! There’s a Wyvern! It’s right there! Shoot the damn Wyvern!” 

Premise’s frantic shouts were cut off by the thing jumping up in the air and diving. The Warlock glided away just in time, throwing another grenade at it, but it didn’t even slow it down. Aargren whipped a knife at it, which stuck in its glowing core, but that just made it angry. 

Glitched noises filled the battlefield as the Wyvern shot at you, forcing you to throw up a barrier, which everyone crouched behind. Aargren drew a grenade launcher and popped out to fire, but Premise yanked him down by the back of his cloak. And it was a good thing he did, because another Wyvern had just transmatted in, backing up the first one.

“Oh fuck! Good eye Prem!”

“You’ve gotta be shitting me,” you mumbled, glancing through the translucent energy you’d summoned. It was being actively bombarded by the two Wyverns, which were slowly making their way towards you.

“‘Kay, I’mma throw down a rift and Chaos Reach that second one into next week,” Premise hastily explained, “Aargren, stay here and shoot the first one, then Y/N can prolly take it down with Havoc, unless you know Thundercrash?”

“I— what? No, uh, I don’t,” you stuttered. Fuck, you should learn Thundercrash—

“That’s aight, should still work— okay, go!”

Premise dropped a healing rift in the same second the barricade dropped. Energy flooded your veins, and you hoisted your auto rifle to your shoulder to lay down covering fire until Aargren got his shots off.

Premise leapt into the air, and your own Arc energy flared in reaction to his as his body glowed blue. He shot a thin beam of energy towards the newest Wyvern, the edges licking around the shield wings on its sides. Aargren reloaded as you shot forward.

Your vision narrowed to nothing but electricity and the opponent in front of you. You pummeled every inch of its metal body you could reach until the voltage died down and you were standing above a pile of twisted bronze. Premise and Aargren were cheering from their positions, and you were inclined to join them.

But all of a sudden their shouts turned to panic, and you whirled around to see that three Minotaurs and five Hobgoblins had transmatted onto the scene within the last five seconds. You tried to pull out your rifle, but they were already firing—

Your entire body exploded in agony, blaster bolts searing across your armor and frying the skin underneath, you didn’t even have time to cry out before—

-------

"Motherfucker! Y/N's down!"

“What?! What happened?!”

Cayde leapt to his feet, chair getting pushed back with the suddenness of the action. The entire mission had been child’s play for the strike team, how did they lose someone?

“Reinforcements, she’s getting rezzed right now,” Aargren elaborated, distant explosions getting caught in the words.

“She’s in a bad spot, we gotta get over there or her Ghost’s in danger,” Premise exclaimed, his voice shaded with worry Cayde had rarely heard on the Warlock.

“Prem look out—!”

Cayde’s optics were glued to the helmet feed being displayed on the monitor in front of him. His plating seemed to crawl, and his hand flew to his holster on sheer instinct— the familiar shape under his glove only brought a modicum of comfort.

He knew everyone else in the H. E. L. M. was staring at him now, but he didn’t care— his favorite Titan had just been downed and he couldn’t do anything.

It wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling. Being a Vanguard meant not actually doing a lot of what made Guardians Guardians— that is, running around taking down bad guys, blowing up stuff, looting shit— Light, the loot, he missed the loot so much—

But it was times like these when he regretted taking the Dare the most. When the people he’d come to care about under the reputation and the job description and the jokes were in danger, and he couldn’t swoop in to save the day. Couldn’t do anything but sit there in this damn Tower and just listen as that fireteam was out there, fighting, trying to save one of their own.

Trying to save someone he had become quite attached to in recent months.

It bothered him more than he expected that he wasn’t on Nessus, at that exact moment, fighting his way towards Y/N’s body and Ghost. He wanted to be there when she revived, ready with a quip to ease her worry and to cover his own panic in whatever he had that replaced a heart. 

He’d felt like that with other Guardians before— Hunters were loyal, and sending Fireteams Emerald and Flux to go take down Oryx had been one interesting day—but for some reason, it was different with Y/N. He really wanted her to be okay.

He could be honest with himself— in the beginning, he’d hung around her just because he was curious. Her Light was unlike anything he’d ever seen, and he really wanted to know what made it like that. But before he knew it, he was seeking her out because he actually wanted to— she listened to every single word that came out of his mouth like it was the best thing she’d heard all day, and whenever she laughed at one of his stupid jokes it made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It was so weird.

He felt Sundance pantomime raising an eyebrow somewhere in his Light, but he didn’t respond, too caught up in watching the text feed from the fireteam’s weapons scroll past on top of the helmet cam footage.

“L! You doing okay over there?!”

“We’ll be fine, just keep the Vex off us ‘til I finish!”

“Drop another rift down!” 

Cayde heard the crunchy whoosh of Aargren’s Blade Barrage, and the muted crackling of Premise getting off a Stormtrance. The fact that he was able to cast double Supers like that, when he’d only been a Guardian not even a decade, was something that never failed to impress. Even Ikora had taken longer than that to get to that level.

“Is she back?” he couldn’t restrain himself from asking, sounding just a little too desperate. 

“Just about… aaaaaand… there!”

Chapter Text

It felt like you got dunked in a lake of adrenaline, with how hard your heart was beating.

You were on your feet, and the second you realized that fact, you stumbled, barely catching yourself with your hands on your knees.

“Y/N? Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” you gasped. “What did— how— did I just die?”

“You did, but don’t worry, I brought you back,” L quickly explained. “We should probably find cover.”

Fuck, you’d died? You didn’t even realize it. One second you were being shot at, the next you were standing there. It felt like the world lagged. There hadn’t even been a respawn screen, or any noticeable loss of time. It was utterly unlike when you’d first been resurrected— it was as if time skipped a beat.

“Y/N!” you heard someone call, and turned to see Aargren sprinting over to you, Premise close behind. 

“Hey—! I’m fine, I think,” you said, your voice strained.

“Y/N? You good down there?”

“Yeah, I’m— I’m fine, Cayde.” You tried to slow your breathing, because you were fine, you were alive, but your body was still solidly in fight-or-flight mode. 

You heard him heave a relieved sigh over the comms, and for some reason, that made your cheeks heat up, despite everything.

“That was your first ever death, right?” Premise questioned.

“Y-yeah.”

“Yikes, don’t worry, it gets easier, that first time is just really whack.”

Whack seemed like an understatement. Your entire body was shaking like you’d downed five Red Bulls, your head whipping around at every little noise, looking desperately for any enemy to shoot. But it looked like everything had been taken care of. None of the Vex bodies on the battlefield were moving, and no new ones were coming for you, so it was probably over.

“That was all of ‘em, right Failsafe?” Premise practically read your mind.

“It was Acting Captain! You’ve successfully taken out all of the Vex that were encroaching on the Exodus Black! I would like to congratulate you on a job well done!”

“Thank the Light,” Aargren mumbled. “I really want a burrito right now.”

“Same,” you agreed, voice still wavering. 

“There’s this great Mexican place near my apartment that makes the biggest tacos you’ve ever seen in your life,” he went on. “If Flux gets back from their mission anytime soon we can see if they’re all up for it too.”

“Oh hell yeah,” Premise exclaimed. “Cayde, you down?”

“Who do you think I am Guardian?” he laughed. But you found your head canting to the side slightly at his tone, concern blooming in your chest. L noticed, and made a nonverbal questioning noise. You just hummed, thinking. Cayde still sounded uneasy. Was it because you’d died? You were fine now, obviously, but was he still worried?

“Hey, hey Prem, I dare you to jump in there.”

You glanced up— Aargren and Premise were leaning over the lake of Vex milk that was on one side of the field you were in, the radiolarian fluid eerily unmoving against the bank.

“Oh fuck no, I fell in there once, I was cleaning that shit out of my joints for days,” he shook his head. “You organics have it so easy.”

“... Your brain is human, Prem.”

“Technically it’s a processor slash supercomputer thing, don’t know why Bray couldn’t have just slapped the meat slab into a robot body, instead of transferring memories and personality and shit over manually. But hey, who am I to judge.”

“Ain’t the whole mortality-ethics psycho-babble bullshit like, a Warlock thing?”

“Nah, that’s Karjal’s vibe. I just like shooting really big guns.”

Cayde’s laughter burst through your comms, and you couldn’t stop the massive grin that broke out upon hearing it.

“Are we completely sure this guy isn’t a Hunter?”

“Ikora asked me that too!” Premise threw up his hands. “What, you guys got the monopoly on making shit explode?”

“Hey, us Titans can claim that too,” you chuckled, stepping closer. 

“Are you sure? Jane loves her sniper a little too much.”

“Dude, that’s just Jane,” Aargren tilted his head. “Have you met Delaney-5?”

Premise fake-shuddered. “Whoever let that woman have a Gjallarhorn needs to be fired. I’m actually scared of her.”

You were promptly sent reeling, because that was 30th Anniversary content they were talking about, and it wasn’t even the Season of the Outlaw yet. Unless they were talking about a D1 Gjallarhorn? Did Guardians here actually get to keep some of the shit in their Vaults?

“Y/N, I dare you to jump in.” 

The shit-eating grin was evident on his face as he pulled off his helmet, and pointed to the lake. You shook your head. “Yeah, I’ll uh, I’ll pass.”

“Oh come on, it’s not that bad, Premise is just a little baby.”

“I am not, excuse you, I just don’t think jumping in the Vex cum is a good idea!”

L made a disgusted noise, and you cackled, doubling over. That was a joke here too, huh?

Aargren glanced at Premise, then at you, and you saw the idea dawn on him. 

“Don’t you fucking—”

He pushed you.

He fucking pushed you.

You knocked into Premise, both of you tumbling into the milky fluid. Your skin vibrated as the radiolaria made contact with it, and it was like you could hear the thoughts of the beings inside— confusion and intrigue and oh holy shit it wants to turn me into a Vex—

It wasn’t very deep, but you fell on top of Premise, landing face-first in the elbow-deep liquid. The fronts of your helmets cracked together, causing Cayde to snicker somewhere in the background and Aargren to howl with laughter.

He helped haul you both out, but not before Premise flicked a spark of Arc energy at him. He yelped and rubbed his backside. “Hey!”

“That’s what you fucking get! Get over here, I’m chucking you in next!”

They both shrieked as Premise chased Aargren around the field, and you just sighed, trying in vain to wipe the fluid from your armor. You were completely soaked through.

L materialized and transmatted your armor away, putting it back almost immediately after. And voila, completely clean.

“That is such a useful trick,” you noted.

“It really is,” he nodded.

You both watched as Premise jumped into a glide and slide-tackled Aargren to the ground. “I feel for Jane.”

“Mmhmm.”

-------

Cayde was sitting next to you.

Oh Light, he was sitting next to you.

The act itself wasn’t out of the ordinary. He’d sat next to you plenty of times before, but tonight, he practically had his arm around you. His leg kept brushing up against yours under the table whenever either of you shifted. The second you’d met up at the Mexican place Aargren suggested, he’d made a beeline towards you and hadn’t left your side all night.

It was oddly clingy, but you didn’t mind, you were just confused. From what you’d seen, it wasn’t like him.

“Maybe he’s still worried from what happened on the strike?” L suggested. You shrugged minutely, not enough to get the attention of anyone else at the table.

Jane had shown up with the fireteam she was filling in for; an absolutely hulking Sunbreaker who turned out to be the aforementioned Delaney-5, and a quiet Awoken Voidwalker with yellow-ish skin named Karjal Canj.

“What was Adelaide doing?” Aargren asked, taking a bite of his burrito.

“No idea,” Jane said. “Something about Crucible bounties.”

“She’s always doing Crucible,” Karjal huffed.

“She’s better than you,” Premise laughed, and the Warlock narrowed his eyes at the other.

“You’re certainly one to talk.” 

“Karjal, please, we’re eating, we shouldn’t bring up Prem’s awful track record at the dinner table,” Aargren grinned.

“Maaqas, Speaker as my witness, I will toss you back in that lake,” Premise waved his fork in his face from across the table.

“Why are we tossing Aargren in a lake?” Delaney questioned.

You immediately popped in with no small amount of exaggerated annoyance; “Aargren shoved me and Premise into a lake of Vex milk.”

The table erupted in boisterous laughter. “And Silvey got the whooooole thing on video,” Aargren added.

“As your direct superior, I’m ordering you to send me that footage,” Cayde exclaimed. You buried your face in your hands in embarrassment.

“I think the fuck not,” Premise burst out, “you assholes already make fun of me enough!”

“I won’t make fun of you, don’t worry,” you told him, shooting him a smile.

“Thank you, at least someone appreciates me around here,” he huffed.

“We appreciate you Prem,” Jane slapped him on the back.

“That we do!” Delaney burst in.

“Who are we appreciatin'?”

You turned at the hint of a Southern lilt to see a Hunter with blue and white armor approaching the table, transmatting her helmet away to shake out her short box braids.

“Premise— hey babe,” Aargren answered. He was on the end, and leaned into the aisle to kiss her on the cheek. She pulled a chair from an unoccupied table and sat next to him.

“And what have you been doing?” Cayde raised an eye ridge. “According to these people you’ve been slacking off to do Crucible.”

“No, I was flirtin’ with Shaxx because Jane never does,” Adelaide drawled, rolling her eyes goodnaturedly. Jane choked on her drink, and Karjal stifled a snort. “I just had bounties to finish before they expired. Because you people make it impossible to earn a lotta bright dust at once,” she pointed at Cayde.

He raised his hands in mock defense. “Hey, don’t look at me— Everis is the one who deals with that stuff. If it was up to me I’d just make everything available for glimmer, but Eververse is weird. You go there yet Y/N?”

“Uhh, not— not really.” Getting better fashion may have been on your list, but it had been pushed to the back burner ever since you’d written it down. Maybe you should get L a new shell or something, he certainly deserved it. Did silver even exist in this timeline?

“That’s where you get all the cool shit,” Premise said. “Eververse and Xûr, really. Where you think I got my helmet?”

“Xûr?” you had to ask, despite being surprised he was even mentioned at all.

“He’s one weird dude— calls himself an Agent of the Nine, whoever they are,” Jane shrugged. “Where the hell he gets all that armor and weaponry from I have no idea.”

“Why do you think we let ‘m in the Tower?” Cayde laughed. “I do not want to see what happens if he gets pissed at us.”

“Guy’s got enough Exotics to wipe us off the map he wanted to,” Karjal mumbled. 

“He would have to get past me first! You don’t have to worry, there is nothing our enemies could throw at us that we can’t defend against!” Delaney declared, raising a confident fist. 

“I’ll drink to that,” Jane concurred, chuckling, holding out her cup. Delaney grabbed hers and knocked against it, prompting everyone to pick up their own and join in. 

Your heart swelled at the companionship. When you’d first gotten to this dimension, you hadn’t expected to be welcomed like this; at least, you hadn’t expected it to be so enthusiastic. Fireteam Emerald had practically adopted you, and the other inhabitants of the Tower were so friendly, it was hard to imagine what your life would have been like without them. You were so much more grateful for them than you could ever put into words. 

It wasn’t just you and L against the world. You had friends, and if you ever told them about your origins, you had no doubt they’d be the first to volunteer to help. 

Cayde’s shoulder bumped against yours as he leaned in to knock his glass against the others’, snapping your attention back to the present. He glanced over to you, orange lights in his throat lighting briefly with an exclamation, crystal blue optics shining. You could admit it— you stared a little.

What you didn’t catch was Premise and Jane glancing at you, then each other— and the grins that broke out on their faces. 

Chapter Text

When the night finally came to an end, you managed to summon enough courage to take Cayde aside at the front of the restaurant as everyone was leaving. It was easier than expected, because he still wouldn’t let you out of his sight, but you found yourself fumbling over your words. 

“So um— you know a couple of days ago, you said— you know— uhhhh— plants?”

He blinked at you, and you wanted to smash your head into the nearest wall. Then he beamed, eyes lighting in recognition. “Ohhh yeah! You said I should get a houseplant.”

“Yeah, well— I was at the store the other day—…”

You pulled the pot out of transmat before you could embarrass yourself further. 

“You got me one?”

“I— uh— these things are super easy to take care of, only need to be watered like once a week— sometimes less depending on the season—“ 

He cut you off by lightly grabbing it from your hands, fingertips brushing against each other. Even though you were both wearing gloves, you nearly had a heart attack in response. L snickered in your head. 

“You’re gonna have to tell me all those instructions again,” he grinned. “I really don’t wanna kill this thing.”

“Oh— snake plants are pretty hard to kill,” you quickly said, rather than try and decipher the meaning of that last sentence. “You’d have to like, actively try and kill it.”

“Oh trust me, I’d probably find a way. Hey, you should come over and help me get this thing set up— I don’t know if I have a good place for it.”

Your mind shut down.

“Say yes, say yes!” L urged. 

“Uh— I mean, it’s getting late…”

“Just say yes!”

“Hey, no worries— you can pass out at my place if you don’t make it back. Got a spare room, not that it ever gets used.”

“He wants you to come over, his Ghost just sent me his address,” L kept saying in your head. You had to fight to keep your expression even vaguely neutral.

“I um— I guess, sure…?”

“Perfect! You got that transmat ‘Dance?”

“Wait, what—?”

He held the plant pot in one hand and grabbed your shoulder with the other, the now-familiar tingling of transmat flooding your senses.

Wait, why did he give me his address if he was just going to—

-------

Premise watched as the Hunter and Titan were transported, plates twisting into the biggest smile they would allow.

He turned— the clan behind him had stopped their conversations to watch the exchange, but the second they disappeared, the entire group broke out in excited chatter.

“Holy shit, the plan worked?!” Aargren’s jaw dropped.

“I knew it would!” Premise answered. “And you doubted me!”

“Did you see how she was looking at him in there? She’s screwed, I’m telling you,” Jane noted.

“Wait, what plan?” Adelaide glanced between them. “You didn’t plan for her to die, did you?”

“Light no,” Premise exclaimed. “That was an accident. The plan was to have Jane and you guys distract Zavala long enough for Cayde to needa take over running the mission so he could see her in action,” he smirked with a note of classic Warlock pride. “Those two are head over heels for each other but they’re both too stupid to realize it.”

Delaney gave a hearty laugh while Karjal rolled his eyes, holding up the Ophidian Aspects on his hands. “The day Cayde-6 ties himself down to one person is the day I eat my gauntlets.”

“Then get ready to smelt those things, Canj!” Premise cheered, throwing his hands in the air. 

“Dude, she got him a plant, that’s so cute.”

“I didn’t even know Cayde had a house. I thought he slept in the hangar.”

“Shut up Aargren.”

“Hey!”

“Okay, okay, no one say anything about it when we see them next, I am not having any of you ruin her chances, not before she and I have a good ol’ girly talk tomorrow.”

“Jane, you can’t even ask Shaxx out, you know he would say yes—”

“Addy!”

-------

You stumbled a little as you landed in what looked to be a front entryway. Cayde was already kicking his boots off and rounding the corner to a kitchen— still small by 21st century suburban standards, but at least double the size of your own. There was even an island, which he set the snake plant on.

You barely got halfway through the thought you were forming before L got your meaning and transmatted your own boots away, taking your chestplate and gloves with it. 

“‘Kay, what window should I stick this thing in?”

It took you a moment to respond; you were too busy glancing around the space. It was a little sparse, but if you looked, you could see signs of habitancy— a throw blanket and single pillow on the couch, spare gun parts piled by the sink, a picture of Cayde with Guardians you didn’t immediately recognize hanging slightly crooked by the door.

The place was decently bigger than your own— enough so for a set of stairs that led to a small, exposed upper platform with a railing, transitioning into a wall you couldn’t see past from your angle— he had a loft? You were so jealous. 

“Uhhhh, anything with indirect sunlight for most of the day,” you told him, tugging awkwardly at one of your sleeves as you brought your attention back down. Other than your armored legs and your mark, you were in just the tight jumpsuit you wore under everything else. You pointed to the small cutout above the sink. “That window should be fine, what— what direction is that facing?”

L compiled and helpfully told you, “That’s west, it should work.”

“Thanks li’l guy,” Cayde gave a thumb’s up.

“Why does everyone call me little?” L grumbled.

“It’s a term of endearment,” you chuckled. “And I mean, you are.”

Another Ghost appeared next to Cayde— Sundance, you realized.

“Oh! You two never officially met— Y/N, L, this is Sundance— Sundance, Y/N, L.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” she chirped cheerfully.

“You too,” you smiled. 

She scanned the snake plant and seemed to nod. “That’s a nice one, where’d you get it?”

“The Tower store, I… don’t actually know what it’s called,” you admitted, bashful. 

“I don’t even think it has a name,” Cayde shrugged. 

“Huh.”

“So, what was that about watering again?”

“Oh, just— run it under the sink once every week or so, let it drain so it’s not sitting in water. These things are stupid easy,” you told him, motioning to the pot on the table. 

“I’ll take your word for it. Full disclosure, if it dies, I’m blaming you,” he pointed, grabbing it and setting it up on the aforementioned ledge.

You chuckled, “If that thing manages to die, I’m getting a refund for a defective product.” Cayde snorted, turning the pot slightly, then turning it back, seemingly satisfied with the positioning. 

You glanced to the rest of the apartment again, unable to stop yourself from asking; “So where are we anyway?”

“One of the fancy neighborhoods,” he said, throwing out jazz hands to emphasize the word. “Ikora got me set up here when I first became Vanguard, and it’s not like I’m one to turn down cheap rent, but I’m not even here that much.”

“He crashes on the couch half the time because he can’t make it to his bed,” Sundance drawled, and he swiped at her playfully, her dodging effortlessly.

“Hey! I do not!”

“You did yesterday, and two days before that, and last week—”

“Alright alright, we get it!”

You giggled at their antics, even while a strand of concern wrapped around your heart. You knew the Vanguard were probably overworked—even more so after Forsaken back in your world—but suddenly the blanket and rumpled pillow on the sofa made more sense. 

“Well hey, make sure you actually make it to your bed tonight, yeah?”

He groaned dramatically. “But… stairs.”

“Couldn’t you just, transmat?”

“But that takes effort.”

You shook your head with a smile. “It’s worth it dude, better than the couch anyway.”

“See? I told you,” Sundance turned to her Guardian.

He groaned again, flopping onto the island.  “Uuuugggghhh, you people are ganging up on me now?”

“It’s for your own good, I promise,” you laughed. 

“Ugh, what time is it anyway?”

“12:38 AM,” L chimed in. 

“Yikes,” you grimaced. Considering you were getting up before the sun most days, that time truly was depressing.

“Don’t you have more strikes in the morning? Zavala said somethin’ ‘bout you and Jane heading back to Nessus.”

“Oh, yeah, we do.” After all the excitement on the mission earlier (terror, more like), you’d completely forgotten about it. You and Jane were going to scout out some Cabal that had just made their presence known, not that Cabal were particularly known for their discretion. 

“Hey, I meant it earlier, you can just crash here, y’ don’t have to go all the way back to the Tower,” he said. “Bathroom’s through there, spare room’s there, mine’s upstairs obviously, make yourself at home!”

L had disappeared halfway through, shifting in your Light. “He wants you to stay, don’t you dare say no!”

You blinked at the offering, brain taking multiple more seconds to form an intelligent response.

“Uhhhh, sure, that’s— that’s good.”

Cayde grinned at you, entire face lighting up, and—

Oh.

Oh.

Oh dear.

…

You were in trouble.

L felt the sudden realization, and laughed, that bastard, while Cayde made very exaggerated steps towards the stairs and then up them, Sundance following.

“This is me, walking up the stairs, to go sleep in my very comfortable and also very inconvenient bed,” he called down to you, and you threw up a rude gesture in jest at his mocking.

“You realize you could just, move your bedroom downstairs, right?”

“You’re being too smart and I’m too tired to hear you, ‘niiiiight Y/N!”

“‘Night, Cayde,” you smirked, watching as he disappeared into the doorway.

You were left alone on the main floor, staring at the plant on the shelf, emotions in significantly more turmoil than they had been earlier.

The feeling seemed to stack with the exhaustion you were just starting to feel, causing you to slump in place. 

Okay, nope, no more thinking tonight. You were done.

You dismissed the rest of your armor while trudging into the guest room, finding a plain bed in one corner with a dresser opposite. You’d stopped at your own apartment to rinse off before going to the restaurant, so you weren’t worried about dirtying his sheets as you climbed under the covers. 

L wordlessly swapped out your jumpsuit for a loose t-shirt and shorts, and you managed to send back your thanks before drifting off, fatigue overriding any hangups you might have had about falling asleep in an unfamiliar space, let alone his space of all places.

-------

Cayde awoke at some ungodly hour in the morning to the familiar feeling of a Ghost bumping against his chest. Usually that meant it was time to get up, and he swatted at the shape for a moment before he realized it wasn’t Sundance who’d woken him.

“L?”

“I’m sorry, but she’s not waking up when I try, it seems really bad this time—”

“Woah woah, slow down li’l guy, what’s goin’ on?”

He didn’t get a chance to answer, because his audials picked up a sob from somewhere below him. 

“She’s having a nightmare,” L hastily explained, electronic voice tight with distress. “Usually she wakes up on her own but she’s not this time, I tried waking her up but it didn’t work and I don’t want to scare her—...”

Cayde barely had the presence of mind to pull on a shirt before leaving the room, jumping most of the way down the stairs and into the guest room.

Y/N was thrashing about under the blankets, and the sight made his chest clench weird. He kneeled on the floor next to her, gingerly grabbing her shoulder.

“Y/N, it’s just a dream, you’re alright,” he said softly, then again louder when she didn’t respond.

“No… no… please…” she cried, twisting out of his grip.

L hovered over her, nervous energy palpable.  “Y/N…”

Cayde moved to touch her again, and the second his hand made contact, she shot straight up, nearly tumbling off the bed. 

“Woah, hey, it’s okay, it’s just me.”

“F-uck, I died, they sh-ot me and I died—”

He heard her voice breaking and before he could stop himself, he hopped up on the mattress with her, pulling her to his chest.

“Shhh, it’s okay sweetheart, you’re alive now.”

She trembled in his arms, small sobs wracking her body. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d done the whole comforting thing, but it looked like some part of him remembered, because as she curled in on herself, he kept on whispering to her, words of assurance he hadn’t uttered to anyone but himself in years.

She suddenly pulled away, wiping her face with her arm. L flew close and her fingertips brushed him for a moment before she turned away.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I—”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, yeah? It’s all good, you’re good.”

She crossed her arms protectively in front of her chest, face red from both crying and embarrassment. “Still, sorry if I woke you up…”

“Oh, L did that.”

Her gaze whipped to her Ghost, and his fins twitched. “You wouldn’t wake up, and I was just worried…”

Whatever annoyance she may have directed towards him died the second it appeared, and she slumped down. 

“I… I guess. Thanks, Cayde.” Her voice was little more than a breath, and he had to strain to hear her.

“Hey, it’s all good, don’t need to worry ‘bout it one bit,” he raised his hands. “Happens to the best of us.”

“I know, I just— it was my first death, I’m probably gonna die a ton more, I just don’t—... it didn’t really… sink in, ‘til now, y’know?”

“Yeah. It’s kinda fucked up to think about.”

She huffed, voice still watery. “Yeah.”

They sat in silence for a long moment, Cayde shifting in place awkwardly. For once, he didn’t know what to say. 

Thank the Traveler for Sundance, little angel she was, appearing from somewhere and gently bonking against the side of L’s shell. “You two should get back to bed, you’re both up early in the morning.”

“Right— right, yeah,” Y/N nodded, a little too quickly. Cayde mirrored her and slid off the bed.

“Uh, you good? With—” he motioned vaguely, “—everything?”

It was only his Hunter senses that let him catch the hesitation in her pose before she spoke. “Yeah, I, um, should be good. Thanks. Again. That was… kind of lame.”

“What? No, no, you’re alright, you’re not lame, nothin’ to be self-conscious about,” he guaranteed. Her lips twitched slightly, and she just ducked her head. “Well then, I’ll— I’ll leave you be. ‘Night. Again.”

“... Goodnight.”

Walking out of the room was significantly harder than entering it had been. He almost wanted to stay, to make completely sure she was fine, but if she didn’t want him in there, far be it from him to do anything to make her uncomfortable. He was probably already pushing it as it was, suggesting she sleep over. A part of him was still appalled he’d even asked the question, when the other part was insisting he was just being polite. He’d had people sleep over before, though not often— even Ikora one time when they’d had too much to drink and Zavala was off being the responsible one. It had been a good few years since that guest room had been last used however, and he couldn’t think of anyone better he’d want using it.

He knew it was a stretch. The apartment building was barely five miles from the Tower, and the Mexican place they’d been at even less. An infinitesimal distance for transmatting. But for reasons he didn’t fully understand, he wanted her close tonight. Her dying on the strike had left him more shaken than he was willing to admit, even if everything turned out fine in the end. 

He knew he was being overprotective; Y/N was a capable Guardian in her own right, and there was no way anyone in Emerald would let anything happen to her, but some long-buried instinct to protect had flared. 

He snorted to himself as he climbed back into bed, audials still trained on the room below. I’ve been hangin’ around too many Titans.

The feeling was just for her though. He wanted her to be safe. He knew he couldn’t follow her into the field, and he knew she could handle most of what the universe threw at her, but he still wanted to be there.

If only to safeguard her from nightmares. 

His thoughts spiraled similarly until sleep dragged him under once more.

Why am I so attached to her?

Chapter Text

You were absolutely fucking mortified.

Cayde hugged you. You had cried in his arms and he hugged you.

Of all the times to freak out like that…

And he’d called you “sweetheart.” You hadn’t been too distressed not to notice that. 

You waited at least ten seconds after he closed the door behind him to fall face-first into your pillow. “Please tell me that did not just happen.”

“No, that, um, that happened. I’m sorry Y/N, I didn’t think…”

“It’s fine L,” you mumbled into the cushion. “Thanks for uh, getting him, actually… I just—... fuck. That’s embarrassing as all hell.”

You couldn’t get the feeling of his arms around you out of your head. You’d never actually seen him in anything other than his Hunter armor before, and if you hadn’t been actively panicking when he’d been there, you would have been staring at the blue metal and silicone of his hands. You would have been gaping at the fact that he was in sweatpants and not leather.

And you’d broken down in his embrace, and he hadn’t judged you for it. He’d comforted you, something you weren’t really expecting from the cocky, trigger-happy Vanguard. 

And fuck, you wished you’d told him that he didn’t have to leave.

But you hadn’t, and then he did, and you weren’t about to bother him any more tonight. He’d already done way more for you than you could ever ask of him.

You rolled onto your back, pulling the covers back over you. L silently dove under them with you and settled in the crook of your neck. One hand went to rest against his shell, and feeling-more-than-hearing his faint internal workings whirr together was soothing. 

Despite feeling relatively calm now, your mind was still swirling. You couldn’t stop thinking about the way he’d held you, strong yet gentle, under no obligation to do so, and yet choosing to. You couldn’t even remember what the nightmare had been about anymore, not when this overrode it so completely. 

It was a while before you managed to fall back asleep.

-------

Shooting from Sparrows was so fun, but borderline impossible, at least for you. You just straight up couldn’t do it in the game, and in real life, it took nearly all your concentration not to fall off. You didn’t have a sidearm or hand cannon (any good ones, rather), and firing a rifle with one hand was a lot harder than it seemed, especially when you had to steer at the same time. 

Jane, of course, made it look easy; something you blamed on the fact that she was probably stronger than you in literally every way. Better armor, better guns, probably just stronger arms honestly, as well as, y’know, however many years of experience she had on you. You were technically only a couple months old. 

You’d just taken out your third detachment of Cabal scouts on Nessus (and a couple stray Vex) when Jane hopped off her Sparrow. “Hey, wait up a second.”

“Hm?”

She just waved, and you jumped off as well, a little confused. “Lunchtime!”

She pulled two wrapped sandwiches out from transmat, handing one to you and taking a seat next to her parked Sparrow. You’d stopped behind a large stone outcropping, decently covered, so you didn’t have to worry about being sniped as you mimicked her. Your pauldrons banged a little awkwardly against your own Sparrow.

“Oh, thanks.”

“Everyone I do strikes with always forgets to bring lunch. It’s like you don’t remember food exists when you’re on missions.”

You blushed as you transmatted your helmet away. “I do not.”

“Oh you totally do,” she laughed, her own helm disappearing. “You’re almost as bad as Karjal, that man would never eat if Delaney didn’t make him food.”

You hummed, unwrapping the sandwich you’d been handed and taking a bite.

“Oh wow, these are great.”

“Right? I got a deal with a shop— I only buy their sandwiches, which I do a lot, and they give me a discount.”

“Does that mean they’re sponsoring you?”

“I— huh, I guess it does.”

You snorted. “You should put their logo on your armor.”

“That would be hilarious, I absolutely should. A custom Titan mark or something, with their whole menu across the thing in super tiny text.”

You both chuckled, taking more bites of your respective meals. It was a moment before Jane spoke again.

“So you and Cayde, huh?”

You promptly choked on your food, coughing a little, banging the front of your chestplate. “I— ugh— what?”

“Damn Y/N, you good? I’m just asking,” she raised her hands, grinning suggestively.

“W-what about Cayde and me?”

“I mean, everyone saw you two leave together last night,” she gave you a pointed look.

“I mean— that was— I gave him a plant, he didn’t know where to put it, he asked for my help, it’s not like—...”

“Did you make it home last night?”

You blushed even more furiously than before. “I— uh, no, he has a spare bedroom, I just crashed there… it’s not like we, hooked up or—or anything! No!”

She shrugged. “Okay, fair enough. Why’d he want you to sleep over though? It’s not like you couldn’t just transmat home, you transmatted to his house.”

You fidgeted slightly— the thought hadn’t actually crossed your mind. “I… I don’t know. I was so tired, I didn’t question it.”

“I mean, did you want to sleep over?”

You blinked at her, trying to sort through your confused feelings as she asked about them. “I—... suppose? It was more like I didn’t even try to go home, I guess.”

Jane’s brow furrowed. “Hm, that’s super odd. I’m not pretending to know a ton about the guy, Aargren and Adelaide know him better than I do, but from what I know, he doesn’t invite people over often.”

“Huh.” You hadn’t known that. 

Devon suddenly materialized, startling you a little. “He might have been worried cuz Y/N died. His Ghost just sent me a request for an update on how the mission’s going.”

“Really?” Jane started, and you probably had a similar look on your face. 

“Why would—...”

“Y/N, he totally likes you.”

“What?!”

“I mean think about it! Dude invites you to his house, you sleep there, he was all over you last night, don’t think I didn’t notice that.”

“He’s probably just— worried,” you waved your arms. “We’re friends, and like— that was the first time I’ve died, I’m sure he was just… I doubt he’s…”

“Okay, fair enough, but still, there is no way all that last night was completely platonic,” she pointed her sandwich at you. “You should totally ask him out.”

“Wha— no, nuh uh, no way,” you shook your head. If you weren’t blushing before you certainly were now. “I’m sure he’s— he’s got a lot of stuff going on, I’m not gonna—...”

The words died in your mouth, and you took a dramatic bite of your sandwich, pouting. Jane chuckled at the action and shrugged. “I’m just saying. Can’t hurt to ask.”

“Says you, what was all that about Shaxx last night?”

Jane flushed a violent shade of red. “H— hey, that is not fair, we’re talking about you here.”

“I’ll make you a deal— you ask out Shaxx and I ask out Cayde.”

She opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out.

“... You fucking cheater.”

Devon and L started cracking up, and you joined them, trying not to choke again. Jane just stuck her tongue out at you.

-------

According to your estimations, you had about a month now until Petra contacted Cayde. You were starting to get worried.

You hid it well, at least you hoped you did— it was both easier and harder than you’d expected it to be. Sometimes you looked at Cayde and could only imagine what it would be like seeing him full of bullet holes.

There wasn’t a lot of preparation you could do for the event itself, but L had been monitoring all his incoming messages as well as he could without getting found out. It had only occurred to you a couple weeks ago that technically, since you weren’t the Young Wolf in this universe, Cayde would bring along Premise instead of you, if everything went according to how you knew it. You’d have to find a way to get onto that mission instead of him, but without knowing exactly how and when Petra was going to contact him, it left your options severely limited. 

L did his best to encourage you, and a lot of the time it worked. Sometimes it felt like you could actually do it, you could change things. But other times, you were so gripped by anxiety it was all you could do not to break down entirely. You were still so new to all this. What could you do, really? How did you know you could even change destiny in the first place?

It was terrifying, that unknown, and you did your best to ignore it, going on strikes with Emerald and Flux and hanging out with Cayde in between and trying not to think about the potential impending disaster hanging over your heads.

Please, Traveler, if you’re even listening, please don’t let me fail.

Chapter Text

"Uhhh, I don't know about this Cayde..."

"You'll be fiiiiiine, nothin' to be nervous about! It's not like they don't know you."

"I know, but card games aren't exactly my specialty," you continued, face tight with apprehension as Cayde led you down to the hangar. Apparently it was a regular thing, the game night he and Amanda had set up, but you'd always been busy either with work or with worrying your ass off about the future. 

“Don’t worry, you’ll pick it up quick,” he assured, face lighting up when he caught sight of Amanda as you descended the final flight of stairs. “Hey! Everyone here yet?”

“Just about,” the shipwright called back.

You spotted both Emerald and Flux, as well as a couple other Guardians of varying classes and some hangar techs in matching jumpsuits. They were all settled in a loose circle around a makeshift table someone had set up, a large sheet of plywood over two sawhorses. There were multiple packs of cards sitting on top, as well as piles of poker chips and glimmer, a couple guns, and a massive sword.

“What’s… all that?” you asked, a little apprehensive.

“Today’s bets, looks like,” Cayde explained.

“Wait— was I supposed to bring—”

“No, you’re fine,” he quickly interrupted. “This is your first time, I’m covering you, don’t you worry your little head about it.” 

You flushed at the sudden endearment, but Cayde didn’t even slow down. “How’s it hangin’, Holliday?”

“Pretty well,” she answered. “About to be even better when I beat the pants off ya in a minute.”

“Ooh, confidence! I like it! You’ll be eating those words soon enough!”

“The thirteen hundred glimmer I won off ya last time begs to differ,” she raised an eyebrow, smirking in certainty.

“You just got lucky,” Cayde insisted. “You’re going down this time.”

“Uhhhh, what are we doing, exactly?” you had to ask. 

“Poker,” Jane answered, another pile of chips materializing in front of her spot at the table. “And maybe some blackjack if I can convince them.”

“No, absolutely not,” Premise exclaimed, throwing out his hands in warning. “Last time we did that she cleaned out everyone, I am not doing that again.”

“It’s not my fault you guys don’t know how to count,” she huffed, crossing her arms. 

“Do I look like the type of person who knows how to count?”

“You spent an entire month doing nothing but research our past lives and you don’t know how to count to twenty-one?”

“Obviously my badassery stops at basic math,” Premise shrugged. 

“Anyway,” Amanda tried to get them back on track, “siddown, I wanna get started. Tyfe, grab the Colonel will you?”

A Titan you didn’t know bounded over to where Cayde usually stood, disappearing behind a wall for a moment, and when he came back, he was holding a familiar fluffy hen in his arms. 

“Holy shit, she’s adorable,” you exclaimed.

“I know right?” Cayde replied, scooping the chicken out of the Titan’s arms and depositing her in the middle of the table. “Alright girl, you know what to do!”

“Uhhh, what’s she doing?” you asked.

“Choosing the banker,” Premise explained, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“... I see.”

Everyone stilled, watching as the Colonel stood where she’d been placed for a moment. She clucked, cooing a little, and nonchalantly strutted over to a pile of glimmer on the opposite side of the table.

“Well shit,” Aargren sighed.

Adelaide cackled. “Pay up!”

“Did you… take bets on who was going to be the next banker?” Karjal asked incredulously.

“Maybe,” Adelaide gave a cheeky smile, catching the cube of glimmer Aargren tossed her way out of his pile. “I said it was gonna be a Hunter, he thought it was gonna be anyone else.”

“The odds were better!” Aargren protested.

“Cayde, your Hunters are out of control,” A Warlock on the opposite end of the table called.

“I know, right?” Cayde wiped a fake tear from his optic and sniffled dramatically. “I'm so proud.”

Aargren rolled his glowing purple eyes as he slid the packs of cards over to himself, splitting and then shuffling them together with an experienced hand. The Colonel settled down in the middle of the table, content to sit there amongst the clamor of people arranging their chips.

A handful materialized in front of your spot, and you glanced at Cayde;

“Said I’m covering you,” he grinned at you. “Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it in no time.”

“Watch her kick all our asses,” the Titan named Tyfe chuckled.

“I don’t know about that,” you smiled nervously. “I’m not really a card game person. The extent of my knowledge is like, Uno.”

“What’s Uno?” Premise tilted his head as he slid a single chip into the middle of the table. Everyone copied him, including yourself— it ended up forming a ring around the now-snoozing Colonel. “Never heard of it.”

“Wait, you’ve never— really? It’s Uno,” you exclaimed, bewildered. “No one?” All you got back were shaking heads. “Really? Huh.”

Of all the things you had expected to be lost during the Collapse, Uno had not been one of them. Though you guessed if things like pineapple and the existence of Antarctica were considered a myth in the Last City, it wasn’t too far a stretch.

“How do you play?” Delaney questioned, leaning forward in curiosity as Aargren tossed out everyone’s first two cards. Literally tossed, probably using some fancy Hunter trick, though he somehow managed to keep them all face-down.

“Well, you need a, uh— a special deck,” you tried to explain. “I could—... hm. Ask me again next time, I have an idea.”

“Do we have access to a printer?” you mentally asked L.

“Yep, and 3D printing, I can synthesize it with glimmer,” he helpfully informed.

“I’ll hold you to that!” Premise pointed across the table. “Now you’ve got me interested! How come I’ve never heard of it before?”

“Oh, it’s— a pre-Golden Age game I read about,” you covered quickly, trying to deflect. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to like, make a deck, but I guess we’ll see.”

“If you do you totally have to bring it,” he continued, peeking at his cards absently. “Gets kinda bland just playing poker every time.”

“Blackjack, c’mon,” Jane jumped in, and at least half the people at the table protested, loud enough to make the Colonel cluck in annoyance at the disturbance.

“Looks like you’ve been outvoted,” Amanda shrugged humorously. Jane just stuck her tongue out at her and Premise.

“You ever heard of Spoons?” you had to ask.

“Now I know you’re fucking with us,” the Warlock from earlier said. “Where do you read these things?”

“Seriously? Does no one know what Spoons is?”

More negatives. You groaned to yourself, finally taking a look at the cards in your hand— a 4 of Hearts and an Ace of Hearts.

You blinked, not knowing if that was good or not. You leaned closer to Cayde, careful to keep your eyes front. “Uhhh, now what?”

“Betting round, you can either fold if your cards are bad or check if you want to stay in. Or raise, if you’re really confident,”  he whispered back.

“I’m… going to pretend I understood that.”

“Check,” Karjal said from directly to Aargren’s left.

“Check,” Tyfe also said, from the left of him.

It continued that way until it reached Cayde, who smirked and slid another chip into the middle. “Raise.”

You blinked. It was your turn, and you had no idea if you also had to raise now since Cayde had or if you could just check or what—

“Uhh, raise?” you fumbled a little, copying Cayde and sliding another chip in. Your cards were the same suit, that was good, right?

“That'd be a call, but you got the right idea,” he swiftly explained, and you blushed a little as everyone after you followed your example. The pile in the middle was getting decently big now, and you hadn’t even gotten to the glimmer or the weapons.

“What’s the difference between a check and a call?”

Cayde didn’t get the chance to explain, because Aargren laid out three cards face-up on the table— a 2 of Hearts, a 10 of Spades, and a King of Hearts.

That was a lot of Hearts— you glanced down to your hand, then back to the table, being sure to keep your face blank. This was probably a situation where a poker-face was beneficial.

Everyone went around the table again; checking, folding, or raising again (in Cayde’s case). He raised an eye ridge at you, and you just blinked innocently back. 

“Careful Cayde,” Amanda chastised playfully, “I think there’s somethin’ goin’ on there,” she motioned in your direction.

“Hey, don’t harass the newbie!” Aargren exclaimed.

“Sorry, sorry,” she chuckled.

Once everyone had bet, Aargren placed another card down next to the first three— a 9 of Clubs. You gulped and hoped no one noticed. If you understood the game right, you needed the next card to be a Heart, otherwise you were screwed.

The entire table bet again, and this time, no one raised. 

Aargren placed the last card down— a 9 of Hearts. You breathed a sigh of relief. 

“You have a flush!” L cried victoriously in your head. You suppressed a smile.

Apparently you bet one last time, and you couldn’t resist— you added another chip to the pile, which drew suspicious looks and a couple “ooooh”’s from your companions.

Aargren motioned, and Karjal was the first to show his hand, still moving clockwise. Then Tyfe next to him, and so on and so forth, until the entire table’s cards were face-up.

“I think Y/N just won,” Adelaide leaned over your cards from a couple seats down.

“Wait, I have a flush too!” a hangar tech called.

“Yeah but her’s is higher, she has an Ace.”

Cayde glanced at your cards as well, leaning so close his shoulder bumped yours— and burst into laughter, causing everyone else to as well, and you flushed even harder at the noise. You glanced at his cards— he only had three of a kind with Clubs.

“Oh come on!”

“Beginner’s luck!”

“That is just cruel!”

“Uhhhh, sorry?” you offered, shrugging.

Cayde kept laughing and shook his head. “You earned that fair and square, go on!”

Karjal on the opposite side of the table helped push the chips around the Colonel and further towards you, and you piled them in front of you. 

The group handed their cards back to Aargren for reshuffling without prompting as you meticulously stacked your chips in piles of five to avoid looking at anyone, awkwardness still hunching your shoulders.

“That was smooth darlin’,” Cayde leaned over and whispered, and you blushed all over again.

“Like they said, beginner’s luck,” you managed to get out. “I still have no idea what I’m doing.”

“Oh, we’ll make a master out of you yet,” he insisted, wry smile on his faceplates.

“Cayde, you can’t even beat me—”

“Okay, Amanda—”

Now it was your turn to laugh, your lingering anxiety fading. You felt L flutter in contentment in your Light, and the sensation caused a grin to spread on your face.

“So, what kind of graphic design software can I get for free?”

Chapter Text

The entire week leading up to Forsaken, you were completely paralyzed by anxiety. It was actually hard for you to leave the house. You’d gotten a quarter of the way through planning how to make an Uno deck before the date was upon you, and all motivation for the project promptly evaporated. Premise had come over because he hadn’t heard from you in a couple days, and you did your best to reassure him, but failed almost instantly. Which was how he managed to drag you all the way over to the hangar to see Cayde, because you were too nice to say no, even though the second you laid eyes on the Hunter you wanted to throw up from the stress of it all. 

But then, as you and Premise sat cross-legged next to him as he did whatever it was he did all day, just keeping him company, the tornado in your head turned into something more muted. If you were right next to him, you’d be there when he got the call. You could get on the mission. You just needed to get on the mission.

And so began a week of waking up at the crack of dawn, and going down to the hangar before Cayde even got there in the morning. The first day, he’d just quirked an eye ridge in intrigue but didn’t mention it. The second day was similar. The third day, he pulled you up to the scaffolding above for some privacy.

“Hey, you doin’ okay? I know you miss me an’ everything,” he chuckled, slapping the side of your shoulder slightly, “but don’t you have missions?”

“No, no, it’s been— quiet, lately.” L had actually tweaked your status to show ‘already assigned’ in the Vanguard network, so you didn’t show up on the list of available Guardians Zavala pulled from, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Funny, ‘cause Sundance tells me your signal hasn’t changed in days, and it says you’re on a strike, yet, here you are.” 

Well, shit. His tone was less accusing, more a statement of fact, but it made you cringe internally anyway.

“He’s monitoring your status updates?” L mentally questioned. 

“I… guess,” you sent back.

“... Huh, really? Must be a bug.”

Wow, great recovery.

“... Yeah. A bug. Seriously sweetheart, somethin’ bothering you, you can tell me. I know I’m not your Vanguard or anything, but contrary to popular belief, I do have good advice sometimes.”

It took you a moment to recover from that nickname— even with this looming over you he managed to make your chest bloom with warmth.

And you almost did it, too. You almost told him. Your mouth opened to say it, that he was going to die sometime in the very near future if you couldn’t stop it. 

But you didn’t. It took monumental effort, and quite literally biting your own tongue, but you didn’t say it.

What happened to not being able to talk about it? I think I liked that better.

“It’s fine, it’s…” It’s not fine. “I’m just a little— stressed, I guess.” If I can’t save you I don’t know what I’ll do. ”Guess I’m not as well-adjusted to all this as I thought I was.” I need you to live. “Probably shouldn’t be out in the field right now.” If I have to watch you die again…

Cayde’s expression softened, as much as something like that could when your face was made of metal. “Better have L switch up your status every once in a while then, Zavala catches you doing that and you’ll be sweeping gravel off the landing pad for the next month.”

You managed a smile. “Yeah, I’ll… do that.”

“There’s my favorite Titan,” he grinned, slapping another hand on your shoulder briefly. The sheer emotion that welled up in your chest from such simple words—and such a simple motion—had you fighting for your composure. You wished you had your helmet on.

“I thought Jane was your favorite Titan,” you joked to cover it.

“Oh she’s up there,” he laughed. “But nah, you’re cool.”

“Then you’re my favorite Vanguard.”

“What, I’m not your favorite Hunter?” 

You pretended to consider it. “I don’t knooow, Aargren’s pretty cool…”

Cayde gasped dramatically. “You would choose him over me? This is slander! Treason! Defamation! All those fancy words!”

“Maybe if I saw you in action I’d be convinced,” you smirked, shrugging. 

“Premise asked you for a 1v1 at some point, didn’t he? I’m sure Shaxx could set something up, and then the winner can fight me, and I’ll show you why I should be your favorite.”

“Woooaaah, hey,” you raised your hands, “that’s pretty drastic, huh?”

“This calls for drastic measures! I gotta be your favorite, obviously, it’s only fair since you’re mine!”

Your cheeks flared, is he flirting with me or just being nice?!

“I mean, I do need to do that match with Premise… he bought me the rifle, I should pay him back.” Even if Crucible made you nervous, you could hopefully do that much, if only to repay him if he wouldn’t take your Legendary Shards.

“You haven’t done Crucible yet, have you?”

“Uh, no,” you admitted. 

“Don’t worry about it, it’s a lot more fun than normal missions,” Cayde assured. “Adelaide can probably help you if you need it, I think she does more Crucible matches than strikes,” he huffed.

“Heh, yeah, I’ll have to— figure something out,” you agreed. 

“Oh hey, can you help me with something? Ikora’s Hidden keep sending me reports and I can’t make heads or tails of it— how much do you know about the Hive?”

He pulled a tablet from somewhere and scrolled through page after page of intel, leading you back down the scaffolding. And you looked at it all, helped him decipher their legalese way of writing—

And kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.

-------

It never happened.

Petra never called him. 

You waited an extra week just to be sure, then one more, and then all of a sudden it had been another month. Nothing. Cayde was still at the Tower, he was still alive.

Petra had never called him.

“What the f… why… this doesn’t make any sense,” you ran your hands through your hair, half-collapsed on your couch. “Are you absolutely sure she never called him?”

“Mostly,” L answered. “It’s possible that I missed it. But I doubt I did, because we or Premise would have heard about it. And even if he didn’t bring anyone else along, he still would have left, wouldn’t he?”

“Yeah, I don’t— it doesn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t Petra have called him?”

“There haven’t been any reports of a breakout at the Prison of Elders either,” L added. “Everything seems normal over there.”

“Did it just… not happen? Why? It should’ve… there’s no reason why it… did I get the timelines wrong?”

You couldn’t have— even if you didn’t know the exact dates between Warmind and Forsaken, it had been five months. There had only been four between those campaigns back in your world. 

What the fuck was happening?

“... What do we do now?”

“I can keep monitoring all communications,” L said. “That might be the only thing we can do. Are you ever… going to tell anyone about… you know?”

You sighed, running a hand down your face. “I don’t know. I want to, but like— I don’t know if telling anyone’s gonna change anything, even more than it already changed. Something already fucked it up, I don’t wanna fuck it up even more. I— I need to know what happens ahead of time.”

“So, do we just… wait?”

You glanced at the piece of paper in your hand, the one that had been in your pocket for months now.

- figure out timeline shit

- do more research on the theories L mentioned

- get better armor

- get better fashion current armor is Not It

- tell cayde

You crossed out the first one. The timeline certainly had gone to shit. You crossed the second one off as well, that one hadn’t led anywhere. Seeing as the only one left was “get better fashion,” you added another;

- wait.

Well, there went all your plans.

-------

“You’re finally gonna fight Premise?! Let’s go!”

Aargren threw up his hands, and Jane’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline. “When’s the match?”

“Two days, Twilight Gap. Cayde, uh, said he gets to fight whoever wins.”

“Really?” Adelaide leaned against Aargren’s other side. “So you’re gonna be fightin’ him then. Watch out for his Golden Gun, he’s a crack shot with that thing.”

“You guys really do not believe in Premise,” you laughed.

“Listen, I love the guy, but he can’t do Crucible to save his life,” she drawled. “But Cayde, damn— I know he hates his job, but he’s Vanguard for a reason. Dude’s scary when he actually tries.”

“You’ve fought him?”

“Only a couple times, but he still wiped the floor with me. Hey, you wanna borrow my Eysaluna? That shotgun probably won’t be enough.”

“Don’t listen to her, what you really want is this thing called Izanagi’s Burden—“

“Aargren, that’s literally cheating, all you need is a good hand cannon and a roaming Super and you’re set,” she told you.

“I… haven’t really been using hand cannons,” you admitted. Mainly because the only ones you owned were Rare and also falling apart. You hadn’t thought to just buy one from Banshee. 

“You can borrow one of mine, don’t worry, I have a ton of ‘em,” she said.

“I think half your entire Vault is handguns, babe,” Aargren glanced to her.

“Says the guy who owns more knives than guns,” she shot back.

“Hey, I own a lot of guns, I just— happen to also own a lot of knives,” he shrugged.

You chuckled at their bickering. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m gonna see what Banshee has. I should probably practice with hand cannons anyway, I haven’t used them much.”

“Ohhhh, range day!” Adelaide exclaimed. “We should go tomorrow, I can give you pointers.”

“Really? Great, thanks,” you smiled at her. She gave you a mock salute. 

-------

“Oh shit—!”

You hadn’t been expecting that much recoil. The hand cannon lived up to its name and nearly flew out of your hands, but you managed to keep a grip on it.

“Woah, careful,” Adelaide exclaimed. “Thing’s got kick!”

“Tell me about it,” you mumbled. “How the hell do you aim with these things?”

“Half instinct, half practice,” she said. “It’s mainly just knowin’ where the recoil moves the barrel and how to compensate for that. And also how fast you can pull the trigger while stayin’ on target.”

You nodded, taking a more stable stance, aiming downrange.

It took you a couple hours before you managed to hit anything consistently, and a couple more to hit anything moving, but you eventually got to where your shots hit… roughly eighty percent of the time. Better than nothing, at least.

“You’re gonna kick ass tomorrow,” Adelaide praised. “Here’s to hopin’ Cayde’s outta practice.”

You bit your lip. “How… difficult do you think it’s gonna be?”

“I’m not gonna lie, probably very,” she answered. “Premise is easy cuz he only uses that Riskrunner of his and like, a sword, but Cayde’s a beast on the field. Though he might go easy on you, let’s pray.”

“… Yeah.”

You were totally fucked, weren’t you?

Chapter Text

“You’re going to do great Y/N,” L told you, seeming completely confident in himself. You were starting to have doubts.

It was like half the Tower had shown up. The buildings around the designated playing field were teeming with spectating Guardians, including all of Emerald and Flux. Delaney and Adelaide hadn’t stopped yelling encouragement from across the field since they got there. 

“Y/N!”

Premise waved to you from a ways away, Cayde right behind him. 

“I didn’t think there was gonna be this many people,” Premise laughed. 

His Ghost Rettie was hovering close, his Star Map shell twitching slightly as he glanced back at the group. “It’s been a while since you’ve done a match. Or maybe they’re here for Cayde.”

“Probably both,” you mumbled. Delaney was still shouting, and you saw an embarrassed Karjal sandwiched between her and Adelaide. Jane and Aargren were near them, less vocal, but they still waved when you looked over. 

“Oh, I’m looking forward to fighting you guys,” Cayde laughed.

“You’re gonna be fighting me,” Premise exclaimed, pointing at him. “There ain’t no way I’m losing this time!”

“Well hey, best of luck to ya,” Cayde said. “You too Y/N.”

“Thanks,” you nodded, swallowing down the lump of anxiety that tried to crawl its way out of your throat.

“Should probably get out of here, it’s about to start. Kick his ass, yeah?”

“Hey!” Premise objected. “Whose side are you on?!”

You laughed as Cayde just shrugged and gave you a double thumbs up, walking backwards towards the rest of the spectators.

“So, uh, go easy on me?”

“Oh fuck no, you’re going down,” Premise smirked, pulling out his Riskrunner and hoisting it against his hip.

“You… realize the whole point of that gun isn’t gonna do anything here, right?”

“It’s gonna make me beating you that much cooler though.”

“… Sure dude,” you laughed. “Good luck anyway.”

“You too, you’re gonna need it!”

You broke off to find your designated spawnpoint, pulling your hand cannon out as you did. L disappeared with a quiet whoosh, returning to your Light, and your lips quirked up slightly at the feeling as you transmatted your helmet on. You’d gotten the Noble Constant Type 2 gauntlets and greaves a couple weeks ago, so even though it didn’t match the rest of your pieces, you were slowly but surely getting to an acceptable level of fashion. It was still a little basic, but at least it wasn’t the tutorial armor.

You ended up behind a corner, checking your ammo impulsively over and over until Shaxx patched into the comms. He was still back at the Tower, but apparently watching everything through cameras. You had your Requiem-42 and Hadrian-A ready just in case, but you hoped you wouldn’t have to get close enough for the shotgun to be necessary, and if you had to use the grenade launcher, you were probably fucked anyway. Despite Adelaide’s suggestion, you’d agreed not to use Supers, because between your Fists of Havoc and his Stormtrance, you’d practically be invincible if either of you popped it, and that wasn’t really fair. You were a little worried by his grenades though— from what you’d seen, he could chuck those things like confetti.

“Are you ready Guardians?” Shaxx exclaimed over the mic. 

“Yep,” you confirmed.

“Let’s go!” Premise said.

“FIght well out there! Begin!”

You went around the opposite way you came, carefully peeking out from behind corners. As you expected, Premise was playing aggressively and found you first, charging out into the open. You managed to shoot one of the horns off his Crown of Tempests before he realized where you were, spinning around with an Arc grenade already in hand. 

You dodged to the side, behind cover, hearing the lightning it called down crash to the ground. You popped up, got another couple shots off, only to duck again as rounds pelted the top of the barrier you were behind. And then another grenade flew over your head, landing not five feet from you, but it wasn’t an Arc grenade, what—

You dove frantically, getting mostly out of the way, but you still felt the force of it exploding as you slammed into the wall opposite you. 

Premise was holding a small kinetic grenade launcher—since when did he have that ?!—but swapped it out for a sword when he saw you were off balance, darting forward and primed to strike. 

You panicked, free hand forming a fist and slamming into the front of his helmet. It audibly cracked, and it startled Premise for just long enough for you to switch to your shotgun and put a shell’s worth of buckshot into his chest.

He dropped, Rettie appearing in a flash of light.

“And the match goes to Y/N! Masterful job Guardian!”

Cheering erupted from the group of spectators, and you slumped against the wall as Rettie’s shell spun, and Premise popped right back up again.

“Holy shit dude, you punch hard ,” he huffed a laugh, putting a hand on his hip, other one coming up to feel the crack in his helmet’s faceplate. “You freakin’— I really can’t win one , can I?”

“You had me scared for a second there,” you said, taking his offered hand to pull you to your feet. “I had no idea you had that grenade launcher.”

“Just picked it up,” he told you. “Thing’s insane.” He laughed again, “Damn, I really thought I had that one.”

“Almost did,” you admitted, shrugging. “Maybe we could, uh, rematch sometime.”

“Oh totally, one of these days I’m kicking your ass, believe you me.”

-------

It took a couple of minutes for it to sink in.

I just killed a Guardian. I just killed the Young Wolf of all people. Fucking hell.

You’d actually shot a Guardian in the chest at point-blank range, and he’d died. And… he didn’t seem shaken up by it in the slightest. 

Premise leapt into the air and glided over to where Emerald and Flux were, twisting around midair to wave goodbye to you, and you returned it on instinct as Cayde came down. 

“That was fantastic Y/N!” he praised, clapping a hand on your back. Your already swiftly-beating heart seemed to speed up even more, and you were grateful he couldn’t see your face. ”I had complete faith in you!”

“How many losses does that make for him now?” you asked lightly, and Cayde chuckled.

“More than his wins, that’s all I know. But now we get to duke it out, huh?”

Oh shit. You’d almost forgotten. You’d have to do all that again, except instead of Premise it was going to be…

No, okay, I can do this, I can totally do this, it’s just Crucible. It’s not like he’s gonna be dead for good, I’m not about to shoot Sundance, it’s not like he’d actually…

Cayde had started walking away at some point, giving a two-finger salute. “See ya on the other side! Good luck!”

You responded in kind, shoved down your anxiety, and pressed on.

-------

You’d switched sides for the second match, so you were where Premise had been earlier, and Cayde was where you’d been. Your new side was much more open, and you grimaced at the lack of cover. No wonder Premise had charged straight for you.

“Good to go Guardians?”

“Ready when you are Y/N,” Cayde said.

“I’m ready,” you answered.

“Begin!”

You had no idea what Cayde’s play would be, but playing it safe was probably your best bet. You leapt up a building, crouching behind a half-destroyed wall and pulling out your Hadrian-A. 

“Are you going to shoot him from up here?” L asked.

“Hopefully,” you mumbled mentally. “I’m not getting anywhere near that Ace of his.”

With the amount of experience he had on you, any close-to-mid quarters combat was out of the question. Your only hope would be to chuck grenades at him until he either died or got up to you. If he did get up there, you were fucked, no question, but not much you could do at that point. You manifested an Arc grenade in one hand, hoisted the launcher up on your shoulder with the other, and waited.

The tip of a horn poked out from a corner across the way, and you fired, the shell exploding at his feet. He jumped out of the dust cloud it kicked up, Ace of Spades in hand, swiveling around to see where the shot came from. You threw your other grenade and ducked behind the wall. If that one didn’t kill him, you’d need to think of something else.

You heard the Arc grenade explode, and peeked over the edge the slightest bit. Cayde wasn’t there.

“Wh—”

A gunshot. Pain ripped through your shoulder, and you toppled over the edge, landing hard on your back on the ground below. Cayde had gotten behind you somehow, staring down at you through his sights from up in the building where you’d just been. 

You’d kept your grip on the Hadrian, you had the perfect shot, at that range it was sure to be a kill.

Your finger reached for the trigger, and—

“Help me out here, little buddy.”

“I’m coming home, Ace.”

“He didn’t feel a thing.”

“You tell Zavala and Ikora… the Vanguard… is the best bet… I ever…

“Lost.”

You froze. 

Cayde fired.

-------

You came back with a gasp, entire body wound tight with tension. “Hey hey, you good?”

Cayde was standing in front of you, bright blue optics shining with concern.

“I— uh—”

He holstered the Ace of Spades in a smooth motion. “You almost had me there Guardian,” he chuckled. “I got sloppy, if you’d taken that shot you woulda won.”

“Um—... I, I dunno,” you stammered out. 

You hadn’t even known you remembered that dialogue. It had been forever since you played Forsaken. You hadn’t been able to…

Fuck.

Well, it was over now. You’d gotten at least one win today, which was better than your previous total of “zero.” 

“GOOD TRY Y/N!” you heard someone scream, probably Premise from the sound of it, and you flushed under your helmet.

“Ahh, maybe you’ll get another try someday,” Cayde sighed, a light smile on his faceplate. “Am I your favorite now?”

You sighed as well, unable to resist smiling back. “Yeah, you are.”

“Yes!” he fist-pumped. “Hey, wanna get out of here and go get ramen? My treat!”

“Uh— sure,” you said, brain still fighting through the post-rezz adrenaline rush in a frantic effort to calm down.

He glanced at you out of the corner of his eye, for only a moment, but you caught it. Your own eyes narrowed in confusion.

Whatever moment the two of you were having was broken when Emerald and Flux jumped onto the field, Delaney slapping you so hard on the back you were shocked she didn’t knock you over.

“You really held your own out there!”

“Dude, you totally could have had him, what happened?!” Adelaide exclaimed. “Told you ya should’ve used my Eysaluna.”

“Hey, that was her second ever match,” Jane huffed. “Solo too. And hey, you’re only gonna get better, right?”

“Right,” you agreed, giving a tight nod of your head. You were pointedly ignoring Adelaide’s question.

“Sooooooo, I heard something about ramen?” Aargren asked.

“I’m down!” Premise yelled immediately. Rettie must have fixed his Crown, because the horn you’d shot off earlier was back, and the faceplate uncracked. “And you can pay as my consolation prize!”

“There is no prize for losing,” Karjal grumbled, but Delaney—at least a foot taller than him—just put an elbow on his shoulder with a loud guffaw.

“Consider it mercy shown to your enemies then! I would like to join as well!”

“I guess it’s a party,” Cayde said. You laughed a little through your nose at all the enthusiasm, still halfway stuck in your own thoughts.

“Are you sure you’re up for it?” L asked. You sent back your nonverbal affirmation, and felt him hesitate, but relent. “If you’re sure…”

You smiled behind your helmet, even if it was a little strained. You’d be fine. It’d take more than all that to keep you down.

Probably.

Chapter Text

“—and then Premise jumped over her, but Jane whipped out her rocket launcher and nailed him right out of midair! I didn’t even know you could load those things that fast!”

Premise groaned at Aargren’s exclamation, head hitting the table with a dull clunk.

“It truly was masterful!” Delaney shouted, as she’d been doing for the past two hours. She got even louder when she had liquor in her, it seemed.

The night had started at a ramen shop, but the whole group had quickly moved to a bar you’d never been to before (not that you’d been to any bars in the City anyway). You were nursing your second drink of the night, mostly content to just sit there and listen to the others regale stories of past missions and matches.

“Listen— listen, it’s not my fault, I was tryna chuck a ‘nade down there but it hadn’t recharged yet! You people always bully me!”

“Cuz you make it so easy Prem,” Jane’s shoulder knocked into his from where she was sitting next to him. 

“I killed Oryx with a sword! Where is the respect around here?”

“We love ya buddy, don’t worry,” Cayde slapped him on the back. 

“Damn right you do. The Vanguard fuckin’ loves me,” Premise slurred slightly. “‘Cept maybe Zavala. But Ikora fuckin’ adores my—… ooooh, I’m not s’posed to talk about that…”

“Talk about what?” you had to ask. Aargren leaned closer in his seat, whatever drink he was having gripped in both hands in anticipation. 

“What we did during the Red Waaaar, maaaaaybe,” he gave a dopey grin. Cayde had to set his own drink down to wave his arms.

“What the hell did you two do?!”

“Heeey, she was stressed, I was stressed, I said somethin’ dumb and she kinda pinned me to a wall and one thing led to another—“

“Waitwaitwait, you fucked my coworker?”

“Dude, she was the one doing the fucking, holy shit,” Premise laughed, “She is so much scarier than Zavala when she’s mad.”

“O—kaaaay, and with that, I think it’s time to head home,” Jane got to her feet, hauling Premise with her.

“Hey, I am not done here,” he protested.

Cayde looked like he was having a mild crisis. “I really did not need to know that.”

Aargren, Adelaide, and Delaney were laughing so hard you were scared they’d choke. You couldn’t restrain a couple chuckles yourself. You saw Karjal huff once before hiding his expression behind his glass. 

“I’ll get these two idiots home,” Jane reassured, “if you’ve got your’s?”

Karjal downed the last of his drink, getting to his feet. “I’ve got them, don’t worry.”

Jane put a hand on Aargren’s shoulder, grabbing Premise’s as well. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow, yeah? Nice job out there today Y/N!”

“Yeah, thanks,” you said before she and the rest of Emerald disappeared in a flash of transmat. Karjal soon gathered Delaney and Adelaide, giving you a curt nod before dematerializing.

And then it was just you and Cayde, sitting across from each other at a table in the corner of the bar you’d all taken over. He laughed to himself, and you did the same as Karjal and hid your smile at the noise by taking a sip. His laugh lit up something in you, something that hadn’t been taken over by the shadow of your knowledge that seemed to engulf everything else. 

Your feelings towards Cayde, especially in the wake of what you knew, were… unclear. You cared for him. So much. But where exactly the line was between just a crush and something more serious seemed to get more and more blurry every day. And you were floundering enough as it was, what with the timeline being off.

You still had no idea what to make of that. You didn’t dare talk to Petra yourself to figure out what was going on, it’s not like you had her comm code anyway, and you didn’t have a good enough reason to go to the Prison without people asking questions. Questions you couldn’t answer truthfully without exposing everything. You really didn’t want to lie about it.

You’d managed to avoid talking about it so far because it just… never came up, obviously. Why would it? But if someone asked, directly, about anything even close to what you knew…

You had no idea what you’d do.

You’d either freeze up, which was already suspicious, or you’d be unable to stop yourself from spilling all of it, because the stress of knowing so much more than everyone else was really starting to get to you.

“What a day, huh?”

Your wandering gaze snapped back to Cayde at his words. “… Yeah.”

“I know everyone keeps saying it, but you really were impressive out there. Ya got potential, a little more training and you could hit the leaderboards in no time.”

“I… you think so?”

“Oh definitely,” he nodded.

“You’re not just saying that to make me feel better cuz I lost to you, right?”

“Oh, if you’d taken that shot? I would’ve lost, no question,” he said. “And I don’t admit that often, ya know. It’s been a while since I’ve done Crucible, guess I’m rusty, didn’t think you’d be able to shoot back after that. Why didn’tcha, by the way? Nerves get to you?”

“… Something like that,” you mumbled, taking another drink. You probably should have gotten something stronger.

“Eh, happens sometimes. Good news is that tends to go away with time. We’ll make a Crucible master out of you yet,” Cayde raised his glass. You clinked yours against his on instinct, finishing it off. 

Cayde did the same with his own neon green liquor, setting it down. “Right, that’s enough excitement for one day, I’d say. Walk with me?”

The sheer nonchalance of his words never ceased to amaze you. L didn’t even have to prompt you this time— you agreed without thinking.

“Don’t you like the excitement?” You stood, following Cayde as you left the bar.

“‘Course, not like I get much of it these days. But’cha kinda looked like all that stuff was stressing you out.”

“Really?”

“You usually talk a little more than that,” he said, turning to you as you walked down the street.

“He noticed something like that?” L said in disbelief. Your own surprise mimicked his.

“Do I? … Guess I am kinda tired,” you admitted, one hand coming up to play with your gauntlet. 

“Well hey, I won’t keep ya if you’re ready to turn in. I think Big Blue’s got you on the roster for tomorrow.”

“Oh, I can— I can stay, for a little longer,” you blurted out, causing the both of you to stop in your tracks.

“Hm? Oh, sure, sure— hey, there’s this really cool spot I found a while back with the best view, c’mon!”

All of a sudden his hand was grabbing yours, and you didn’t even have time to process that before you were transmatting away.

You landed somewhere high on the City walls, on the eastern edge going off the relative distance of the Tower. On one side, the Traveler hung in the sky above the twinkling lights; on the other, the Wilds of Earth, reclaimed by nature, untamed swaths of forests for as far as you could see.

“Woah,” was the only thing you could say.

“Looks great, right?” Cayde said, crouching down before sprawling out on his back. You joined him, sitting with your knees pulled to your chest at the chilled air. Maybe Exos threw off more heat than humans. Or they just weren’t bothered by changes in temperature. Elsie hadn’t needed any armor on Europa, from what you remembered.

“I miss going out there,” he motioned to the forest, far below the walls. You suddenly got the distinct mental image of Cayde trying to climb a tree, and couldn’t hold back a giggle. “What’s so funny?”

“I just think it’s interesting that a robot misses nature,” you answered.

“Hey, I may have wires for brains but I’m still technically human, yeah? Can’t help the organic programming,” he shrugged. “Just how Hunters are. We ain’t meant to be behind walls for so long, that’s a Titan thing.”

“Hey, I like the outdoors,” you protested, grinning. “But having a place to come back to is nice, y’know?”

“I can get that. Home bases are good.” 

Silence fell, but it was a comfortable one, settling like a soft blanket over the two of you as you enjoyed the scenery. The constant lights from the City meant the light pollution was horrendous, completely blocking out the stars, but you wouldn’t have been able to see much anyway, what with the Traveler covering a lot of the sky. And the City was beautiful in its own way, twinkling below you, expanding so far into the distance you could just barely see the opposite edge of it.

“I never realized it could be so pretty,” you whispered absently.

“… Yeah.”

You glanced to Cayde after a long moment— he was staring at you, unblinking, not the least bit ashamed that you’d caught him. You blushed for the umpteenth time that night, turning away, burying your face in your knees. 

“Let’s just… stay here for a while,” Cayde mumbled. You hummed.

-------

“Y/N, that was the most romantic thing I have ever seen.”

“L,” you exclaimed, embarrassed. He flew around your head from where you were sitting on your bed, pulling on a tank top in preparation for sleep.

“He was flirting with you, what other evidence do you need?”

“I don’t— there’s no way,” you protested. L sighed hard and stopped directly in front of your face. 

“I’m telling you, he’s into you! There’s nothing else it could be!”

“I don’t know…” you grimaced, tugging at your hem. ”He’s my friend, I don’t wanna— assume anything.”

“It’s barely an assumption, there’s evidence that he likes you!”

You fell quiet for a couple seconds. “… I want you to be right,” you conceded. “But I don’t… starting anything probably isn’t… a good idea. We still need to figure out why Petra didn’t call him. And if that’s ever gonna happen. And if it does, how to… save him.”

L sighed. “You’re right, I know… I just want you to be happy, is all.”

“L…”

“You’re just so stressed all the time,” he told you. “You deserve to have something good happen to you for once. But I can’t really make that happen myself.”

“L…”

You reached out to him, and he flew into your hands instantly. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you,” you said, almost tearing up. “You shouldn’t have to deal with all this, I’ve—… kinda forced a lot on you.”

“You’re not forcing anything on me,” he interjected. “I really do want to help you, but there’s… not a whole lot I can do.”

“What you’re doing is more than enough,” you reassured, sincerity bleeding into your tone even more than before. “Just knowing that there’s someone else other than me who knows all this is… a huge relief, honestly. I don’t know what I’d do without you, L.”

“Me neither,” his shell vibrated slightly in your hands, and you brought him to your chest in an embrace.

“I really wish I had arms sometimes,” he grumbled to himself, drawing an abrupt laugh out of you. 

“It would make hugging easier.”

Chapter Text

She hadn’t wanted to shoot him.

Cayde couldn’t get the thought out of his head.

He knew dozens of Guardians who would have shit themselves to have the chance to kill him in a Crucible 1v1, and yet she hesitated. It had cost her the match.

Her face had been covered by her helmet, but just the way she’d stopped after falling replayed on loop as he twisted and turned in bed, trying to get some semblance of rest before the new day.

The reluctance in her body, the way she had almost seemed to freeze with… something other than nerves. He’d asked that question knowing she wouldn’t give him the whole truth but hoping for it anyway. He wondered sometimes, what it was she was hiding. How many secrets could a five month old kinderguardian even have?

But that was the thing, sometimes she didn’t act like a New Light. She did have that certain deer-in-headlights look that they often had, but it seemed to come from a different place. Her reactions to certain things, how it was almost like she knew more than she let on…

The sheer strength of her Light, unlike anything he’d ever seen before…

She hid it pretty well, he’d give her that, but he wasn’t the Hunter Vanguard for nothing. He might be out of practice with the whole tracking part of his class, but that didn’t mean he didn’t pick up on the subtle clues, the way she held herself, how she spaced out for indeterminate amounts of time.

He really wanted to know what it was. Not even because of insatiable curiosity, but because whatever she had going on, she was probably going through it alone, with the possible exception of her Ghost. For once, he didn’t want to avoid responsibility, he wanted to take some on, if it meant she didn’t have to deal with it by herself.

“You like her a lot, huh?” Sundance asked quietly from where she was tucked away in his Light.

“I mean, yeah,” he said aloud. He was willing to concede that much. It was kind of obvious.

Believe it or not, he actually cared for people, even if he was shit at showing it. But for some reason, it was so much easier with Y/N. Maybe it was because he didn’t have hundreds of years worth of complicated history with her. Maybe it was something else. Maybe it was both.

”Wow, I am really bad at feelings.“

Sundance huffed once. “You’re probably in love with her, idiot.”

“Love? Where’d you get that idea from?”

“I spend most of my time in your head, dummy. I think I know you better than you do at this point.”

“Nah, it… it ain’t that.”

“Whatever you say,” he could almost see her rolling her eye. Cayde snorted and turned over.

-------

You knew the Moon was infested (and haunted), but you hadn’t accounted for this many Hive. They were the scariest enemies to fight in real life, you decided. What with the huge swords and the constant screeching and the Ogres. Fuck, you hated the Ogres so much. You died twice on one strike to their lasers. Fuck the Hive so hard.

Delaney and Jane were with you, completing your impromptu Titan squad, and they charged through the caves and across the surface with no fear whatsoever. You were more than happy to be left on ad-clearing duty while those two took out any Wizards or Knights. 

Premise had been right, Delaney was terrifying with that Gjallarhorn. It was like you could see her target’s health bar evaporate every time she pulled it out. It was practically hacking. Jane had her Graviton Lance, which left you the only one without anything fancy. Were the drop rates different in real life than they were in the game? Were there drop rates? The whole Rare/Legendary/Exotic ranking system didn’t really translate well to reality. 

You still didn’t have any Exotics, though. You were pretty jealous.

“Y/N, two o’clock!”

You whirled and put a shell in the face of an Acolyte that was creeping up on you, jumping backwards and tossing a grenade at the four that followed it. 

Explosions echoed through the valley as Delaney shot at a huge group of Cursed Thrall that had just crawled out of a hole. Jane let out a ‘yes!’ at the chain kill; “Nice one Del!”

“Not done yet— Wizards!”

Three of them had appeared in the air, shields up, already firing at you.

“I’m out of heavy!” Delaney yelled.

“Same!”

They’d both popped their Supers a couple minutes ago, and you didn’t see any heavy ammo lying around— shit.

“I got it!”

You pulled at that energy inside you, but instead of it staying there, it pulled you up, high above the Wizards. You shot through the air for a moment before you changed direction and charged into the whole line of them, taking all three down in one Thundercrash. They exploded in a rush of soulfire and glimmer.

“Thanks Y/N!”

You picked yourself up off the ground, throwing them an exhausted thumbs up. 

“Oh shit, is that an Exotic on the floor?”

You turned— sure enough, next to the bodies of the dead Hive, laid a glowing yellow engram. You did a double take upon seeing it— you’d never actually seen one in real life before.

“Ooh— uh, whose would it be?”

“Your’s dude, you killed those Wizards,” Jane motioned. “Now crack it open, I wanna see what you got!”

L could decrypt most engrams you encountered out in the wild, except for the particularly tricky ones you needed Rahool for. But he seemed to manage this one just fine, and a couple seconds after you picked it up, it transformed in your hands.

“Huh, is that what I think it is?”

A large auto rifle dropped into your arms, and you recognized the shape almost immediately.

“That’s a Hard Light!” L exclaimed in excitement, materializing halfway through his sentence. “I didn’t know there were any left!”

“Where did that Wizard get it from?” Delaney questioned.

“Who knows, it’s Y/N’s now,” Jane grinned. “Try it out!”

You couldn’t stop the dumb smile that made its way onto your own face as you hoisted it to your shoulder. You aimed down the valley so the ricochet rounds wouldn’t be shot back at you, and held down the trigger until the magazine was empty.

“Woah,” you breathed, pulling it away slightly to look at it.

“It’s shooting Void right now, but you can change the energy type I think!” L excitedly hovered over it. ”Ah, here— above the trigger guard.”

There was a small button above the grip, and when you pressed it, the gun vibrated in your hands, the little indicators changing from purple to blue. You pressed it again and it changed to orange.

“This is the coolest thing I’ve ever owned,” you said distantly, and Delaney laughed heartily.

“Congratulations Y/N! Let it be the start of a large collection!”

“Absolutely,” you agreed, resting the stock on your hip. It was heavier than your Halfdan, but the weight made it seem more stable somehow. You were definitely gonna enjoy using the thing.

“There’s one more nest to clear, how ‘bout you take the lead and try that thing out?” Jane asked.

“Sure,” you grinned under your helm. You felt like you could take on the world right then.

… Until another Ogre got you and Delaney had to pull your corpse out of a horde of Thrall.

Damn Hive.

-------

“Y/N. Y/N help. I think the plant is dying.”

You couldn’t keep the shock from showing on your face. “What? How?”

Jane glanced over from where she was making tea in the small kitchenette of her jumpship, green eyebrow raised. You were on your way back to the Tower, though it was taking longer than normal due to it being daytime in the City and you were coming from, you know, the Moon.

“I don’t know!” Cayde blurted out over your comm. “I did exactly what you said but the leaves are falling off!”

“Okay, just— I’ll come take a look at it when we get back, yeah? Don’t touch it, leaves falling off is bad,” you sighed, running a hand through your hair.

“Okay, got it, you’re a lifesaver Y/N! Fly safe out there!”

“We will, see ya when we get back,” you reciprocated, cutting off the call.

You turned around to see both Delaney and Jane staring at you. “… What?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Jane smiled, grabbing her mug. 

Delaney had significantly less tact; “You two need to go on a date!”

“No,” you got out immediately, a little dramatically, even as L chortled in your head. “He’s— just a friend, why do you people keep thinking he’s interested in me?!”

“Cuz the only other person he’s ever tried to hang out with this much is Aargren, but he and Addy have been dating for years,” Jane said.

“That doesn’t mean he likes me,” you fell to your seat, swiveling a little before you repositioned it. 

“Maybe, but I’m just saying, you ask him out and he probably wouldn’t say no,” she motioned with her mug.

“Okay, sure. How are you and Shaxx doing by the way?”

“Okay, listen—”

Delaney burst into laughter, slapping her leg. “You two seem to have lots of romantic issues!”

“Not all of us can just confess our feelings with no problem like you,” Jane huffed. “I am in awe Karjal didn’t jump off the Tower in shock.”

“Wait, you and Karjal are together?” You hadn’t known that.

“For three years next month,” Delaney beamed. 

Jane shook her head goodnaturedly. “I have no idea how you two ended up dating, of all people.”

“Every emo needs their golden retriever,” you mumbled to yourself. 

“He is a quiet man, but there are depths to him not many get to see,” Delaney said, staring out the windshield with a wistful expression.

“I figured as much. I’m glad you two have each other, at any rate,” Jane smiled. “Now if the rest of us could just figure it out.”

“What about Premise? He like anyone?” you questioned.

Jane snorted. “You kidding? I think the only thing he loves is that SMG.”

You chuckled. “Fair enough.”

Chapter Text

“So what happened?”

“Nothing happened! I did exactly what you said— water it once a week, let it drain, all that— and look!”

Cayde grabbed the snake plant pot from the shelf, setting it down on the table, motioning to it energetically. The normally-green leaves were streaked with yellow, and you could see a stem where one had broken off. 

Your brow furrowed, transmatting your gloves away to gently prod at the soil— it was damp.

“When was the last time you watered this?”

“A week ago, I was gonna today but figured I should wait, why?”

You hummed. “I think it’s in the wrong type of soil. The days are getting shorter, the sun evaporating some of it probably compensated for the poor drainage but since it’s getting darker earlier, it’s not draining properly. That— that’s my bad, probably should have repotted it after I got it, who knows where they got this dirt from,” you explained.

“I mean, I didn’t know either,” Cayde shrugged. “Well hey! Now we know the problem! Where do we get new dirt from?”

“I don’t know actually— L, are there any— home improvement or like, garden stores around?”

He appeared in a flash of Light, above your outstretched hand. “Hmm, not many, but there’s a specialty plant nursery that should have what you need.”

“Perfect, address please?”

-------

Most of the shelves were empty, seeing as it was the very end of the season, but there were still a couple people milling around the store. L had informed you that the shop was in a mainly civilian-inhabited quarter of the City, so you’d ditched your armor and swapped it out for a pair of plain pants and a sweater to blend in. Cayde had done the same, switching his cloak and chestplate out for a canvas jacket with a scarf wrapped around his head in the Last City style instead of a hood. You were having a small internal breakdown at the sight of him in anything other than his normal getup, and had to actively avert your gaze every couple of seconds to keep from staring.

It felt… nice, wandering through the aisles, watching Cayde dig through the clearance bin and seeing him pull out a small garden gnome with great satisfaction. 

“This thing’s hilarious, I’m getting it.”

You snorted to yourself, continuing your search for a bag of soil suitable for your needs. 

You eventually found one, hoisting it over your shoulder with that Titan strength you’d been blessed with— and turned to see Cayde with half a dozen knick-knack garden decorations in his arms, grinning at you. 

“You’re paying for those, not me,” you laughed. 

“Yeah, yeah— ooh, did you find it?”

“Yep, this should work, where’s the registers?”

“Over up there— hey, after we fix the whole plant thing, wanna go get food? Ya just got back, haven’t eaten yet right?”

“Uhhh, no,” you answered. “As long as it’s not ramen. Don’t get me wrong, ramen is fantastic, but we get it all the time.”

“But what else is there to get?”

“There’s tons of places around, or you could, y’know, make some food at home.”

Sundance appeared over her Guardian’s shoulder. “I’ve seen him burn water before, I don’t think you want him cooking.”

“Hey!”

“Like… not even a sandwich?”

“I can do a sandwich, oh ye of little faith! I just don’t have time, you have no idea how busy the Vanguard keeps me.”

“… Are you ignoring work again right now?”

“There’s a stack of paperwork as tall as Sundance I’m trying not to think about.”

“Being a Vanguard seems like it’s mainly paperwork,” you mused.

“That and running strikes. That I cannot participate in. I know the job’s important and all, but you’d think we’d get some time out in the field once in a while.”

You shook your head in sympathy. “Hey, how ‘bout we pay for these, get food, and I can help you sort through all the unimportant shit, I’m sure there’s some.”

“Really?! You’ll help me?”

“I mean, I don’t got any other plans,” you smiled. 

“Perfect! We’ll make a night of it— now that you mention it there’s this new takeout place that just opened up near the house I’ve been meaning to try— you ever have Indian food?—“

Cayde rambled on the entire time you were checking out, and you happily listened as your Ghosts transmatted your purchases (and yourselves) back to his apartment.

You went right for the pot, dragging a trash can over so you could dump the old soil without making a mess all over Cayde’s floors. You dug your fingers into the dirt, gently lifting the whole mass of roots out of the pot and over the bin. It held together, considering it was still damp, which made brushing all the old dirt off a little sloppy.

“Could you grab the pot and rinse it out?” you called to Cayde, who was lining up all his new decorations on the windowsill. 

“Oh, sure.”

You heard the faucet running but kept your eyes on your task, careful not to bump any of the roots too hard as you managed to get most of the soggy dirt off. “Dry it too please, probably shouldn’t get this thing wet for at least another week.”

“You got it!”

He soon handed the pot over to you, and seeing as most of your focus was dedicated to the plant in your grasp, you reached out blindly for it. Your fingers brushed against his as you tried to get ahold of it with your soil-streaked hand, and nearly dropped the thing when Cayde released it when you weren’t expecting. 

He caught it before you realized you’d dropped it, darting down so fast you didn’t even see the motion. “Woah there!”

“Shit, sorry, nice save,” you laughed, your cheeks flushing with embarrassment at the fumble. 

“Ahhh, all in a day’s work,” he put his fists on his hips theatrically. 

“Could ya put the new dirt in? Just a little on the bottom, then we can fill it in around the roots.”

Cayde ripped open the bag with no hesitation, taking the pot and scooping it right in. You gingerly held the roots in place as he filled it back up.

You had to stand right next to each other for him to get all the empty spots, and being that close sent tingles through your body. His arm kept bumping your’s as he moved, fingers curling next to your own as they gently packed dirt in between the roots. You could smell him for Light’s sake, oil and afternoon sunshine and something spicy you couldn’t place.

Cayde seemed completely unaffected, humming lightly to himself as he worked. You wanted to drown yourself in the noise.

You were just starting to internally lose your shit when he patted the final bits of loose soil down, stepping back to survey his work. 

“Looks good to me,” you said.

“Hopefully that saves it, or you might need that refund after all,” Cayde joked.

“It probably will, but I guess we’ll see.”

You both washed up, and he set the pot back where it was before, now joined by all the trinkets he’d just bought, including but not limited to; the gnome, a tiny replica Traveler with a flat bottom so it didn’t roll around, and a frog with huge eyes and a tiny umbrella. 

“That is adorable.”

“Right? Looks much friendlier up there! Oh, we were gonna get food, weren’t we? Come on, I’ll show ya the place!”

-------

The Indian restaurant was right down the road from his apartment, pretty busy seeing as it was the dinner rush, but it didn’t take as long as you expected to order and get your food; a couple different kinds of curry, some delicious-looking cheese balls with a name you couldn’t remember, and chai tea for the both of you. Sundance apparently had the aforementioned paperwork on her already, so you made your way up to that one spot on the wall Cayde had showed you to watch the sunset and get to it.

The food was half gone by the time you actually got started, Cayde too distracted by the curry and you too distracted by how the dying sunrays glinted off his plating. Neither of you had changed back into your armor, so Cayde was still cloakless. Your attention was almost equally divided between staring at him and staring at the skyline.

“Holy shit, it’s gorgeous up here,” you said. The Traveler was in between you and the sun in a sort of eclipse, illuminating it from behind and refracting onto the nightlife of the City just starting to wake.

The forest surrounding you was just as stunning, the leaves of some non-conifer trees starting to turn colors. 

“This is one of the best spots I’ve ever found,” he said, datapad in one hand and clipboard in the other, but he wasn’t looking at either. You glanced to him, and his optics seemed to sparkle as he grinned at you. 

It was like he was lit from within with Solar Light, and it was spilling out onto the landscape. There was Void in his shadow and Arc in his eyes.

… Hot damn, you were very poetic tonight. 

You broke first, turning away, taking a sip of your tea. He chuckled and popped a cheese ball in his mouth.

“I’d love to see how colorful it is farther north,” you managed to get out. “I’m sure the trees look so pretty by now.”

“Absolutely,” he agreed. “Not much happens here, but we do get some orange.”

A sudden idea; I should see if we could get out of the City for a day or two. Cayde would probably love Lake Superior.

You caught yourself halfway through the thought. There was no guarantee Cayde could even leave, and besides, being all alone out there, just the two of you— even this was a little too secluded to just be a hangout session. Both of you, alone, in the wilds, with no one around for thousands of miles…

It sounded nerve-wracking and incredible at the same time. 

But Cayde looked so happy staring out at the woods beyond the City, rambling on about how tall the trees had gotten since he’d started watching them years ago. How the forest had slowly started creeping closer to the walls, that they might have to go out and chop some down soon. 

You hung on his every word as he spoke, until the curry was gone and the sun dipped below the distant walls of the City. The paperwork got… mostly done. It made your head spin just trying to read some of it— you had no idea how Cayde dealt with it all day in and day out. 

He thanked you emphatically however, promising to pay you back somehow, despite your insistence that it was no problem. And it really wasn’t, his company was payment enough (not that you would ever say it to his face). 

And as you laid in bed later that night, mentally tallying up the things you’d need to convince Zavala of in order to let Cayde leave the Tower for the day, you had a bit of an epiphany.

Your end goal was to save his life, yes. But… it was worth so much more now, because you liked him as a person, not just as a character. And that was an important distinction.

It still didn’t feel real sometimes. Occasionally when you woke up in the morning, you almost expected to find that the last half-year had been just a dream. That you’d eventually return to your daily routine, your job, your life as a civilian back in your world with just pop culture and video games to sate your desire for purpose. 

And on some level you missed the simplicity, obviously. You doubted you’d ever get over losing all that. But everything here , in the City, the Tower, with everyone else, and a certain Exo…

It was way more than you’d ever expected out of life.

You totally needed to take Cayde up north. 

Chapter Text

“Ow! Bastard!”

Cayde yelped when the needle stuck his finger, dropping it on instinct, leaving it hanging by the embroidery thread.

“You big baby, come here,” Sundance chided in familiarity, swooping down and healing away the pinprick in an instant. “You sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Come on ‘Dance, have a little faith,” he drawled. “I’m not completely hopeless in the wonderful world of arts and crafts.”

“Maybe you should get Zavala to help you.”

“Absolutely not, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“He won’t make fun of you, he’s not like that.”

“Maybe not, but he’ll silently judge me and give me that look that he’s surprised I’m actually putting effort into something that’s not cards,” he pouted.

“What about Eva?”

“Ehhh, maybe. But I mean…”

His throat lights flashed as he glanced down to the fabric in his hand, and the red heart he was halfway through embroidering. He’d already finished the ‘A’ just above it, and stared at his progress for a moment. “I want it to be from me, y’know?”

“It’ll still be from you,” she argued, “getting help isn’t cheating.”

“I know, I know,” he sighed. “I just… I guess I just wanna do it myself.”

His pinched fingers rubbed the cloth absentmindedly, staring at it without really seeing. All he could think about was the look on Y/N’s face when she laughed, how it felt like she was shooting Arc from her hands whenever she touched him. 

He thought about her all the time, honestly. Way more than he expected. Sundance had picked up on it immediately, and only made fun of him a little for it, which said a lot, actually. His Ghost liked her, and she liked L too— which was a surprising relief, knowing his little buddy approved of them.

Cayde almost snorted. Approved of what, exactly? It wasn’t like he and Y/N were in a relationship, they were just friends. Sundance didn’t need to approve of anything because there was nothing to approve of.

Ooh, ouch— just thinking that made something uncomfortable settle like a rock in his chest. And then he paused, glancing up. Why did the thought of not… being in a relationship— why did it make him feel… sad?

He frowned to himself, grabbing the needle that was hanging by the thread. Sundance dropped a little midair at his expression— she always knew exactly what he was thinking.

“You know she’s going to love it, right?”

Cayde swallowed— he didn’t actually have throat muscles, but the nervous tic had never gone away in his however-many-years as an Exo. “Yeah— yeah, I— ugh.” His head dropped into his hands. “I’m so screwed.”

She bumped into his horn, prompting him to raise his head and pass the needle through the fabric again. “So why Ace of Hearts?”

He perked up immediately. “Like— way back before the Golden Age, there was this thing called tarot— I think there was a specific deck for it, but for normal cards, they all have a meaning— like Ace of Spades,” he patted the holster on his hip, “it means stuff like, significant change, or ending, which makes sense considering it’s a gun— Ace of Hearts is like—... I looked it up,” he shifted forward in his seat on his couch, “it means, uh—...”

Well now he was embarrassed to say it out loud. “Means what?” Sundance prompted, and he tried to shake it off— it wasn’t like he could hide anything from her anyway.

“It means, um. New beginnings, and. Love.” He blinked. “Hopefully she won’t look that up.” He suddenly shot to his feet— “Oh shit, what if she looks it up?”

“Cayde,” Sundance flew in front of him. “You’re thinking about it too much, it’s gonna be fine, promise.”

“But what if she thinks I’m like, coming on to her or something—”

“Cayde,” she bumped into his horn again. “You’re fine. I think we’d know by now if she was uncomfortable. Even if she didn’t say anything L would tell me if she was, so you’re fine.”

He wished he had a lip to chew on nervously— he settled for sitting back down again and fiddling with his hood. “You sure?”

“Positive. Now hurry up and finish, lunch break’s almost over.”

“Wait, what time is— fuck! Z’s gonna have a conniption.”

“Not if you go fast!”

“I don’t wanna rush, perfection takes time!”

“Then stop talking and start sewing!”

“I’ll have you know this is embroidery—”

-------

“Hey, L?”

Leaves crunched under your boots as you picked your way through the underbrush. The forests of Old Iowa were too dense to get a Sparrow through, so you were stuck hoofing it to the Cabal camp you’d been tasked with clearing.

“Yes Guardian?”

“So it’s been like, half a year since you rezzed me, right? I just realized, I haven’t gotten my period at all.”

“... Ah. That.”

You huffed slightly in amusement. “So that’s a thing apparently?”

“Yes. It, uh…”

“You can just spit it out dude,” you chuckled. “Back in my world it never got confirmed that Guardians were like, sterile or anything, but it was kind of implied. So we are then?”

“Er, yes. To my knowledge,” he tacked on awkwardly.

“It makes sense I guess,” you shrugged, shifting your grip on your rifle. “It’d be super shitty to have Lightless kids and end up outliving them. Guardians don’t even age, right? At least not noticeably.”

“In terms of physical appearance, no,” he replied. “How you’re rezzed is how old you were when you died in your first life.”

“Huh. But what about for me then? I’m still confused about that. Is this the body I died in back in my world or am I in someone else’s?”

“That… is a good question.”  He thought for a moment. “When I found your body, it was almost completely decomposed. I couldn’t get a concrete date but you’d been dead for at least a few hundred years.”

“That’s… odd. So did my consciousness get zapped from my dead body in my universe and end up here somehow? Because this is my face, this is the same body I had back in my world, just with more muscle,” you motioned absently to yourself. “Was there an— alternate universe ‘me’ that I took over?”

“Anything’s possible, I suppose. I sure didn’t think this was.”

“Oh thanks,” you drawled, a teasing smile on your face. You laughed in sympathy as L spluttered. “Nah, I get it. I didn’t think this was possible either. It’s still so weird to think about sometimes. How everything’s familiar, but… not, cuz I’ve seen it before but I’ve never been there, you know?” 

L hummed. “I can’t even imagine what all this seems like to you.”

“Yeah, it’s… it’s something, that’s for sure,” you chuckled under your breath. “Like, I’m literally holding a Hard Light right now. This thing is kind of mid back in my world but it’s all I got, so. Good for shieldbreaking here, though.”

“... Mid?”

You snorted at his befuddled tone. 

“The slang in my universe got a bit out of hand.”

“Like what?”

“You ever hear the word ‘yeet’ before?”

Chapter Text

“Are you sure it’s one hundred and eight cards?”

“No,” you admitted, zooming in on one of the Wild cards and erasing a stray line you’d accidentally drawn. “But if not I can tweak it later. I really wanna play with these.”

You’d picked up your Uno deck side project again, after Premise and Cayde continually hounded you about it at the last two card game nights. You’d been going regularly, and racked up a couple more poker wins, but only a couple— interestingly, Amanda was the most consistent victor out of the usual participants. You’d also played Blackjack a few times at Jane’s insistence, and true to her word, she completely annihilated everyone.

The list that lived in your pocket had grown;

- figure out timeline shit

- do more research on the theories L mentioned

- get better armor

- get better fashion current armor is Not It

- tell cayde

- wait

- finish uno

- introduce tower to uno and spoons

The sheer variance in priorities on that sheet of paper was almost comical. And every time you looked at it you felt a little guilty, that you weren't doing anything to fix the timeline, but until Cayde got that call to go to the Shore, there wasn’t anything you could do without giving yourself away.

Not for the first time, you weighed the pros and cons of just telling the Vanguard what was going on, that you knew the future, and how to stop it. But you didn’t know if you could take that chance. Telling L was risky enough as it was, in your opinion— if you somehow fucked something up by telling the wrong person… you’d never be able to forgive yourself.

“Guardian?”

You blinked, realizing you’d been staring at the same spot on your datapad for who knows how long.

“Sorry, just— zoned out for a sec.”

“Everything alright?”

“I’m not going to have a breakdown every time I zone out,” you assured with a light smile.

“I know, I know, I just… worry sometimes.”

You reached up and pulled him to your cheek— the closest you could get to a hug. “I’m okay. Promise.”

“... Alright. Are you ready to print these?”

“Yep, let’s see ‘em.”

The 3D printer you’d borrowed looked close enough to the ones you had back in your world that it hadn’t taken long to figure it out. L fired up the thing from where you’d sat it on your coffee table, and the nozzle swiveled to life. It whirred slightly as it transformed the glimmer you’d fed it into the deck of cards you’d just designed, in less than two minutes. 

You picked them up when the machine chimed in completion, pulling them apart, making sure everything was in order. The cards were thin but sturdy, the texture somewhere in between paper and plastic. 

“Did it work?”

“I think it did,” you answered. There was something surreal about holding something that you'd made in your hands. You shuffled the deck through your fingers, checking each card, but it was flawless.

“Oh, these are perfect,” you exclaimed. “They're gonna go crazy. Think you could help me playtest?”

“Absolutely! But, uh, how do you play?”

You grinned.

-------

“Can I stack these things?”

You leaned closer to the Draw 2 card Aargren was holding up.

“You’re technically not supposed to, officially, but screw it, house rules, yeah they stack.”

“Oh hell yeah,” he exclaimed, pulling back to his spot on the floor of the hangar. You’d forgone the table today— it was easier to explain the rules when you could crawl over to people and explain cards. 

“That goes for Draw 4’s too,” you announced, adjusting the draw pile in the middle after it got knocked to the side slightly. 

“What? How is that not overpowered?”

“There’s only so many in the deck,” you responded to Premise. “It’ll be fine, trust me. If not I can fix it later. You guys are my focus group.”

Cayde, from his spot next to you, was inspecting his cards with narrowed eyes. You leaned over to him. “You know what you’re doing?”

He glanced up— and smirked. “Oh don’t worry, I got it.”

You glanced at him suspiciously before redirecting your attention to the group. “Alright, everyone got their cards?” A round of affirmatives. “Right, so— left of the dealer, your turn,” you motioned to the closest hangar tech, and she reached forward to slap a red card down on the one next to the draw deck. It continued around similarly, getting switched to blue, then yellow, as you went round and round.

“Abel asks what word you’re supposed to say when you only have one card,” L informed you— you glanced over to Delaney, and the two cards she was holding.

“Uno,” you mentally responded, suppressing a huff of amusement.

There was a beat of silence before she laid down one of her cards and cried “Uno!” You couldn’t hold back a smile at her enthusiasm.

“Ah, shit, guys, we gotta gang up, anyone got one of those plus two things?” Aargren exclaimed. 

“Why would I tell you if I did?” Amanda asked.

“Cuz you’re right next to her, you can give her more cards!”

“I’m still not tellin’ you.”

“Oh come on Holliday! We gotta work together here!”

“Hell no, every man for himself!” Premise yelled.

“I’ll help you babe,” Adelaide pitied her boyfriend from her spot at his side.

“Thank you, at least someone here wants to win!”

“Hey, I wanna win,” Jane replied, “but there’s not much I can do from over here.”

You saw everyone hold their breath when Delaney’s turn came around again and no one had managed to give her any more cards. She stared at her hand for a moment, before groaning and pulling from the draw pile.

“Yes! So we know she doesn’t have green,” Aargren said, gripping his cards with renewed excitement.

“Hey hey hey, careful with those, they're brand new,” you motioned to him.

“Ah, my bad.”

You went around a couple more times before Cayde, of all people, slapped down a card and said “Uno” with a smug look on his face.

“Uh, when the hell did that happen?” a Hunter you didn't know spoke up.

“I’m just that good,” the Vanguard smirked.

“Just that good my ass— Y/N, check his pockets.”

“Woahwoahwoahwoah, hey, what makes you think I’m cheating?! Geez, no respect for your superiors these days!” He set his last remaining card facedown on the ground and peeled off his gloves, rolling up his sleeves. You were greeted with blue and silver synthskin as he held up his hands. You tried not to stare— you’d never actually seen his bare arms before. “Look, see? No tricks, just pure talent.”

The Hunter snorted. “Alright.”

Cayde kept his sleeves rolled up as he picked up his card. It was Karjal’s turn, then a hangar tech, then Premise. He slapped down a skip before realizing what he’d done.

“Ah shit, I should not have done that.”

“Dude,” the Titan to his left shook his head.

“Please tell me he doesn’t have yellow.”

Cayde was next, and he glanced at his hand, and—

“Sorry to disappoint, but— boom!”

The entire circle burst into groans as he threw down a Wild card, watching as he sat there very proud of himself.

“Okay, who taught you that?” you exclaimed, tossing down the three cards in your hand.

“No one darlin’, like I said, ’m just that good,” he winked at you, and you wanted to dissolve into the floor at the term of endearment. Those were getting more frequent, but thankfully it didn't look like anyone noticed over their grumbling.

“Okay, hell no, we’re going again, I refuse to accept this,” Aargren all but yelled. “Give ‘em here, I’ll shuffle this time.” 

“You always shuffle, lemme do it,” Jane said, getting to her knees to collect everyone’s cards.

“Cuz I’m good at it— hey!”

You grinned as he tried to swat her hand away, before turning your attention back towards Cayde. He hadn't put his gloves back on, and you stared at his bare hands for all of three seconds before you caught yourself and turned away, flushing. 

“So how long'd it take to make these?” he asked you as Jane got to reshuffling.

“Not— too long,” you answered. “If I’m gonna make more it’ll go a lot faster now that I have a template.”

“Yo, can I have a deck? These are great,” the Titan from before called.

“Oh, uh— sure,” you answered.

“Me too!”

“Same!”

You blinked at all the responses— Cayde just clapped you on the shoulder.

“Looks like you might have a business venture goin’ on pretty soon,” he chuckled.

Ideas formed in your head as Jane dealt the cards. 

“... Yeah, maybe.”

Chapter Text

L watched Y/N out of the corner of his eye as she chatted with Fireteam Emerald in the courtyard. He’d pinged Rettie, but it took a couple moments for him to appear and fly over to him.

“Hey, is uh, is everything alright?” he asked, a little nervously. “Premise didn’t do something, did he?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” L exclaimed. “Just— come on, let’s go over here.”

Rettie’s confusion was almost palpable as they flew in the direction of the hangar, hiding in the shadow of the walkway above them.

“What’s going on L?”

“I just wanted to ask you—… have you received any… messages, or calls, from Petra Venj?”

“The Queen’s Wrath? No, why?”

“Really? I thought for sure…”

“Now you’re making me worried,” Rettie’s shell twitched. 

“It’s nothing, really,” L tried to assure. “I was just checking something. Would it be possible to tell me if she ever does? Or if Cayde contacts you about going to the Reef?”

“The Reef? What’s this actually about L? It’s so… random.”

L’s shell spun idly as he tried to figure out what to say. “It’s… uh, classified.”

“What? Why?”

“… That’s classified too.”

“Is Commander Zavala having you and Y/N look into something? Do you need our help?”

“No, we just… need you to tell us if Cayde or Petra ever talks to you about going to the Reef for some reason. It’s very important. I wish I could tell you more.”

He really did— were it not for Y/N’s insistence that her origins stay a secret just in case it changed something, he’d be suggesting that they told at least the Vanguard, and maybe Premise, since according to her he was the ‘main character.’

“I… I guess I can… Is there anything specific I should be looking for?”

“Anything mentioning the Prison of Elders, probably,” L said. “Or Awoken politics.”

“Are you sure you can’t tell me anything? This sounds… really important.”

“I’m sure. Maybe once all this is sorted out I can, but for now, just keep an eye out, please?”

“Yeah, of course,” Rettie bobbed in place. 

“Thanks, really. We owe you one. Oh, could you… not tell Premise about this? He’d just ask a lot of questions that we can’t really answer.”

“I, uh, alright… as long as you tell me what this is all about later!”

He should probably ask Y/N about that, but he was saying the words before he could stop himself; “I promise. Hopefully it won’t be too long.”

“If you say so.”

“Hey Rett! Where’dja go?”

“Coming Premise!” He turned back to L for a moment. “I’ll let you know if we hear anything.”

He zipped back to his Guardian before L could thank him again. The remaining Ghost sighed, hoping he hadn’t made a mistake.

-------

You dramatically skidded to a stop in front of Eververse, where Aargren and Adelaide were perusing something or other. “I need your help.”

They looked at you questioningly, Addy continuing to flip a knife back and forth in her hands.

“Okay, what for?”

“I want to get Cayde out of the City for a day, but the Vanguard’s never going to agree to it unless some other Hunters pick up the slack while we’re gone.”

“So you want us to cover for him while you’re on your date?”

“It’s not a date Aargren,” you exclaimed. “I mean— just look at the guy. He hasn’t left the City in who knows how long, would you be happy cooped up like that?”

“I would literally rather die. Point taken. Alright, I’ll help, I mean— it can’t be too hard, right?”

“Cayde would disagree,” you laughed. “How good are you at doing paperwork?”

“Oh Light. I’m conscripting Karjal.”

“What day is this gonna be?” Adelaide asked.

“Week from today, I need to scope out a specific spot, maybe clear out some Fallen depending on what’s up there.”

“Hey L, you better take lots of pictures,” Aargren called, and the Ghost compiled above your hand.

“Was already planning on doing that,” he chirped. 

“ Hey !” you cried. “What do you need pictures for?”

“Posterity, obviously,” Aargren said. “Also I wanna see.”

“Y’all are cute as shit,” Adelaide added. “If you guys kiss I want proof.”

“We’re not gonna—! Ugh, I give up…” You buried your face in your hands. “That is a yes though, right?”

“Yeah, we can help out,” Aargren said. “I’m sure Cayde’ll be happy to get away for once.”

“Thank you guys, really,” you smiled at them. 

“‘Course,” Adelaide sheathed the knife in a smooth motion. “No problem.”

“You talk to Zavala yet?”

“That’s next on the list actually, I wanted to ask you guys first.”

“Well go ask him!” Adelaide shooed you away, and you laughed as you climbed the steps.

“Thanks again!”

-------

“—it’s only for the day, and Aargren and Adelaide already agreed to help out with Hunter-related things while we’re gone, I’m gonna go up there right now and scout the place out, make sure there’s no one up there, make it super safe, so you guys have nothing to worry about—”

“At ease Guardian,” Zavala raised a hand, looking amused. You shut your mouth with a click , blushing a little. “I’ll sign off on it.”

“Wait— really?”

“Cayde has been… very vocal about wanting to leave the City these past few months. It would make more sense for another Guardian to go with him.”

“Thank you sir, thank you,” you clasped your hands in front of you, walking backwards out of his office. “I really appreciate this, I’m gonna go up there right now, thank you!”

The doors slid shut behind you and you couldn’t restrain a fist-pump of sheer excitement. 

“Perfect,” you whisper-shouted to yourself.

“Alright, I’ll bring the jumpship around!”

-------

The leaves of the trees around Old Duluth were a mixture of green and yellow, with the occasional reds peeking through. According to L’s estimations, they would reach peak color around the day you and Cayde would be there. You wandered the forests, keeping one eye on your tracker and one on the terrain, looking for any sign of alien interference in the ruins. 

You didn’t find much, and no actual aliens, so you deemed the area mostly abandoned and headed back to the City. There was still a lot more you needed to do— namely, figure out how you were going to surprise Cayde with it. And also get the rest of the Noble Constant armor set. You were tired of having mismatched armor. It was time for an upgrade.

And then it would be the day. 

Chapter Text

“Hey Cayde! I uh— got a surprise for you!”

The Exo turned around from where he was talking with Amanda. “Hm? What’s up?”

“Just follow me,” you motioned to further into the hangar. He raised an eye ridge at you before turning back to the mechanic.

“I guess I’m being drafted, see ya later!”

“Have fun you two!” she waved to you as you approached your jumpship, hovering just outside the bay doors. 

“Uhhhhhh, what’s that for? Wait, are we going somewhere?!”

“Maybe,” you smirked, grabbing his arm before L transmatted you both up.

“What?! How’d you ever convince Big Blue?!”

“Addy and Aargren said they’d handle things for the day,” you explained, “I figured it was high time you had a little vacation.”

“You got that right,” he huffed. “So where we goin’?”

“You’ll seeeee,” you waggled your fingers cryptically as L set the autopilot. The ship rose high into the sky as Cayde plopped down in the co-pilot’s seat, Sundance materializing and going to float next to L. 

“Don’t get comfy, it’s not far,” you pointed at him. “Probably wouldn’t have been able to get clearance for off-planet anyway, so local it is.”

“I’ll take it, anything is better than that Tower,” he stretched his arms. You adjusted your gauntlets absentmindedly. The rest of the week had been taken up by grinding for the rest of the Noble Constant set, and you finally got the chestplate and helmet. Loot was rarer in real life than it was in the game—the mark was still beyond you—but all in all, you finally didn’t look bad in the mismatched Green and Blue armor you’d been wearing. You had L slap a shader on your new threads so you weren’t too basic, at least.

It truly wasn’t long before the jumpship slowed down, L controlling the transmat and bringing you both down to the surface. 

“Tadaaaa!” you motioned.

Old Duluth had been mostly overtaken by plant life, but there were still identifiable landmarks— the perpetually-docked Irvin (though it looked like it would disintegrate into dust the second you touched it), crumbling brick-and-concrete buildings, and of course, the bridges. You’d only traversed them far enough to make sure they were still sturdy, you hadn’t gone all the way over to Superior. 

Your predictions turned out to be correct— the trees were a veritable rainbow of shimmering red and orange and yellow, with some green still interspersed, even this late into the year. The forests positively glowed in the mid-morning sun. Cayde’s eyes looked like they were bugging out of his head at all the color, and you watched him with a smile of your own.

“Y/N, this is…”

“Come on! Let’s explore! Last one to the river buys dinner when we get back!”

“Oh you’re on!”

You couldn’t restrain a wild cackle as you jumped up a hill, then up onto a building’s roof. Cayde was right behind you, and quickly overtook you, whooping the whole way. You transmatted your brand-new helmet on and bolted after him.

“Try to catch up!”

“Wh— hey !”

His cloak fluttered as he jumped away again. “You wanted to race!”

“High mobility havin’ ass—!“ you grumbled to yourself as you struggled to keep up, cursing your clunky pauldrons for the first time ever. 

He made it there first, not that you were surprised. When you finally managed to get your ass on the roof of the building on the shore he’d stopped on, he threw his hands up in the air victoriously. “Hah! Beat you! Probably shouldn’t have challenged a Hunter to a parkour race,” he winked at you. The simple motion nearly set your face on fire.

“Maybe not,” you said breathlessly, hands on your knees. He didn’t even seem winded, that asshole. 

“Woooaah, look at that view!”

It looked incredible from your vantage point, the crumbling buildings taken over by ivy, the trees a kaleidoscope of shades. 

“Come on!” Cayde leapt off the roof with zero hesitation, and you followed him, activating your jump ten feet from the ground and gliding the rest of the way down. He had waited for you, a huge grin still on his face. “Wow, you really are slow!” You flipped him off as your greaves hit the dirt. “What kind of stuff you think’s hidden around?”

“I guess we’ll find out,” you shrugged. He jumped up and down a little in palpable excitement.

“Then let’s go!”

-------

You wandered around Old Duluth for the majority of the day, which mainly consisted of following Cayde around as he flitted from one area to the next, yelling in delight whenever he found something interesting. You encountered some Fallen tech that had not been there last week, which was mildly worrying, but L assured you there were no ketches in the area. Not that you couldn’t handle yourselves if there did happen to be some enemies, but you’d rather go without any combat today if you could get away with it.

So of course, the universe chose that moment in particular to send a nice, big “fuck you.”

“Skiffs dropping out of orbit!” Sundance called over the comms.

“What? We cleared the whole city!” you protested, but Cayde was already drawing the Ace of Spades.

“Holy crap, some action?! Oh, bring it on, I am ready!”

There was a brief moment of panic as the Fallen transmatted into view, down the block. There was a reason you’d come up here to clear the area before— so Cayde wouldn’t get into a firefight. Having him anywhere close to a battlefield made you uneasy. Since the timeline had been altered, you had no frame of reference for what was a safe fight or what was a dangerous one. 

There were a handful of Dregs, some Vandals, and two Captains. You’d seen worse, thankfully. You drew your Hard Light, switching the output to Arc. Cayde glanced at you, did a double take, stared.

“Wait wait wait wait, when did you get that?!”

“Huh? Oh, uh, that strike with Jane and Del, on the Moon? Did I not show you yet?” You hadn’t, had you? You’d been so distracted by setting up this whole jaunt, it completely slipped your mind.

“Uh, no! That’s awesome, Y/N!”

You blushed under your helmet, which was when the Fallen decided to start shooting at you.

“I got it!” Cayde exclaimed. 

“Cayde wait—!” You hadn’t even been able to get the sentence out before he was jumping into the fray. He chucked a grenade at the closest enemy, vaulting over their heads, knife in one hand and Ace in the other.

Despite the alarm, you were somehow reminded of a hummingbird— a very violent, gun-wielding hummingbird. The way he moved around could be described as nothing but brutally graceful, every action smoothly translating into the next. It was like watching a dance instead of a fight.

It was also incredibly attractive.

Well damn. I knew he was good, but…

Hopefully he could handle himself. Not that you had much of a choice but to act as support.

You got over your stupor after a couple seconds, returning fire to the Captains in the back, careful to avoid Cayde, who was making his way through the ads with frightening speed.

You took down one of their shields before you were forced to move, ducking behind a crumbling wall to reload before peeking out again. Cayde had made his way through most of the enemies—“Boom! Boom! Ooh, missed me there! Gonna haveta try harder than that!”—and was looking like he was enjoying himself immensely. You picked off the remaining Fallen from a distance, and before long, they were all dead.

“Yeah! That’ll show ‘em!” Cayde hollered. “Woo, it’s been a while since I got to do that!”

“Don’t celebrate yet,” Sundance informed. “More are dropping out of orbit.”

“Even better! You didn’t plan this too, didja Y/N?”

“If I had it my way we wouldn’t be fighting at all,” you groaned. You were still worried about his wellbeing, but hopefully, hopefully, all the enemies you encountered wouldn’t be a problem.

“Eyes up, they’ve got Servitors!”

The battle migrated to the next street over, where a veritable horde of Fallen, Shanks, and Servitors were waiting for you. You got ahead of Cayde this time, popping your Super and charging straight through the group. Their shrieks were drowned out by the rushing of blood in your ears and the electricity roiling across your armor. When it finally ran out, there were only a couple stragglers left, which Cayde took care of with no issue on his part. 

The sudden droning of an Exploder Shank warbled to your right— you dove to the side just as it rounded the corner and exploded. Shrapnel bounced off your armor, and you got to your feet, dusting yourself off.

“You good?”

“Fine,” you answered through the ringing in your ears. “Are there more?”

“Yep,” L said. “Just transmatting in now.”

“Great,” you drawled.

“Hell yeah it is! Let’s go shoot some more!”

You couldn’t hold back an exaggerated sigh. “Where do you get all this energy from?”

“I’m a Hunter who’s been cooped up for decades sweetheart, I’m gonna take advantage of this for as long as I can!”

You spluttered at the nickname, but he was already taking off.

“Wait up!”

“Keep up!”

You could only laugh, shake your head with a sigh, and follow him deeper into the city.

Chapter Text

“We always end up watching the sunset or something. Well, sometimes the stars too, but it’s usually the sunset, huh?”

You and Cayde had just sat down on the high support beams of Blatnik Bridge, so far above the water it made you dizzy. That spot on the City walls was significantly wider, more like you were standing on a huge platform than a wall (the Tower was built into the wall, after all). Here, the supports were barely thick enough to sit on comfortably. You’d been apprehensive when Cayde suggested it, but you couldn’t deny that the view was worth it.

Duluth was to your right, and Superior to your left, the Saint Louis River before you. It was almost hard to look at the water, with how brightly the sun was reflecting off of it. It sparkled off the metal of the bridge too. 

“I guess,” you grabbed the beam you were sitting on with both hands, trying to maintain your balance. Having to get rezzed after hitting the river at terminal velocity would certainly put a damper on things.

“It’s nice lookin’ though, I’m surprised you were able to get up here,” Cayde turned to smirk at you. He was standing, arms at his sides, not looking the least bit nervous about the empty air below him. Was super-balance a Hunter thing or an Exo thing, you wondered? Or maybe just a Cayde thing?

“I’m not that bad,” you responded, “these supports are just so fucking thin.”

You’d almost plummeted to an embarrassing death on the way to the top; Cayde had saved you at the last second by grabbing you by the belt and hauling you up. “How are you even doing that?”

“Doing what?”

“Standing. I know we’re immortal and everything but don’t you have any fear at all?”

Cayde chuckled, plopping down to sit next to you, one leg pulled to his chest, the other dangling off the edge. “What, scared of heights?”

“I think any reasonable person would be scared of falling from up here. Have you seen how high we are?”

“That’s why it’s cool! This is it, right here.”

You both fell silent for a moment, just watching the water.

“Hey.” You looked up at the word, finding him already glancing at you. “Thanks for this. Really.”

“For… for taking you out here?”

“Yeah, for putting in the effort. Pestering Zavala,” he snorted.

“It was actually pretty easy, I didn’t even have to grovel or anything,” you raised your eyebrows, and he laughed at your expression. “But yeah, it’s no problem, really.”

“Still though. No one’s…”

“… No one’s what?” you prompted when he trailed off.

He hummed absently. “It’s been a while since someone’s done something like this for me.”

Cayde, this is like, the bare minimum, you thought, a little hysterically. You scrambled for a response.

“Oh!— I uh, I got— I made—“

You transmatted two of the wraps you’d made earlier into your hands, holding one out to him. “Want one?”

“Y/N, what? It’s like you read my mind! How’d you do that?!”

“I mean, we always get food,” you blushed as he took the offering. “Figured I’d try making something this time.”

“You made these?” He took a huge bite, and his eyes seemed to get even brighter than they already were. He let out an exaggerated groan— “Holy shit, these are so good. Cannot believe you’ve been hiding skills like this from me.”

“It’s just chicken and lettuce,” you tried to deflect, but he wasn’t having it. 

“Damn, you’re just good at everything, aren’tcha?”

“Cayde,” you exclaimed, an embarrassed smile making its way onto your face. 

“What?” he grinned innocently. You shook your head, taking a bashful bite of your own wrap.

Cayde devoured his in less than two minutes. “Please tell me you have more.” You wordlessly produced another from your inventory and held it out to him. “You are a blessing upon this earth, Guardian. I’m recommending you for promotion.”

“Can Guardians even get promoted? What would I be promoted to?”

“No idea, I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

“I’ll take Zavala’s job,” you snorted. 

“Now that would be interesting. Commander Y/N, Titan Vanguard!”

“Yeeeaaah, probably not,” you laughed. ”Zavala looks stressed enough as it is, I do not need that kinda responsibility. He needs a vacation too. So does Ikora. So does everyone else honestly.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Big Blue take a day off in his life,” Cayde motioned. “No wonder he’s got that stick up his ass.”

You slapped his shoulder playfully. “Hey, be nice.”

“Yeah yeah,” he grumbled, shrugging you off with a pout. “But why are we talking about work right now? We’ve got the whole damn world out here! We should be enjoying it!”

“We’re gonna have to head back at some point,” you sighed.

“Shhhhhh, I’m enjoying this,” he held out a finger in a ‘shush’ motion. You just rolled your eyes at his antics. 

You looked back out to Duluth, taking in the wrecked cityscape. Sometimes you forgot Destiny was post-apocalyptic, since you didn’t see a lot of recognizable landmarks from the 21th century. But sitting on the bridge, looking down at the crumbling towers and buildings, it made you remember just how far humanity had fallen from the time period you came from, and the Golden Age that came afterward. 

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

“Oh— nothing,” you said. “It’s just… a little sad, looking at it all. We used to be all over the solar system, but now we’re all… kinda stuck in the City. But that’s why we’re fighting, right? So we won’t have to stay in the City forever? Imagine if we were able to take back, like, even just Earth. Completely kick everything else off and make the whole planet a stronghold. That would be… damn.”

“I like your thinking, Y/N. That really is the goal, huh?”

You hummed, glancing over to him— holy shit, when had he gotten so close? He was sitting less than a foot from you now, munching away on his wrap, before meeting your gaze and raising an eye ridge mischievously. 

You looked away, heart beating faster in your chest.

“So how’d you make these anyway? Think you could teach me?”

“W-what?”

“I mean, if anyone could manage to teach me to cook, it’d be you.”

“Is he doing this on purpose? Is he flirting?!” L just made an “I dunno” noise.

“Uhhhh, I mean, sure, I don’t see why not,” you grinned a little nervously.

“Really? Ohh, just you wait, I’m gonna be a proper chef in no time!”

“I mean, I’m not a miracle worker Cayde,” you chuckled, “but I’ll see what I can do.”

“Perfect!”

He paused for a moment, before suddenly straightening; “Oh! Before I forget—“

He materialized something in his hand with a flourish, and it took you a moment to recognize it. “You’ve been using that old mark of yours for forever, and seein’ as you got the rest of the set, I managed to snag one of these off a Titan friend of mine.”

It was a Noble Constant Type 2 mark, the only piece from the set you didn’t have yet. “Cayde,” you gasped, unintentionally, taking from his hand when he held it out. “Oh, thank you— you didn’t have to…”

“I mean, I was gonna give it to you anyway, but if it makes you feel better, consider it thanks for takin’ me out here,” he grinned at you. “You’re welcome by the way.”

You transmatted your old mark away and L put the new one in its place— that feature was so damn convenient sometimes.

“Lookin’ sharp Y/N!” he gave you a thumb’s up. You just grinned at him.

-------

She’s so damn pretty when she smiles.

The thought briefly startled him. The awkward smile Y/N had just flashed was something she gave often, and yet it never failed to set his circuits on fire. Every time he saw it he fell in love a little more.

And Sundance had been right— he was falling in love. So hard and fast it terrified him. 

He’d had flings in his many years as a Guardian, most did when you lived for that long, but nothing like what he felt for her. 

Is this what it felt like for the old me? About my Queen?

He still wasn’t sure if she and Ace had ever been real or not, but if she had been, he imagined it felt strikingly similar to this. Wanting to grab on and never let go. Wanting to ramble for hours and never run out of things to talk about. And all of it was interesting because she was saying it. 

And she… had done all this for him. Convinced Zavala, wrangled the Hunters, brought him out here just because she could…

If he hadn’t been in love with her before, he certainly was now.

“You’re probably never going to get a better chance to tell her,” Sundance said in his head.

“I know, I know,” he sighed internally. “Just don’t know if this is the right time.”

“There’s never gonna be a right time,” she answered. “I know you, you’re gonna keep putting it off for eternity until she gets tired of waiting and finds someone else.”

“Don’t even say that, you’re gonna jinx it,” he scoffed. “I’ll tell her soon. Promise.”

He sensed her doubt, but she didn’t prod any more than that. Cayde returned his attention to the woman sitting next to him (not that he needed help doing that, her existing in the same room as him was enough to draw his stare). 

There was a slight tilt in her lips as she stared out at the river, and he just sat there, transfixed. 

He knew they couldn’t stay there forever, but damn, did he ever want to.

-------

You hadn’t tried to fall asleep on the ride back. You really hadn’t. But the second you’d sat down, you closed your eyes, and all of a sudden you were back in Duluth.

Cayde was there, yelling at you to keep up as you both ran through the streets, and you did, but then you realized you were being chased, who was—

It was Uldren. He was behind you, you called to Cayde, tried to warn him, but he fell—he’d been hit—by what?—and you ran up to him—

He looked exactly as he did in Forsaken. There was defiance in his flickering optics as he stared up at you with sparking faceplates and a busted jaw. You were holding the Ace of Spades, why were you—

You pulled the trigger, the gunshot echoed in your ears—

The jumpship lurched to the side. You flew to unsteady feet, entire body tight as a spring.

“Sorry ‘bout that, little turbulence, didn’t mean to w—… Y/N?”

Cayde was sitting in the pilot’s seat, but he stood when he saw the look on your face.

“Hey, you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m—“ you swallowed hard, trying to blink away the images from your vision. “I’m fine.”

“You sure ‘bout that? Here, siddown. Figured I should let ya sleep, kinda seemed like you could use it—“

You sank back to your seat, taking multiple deep breaths in an attempt to slow your heart rate. Cayde crouched beside you, looking exceedingly Hunter-like as he did so.

“So uh, you get those a lot?”

It was a moment before you responded, staring at the floor. “… Yeah.”

“Hey, like I said before, nothin’ to be embarrassed about, really,” he raised his hands, almost in surrender. 

“You say that,” you mumbled, refusing to look him in the eye, “but this is pretty damn humiliating.”

“What? No no, really darlin’, no problem, none,” he quickly assured, and it took you a solid five seconds to answer.

“I—...” you sighed, not able to come up with anything coherent. “Sorry. I didn’t… you shouldn’t have to…”

“Hey, whatever you’re dealin’ with, you don’t have to deal with it alone, you know? This ol’ Exo knows a thing or two about a thing or two,” his faceplates twitched reassuringly.

You nearly burst into tears right then and there. The urge to tell him was overwhelming. And he cared , he cared that you were stressed out about it, he wanted to help—

It was almost too much. 

“I’m… scared. Of the future. There’s just so much out there, and… it’s a little intimidating.”

“Ah, I get that. The whole ‘immortality’ thing can throw ya off pretty hard. But hey, good news!— you don’t have to figure all that out by yourself. Ya got Jane and Premise and all them— and hey, I’m here too, if ya ever wanna… y’know. Talk.”

“Oh— y-yeah. Thanks, Cayde.”

“Don’t sweat it!” he got to his feet, arms going from his sides to his hips and then back again, like he didn’t know what to do with them. “I mean— if ya ever get one of those again, you can— have L call me, doesn’t matter what time it is.”

“I— uh—“ you floundered at his offer. “I don’t— I mean—“

“Seriously, I mean— you don’t haveta if ya don’t wanna, obviously, but my comms are always open,” he grinned clumsily at you. “Literally. Zavala doesn't let me shut them off. Somethin’ ‘bout emergencies. Please take advantage of it.”

You blinked at him, brain working overtime to come up with something to say.

“… I really appreciate that, Cayde.”

He flashed you a thumb’s up; “Woke up at a good time— should be coming up on the City in a couple minutes.”

You nodded, trying to recollect yourself. Your hands found the fabric of the mark he had given you, just for something to hold onto. Cayde flashed you another bright smile, sitting back down in the pilot’s chair in anticipation of landing. 

You stared at the back of his head for a moment, running through his words over and over in your mind. 

Was it possible that you were just as important to him as he was to you? You had no idea what to make of it. And what was up with all those nicknames? Not that you minded, but like…

You took a deep breath and ran a hand through your hair. You probably needed more sleep. Or to be knocked unconscious so you wouldn’t dream so much. One of those.

-------

Later that night, right before you transmatted your armor off in preparation for your shower, you caught sight of something in the bathroom mirror.

The normal Noble Constant mark had a stylized lion on the cloth, with its tail curled around the Titan emblem. On the front panel of your’s, in place of the symbol, was an embroidered heart underneath a capital A— an Ace of Hearts, hand-stitched by an inexperienced but careful hand. On the back panel, there was a white spade, just barely visible against the background (at least from a distance). Your fingers ran over the embroidery for a long while before you were able to set it down.

Chapter Text

“Where in the world do you even get pumpkins in the City?”

Cayde had showed up at your door hauling one in his hands, and Sundance transmatted three more onto your kitchen counter. In all honesty, you’d completely forgotten about the Festival of the Lost until you went down to the courtyard a couple days after Duluth to see it completely transformed into a spooky wonderland overnight, Eva Levante handing out candy to every passing Guardian. And Cayde had appeared not long after, cheerfully taking over your apartment and flooding it with the scent of raw pumpkin and whatever it was that he smelled like— gunpowder and campfire and a heatwave in midsummer. 

“There’s farms around, isn’t too hard to find ‘em,” he answered, busy stabbing a serrated knife through the top of one. “Think we get special privileges cuz of Eva, she always goes overboard in the Tower during the holidays. Have you seen how many jack-o-lanterns there are out there?”

“I think some of those are fake,” you pulled over your own pumpkin, taking the knife he passed you. “There’s no way.”

“Most of ‘em are real,” he countered. “At least the ones ‘round the tree. I don’t know if she trusts the frames with ‘em.” 

“That’s fair I guess. Wait, don’t the frames like, load the artillery and stuff?”

Cayde stopped for a moment, blinking, before shrugging and resuming his pumpkin mutilation. “I dunno. I think she still has a grudge from when we had the Dawning without her. Not that she’d ever admit it.”

You vaguely remembered a lore book talking about that— Eva staying on the Farm after getting out of the City during the Red War, but eventually coming back to the Tower after they started holding celebrations again.

You hummed in curiosity, finally taking a stab at the stem on your own pumpkin. It was hard, and you had to grab the knife with both hands to get it through the skin.

“Geez, these things are—” you cut yourself off with a grunt as you tried to saw through it, pulling the knife towards you through the skin, but it was giving you more trouble than you were expecting.

“Careful with that,” Cayde called, and the words were barely out of his voice box when you yanked it up, accidentally using too much force, and it slipped from the pumpkin—

—and due to the angle, it went straight through the meat of your shoulder.

“Fucking Light Y/N, what did I just say?!”

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” you somehow managed to keep from crying out at the stab— mainly because you didn’t even register the pain until a couple seconds after the fact. Cayde had flown to his feet and flitted to your injured side as L zipped over from where he was talking with Sundance in the living room.

“You have to take it out, I’ll heal it,” the Ghost said, his blue beam criss-crossing over the knife handle currently sticking out of your skin.

“Uh— want me to do it?” Cayde exclaimed, a little frantically, which didn’t really make sense to you because you’d been hurt much worse before, and it wasn’t like it was permanent— he’d literally killed you in Crucible before.

But there was a difference between a Crucible death and an accident while dressed in civvies, you supposed. “Nah, I— I got it. Shit, I really liked this shirt.”

You counted down in your head; Three, two, one— and yanked the knife from your shoulder. The serrated edges caught on your skin, and you couldn’t stop the yelp that crawled from your throat. The wound stitched itself together almost immediately, and you let out a sigh as the familiar numbing feeling of Light spread from the warmth in your chest and washed through your body.

“You good? You sure?” Cayde kept asking when you nodded. “I said to be careful.”

“Knives are a Hunter thing,” was your explanation as you laughed slightly, and you stood from your stool, other hand coming up to gently touch the now-closed wound. Your fingers came back bloody from the red stain soaking your shirt. Cayde took an awkward step back, hands still up and hovering, but he quickly dropped them to fidget with his belt.

“I’m, uh, gonna go change, be right back,” you got out, retreating into your bedroom and shutting the door.

You sighed to yourself as you peeled the shirt off. “I am such a moron.”

“It was an accident,” L reminded, and you cursed to yourself when you saw blood had gotten on your bra too.

You grabbed replacements from the closet and quickly threw them on, eager to return to the festivities. When you went back out, Cayde was standing at your sink, running the knife under the water and looking contemplative.

“I didn’t ruin it did I?”

He turned swiftly at your words, hood getting knocked slightly askew. He wasn’t in any armor other than his cloak, just like you were still wearing the mark he’d given you. 

“Nah, these things are sturdy, not like the cheap crap they sell down in the City,” he returned lightly, shutting off the water and returning to the counter. 

“Where do you even get your knives from, anyway?” you had to ask.

“Oh, here and there. There’s a handful of Hunters that don’t go out in the field anymore that took up blacksmithing a couple hundred years ago, they make most of the ones we use nowadays.”

“W— hundred?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, hundred. Immortal and all.”

You blinked hard. “That’s still… fuckin’ weird, gonna be honest.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it,” he grinned at you. 

You glanced down to where he was still fiddling with the large knife on his hip. “Where’d you get that one from?”

“Oh, this ol’ thing? I’ve had this since forever,” he whipped it out, the bowie-type blade gleaming in the light. It was obviously old, but well taken care of, from what you could tell. “I got it— um. I don’t, uh… hey ‘Dance, where’d I get this thing again?”

“Fallen raiding party got it from a human settlement, you nicked it from them four months after I rezzed you.”

“Hot damn, it’s been that long? This thing’s ancient!” 

“I’m just surprised you never lost it,” Sundance drawled.

“Hey!”

You giggled at his outrage, taking the other knife as he handed it back to you.

“You gonna be careful with it this time?”

“Yes sir, lesson learned,” you threw him a mock salute with your free hand.

“Good, I don’t wanna haveta explain to Zavala why I got his Titan stabbed twice.”

“I’m not gonna do it again,” you protested, “I’ll be very careful.”

“Okay, okay, but just in case,” he demonstrated with his own pumpkin, “cut away from your body.”

You scrunched your nose at him in lieu of response, and he chuckled, causing you to grin. “Alright, I won’t horrifically injure myself this time, promise.”

“That’s what I like to hear!”

Chapter Text

The seasons changed. The Festival of the Lost came and went, and the Dawning approached quicker than you expected. Your Christmas (Dawning?) cactus bloomed, and you tromped through snowy forests on your near-weekly excursions to the EDZ. You participated in some more Crucible matches, 1v1’ed Premise some more (two out of three, you won again), and set up string lights around your apartment. You even found a tiny tree that L helped you decorate. Despite the heavy weight of your knowledge hanging over your head, you’d settled into a routine, and it felt good. 

Even so, there were still so many unanswered questions. Like why Forsaken didn’t happen when you expected it to.

L had voiced another one, something that had been in the back of your mind for a while. “Do you ever think you’ll be able to go back? To your dimension?”

You’d already concluded that you’d been in some sort of car accident back in your world, dead on impact. As far as you could tell, there had been absolutely nothing out of the ordinary leading up to it. 

It was maddening.

“… I don’t think so, L,” you admitted, voice low. “I died over there, there’s… no coming back from that.”

It was something you’d slowly been forced to accept. Your entire life back there, your family, all your friends, your career, your house, your games, that one stuffed animal, your favorite coffee mug— it was all gone. Locked behind an impassable, cosmic barrier. 

“Do you think you’d go back there if you died for real here? Not that I want you to die,” he quickly added, “but, you weren’t originally supposed to be in this universe. Would things go back to normal if you died?”

“I don’t know,” you answered. “I— honestly, I don’t think I’d want to go back at this rate, if I RTL’d. I actually have a life here now, I have you, Cayde, the clan— if I died here, and went back to my own dimension… everyone I care about over there’s probably moved on by now.” There was a certain note of sorrow in the words— your grief for a world you could never go back to. Mourning for something like that was a completely new experience. “And besides, how could I go back to normal after all this? Go back to being a civilian? I’d go crazy without you, dude.”

L bumped into the side of your head, offering comfort, and you took it gladly. He’d been your one constant throughout this entire adventure, and you wouldn’t trade him for anything.

“I would like to see your world though,” he commented. “Us Ghosts have never seen Earth pre-Collapse.”

“We never got a Golden Age,” you shrugged. “It’s certainly a lot more boring than all this.”

“It’d still be interesting though,” he sighed, and you smiled down at him. 

“I think you’d like it.”

“I think so too.”

-------

Cayde was even busier than normal due to all the activity, so you didn’t get to see him as often. Regardless, he still made time to hang out with you, even if it was just to grab a quick bite to eat in between Vanguard meetings. And eventually, he managed to snag enough free time for you to have that cooking lesson you said you‘d give him. But keeping in the festive spirit, it turned into more of a baking lesson.

“Wow, you really went all out, huh?” Cayde commented after the two of you transmatted to your apartment. You had lights strung on the walls, a couple candles burning, and of course the tree—tucked into the corner where it just barely fit.

“It was about time I got some color in here,” you responded lightly, kicking off your boots. You were decked out in a comfy festive sweater, Cayde in a much more casual sweatshirt and cargo pants. The hood was flipped up, unsurprisingly, and you had to wonder if it was just a Hunter thing to like one’s head covered. You could relate a little— it made you nervous whenever you didn’t have that extra bit of cloth at your waist from your mark. You had it on even now, despite the fact it didn’t match the rest of your outfit. You had to stop yourself from running your fingers over the small embroidered heart. Neither of you had ever mentioned it. “And hey, it’s the Dawning, what’s wrong with a little holiday spirit?”

“Absolutely nothing,” he grinned. “So what we makin’?”

“Sugar cookies,” you answered, rounding the corner to the kitchen. “I’ve got gingerbread dough in the fridge already, while we wait for the other stuff we can cut it up and bake it.”

“Oh hell yeah, clear my calendar Sundance!”

She and L materialized at the same time, the former rolling her eye sarcastically.

“Have fun you two,” she called as the two Ghosts flew back to the living room to do whatever it was Ghosts did when they weren’t humoring their Guardians.

Cayde clapped once before yanking off his gloves. “Alright, what first?”

“Washing your hands is first,” you smirked.

Cayde needed no help being directed to the sink, and once you both were ready, you slid your datapad closer to you, reading off the recipe you’d pulled up. “Okay, grab a bowl, I got the flour. Three cups it looks like.”

You’d set out multiple bowls on the counter (brand new ones, you’d gone a bit crazy at the store in preparation for this), and Cayde chose one to hold out to you. You grabbed the appropriate measuring cup and portioned out the correct amount into it. “Kay, I’ll get the baking powder, take this—” you handed over a half-teaspoon measuring spoon, “—and put the salt in.”

“That much?” he asked, and you nodded. “Kinda seems like a lot, right?”

“Oh don’t worry, you won’t even be able to taste it, it actually makes it better,” you assured, mixing in the baking powder. Cayde eventually dumped the salt in, and you handed the bowl off to him to whisk together. You grabbed a larger one and added the butter and sugar, mixing in the egg and whipping cream once it was even. 

“I— urgh— c’mon—”

You glanced over to him in amusement, where he was struggling to mix together the thick powder. “Need some help there?”

“Why is this so difficult?”

You set down your own bowl, moving to stand beside Cayde. “You gotta kinda scoop it, like this.”

You put your hands over his without thinking, guiding him through the correct motion, slowly, but then more confidently. 

It took a couple seconds for you to realize what you’d initiated, and you felt your face heat up, because it wasn’t like you could stop as abruptly as you wanted to without it being awkward. 

Did this count as holding his hand? It totally counted. You glanced down to where you were still whisking the flour together; his hands were very similar to a human’s, only blueish silicone instead of flesh. There were small plates you felt over his knuckles that you hadn’t noticed earlier, for extra protection maybe? And you didn’t think he had any fingernails either—

“Is that good?” he questioned, and you snapped out of it to check the mixture.

“Oh, uh, yeah, that— should be good,” you finally released his hands, a little clumsily. “Okay, now pour that in here.” You grabbed for your own bowl and held it out for him. A little spilled off the sides as he did, and he yelped as he tried to get it all in the other bowl. You giggled at the noise. 

You mixed the dough together and motioned for Cayde to grab a roll of parchment paper. “‘Kay, we’re gonna flatten these then stick ‘em in the fridge fooooooor… at least an hour, so we can cut out the gingerbread cookies.”

“Damn, you’re really on top of this,” Cayde chuckled, sounding impressed.

“I’m just following the instructions,” you scoffed lightly. “Here, take half, should be firm enough now.”

You lifted the lump of dough from the bowl and tore it in two, setting them on the pieces of paper Cayde had set out. “So then you flatten it,” you narrated, taking a rolling pin and running it over your half, “and put more parchment paper on top.”

“Okay, my turn!” he exclaimed, and you handed off the rolling pin once your’s was flat enough. If he had a tongue, you imagined it’d be sticking out the side of his mouth in concentration as he pressed down on the dough in determined motions. 

“Uh, careful, you don’t want it too flat,” you warned. 

“Yep, got it!”

It didn’t take long for him to finish, and soon, you had two sheets ready to be chilled, and replaced the gingerbread dough in the fridge. “Alright, while we wait for those, we can start on the other ones.”

You peeled the baking sheets off the dough you just pulled out. “Now comes the fun part,” you grinned.

“What, that wasn’t the fun part?”

“Well, I mean, it was, but actually cutting the cookies is the funner part.”

“It’s all fun to me,” he half-pouted. You just stuck your tongue out at him.

You’d gotten a ton of different cookie cutters off the Destiny equivalent of Amazon; there were replicas of all the class emblems, the Traveler, a Ghost shell, as well as the more classic gingerbread men. You each took a sheet and got to work immediately.

You’d only gotten a third of the way through your‘s when you reached for another cutter on the other side of the table. You hadn’t moved the ingredients out of the way, and your arm knocked into the bag of flour—

It spilled all over Cayde’s hoodie. He jumped back instinctively but it was already too late. “Ah shit— I’m so sorry, fuck I shoulda moved it earlier—“

Cayde yelped dramatically, darting forward, shoving his hand in the bag and grabbing a handful of the powder. “Every man for himself!”

And then he tossed it at you.

You shrieked, giggling, ducking to avoid it, but getting dusted anyway.

“Take that!” 

“Oh, you’re going down,” you exclaimed, diving for the bag.

-------

The two Ghosts watched from the living room as their Guardians ducked and rolled around the kitchen, laughing uproariously as they tossed cooking implements at each other. 

“You’re getting this on video, right?”

“Who do you think I am, L?”

He huffed in amusement as Cayde darted out from behind the cover of an open cabinet door to toss more flour, nailing Y/N straight in the face. He probably should have expected something like that to happen.

-------

When all the cookies were either cooling or in the oven (and the kitchen cleaned up), you made hot chocolate for the both of you and handed Cayde his mug as you sat next to him on your couch.

“Oh, you still got—” he motioned to your hair, and your hand came up to swipe it— there was still a little flour streaked in it. “Uh, here, lemme—...”

His fingers came up, and you froze as he gently swiped the powder from the strands, dusting a little over your sweater but mostly disintegrating into the air. All you could focus on was the feeling of his fingertips on your head, and the adorably focused expression on his faceplate, and how you could feel his Solar Light spreading from his touch throughout your entire body. You had to hold back an embarrassing noise from escaping you at the sensation.

“Hmm, all good,” he sat back, and you almost chased his touch, but quickly composed yourself, taking a sip from your mug to distract your traitorous brain. 

“Th-thanks.”

If he noticed the tremor in your voice, he didn’t mention it, thank the Light. “No prob.”

You swallowed hard, trying to gather your courage. “So, uh, I got something for you. For Chri— for the Dawning,” you swiftly corrected. 

“Oh! Oh, Y/N, ya didn’t have to,” he exclaimed.

“I— what was I supposed to do, not get you something?” you blurted with an embarrassed smile.

“Well— I mean—” he shook his head, “whatever, I have something for you too!”

He pulled a small wrapped package out of transmat, and you quickly did the same, your’s adorned with a sparkly bow. You traded presents, and you held it with both hands for a moment.

“Should we, uh, open ‘em now?”

“I don’t see why not,” Cayde shrugged.

“There isn’t like, a specific day we do that on? I dunno, this is my first Dawning,” you explained awkwardly.

“Nah, it’s more of a season than an event,” he answered. “Go on, open it!”

You gently pulled apart the wrapping paper, revealing a surprisingly familiar deck of cards.

“I was tryna look up the Uno thing you showed us, and it turns out there’s a ton of other card games I’ve never heard of before! You have no idea how hard it was to find this thing,” he rambled, and you just blinked at the Phase 10 deck in your hands. It was in a clear case, and you popped it open, thumbing through the cards— they were all there, and in good condition, as far as you could tell. It’d been a while since you’d played, you’d probably have to try it a couple times to remember all the rules, but you felt a certain excitement building at holding a deck in your hands again. How the hell had Phase 10 managed to survive the Collapse but Uno hadn’t?

“Cayde, this is… thank you, thank you so much, where’d you even get this?”

“It was not easy, lemme tell ya,” he huffed, and you giggled a little at the expression on his face. “There aren’t a lot of ‘em out there, there was a whole string of favors I had to call in so this one collector would even let me in the door—”

“Was it really that much trouble?” you interjected, almost guilty.

“Oh, it was totally worth it,” he assured, arm waving. “You do like it, right?”

“Oh— yes, yes, absolutely, thank you,” you said again, holding it to your chest. “Now open your’s!”

“Oh, right!”

He ripped open the wrapping paper with much more enthusiasm than you had, revealing a metal box nearly the same size as the one he’d given you.

“Wait, did we get each other cards?”

“Just open it,” you insisted, shifting a little in your seat in anticipation.

He snapped it open, pulling out the multicolored cards. You’d made an Uno deck, but stylized with normal card suits— red was hearts, yellow was diamonds, green was clubs, and blue was spades. You’d added Jacks and Queens and Kings to the Reverses and Skips and Draw 2’s, with the Wilds as Aces and the Jokers as Draw 4’s. It had taken you the better part of a week to finalize the design, but you were extremely proud of how they’d turned out, considering you had to figure out the drawing software as you went. 

Cayde stared at the deck for a long moment, throat lights flashing absently. “Y/N, this is crazy, you made these yourself?”

“Uh, yeah,” you blushed. “The fact that you can just make stuff with glimmer is incredible, honestly, like I know that’s the point of the stuff but—...” you cut yourself off as Cayde broke into a grin. 

“These are— these are great, thank you.”

The sincerity in his tone caused you to flush even more. “No problem,” you squeaked out.

“Heh, what are the odds we both got each other cards? That’s actually funny.”

You laughed and set your new deck down to pick your mug of cocoa up again. “We should play with these sometime,” you motioned. “Do you know how?”

“Okay, I tried to figure it out, but it’s like they made it confusing on purpose,” he exclaimed. “Why are the phases so random?”

“To make it more interesting,” you laughed a little. “Here, I’ll show you.”

Cayde shuffled closer on the couch so he was right next to you, and his leg gently brushed your’s when you shifted. You spread out the Phase 10 deck on the coffee table.

“So the goal is to make as many phases as fast as possible, you start with ten cards and draw one at the beginning of your turn…”

Chapter Text

“I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna tell Shaxx.”

Had you been drinking something, you’d have spit it out. You leaned forward on your couch, closer to where Jane was sitting cross-legged on the floor. “Really?!”

Her gaze was unwavering. “If there was ever a time, it’s now.”

“He’s busy running Crimson Doubles, right? How you gonna corner him?”

“Gonna ask him to do a match with me. If-slash-when we win, I’m gonna tell him.”

“Dude, go for it— honestly, I’ve been waiting for this for months. You know he adores you.”

Jane flushed; “He does not.”

“Oh sure,” you scoffed playfully, “he just constantly praises you in matches, and finds excuses to have you stick around when you’re getting bounties, and totally does not want to kiss you. Totally.”

“Oh shut up,” she blushed. “Hey, you said you’d ask out Cayde if I asked out Shaxx, so what’s your plan?”

It was your turn to flush. “Okay, that’s not fair, I’m not— that was a joke!”

Jane laughed gleefully. “Better start planning!”

L suddenly beeped with an incoming call. You didn’t bother transmatting your helmet on to answer it— “Hey, what’s up?”

“Y/N, my favorite Titan! I got a couple hours off, wanna do some Crucible with me?”

Your mind blanked at Cayde’s suggestion. Jane’s jaw had dropped open.

“Uhhhhh, you mean Crimson Doubles?” you tried to clarify, pulse racing. 

“Sure! Shaxx is running that this week, right?”

“Um, yeah,” you stuttered out. Either he was actually so clueless as to not know what he was suggesting, or he knew exactly what he was suggesting. 

“Perfect! Meetcha down there in a bit!” The call ended with a click, and Jane just stared at you.

“No. Fucking. Way.”

“I cannot believe this,” you held your head in your hands. 

“Holy shit Y/N, you need to get down there now , if he doesn’t confess or something I’m going to pry it out of him, this is your chance!”

“Uhh— I don’t— I— uhhh—“

Jane leapt to her feet and grabbed your arm. “Come on, we’re both doing this!”

You let yourself be dragged down to the courtyard, where a group of Guardians had gathered in preparation for transmat to an arena. Most were in pairs, talking excitedly amongst themselves. Shaxx looked like he was having the time of his life, laughing boisterously at whatever the Guardian closest to him said. 

You nudged Jane in his direction; “Go on, ask him!”

She visibly swallowed, set her jaw, and walked over to where he was standing. He greeted her in a thunderous voice, waving an arm. They spoke for a moment, and though you couldn’t hear due to the distance and the chatter of the other Guardians, you saw Shaxx nod enthusiastically and laugh something. Jane grinned, and she gave you a thumb’s up behind her back. You fist-pumped silently at the confirmation.

“Handle things here for me Arcite!” you heard Shaxx yell as you walked closer. “Oh, Guardian, are you here for a match?”

“Not yet, waiting for someone,” you shook your head. “Is this one starting soon?”

“Indeed! I will be participating as well!”

“Oh really?” you tried your best to sound surprised. 

“Yes! Jane had agreed to be my partner!”

You’d never seen Jane look so nervous. “Y-yeah.” 

“Well good luck you two!” you gave a mock salute. 

“Thank you!” 

“Hey Y/N!”

You turned at hearing your name; Cayde was jogging into the group.

“Hey,” you called as he approached. 

“What’s the word, Shaxx?” he put his fists on his hips. 

“Crimson Doubles!” the warlord laughed. 

“Of course, is there a game open?”

“We may have to wait awhile,” you motioned to the large group around you.

“It goes pretty fast,” Jane said.

“Speaking of, I believe we are up!” Shaxx announced. 

Four Guardians transmatted in a ways away, sweaty and smiling, congratulating each other.

“Wonderful match, Guardians!” Shaxx exclaimed, and one of the Hunters gave a tired thumb’s up.

“I’ll see you after, yeah?” you raised your eyebrow at Jane suggestively. She gave you a look as she, Shaxx, and two other Guardians who had been waiting dematerialized. 

The match was televised on the screens around you, from multiple angles, so you could spectate easily. You didn’t have comm audio, but it was almost more exciting that way. Guardians crowded around to watch as Jane and Shaxx fought together like they’d been doing it their whole lives— the synergy was honestly incredible to behold. Apparently he was running Solar today, because between his hammer and Jane’s Void shield, the opposing Warlocks didn’t stand a chance. Neither of the Titans died a single time.

The losing duo transmatted back immediately after the match was over, but Jane and Shaxx took multiple minutes longer. Eight and a half actually, you counted. 

When they did come back, Jane kept her helmet on, even as you ran up to her. “Holy shit Jane, that was crazy! I didn’t know you were that good at Crucible!”

“I’m usually not,” she admitted, glancing over to Shaxx. You couldn’t see his face either, but if you had to guess, he was looking at her like she hung the stars in the sky. His helmet visor hadn’t strayed from her for a single second. 

You couldn’t help the fiendish smile that spread over your own face. Cayde was glancing between you and the other two Titans, suspicion in his gaze. 

“I must continue things here, but I’ll talk to you later, yes?” Shaxx told Jane, who nodded. “There are a couple more matches before your’s Guardian,” he turned to you, “but it shouldn’t be too long.” 

“That’s alright, I needa use the vault anyway,” you shrugged. You turned to round the corner, and Jane was following, and the second you got out of their line of sight you whisper-yelled, “So?!”

“He kissed me,” she sighed, like she still couldn’t believe it herself.

“He what?! You saw his face?! What did he look like?!”

“Dude.” She grabbed your shoulders, pausing for dramatic effect. “He’s so hot.”

“I knew it!” you cheered, throwing your hands up.

“We’re gonna go on an actual date in a couple days,” she kept going. “I can’t believe that actually happened.”

“Dude, me neither, congrats!”

“Now you gotta do something about your own predicament, you know that right?” she said, and you grimaced. 

“I don’t knoooow,” you whined. “I have no idea what he thinks of me.”

“Y/N. You have not seen what I have seen. I promise you, he would jump at the chance to get with you, I’m telling you.”

Part of you wanted to do exactly what she was suggesting. If she was actually right, and he was interested in you that way, you’d— you’d lose it a little, to be honest. 

But you couldn’t. Not until the Prison of Elders was well and truly behind you. If you both survived that long.

It was a sobering thought, and your smile dropped just the slightest bit. 

“Hi guys!”

You both turned to see Premise sprinting toward you, his Crown in one hand and Riskrunner in the other. “Does anyone over there not have a partner?!”

“Uhhhh, I dunno,” Jane managed to get out before he barreled past you and into the group. You both chuckled at his antics.

-------

You and Cayde found yourself in the same match as Premise, who had paired up with a Hunter you didn’t know. You managed to stave off your anxiety until you appeared in the arena—somewhere in one of the City’s dead sectors—where you promptly had to restrain yourself from hiding behind Cayde. You’d fought against him that one time, but you’d never been on the same team before, so you had no idea what the plan was.

Your heart hammered in your ears as you crept around, looking for the other two. Cayde’s head suddenly canted to the side, and he moved away— “I think they’re flanking us, you go down there, I got this way, yeah?” Before you could protest, he was off, Ace of Spades in hand before he rounded the corner. You swallowed hard, adjusted your grip on your own hand cannon, and pushed forward.

You came across another person not even a minute later— you dove for cover, pulse rifle rounds flying over your head. You peeked out to toss a grenade, ducking back immediately after. The Hunter let out a strangled curse as it exploded, and you popped back out to put a round straight through his helmet.

“Nice throw Guardian!” Shaxx bellowed in your ear. You just barely saw the Hunter’s Ghost zip back to the nearest respawn point before another was on you, bright armor glinting in the sunlight— it was Premise.

“Hey Y/N!” he called, leaping at you with a swing of his sword. 

“Uhhhhh— hi—!” you managed to gasp, dodging out of the way. The very tip of the blade dragged against your gauntlet as you leapt to the side, backing up and trying to get a good shot. Eventually you just turned tail and ran, ducking when you heard the telltale rapidfire thunkthunkthunk of his Riskrunner. 

A couple of the shots caught you on the shoulder, causing you to cry out and trip, hands colliding with the wall you were trying to avoid. Premise was on you in an instant, fist crackling with Arc energy, flying towards your face, he was faster than the last time you’d fought him, had he been practi —

-------

“Yes! I got a kill! Did you see that Shaxx?!”

“I did! Wonderful job Guardian! Now keep that streak going!”

L rolled his eye as Premise jumped up and down, pumping his fists in the air.

“Don’t camp, go find Cayde,” he called, and Premise waved as he leapt up a ledge.

Y/N had gone down not ten feet from a respawn point, so he didn’t have to go far to transmat her to the area and summon the Light within, pushing it back into his Guardian’s body.

Nothing happened.

He would have frowned if he had a mouth, trying again, taking every bit of Light he possessed and shoving it directly into her nervous system.

Nothing happened. 

“What in the…? Guardian? Y/N? Y/N?” 

He kept trying, increasingly frantic, but she still laid there, unmoving, heart stopped dead.

“Why won’t it work?! Y/N!” Terror like he’d never felt before strangled him, choking out every other conscious thought. 

“Are you alright, little Ghost?” Shaxx was broadcasting to all players, and L didn’t have the presence of mind to switch to a private channel.

“No, she’s— she’s not rezzing! I’m trying and she’s not coming back! I don’t know why it won’t work, why won’t it work?!”

“Shit, what? L, I’m coming back,” Premise patched in.

“Why are you on this channel? What’s going on?” the Hunter Y/N has gotten earlier asked.

Cayde said something too, but L barely heard any of it, trying and continually failing to revive Y/N. The pieces of his shell floating around his core sped up their spinning, as if by sheer force of will he could make it succeed. It should though, that was how it worked . She died, he revived her, she lived. That was how it had always been, for everyone, so why—?!

-------

Cayde and Premise slid into the respawn point at the same time, crouching over Y/N’s limp body.

“What’s going on?” Cayde all but yelled. The second he’d heard L’s panicked voice over the comm his stomach had dropped to the floor. The worried chatter from the other Hunter and Shaxx was ringing in his audials, but he was too focused on the woman in front of him to hear what they were saying. 

“I’m trying to rezz her but it’s not working! I don’t know why! It feels like it is, it should be, but she’s not getting up!”

“Shit, shit, fuck, did I actually kill her?” Premise exclaimed. He was pacing back and forth, hands grasping at the spikes on his helmet. “But she shouldn’t be dead dead, why isn’t she rezzing?!”

“I don’t know!” L cried, sounding like he was on the verge of tears. Cayde had known plenty of Guardians who had lost their Ghosts over the years, but a Ghost permanently losing their Guardian? That hadn’t happened since Dredgen Yor. And for it to be Y/N, of all people—

It was only due to centuries of discipline that he kept himself from outwardly panicking like he wanted to do— internally was another story, but he needed to take control of the situation here.

Going off the increasing questions being voiced over comms, the match had completely halted. “Shaxx, cancel the game,” he ordered. “We got a Guardian down.”

“Come on, come on, come on…” L was whispering to himself, floating right over Y/N’s chest and pulsing so brightly it was hard to look directly at him. 

Cayde could hardly stand to look at her body. That constant, blinding Light she radiated was snuffed, completely cut off. It was jarring, like an unexpected eclipse during broad daylight. She was too still, too permanent, too dead—

-------

…

You were floating through a dark abyss, but unlike similar nightmares you’d had, this one was comforting. It felt like Void Light, wrapping around you in a gentle, comforting shroud.

Solar flared in your vision, joining the Void, and then Arc, sparkling against the inky blackness. It swirled together, forming a circle, no, a sphere—

Everything shifted. You saw yourself, sitting in your apartment, your list in hand and L hovering over your shoulder.

A distinct sense of approval. Everything shifted.

You saw the Prison of Elders, Uldren leveling the Ace of Spades at Cayde’s head.

Discontent. Anger. Wrong . Everything shifted.

••S•O•O•N••

••D•O••N•O•T••W•A•V•E•R••

-------

You shot to your feet so fast you got lightheaded. It was ten times worse than the other times you’d been rezzed, your head throbbing and joints aching. 

“Y/N!”

You turned around just in time for L to collide with your chestplate, the action so rough you were actually jolted back a couple steps.

Cayde was right behind him, and for a single, blissful second, he pulled you into a tight hug, L squished in between you. He stepped back after only a moment, leaving you with a thousand questions on your lips.

“Woah— what? What just happened?”

“You died,” Cayde blurted out. You blinked at him.

“I shot you, but then—…” Premise trailed off, one hand running over the spike on his opposite gauntlet almost self-soothingly.

“You wouldn’t come back,” L finished. He was still pressed up against your chestplate, sliding up to the crook of your neck. You cupped his shell on instinct, worry flaring in your chest at his tone. You’d never heard him so scared before.

“You died, and I tried to revive you, I did, but you wouldn’t— you wouldn’t come back! I kept trying but it wouldn’t work and I don’t know why it wouldn’t work and why you weren’t coming back—“

“Shhshhh, hey, it’s okay, I’m back now,” you soothed, pressing the faceplate of your helmet against him, running your gloved thumbs back and forth across his shell. His fins were shaking in your hands, and your heart clenched at the feeling.

“I thought you were gone, Y/N,” he whispered, barely audible. It was probably only because of your connection that you heard it. 

“I’m not,” you assured, just as quietly. “I’m right here.”

“You scared me there for a minute,” Cayde admitted, letting out a small laugh that was more relieved than anything. You were still trying to comprehend that for a brief second, he’d hugged you.

“Is she back now? Where’s she at?”

“Is everything alright down there Guardians?”

Someone must had opened a public channel to everyone in the lobby, you realized. “I’m alright,” you told them. “Something weird happened with my rezz but I’m fine now. Should we, uh, finish the match?”

“I think the fuck not,” Cayde ordered immediately. “I don’t want you anywhere near a firefight until we figure out why your Ghost couldn’t rezz you.”

You stared at him, taken aback by how intense that reply had come out.

“I second that,” Premise concurred, voice still shaky. “I’m so sorry Y/N, I had no idea that…”

“It’s not your fault,” you were quick to tell him. “This is Crucible, we’re supposed to shoot each other. No one knew that would happen.”

“Why did it happen though?” he questioned, and that made you pause.

The vision. It was the only appropriate name for it. That hadn’t been like any dream or nightmare you’d had before. Those usually faded after a couple minutes or hours— whatever that had been was still clear as day. Had the Traveler sent that to you? Why?

You needed to talk to L. Privately.

“I don’t know,” you said aloud. “Is there— like any tests you can run or something?”

“I can make some diagnostics,” L said, finally pulling away a little and dematerializing in your hands. “Y/N… I’m so sorry, I’m supposed to be able to bring you back when you die and I… couldn’t.”

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s not your fault either,” you told him. “I think I know what happened, I can tell you once we get back to the house.”

He didn’t respond to that, but seemed to wrap his Light around your own, holding you close in the only way he could.

The Hunter finally slid into the area, rifle slung over his shoulder. “You good?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” you confirmed. “I uhhh, guess the match is over? Does that mean we win?”

“Uh, no, it should be a draw!” Premise blurted out. “You got him and I got you!”

“Fair enough,” you shrugged. “So do we just… go back?”

“… Yeah, pretty much,” Cayde said. “Come on.”

Jane ran up to you the second you arrived back in the Tower; “Holy fuck Y/N, are you okay? We saw everything, Shaxx said you couldn’t get rezzed or something.”

“I’m fine, promise,” you raised your hands placatingly. “Just a glitch or something, it’s all good now.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I think I’m just gonna go home,” you motioned.

“I’ll walk you,” Cayde volunteered immediately. You blinked at him a moment, but didn’t protest. He was standing within arm’s reach of you, almost shuffling in place, like he couldn’t sit still. His hand was resting on his holster, and when he glanced to you, you quickly turned away.

“I’ll call you guys later, yeah?” you waved to Jane and Premise.

“Yeah, see ya,” Premise waved back. “Don’t die again or anything!”

“I won’t!”

-------

Cayde was quiet the entire walk back to your apartment, which made you a little nervous. It certainly made it awkward at any rate, and you weren’t brave enough to break the silence until you arrived in front of your door.

“I’ll, uhh… let you know if L finds anything out, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, ‘course,” Cayde stepped away like he was going to leave, changed his mind, stepped back. Stood there for another long moment. “I— um. I just—...“

He snapped and turned away, wiping a hand over his face. 

“… Cayde? Are you okay?”

“Am I o— are you okay? Y/N, that— I’ve been Vanguard for years, a Guardian for much longer, and I’ve never seen something like that happen. Not once. Zip. Nada. You should really talk to Ikora, or someone who knows more about the Light than I do, cuz if something like that happens again? Or in the field, Speaker forbid? That’s bad, that’s really bad, and I don’t— I don’t know how to fight that.”

You just stood there, almost in shock, firstly at how seriously he was taking it, and secondly at how much he seemed to care. You knew he was the leader of the Hunters, but it was rare you saw why he was a leader, or witnessed the skills he needed to do his job. You got so used to seeing the smartass, wise-cracking Exo, sometimes you forgot he was the Hunter Vanguard, and that he was damn good at his job, even if he hated it.

“Cayde, I…”

“Sorry, sorry, I just— don’t want anything to happen. ‘Specially not somethin’ we don’t know how to fix.

“No, I get that, you don’t have to— apologize, it’s not your fault or anything, it was just— a fluke, that’s all. We’ll— we can talk to Ikora tomorrow, I kinda just want to go to bed,” you laughed slightly. 

“Oh yeah, sure, no problem, absolutely, go for it,” his arms waved awkwardly. It was like he couldn’t stop the words now, optics flashing almost too brightly. “You mind if I stay for a while?”

He said it so fast it took you a moment to respond. “Oh, uh, sure, it’s a bit of a mess though,” you warned, opening the door, transmatting the top half of your armor away. “I’m gonna shower real quick, feel free to uh, raid the fridge,” you called as you crossed the small living room to the bathroom. “If there’s even anything in there.”

“Copy that.”

You shut the door quietly, leaning against it, taking a deep breath to try and steady yourself.

Well then. That was not how you were expecting the day to go.

Chapter Text

L compiled in the air after you turned on the shower. 

“Y/N…”

There was an emotion in his voice you’d never heard before, and more than anything else that had happened that day, that scared you the most.

“L? Hey, it’s okay, c’mere.”

For the first time, he didn’t fly into your waiting arms, instead hovering in place. 

“I’m so sorry. About what happened. My one job is to revive you, to bring you back when you die— and I failed. What if I’m defective? What if you die again and I can’t bring you back? Am I broken?”

“What? What, no, L, you’re not broken.” It came out harsher than you meant it to. You held out your hands again, and this time he came to you. You held him to your chest, like you’d done so many times before, just standing there for a moment.

“You’re a lot more to me than just ‘the thing that revives me’,” you told him. “You’re my friend L, I love you, I’m so glad you’re my Ghost. What happened wasn’t your fault, not at all. I think the Traveler used that death to… show me something, and kept you from reviving me until I saw it.”

“It showed you something?” he perked up at that. “What did you see?”

“Me— us, actually, planning. How to keep Cayde from, y’know.” You were whispering now— hopefully the shower spray would cover your voices, but you never could be too careful. “I think it… liked that we’re doing that. And then it showed me Forsaken— the one back in my world, where Uldren… yeah. It didn’t like that one. And then I think it told me ‘soon,’ and ‘do not waver,’ whatever that means.”

“That might mean that what happened back in your world… it’s close to happening now. That we should be prepared.”

You bit your lip. “You think so? I mean, it’s the only thing that makes sense I guess, but… it’s been nearly a year since I got here, when we thought all that would happen after four months.”

“Maybe time passes differently here than it does in your world?” L questioned. “It’s possible— technically anything’s possible.”

“I guess. It just doesn’t— why now?”

The old well of anxiety you’d had since realizing you had to change the future swelled in your chest. It was happening. Soon, apparently, if that vision was correct. And how soon? Did a paracausal force like the Traveler experience linear time like you did? Was it even the Traveler who sent you that vision? You could be talking to the Darkness for all you knew, or Savathûn, or any of the other beings of evil that were trying to take over Earth. 

“I don’t know. I guess… we’ll just have to see.”

“Yeah.”

Goddammit.

-------

“Hello?”

“Hey Ikora, it’s me. You ever hear anything about a Ghost failing to revive a Guardian after they die?”

“What? I… don’t recall so, why?”

“Cuz the Guardian I was just in Crucible with got downed and her Ghost couldn’t rezz her for a good two minutes,” Cayde spat out. He was pacing the length of Y/N’s living room, over and over again. The space was so small he was more walking in circles than anything, but it was better than sitting still. Not for the first time, and probably not for the last, he wished he was out in the wilds right now. He felt claustrophobic in the tiny apartment— not that he was about to leave.

“That Titan friend of your’s?”

“Yeah. Wasn’t a Darkness zone, normal Crucible map. Her Ghost was actively trying to rezz her and it wasn’t working.”

The line was silent for multiple seconds. “I’ve… never heard of anything like that happening before, not outside of a Darkness zone,” she admitted. “Usually Ghosts know when they’re in one, did the Guardian’s Ghost not know until it tried to rezz her?”

“No, he was freaking out, poor guy,” Cayde explained. “He said it felt like it was working, but she wouldn’t get up. I’ll send you the footage.” Sundance sent over the request to Shaxx’s Ghost before he even finished the sentence, bless her. 

“Give me her comm number, I’ll call her.”

“Oh, hold off on that, she’s in the shower right now.”

“You’re at her house?”

“Yeah,” he replied, not quite defensive.

“… I see. Well have her call me when she’s finished, I need her and her Ghost’s firsthand account.”

“Will do, thanks Ikora.”

“Yep.”

Sundance appeared as Cayde shut off the call. “Calm down, you’re going to wear a hole in her floor.

“Will not.”

“You just might if you keep walking like that.”

Cayde didn’t respond, just kept pacing. Sundance sighed and floated down to the couch. “I know you’re worried, but she’s alive now, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, but she almost wasn’t,” he bit out. “Still don’t know what the fuck happened back there.”

“I’m sure L and Ikora will be able to figure it out,” she said. “It’s not like weirder things haven’t happened.”

“Yeah. But like, this is…”

“It’s her.”

Cayde swallowed, refusing to look Sundance in the optic. “Bingo.”

“Like I keep saying, you should tell her.”

“Probably.”

Silence, for multiple seconds.

“Yeah. Probably.”

-------

You emerged from the bathroom soon after in sweatpants and a hoodie, grabbing two drinks from the fridge and cracking one open. It wasn’t quite Dr. Pepper, that knowledge must have been lost during the Collapse, but it tasted similar enough that you could pretend. 

Cayde was pacing circles around your living room, Sundance perched on the armrest of the couch. 

“Maybe you can get him to stop,” she drawled. Cayde shot her a look but kept walking.

“Hey. Here.”

You held out the other can, and he finally paused, taking it from you. You stood there in silence for a moment, both looking at the floor, or the wall, or the drink in your hands.

“I really am fine, Cayde. Promise.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I know,” he swallowed. “Should still talk to Ikora though. She wants you and L to tell her what happened.”

You bit your lip at that— if you didn’t want to reveal what you really saw, you’d have to come up with something else to tell her. Great. You felt L cringe inside your Light.

“Uh huh, I’ll— do that. Like— right now? Or…”

“Yeah, right now,” he waved with the arm not holding his drink. “Or I mean— you don’t have to, if you wanna go to bed, or—or something. I mean that’s perfectly understandable, it’s been a day, take some time to gather yourself and everything—“

… You really should talk to Ikora, but Cayde was giving you an out here, and you weren’t about to ignore it. Though why he was giving you one, you didn’t know. 

“Yeah, I’m, uh, just gonna head to sleep, if that’s fine. I’ll call her tomorrow.”

“Alright, yep, that’s alright, uh huh.”

You took a sip from your can. Cayde still hadn’t opened his.

…

He made no move to leave. And it wasn’t like you were going to kick him out. Besides, especially in the wake of that vision, you… kind of wanted him near you. Forsaken really could happen any day now. You weren’t about to miss your chance. Not after everything. Not when you were so close.

“I’m— I’m just gonna—…”

“Right, right, yeah,” he exclaimed. “I’ll just… yeah.” He motioned in the direction of your couch.

You saw Sundance vanish out of the corner of your eye, and you shot Cayde an awkward smile before slowly retreating to your room. You didn’t close the door all the way, leaving it the slightest bit open. 

It was barely five in the afternoon, but the sky was already darkening. The days were getting longer again, though. Another three months, and you’ll have been in the Destiny universe for a full twelve months.

It was insane to think about. If you’d told yourself a year ago that you’d be shooting at aliens and jumping off buildings for a living with a paracausal metal football that lived in your backpack, you’d have called yourself crazy. And now you had fallen in love with a space-cowboy-robot who had died years ago in your dimension.

You froze in place, halfway to climbing underneath the blankets. 

That was… the first time you’d actually thought that word. About him.

Love.

And you did, you realized. This went beyond anything you’d felt for him back home. That was a minor crush on a fictional character. This was real life, involving real emotions, and you—

You loved him. 

You loved his stupid jokes, his complaints about his job, his addiction to ramen, the way he looked at you sometimes, how much he seemed to care under all that—

You’d never really seen that side of him back when you were just playing the game. It was new. And something you were glad to know, more than you could really understand. 

L materialized in your arms when you got situated in bed, and you clung to him like a lifeline, eyes not able to close just yet. 

Every bit of information you’d ever learned about your situation swirled around in your mind like a massive stormcloud, but there was one thing you were certain of, now more than ever.

You were going to save Cayde. Even if it killed you.

Chapter Text

You got out of bed roughly four hours later at the calling of your bladder. The Not-Dr. Pepper you’d had seemed to go through you just as fast as normal pop had. 

You rolled off the mattress, and were about to open the door when you heard talking.

“… like now? Now-now? PV, on any other day I would be there in a second, but I’ve got stuff going on here, I can’t just—“

A female voice, through comms, that you couldn’t make out. But that nickname stopped you dead in your tracks.

Petra. 

She called him.

It was time.

L’s optic flickered to life from back on the bed, probably in response to the lightning bolt of fear that shot through your spine. “Y/N…?”

You couldn’t respond. You were frozen. It was happening. It was time. Oh, Light, it was happening you weren’t prepared he was going to die you couldn’t let him die—

“Y/N,” L said again, more urgently. He flitted up to face, hovering right next to you. He listened to the chatter coming from the other side of the door for a moment, and quickly deduced the implications— “Y/N, it’s alright. If it’s really time, we can do this. You’ve gotten so much stronger. You know what’s going to happen. We can stop it, I promise.”

You tried to internalize his words, tried to thaw the metaphorical ice around your body (damn, if you lived long enough to see Beyond Light, you’d be able to learn how to use Stasis, huh?). 

“Okay, I’m on my way, just gimme a little bit, gotta wrap up some stuff here.”

More talking. Cayde huffed a quiet laugh. “I know, I know, save some escapees for the rest of us, will ya?”

You burst out of your bedroom with all the grace of a Fallen Brig when you heard the call end. “Where—” you cleared your throat, started again— “Who was that?”

“Oh, shit, sorry, did I wake y’ up?”

“No, no, I was getting up anyway,” you assured, taking a step closer to where Cayde was perched on your couch. It was almost hard to hear yourself over the roaring of the blood in your ears, desperately trying to sound casual. “You get called in or something?”

“Kinda— there’s some sort of prison riot going down on the Reef, wants me to go help contain it.”

“You… gonna go?”

Hesitation flickered over his face for a split second, before expertly being covered by bluster. “Yeah, probably, was gonna bring Premise along, he’s probably still awake anyway, lotsa little guys like that’s his specialty.”

“Bring me,” you burst out, taking another step forward. “I wanna go. I can help.”

“Y/N,” he stood, “normally I’d love for you to tag along, but after all that earlier— no bueno, you getting shot at sounds like the worst idea.”

“Cayde—” desperation bled into your voice, and you didn’t even try to stop it. You had bigger things to worry about than keeping your cool right now. “—please, I need to go—”

“Woooaah, hold your horses,” he raised his hands. “Where’s all this comin’ from sweetheart?”

You knew it was bad when you didn’t even react to the nickname. “I just— I have a feeling. I really need to go with you. Please.”

“Y/N…”

He raised his arms like he wanted to touch you, but they kind of just hovered in the air for a moment before falling back to his sides. “I really don’t think this is a good idea, yeah? Seriously, if you get shot again, or—or something, I don’t know what…”

“Goddammit Cayde, if you leave without me I’m just gonna follow you anyway—”

“Now hold on hun, now you’re makin’ me nervous— nope, I’m pulling rank,” he shook his head, “you gotta stay. I don’t know what’s so important that you gotta come but it can’t be more important than your life.”

“Cayde, I’ll be fine, I promise,” you insisted. “L said it won’t happen again, I’ll be alright, really. Whatever that was, it was just… a fluke.”

The urge to tell him was so strong you had to bite your tongue behind your lips. You were so close.

Come on, come on, come on…

“... You sure L said you were fine?”

“Yeah, I’m good. Cayde, I’m serious— you leave me behind and I’m following you anyway.”

“Not if I call Zavala.”

You blinked at that, staring at him— he stared right back, daring you to break first. “Cayde.”

“Y/N.”

“If I go with you I’ll be right there, you’ll be able to keep an eye on me the whole time, you can protect me.”

You took a step closer, desperate need in every line of your face. Liar. Liar Liar. You were the one going to protect him.

You must have looked really pathetic, because after staring at you for a long moment, he slumped in place. “Okay, if you’re actually just gonna follow me for whatever reason, you can come on one condition— you stay behind me, yeah?”

“That’s fine,” you lied through your teeth. There was no way you were the one staying behind him. Not when you knew the stakes. Hopefully he would forgive you after all this was over.

If he was still living.

Stop it, you told yourself. You know how it’s gonna go. You have the advantage. You can fucking do this. You’ve been doing nothing but overthink this for months now.

“Alright, you good to go?”

You transmatted your armor on without a word, your Hard Light already in hand. “Yep.”

“Alright, let’s head out.”

-------

The flight over was borderline unbearable. Cayde had tried to strike up some conversation, but you didn’t have the mental space for anything more than one-word answers. You just sat in your seat, helmet on, gaze fixed unblinkingly on the swirling of space outside the windshield. L’s voice in your head was the only thing keeping you sane, helping run through what you’d told him about the sequence of events, what happened when, where you needed to be. It helped, but only slightly. Your hands were shaking as you dropped out of FTL, the purple of the Reef filling your vision. 

“Should be just up here,” Cayde announced. You nodded slightly.

There was already something you’d changed; you’d taken the same ship instead of different ones. That was a good sign— maybe you could actually do this.

You gripped your Hard Light with nerveless fingers as the Queen of Hearts flew over the landing zone and you transmatted down. You hadn’t been to the Reef yet, and were distracted by the new scenery for all of two seconds until you caught sight of the Awoken woman standing in front of the entrance. 

“Petra Venj,” Cayde greeted. “Thanks for the invite. Whatcha packin’ for this party?”

“Eh, the usual,” she smirked, pulling a knife from a sheath.

Cayde jumped and pointed in delight. “Ooh! Do the thing!” He leaned over to you; “Seriously, watch this.”

The knife levitated out of her hand, doing a couple revolutions in the air before she grasped it again. Cayde shuddered dramatically. “That’ll never not freak me out. Do it again!”

“You’re friends with the Warlock Vanguard,” you found yourself huffing under your breath.

“Later. Maybe,” Petra sheathed the blade. “Right now, gen-pop is running wild. Fortunately, the main arena and lower levels are on lockdown. But if the core security systems fail…” she turned, motioning with her sidearm, “... containment is going to be… a problem.”

“Just another day at the office,” Cayde drawled. 

He drew Ace, and was about to say something, but—

“Cayde.”

He didn’t stop, just turned around as he kept walking. You grabbed his arm, halting him in his tracks.

“Y/N?”

Your voice was quiet, deadly serious. “Don’t pull out Sundance. For any reason, do you understand me? Don’t. And don’t run off on your own. Stay right next to me. I’m fucking serious.”

“Huh? Is this about the rezz thing earlier? Cuz trust me hun, I ain’t goin’ anywhere, I’ll be right next to ya, promise—“

“What? No, Cayde, just—”

You grabbed his other arm, helmet leveled with his faceplate. “Listen to me. Do not pull out Sundance. Do not go off on your own. And don’t do anything stupid. Or reckless. Just— be fucking careful.”

Cayde’s expression was stony. You weren’t looking at your happy-go-lucky friend anymore, you were looking at the Hunter Vanguard. The legendary Gunslinger. Petra stared at you from some feet away.

“Y/N. What do you know?”

“I’ll tell you later. I promise. But be careful. This isn’t— this is important. Super important. Do not go off on your own.”

“Is this why you wanted to come?”

“Yes.”

His eyes narrowed like he was about to argue. You decompiled your helmet before he could start, staring straight into his optics. You still hadn’t let go of him.

“Trust me. Please.”

Those blue lights flickered all over your face, seemingly trying to decipher what you weren’t telling him. The orange at his throat sparked once, but no sound came out, until;

“... Alright. That goes for you too. Don’t go dying on me.”

A sharp laugh escaped you before you could stop it. “Promise.”

“Are you two coming?” Petra called from where she was halfway to the entrance, and you transmatted your helmet back on with a little shake.

“Yep, on our way! Just follow my lead, yeah? And try to keep up.”

It was like the conversation never happened— just like that, he was back to his regular self. You followed him to an open hatch in the floor, and he adjusted Ace for a moment—

“Now let’s go to prison!”

He jumped, whooping the whole way. Despite everything, you managed to smile at that, leaping in after him.

“Got you!” Gunshot. “Got you!” More gunshots. “Got you!”

-------

Cayde could admit it. Y/N was scaring him.

It was like she was a different person. He’d never seen her so nervous, so focused, so desperate. He liked to think he hid it well, but he still felt the tumultuous whirling of her Light behind him as she watched his back, and well…

It was hard.

“Oho, these guys really wanna dance!”

“This riot has to end here,” Petra said over comms. She was on a walkway across the way from them, taking care of her own enemies. Y/N shot over his shoulder and nailed a Cabal in the head before he could get to it. “If these killers get out, the Reef will be overrun.”

“So we split up and take ‘em out,” he replied. “You go that way, Y/N and I’ll go this way. And a one, two, three—!”

They fought their way to a doorway on the opposite end of the bridge. Y/N shoved past him and got in front, and he reached for her, but she was already running. “Hey, wait up a sec—!”

She didn’t respond, just kept charging down the hallway. “The condition, remember the condition! Dammit Y/N!” he exclaimed, hauling ass to keep up with her, trying to push down the sudden stab of panic. He’d just told her not to go running off! And after all that about him going out on his own—

There was a smattering of prisoners in the hallway they were moving through, but by the time he got to any of them, Y/N had already moved on, leaving nothing but corpses in her wake. He’d be impressed at her vigilance if he wasn’t so worried.

An explosion rocked the building. He saw Y/N stumble ahead of him, and it gave him a chance to finally catch up with her.

“Woah! Who’s blowing stuff up without me?!”

“I’m gonna get eyes on that explosion. You two join me when you can!”

“On our way, Petra,” L answered.

“The faster the better. That blast knocked a few more cellblocks open.”

They emerged onto a high walkway, Cayde making sure to stay solidly in front this time. Y/N glanced around for a long moment, before simply stepping around him and jumping down. “Wh— hey! For the love of—” he called as he followed.

It was… incredibly odd. It was like she knew exactly where she was going, when he knew for a fact she’d never been to the Prison before.

… He was starting to get a sneaking suspicion she knew more than she was letting on.

They came up to a door, which had opened by the time Cayde got there. Petra was on the other side, pulling a knife out of a Fallen. 

“Don’t need our help after all I see,” he commented, reloading Ace.

“I love fieldwork,” she exclaimed, a light smile on her face.

“Seconded.”

Petra redrew her pistol, vaulting over the half-opened door behind her. “That explosion took out security on the lower decks. I’ll check the high-value prisoners down there. You two head to the security hub, get security back online.”

“You got it!” He turned to Y/N, voice casual. “Okay, this crowd isn’t gonna just let us stroll into the security hub. Ya wanna go high or low?”

“Low,” she answered immediately, clicking a little button on the side of her rifle. The indicators flashed then turned Solar-orange. “We’re both going low.”

“Yep, that was the plan.”

They went through the door to their left, Dregs running past to join the battle that was raging down the hall. “Maybe we should just let these guys kill each other off,” Y/N mumbled to herself. “Less work for us.”

“And miss all the fun? I don’t know about you, but I’m having the time of my life right now,” Cayde grinned as he put three bullets in the three closest enemies.

She just huffed under her breath and pulled her Hard Light to her shoulder, sending rounds towards the horde that had gathered in front of them.

It was terrifying how quickly they cleared the area out, or rather, Y/N cleared the area out— she was shooting faster than he was.

“Slow down, you’re makin’ me look bad!”

She didn’t respond, just throwing up a barricade when a Hive Knight jumped down from a walkway above them. Cayde took it out with three quick shots of a Golden Gun, its chitin burning to ash under the Solar Light. 

Farther down, they encountered a Wizard, who was firing on a group of Cabal on yet another walkway. Cayde was starting to wish they’d taken the high ground, it would be so much easier to shoot them from up there.

Y/N was undeterred, whipping out her grenade launcher, firing once, twice, three times at the Wizard. It shrieked, turning its attention to the two Guardians.

“Is that new? I haven’t seen that thing before!” he yelled over the chaos.

“Yeah, Edge Transit, I got like six of these things,” she yelled back, reloading, as the Wizard floated down from the platform to shoot at them some more.

Cayde chucked a grenade, and Y/N fired a few more times before it finally went down.

They turned right when there was too much fire in their path, traversing a mess of cables and broken pipes. “We’re approaching the security hub now, Petra,” L announced.

“Copy that. Everything’s gone dark down here, so I’m stuck taking the long way to supermax.”

They went through another door, the security hub finally within sight, a bulbous room suspended in the middle of a chasm. The hole it was above went all the way down to the lowest levels, the hub held up by a couple bridges and the supports on the ceiling.

Cayde approached it first, spying a couple unsuspecting Cabal between them and their goal.

“I got it!”

He double-jumped into the air, landing on one of the space rhinos with a satisfactory shout. A swift knife to the neck, and he was jumping onto the shoulders of the next one.

But they ended up way too close to the edge, nothing but empty space below them, Cayde’s momentum carried both him and the Cabal he was riding right over the edge—

“Woah woah woah, this was not part of the plaaaaaaaaan!”

“Cayde!”

Chapter Text

Your heart stopped.

You and L cried out at the same time. There was nothing you could do as you watched Cayde tumble off the edge, you were too far away, he—

You failed. You’d failed. This wasn’t supposed to happen—

“Scratch that, it was definitely the plan!”

Cayde flew into your line of sight, dangling from the underside of a Shank.

“What the fuck,” you exhaled, barely hearing yourself over the sound of your heart pounding.

“I’m fine! Meetcha at the security hub! Be careful!”

You just stood there and stared as he maneuvered the Shank into flying towards the hub. “Go left! Left! Your other left!”

You collapsed to your knees, clutching at your chestplate.

“Y/N, are you okay?” L sounded in your head.

“Y—” your voice broke. “Yeah, I’m—... I’m fine. Just gimme a second. I… I thought he…”

You’d forgotten about that part. Fuck that scripted event so hard. 

You got to your feet, clutching your rifle like your life depended on it. It was fine. Everything was fine. You hadn’t failed, not yet. There was still hope. You could do this.

You shredded through the aliens in between you and the security hub, T-Crashing straight through the Ogre and running up to the door. You had to pull out L to open it, and you impulsively scanned your environment for any enemies while he worked on it.

“This says we need warden-level clearance to open the door. Cayde?”

“I gotcha. Stand by for promotion.”

The door slid open after a few more moments. Cayde was behind the glass, crouched over one of the computers. He glanced up at your arrival, poorly concealed relief on his face. “You alright?”

“Fine,” you nodded.

“Oh, you missed a truly masterful performance,” he sighed, tossing a wrench over his shoulder. “All that’s left is the coop-de-gracie.”

He pulled a large lever down. Alarms blared through the room.

“That’s not supposed to happen, right?” you asked.

“Uhhh, what’s happening to the floor?”

“Shit,” you mumbled as large sections of the ground raised up, exposing the internal workings and the Hive spores that were covering them.

“Agh, these Hive are gunkin’ up the works! I’ll get it, gimme a sec—”

“I got it,” you interjected, “you fix whatever’s going on in there.”

“Are you sure?—”

“Cayde, I got it,” you exclaimed as Acolytes and Thrall crawled out of the holes. You threw a grenade at the largest group before rushing the ones on the other side of the room with your shotgun. Your powerful fist slammed into the porous material, turning it to dust.

“What do these things even do?!” you yelled over to Cayde.

“No idea, but the thing won’t start with it there!” he called back.

You blasted the last of it with your shotgun, Cayde manually lowering the sections when it was clear.

“Hive gunk scrubbed! Now it should turn on.”

“Remember to purge the buffers,” L advised.

“Sure, got it, one question; how do I do that?”

“Press the red button.”

Cayde spun to face the tall control panel behind him.

“They’re all red!”

“Then press all of them!”

He frantically ran his hands over the entire panel, causing you to snort to yourself. 

The wall of buttons abruptly turned green, and Cayde stood back with a flourish. “I can’t believe that worked! I’m amazing at this.”

“Whatever you say,” Sundance remarked wryly.

More alarms blared. You groaned.

“Scratch that, it did not work. Don’t worry, we got this! Just be careful!”

“I know!” More platforms rose from the floor, and you cleared them out even quicker than the last ones. Kill the Hive, destroy the gunk, lower the electronics back into the floor.

“Booting it up— for real this time. Come on come on…”

He kept pulling the lever, but it kept flipping itself back up. He pulled it one last time, and before it had the chance to return to its original position—

He pulled out Ace and shot the console. “And stay down!”

Well, that was one way to do it.

“Tech support, with extreme prejudice.”

You just rolled your eyes.

Another console started beeping, and he moved to squint at it. “Well, everything’s where it’s supposed to be, but now it’s asking me for some kinda secondary activation? Should be a terminal I can use out on the catwalks. You stay here—”

“Nope, I’m coming.” You’d recognized that line, almost word for word, intercepting it immediately.

“But— I hear this place has turrets! Turrets, Y/N! You don’t want to use the turrets?”

“We can check ‘em out when we take care of this thing, now come on,” you motioned as you swapped your shotgun back out for your Hard Light. “We’re sticking together, remember?”

Cayde let out a long, dramatic sigh. “Aaaaaah, okay, fine, leave comfort and safety if you want.”

“Yyyyyyep,” you answered, as he hit a couple buttons to open a door and then crawled out of a small hatch in the side of the plexiglass you could have sworn wasn’t there before. 

You both leapt out of the room and up another walkway, onto the platform that circled the whole pit. ”You still with us Petra? We’re gonna clear you a path to supermax real soon.”

“Copy that.”

The ads just kept coming— you shot a single Cursed Thrall and the whole horde exploded, taking out the closest Knight.

“Nice shot! Ooh— two o’clock!”

A couple Cabal dropped from one of the higher platforms, including a particularly strong-looking one you just knew would be a yellow bar.

“I got it!”

Cayde jumped into the air, body glowing golden in a rush of Solar Light. You felt the heat from where you were standing as he shot at the Cabal, all landing dead on. It collapsed with a roar as the Hunter fell back to the ground.

“I’ve hit a locked door. Any updates for me?”

“Hang tight, we’re almost there,” he answered. “Should be just up ahead.”

You entered the room the Cabal had been in front of, finding a console inside— the one you needed the secondary activation for.

You pulled out L before Cayde could even think about bringing out Sundance, and the Ghost immediately got to work splicing into the computer.

“Bringing the security system online.”

Yet another alarm blared through the Prison, but one you hadn’t heard before.

“You in the green now, PV?”

“Yes, accessing the lower levels now. Just gotta check on a couple things, and then we can call it a day.”

You didn’t dare breathe.

This was it.

Time to see if you managed to change things.

“Looks like we’re all done and dusted here, kiddos,” Cayde drawled, wiping his gloves off on each other. “Ramen’s on me!”

“Looking pretty good down here. Just gotta check one last thing,” Petra said.

You bit your tongue. Shifted in place. Adjusted your grip on your rifle.

“No… no no no— Cayde, he’s gone. This isn’t a prison riot, it’s a prison break! The airlock on Deck Zero, it’s the only way out this far down. They’re going to escape!”

“Not if I get there first,” Cayde responded, leaning halfway out the busted window to glance at the security hub on the other side of the chasm. It was just barely holding on to its supports— it looked like it would crumble at any moment. 

“Uh, no, bad idea,” you said instantly, “what did I say about being careful?”

“Hey, you’ve been running around like a madman the entire time we’ve been here,” he shot back, in a tone that was so suddenly harsh it was like a shot to the heart, “and you’re telling me to be careful? You’re the one who couldn’t get rezzed for the longest two minutes of my life not even a day ago.”

“Cayde, listen to me, please, you can’t—” you pleaded, taking a step forward.

“Y/N, seriously, you gotta tell me what’s goin’ on with you,“ he moved closer as well, ”cuz you’ve been freaked out ever since we got here. Before we got here, even. And you freakin’ out is freakin’ me out, cuz you’re acting like there’s something you know that I don’t. And I’m startin’ to think it’s pretty big.”

There was a certain note of… almost anger, in his voice, that you’d never heard before.

“I’m— I’m fine Cayde, I just—”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes I’m sure.”

“Really? Cuz your hands are shaking.”

You glanced down— he was right. Your Hard Light was trembling in your grasp. You transmatted it away to try and hide it, clenching your fists at your sides, but he reached forward and grabbed your hands, oh so gently. The simple action made unbidden tears spring to your eyes, hidden by your helmet.

“I’m fine,” you had to fight to keep your voice from breaking.

“I don’t believe you. Just talk to me, please.”

“I… I…”

Cayde was looking at your visor, but it felt like he was staring straight through to your soul.

“I can’t. Not… not right now. Later.”

Cayde opened his mouth, and—

“Are you two planning on moving anytime soon?!” Petra shouted over comms. You both seemed to snap back to yourselves. 

“On my way,” he said, letting go of you, and he started to walk away—

“Cayde,” you called, “wait. You— you can’t go down there.”

“Y/N, either tell me what’s got you so worried, cuz it’s obviously something, or let me go stop these guys. Letting them just leave ain’t an option.”

“I know, I know, I—... fuck, okay? I’m coming, just—”

“Uh, no you’re not—”

“Cayde, I’m alright! I’ll be able to rezz, just— I’m good. Please. I can’t let you go down there alone.”

You knew what was down there. You knew what would happen if you weren’t able to stop it. You had to stop it.

“Just… don’t pull out Sundance.”

He looked like he wanted to argue again. But he just nodded, jaw clenched, spinning Ace by the trigger guard a couple times and leaving the room. You followed him with a pit rapidly growing in your stomach. 

“It’ll be fine Y/N. You’re there, you can keep him safe, I know you can,” L said to you.

“Let’s hope.”

Chapter Text

You and Cayde hopped up to the very top of the security hub, onto the roof. He glanced around, seemingly calculating. But then he looked back at you, indecision dancing over his plates.

“Don’t even say it, I know, but… you sure you’re good to do this? If you can’t get rezzed…”

“I’ll be alright,” you reassured him. “It’s not gonna happen again.”

“Are you sure? Are you really sure? Cuz I really want you to wait up here—”

“Cayde, I need to do this,” you pleaded. “If you tell me to stay behind I will jump down there right now. Trust me, please.”

He held your gaze for a second, looking like he was fighting every better instinct in his body, before some of that tension drained from his body. “Alright, darlin’. I do trust you.”

Those few small words, in spite of your turbulent emotions, caused something to spark within you. “I trust you too.”

He flashed that trademark smile, worried as it was, one you had come to adore over the days and months, before he glanced back up at the only things keeping you from plunging to your death.

“Ya might wanna hold onto something— this is gonna hurt.”

You swallowed and grabbed onto a piece of wrecked metal, bracing for the uncomfortable rezz you knew was coming.

Cayde aimed down his sights at the bits of supports still connecting the hub with the ceiling— one of the walkways was already ruined, which made his job easier. 

He wrapped his arm around a cable, and fired; half a dozen shots that all met their mark.

The security hub shuddered, then dropped— your stomach dropped right along with it, as you clung to the piece of metal for dear life. You could have sworn you saw Petra multiple stories down, mouthing a “what the—” before you plummeted to the very bottom level, wind and smoke and fire rushing in your ears, and—

-------

Cayde grunted as he shoved a piece of wreckage off him, L’s and Sundance’s Light fading after their revive. She disappeared immediately, and so did L, even before Y/N got to her feet. He had no idea why she was so insistent about that, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have them out of harm’s way.

The fact that she even rezzed in the first place was nothing short of a miracle. He was half expecting her to still be a dead body right now, but seeing her reach out for a hand to grab caused relief to pour over him like a bucket of ice water— he couldn't keep it from his face even if he wanted to. He hauled her to her feet with no hesitation, and immediately regretted letting go, the touch of their hands together was so reassuring even through their gloves— but Cayde had a feeling they were gonna need both hands free pretty soon.

“Told you,” she sighed, sounding relieved.

“And thank the Light,” he mirrored. “You see that, Petra?”

Silence over the comms. “Petra?”

“Probably knocked out the comm relays.”

“A spectacular landing will do that,” he said with an eyebrow raise.

They both glanced up— the room they’d landed in had a high platform around the perimeter, and standing on it, Cayde counted at least eight Barons all around them. 

“Aaaaand cue the ominous music,” he raised Ace a little. He knew they were actively looking for them, but he’d have thought they’d be long gone by now.

The fact that they hadn't left already made him nervous.

Y/N transmatted her Hard Light back into her hands, spinning in a circle, like she was looking for something. She found it, and—

“Shoot them!” 

She was aiming straight for the Baron Pirrha, who had to dodge to the side to avoid her fire. 

“Y/N, what’re you—” his confusion was cut off by hordes of Scorn flooding into the hole. He shot the first, threw a knife into the second, shot the next few. Y/N was on a mission, completely ignoring the smaller ones in favor of pulling out her grenade launcher and lobbing three shells up to the higher levels. The Barons scattered, some crawling up the walls, others jumping down to the ground, Reksis Vahn among them. Y/N whipped around with her fist flying— she nearly took off one of the spikes atop his head before he could swing his mace. 

“Woah there!” Cayde had to leap out of the way to avoid the flailing weapon, putting three rounds in Vahn before having to reload. “You guys do not seem happy!”

The massive Baron roared, taking a swipe at him— he double-jumped up the pile of wreckage, yelping a little when it shifted under his feet. When the Scorn started climbing up from all sides, he stuck a tripmine to a piece of metal and dodge-rolled to safety, leaving it to explode as they ran into the laser. The few that survived were quickly cut down by Y/N’s Void rounds, but there was one waiting for him, it had grabbed a piece of debris as tall as he was and was swinging it like a bat right for—

He went flying, but Y/N was there, jumping into his path. They collapsed on the ground in a heap, but they both got on their feet in an instant, back to back against the throng that was still pushing against them.

“You get these guys, I’ll get the Barons,” she ordered, so sharply that Cayde obeyed without question. If you heard that tone on the battlefield, you either listened or you died. He hadn’t heard it in a good long while, but it wasn’t something you ever forgot. 

The last person he expected to hear it from was Y/N.

He spun Ace in a flourish that was entirely unnecessary for reloading, but it certainly felt cool when he did it. “Okay everybody, back in your cages!”

Most of the Barons were kind of just standing there, avoiding the worst of the fight, but Y/N ran straight for Pirrha again and shoulder-charged him into the wall, so roughly that Cayde cringed in sympathy. The Mad Bomber pulled her off of him and flung her across the room, but she activated her jump mid-air, landed on her feet, and kept on firing. Adrenaline was one hell of a thing. 

Cayde, for his part, had been doing his best to clear out the ads, but they just kept coming; he needed to take care of them quickly so he could go help Y/N, there was no way she would be able to fight off every single Baron at once— why would he ever let her do that by herself—!

—crushing pain, all over his chest, he hadn’t even seen Reksis Vahn approach him, and now he was flying through the air again, right through the wall Y/N had thrown Pirrha against not two minutes ago, she was screaming his name—

-------

“Cayde! Shit, shit, shit—“

You took a running jump and boosted over all the enemies still in the room—there were a lot—to make a mad dash for the hole in the wall Cayde’s body had just made. You didn’t even want to think about how hard you had to hit someone to throw them through a metal wall. You spotted Ace on the ground, and scooped it up as you skidded into the room he had landed in.

“Fuck, shit— Cayde, are you okay?”

He groaned, trying to push himself into a sitting position, but his arms collapsed underneath him. “Never better,” he gasped.

You pressed Ace into his hands, swiveling onto one knee and aiming your own firearm at the hole you’d just ran through.

There was a person standing there, not a Scorn, it was—

It was...

...

For the most fleeting of moments, you thought you were looking at Crow.

And because of that, you did the one thing the Traveler told you not to do.

You hesitated.

Uldren shot first.

-------

“No!”

Cayde scrambled to his knees, trying to recover faster than his body would let him as Y/N toppled to the floor from one of the cleanest headshots he had ever seen. She hadn't been aiming at the entrance for more than two seconds before the Awoken man had shown up. He would heal quicker if Sundance was out, but Sov was right there, and Y/N was dead and L had appeared and he was aiming at her Ghost—

“You stay away from her,” Cayde growled, trying to drag himself over to her lifeless body. Uldren’s head just tilted to the side, like he was listening to something Cayde couldn’t hear. Was this why Y/N had been so insistent they hadn’t take their Ghosts out?

“Interesting.” Uldren didn’t even look at him.

“Hey, are you listening to me?! Get the hell away from her! L—”

His shell had been glowing as he was in the process of reviving Y/N, but all of a sudden Uldren’s hand shot out and gripped his exposed core, the floating fins around him jerking midair as he let out a startled electronic beep.

“Let him go, Sov!”

Cayde aimed at the Mad Prince, but Uldren pressed the muzzle of his handgun to L’s optic. Ghosts could take a surprising amount of abuse from your average kinetic weapon before dying, but a point-blank shot from a hand cannon would be more than enough to silence one forever. 

“Interesting,” Uldren said again. “I think I see.”

“The fuck are you talking about?”

“It appears your little friend here has knowledge she really shouldn’t.”

The statement startled him, mostly because it echoed exactly what he had been thinking for months now. But how would Uldren Sov, of all people…?

“The hell’s that supposed to mean?!” Cayde spat. “Just let ‘em go and maybe Petra and I won’t turn you into the next poster boy for bad decisions.”

Those golden eyes seemed to look straight through him, like he wasn’t even there. He didn’t bother responding to Cayde.

The average Exo’s reaction times were better than both a human’s and an Awoken’s, despite what the latter might try to say. Doubly so if the Exo was a Guardian. But none of that meant jack shit when said Exo Guardian could barely see through the static in his vision, not when his movements were sluggish from being thrown through a wall moments earlier. Uldren moved from aiming at L to aiming at Cayde in the blink of an eye.

The only thought Cayde managed to form before Uldren shot him was, “don’t come out.”

-------

He rezzed at the exact moment Petra ran into the room, sidearm raised.

He was on his feet in an instant, scanning the whole room in milliseconds, but it was no use. 

“Cayde? What happened? Where’s the other Guardian?”

Sundance materialized almost hesitantly, hovering so close to his shoulder she was practically resting there. 

“He… Uldren took her.”

Cayde barely heard Petra’s exclamation of surprise over the static in his audials.

Of all the people in this damned universe, it had to be her. Out of every single Guardian in the Tower, Uldren had to take the one person he didn’t know if he could live without anymore. 

“Cayde?” From the tone in Petra’s voice, that wasn’t the first time she had called his name. 

He clenched the Ace of Spades in nerveless fingers, gaze trained on the door at the opposite end of the room. He holstered it, picked up her dropped Hard Light from the floor. The grip was still warm from where she had been holding it. 

“That son of a bitch is mine. You hear me?”

Sundance disappeared with a flash back into his Light, and he took more comfort in the feeling than he ever had before.

The plates of his jaw ground together. “He’s not getting away with this.”

Chapter Text

Cayde managed to hold himself together until he got back to the City.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had been this panicked. Not even when Ghaul assaulted the City and they lost the Light had he been so furious, so frantic, as he was in that moment. 

Maybe he needed to get his priorities straight, considering he was a Vanguard, a part of him thought— but that was a problem for later.

“They took her.”

Even though it was the middle of the night in the City, Zavala and Ikora were still awake, miraculously in the same place for once— going over reports in the Commander’s office, apparently. But Cayde hardly noticed as he transmatted directly into the room and started pacing, Ace in hand just for something to hold on to, finger curled so tightly around the trigger it would take only the slightest pressure to fire. Not safe, but they were all Guardians, he didn’t have the patience to form the thought beyond that. Sundance had safely stored Y/N’s Hard Light, and it was like he could feel the weight of it pressing against him, a constant reminder of what happened.

“Cayde, what—“

“He took her and I lost them, I lost her, there wasn’t anything I could do, he just grabbed her and—“

“Cayde, slow down, who took who?” Ikora stood, taking a step towards him.

“Uldren! He broke out and he took Y/N and I lost them!”

“What? Uldren Sov is free?” Zavala got to his feet too, but Cayde couldn’t stop.

“I don’t— why?! She was actin’ weird the whole mission and then this— we have to find her. Send the whole fuckin’ Tower, whatever it takes, if he lays a single finger on her I swear by the Light I’ll—“

“Cayde! Calm down,” Ikora ordered, raising a placating hand. “Why would Uldren Sov kidnap a Guardian?”

“She has to know things. Some sort of intel. He said something— something about her having knowledge, whatever that means— and he took her cuz of it, and he’s gonna torture her to find out what it is if we don’t find him, right now.”

“We need more information,” Zavala said. “Where is Y/N’s Ghost?”

“Uldren has him, he shot her and when L came out to revive her, he grabbed him and— and would’ve killed him if I did anything. I—... wasn’t fast enough, I couldn’t get to her in time, he took her Ghost and her body and just—…”

He growled in fury, slamming his fist into the wall with a dull bang.

There was a beat of silence in the office, the Titan and Warlock staring at the Hunter.

“I don’t ever ask for much, Zavala,” his voice was dangerously quiet, “but if there was ever a time to send out the cavalry, it’s now.”

The Commander’s mouth was set in a grim line. “The most we can send is a fireteam or two. You know as well as I do why that is.”

Cayde didn’t look at him, just barked out a single grim laugh. “Yeah, well that was Crota, this is a single prissy Awoken who has my Titan.”

He shook himself for a moment, stalking towards the door, determination in every step. “I’m taking Emerald. Flux too if they get back from Io within the next hour.”

The office door opened, and he was halfway out of it before Ikora called, “Cayde.”

He turned— her expression was inscrutable, as always. “I’ll check with the Hidden, see if they have any leads.”

“Yeah. Do that. Thanks.”

He didn’t look back again as he left.

-------

Cayde found Aargren first. The Hunter was slurping down noodles at the ramen stall in the Bazaar like it was his last meal, but glanced up when he saw him approach.

“Hey boss, what’s up?”

“I need your help.”

There must have been something in his tone, because Aargren sobered immediately and straightened.

“What’d’ya need?”

“Uldren Sov kidnapped Y/N and we need to get her back.”

“Shit, what?” he stumbled to his feet. “Why the hell would he nab her? What even happened? I thought he was locked up!”

“I’ll explain on the way, just get the rest of Emerald and get down to the hangar in twenty or I’m leaving without you.”

“Shit, alright, gimme a sec—”

He picked up his bowl, downed the broth with impressive speed, and left a handful of glimmer on the table for the very confused cook behind the counter. Silvey appeared as he ran further into the Tower, and Cayde heard him speaking to her as they went. Sundance was silent, as she had been ever since they got back.

He made his way back to the hangar.

-------

Premise had no idea what to say.

Normally it was easy for him and Cayde to bounce off each other, especially when Jane and Aargren were there, but they had taken their own ships. Premise had opted to ride with Cayde, mostly in part because he was getting worried for him.

He’d explained the situation in further detail over comms to both Emerald and Flux, who were going to meet them on the Shore. Apparently Asher had kept them for half a day longer running his errands. They’d get there at around the same time according to the nav computer. 

In the meantime, Premise had utterly run out of ideas as to what to say to fill the void. He’d tried everything he could think of (commenting on the colors of FTL, muttering to Rettie about chores he needed to get done, fiddling with the shaders on his sword), none of which elicited much of a response from the stoic Hunter Vanguard, which was not a word he had ever expected to describe him with.

He leaned further back in his chair, tightening his crossed arms. If he had lips he would be biting them.

“Hey… Premise?” Rettie asked in his head, whispering despite not needing to.

“What’s up?”

“There’s something you should know.”

“... Like what?”

Rettie paused, gathering his words. “Um… a while ago L came to me, asked me if we’d ever heard from Petra Venj.”

“Wait, when was this?”

“A couple months ago,” Rettie answered quickly, “but with what Cayde said about Uldren taking Y/N because she knows something… I can’t help but wonder if she knew this was going to happen, somehow.”

“But that doesn’t make sense, how would she know? She hasn’t even been here a full year, it’s not like— she has contacts on the Shore or with the Awoken or something.”

“I have no idea,” he admitted. “but… L asked me to tell him if Petra ever called you, or if Cayde talked to you about going to the Reef. He wouldn’t tell me why, said it was classified, I figured the Vanguard had them working on some top secret assignment. I’m sorry, I should’ve asked more questions…”

“Rett, you had no idea something like this was gonna happen,” Premise assured. “Not like any of us expected this. If she does know something, or if she has like— some sort of precognition or some shit, I don’t know— her not telling us isn’t our fault.”

“Yeah, I know,” Rettie seemed to slump inside his Light. “But I should have told you at least. L didn’t want me to, but…”

“It’s okay Rett,” Premise said. “I don’t blame you. Let’s just focus on getting her back, and then we can actually answer our questions, yeah?”

“Yeah, you’re right. Thanks.”

“No prob,” he gave a mental thumb’s up.

Premise’s gaze flickered back to Cayde, who was staring out the windshield. His back was to him, so he couldn’t see his expression, but he imagined it wasn’t good.

Stay alive Y/N, Premise thought to himself. We’re on our way.

Chapter Text

You rezzed with a gasp.

Uldren, he was here, Cayde—

Wait. You weren’t in the Prison.

You jerked in place, tugging on chains you hadn’t even noticed. Your hands were bound behind your back, and your legs to the floor. You could only move half a foot in any direction, but you tried to bolt anyway, only managing to get to your knees before the short length of chain stopped you.

“L!”

Fikrul was in front of you, holding L in one clawed hand, his grip hard enough to score lines in his shell. It looked like it would take just a little more pressure to crush L completely. A Baron was standing next to him—who was that, Elykris?—and the Fanatic was standing too far away to reach, but you tried, you tried, wrestling against your restraints with a kind of desperate terror you had never felt before. Just seeing L there was enough to shoot spikes of icy fear directly into your heart.

“Y/N, Cayde’s alive, but they made me rezz you, I’m sorry—“

Sparks gathered in your bound hands, discharging off your body as you pulled your Light to the surface, you were going to murder that Scorn bastard—

Elykris reached into a pouch at her waist and pulled out a small device shaped like a six-pointed star— you realized what it was a split second before she handed it to Fikrul and he slapped it onto L—

“No—!”

The world turned dark for the longest moment of your life, and you nearly threw up at the sudden vertigo— that’s Light-suppressing tech, what the fuck— I’m Lightless right now— not L, please—

You shuddered, all of a sudden very, very cold. You blinked the stars from your eyes and tried to look up at the Fanatic, still holding your Little Light in a death grip. The center of the device had attached directly over his eye, the six prongs clamped tight over his shell.

The Arc energy you’d been trying to summon was gone. No matter how hard you thrashed in your chains, you couldn’t get it to come back, tears gathered in your eyes—

Cayde was alive, but Fikrul had your Ghost, and he and Elykris were walking away, and utter panic filled your chest. 

“No, please, don’t— L! Can you hear me?! L!”

The only noise he let out was a strangled beeping, and the Fanatic ignored you, moving past you to cross the walkway behind you. You were in a throne room, you realized. Mara’s throne room, in the Vestian Outpost. Or at least, it was.

Uldren was sitting on said throne in front of you, just staring, the orange light from the torches contrasting with the blue shifting tones of his skin. The entire room had been covered in Scorn supplies, hastily redecorated at some point. It made for an imposing image. Exactly how it had looked in the cutscene.

Your Hard Light was gone. You tried transmatting your shotgun into your hands, or your grenade launcher, or any of the other weapons in your inventory, but even though you could see L, the cage was doing too good a job, whether it was because of that or the Darkness in the room suffocating you, you could feel it crawling its way into your bones—

“No, L!—“

You jerked at your chains, desperately, unable to do anything but watch as The Fanatic took him away from you. “No, please—!“

The door fell shut behind the two. You were alone with Uldren. Not even the other Barons were present.

The panic in your chest increased tenfold. You’d never been so scared in your life.

Uldren still hadn’t said anything. And you were incapable of speech at the moment.

The seconds dragged into minutes before he looked at you. “You know something.”

“I—… what?”

“You do. I know you do. She told me she’s watching you.”

You scrambled to decipher what he was saying— she, Mara, who was actually Riven, and—

Riven was watching you? How? Was Savathûn watching you? Oh fuck, he knew, he knew you knew the future that you weren’t from this universe he knew—

“Tell me what you know. I don’t need to hurt you, really, but I will if I must. I have the means.”

L— helpless in Fikrul’s grasp, completely restrained, and you— Lightless, chained to the floor, a Mad Prince staring you down.

“What… what are you talking about?”

Uldren tilted his head, not unlike the namesake of the man he would become, and didn’t respond for a long moment. “She’s calling me, I can hear her— I need to find out how to get to her. And you know the way.”

Your brain flashed to a lore video you’d once watched. Ahamkara wanted to become “more real.” Savathûn had all but achieved it when she had left the coded message in that one Bungie blog post (which meant that had probably actually happened instead of being an ARG-style easter egg left there by the developers, which was wild). 

Did that make Truth To Power real? Was your old universe the parent of this child universe? 

Fuck the multiverse theory, if you went through the right black hole, would you end up back on your homeworld?

Uldren was still staring at you, waiting. There were flashes of something dark in those golden eyes—quite literally—that unsettled you to your core.

Maybe you should tell him about the Watchtower. Let him get eaten by the Voice of Riven a couple missions early.

But you were frozen. You couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, could barely even blink. You felt like a New Light again, back in the Cosmodrome, staring down at the bodies of the dead Dregs and in shock at the metaphorical blood on your hands. 

Only it was ten times worse now. This was worse than your worst nightmare. Uldren literally kidnapping you and finding out about your origins was so unfathomably catastrophic you hadn’t even considered it an option. You had thought he would just kill you, like he had Cayde. He would have killed you, you realized, if Not-Mara hadn’t presumably stopped him. Because somehow Riven knew, she knew you weren’t from here. Was it because she was Taken? Did she have some connection to the Darkness that had let her know there was a “more real” person in this universe now?

You could only speculate, and now was not the time— Uldren was staring at you with a gaze so piercing you wouldn’t be surprised if he could read your thoughts. 

“I— I don’t— what do you—…”

Uldren sighed, leaned back in his seat. “I will know eventually, it’s only a matter of time. It’s in your best interests to cooperate.”

The threat was loud and clear. Uldren had needed L to revive you, but now that you were alive, instead of just restraining your Light, if he wanted to, he could…

Okay.

You had to play this smart. Cayde had probably made it back to the City by now, and hopefully they had some kind of lead.

Was this going to be reverse-Forsaken? Cayde murdering all the Barons to get to Uldren (and you), instead of the other way around? 

You would have laughed if you weren’t so scared.

“Okay. Alright. I know… something, but you’re not going to like it.”

Uldren shifted in place, as if to say go on.

“I—… the Traveler showed me a vision. Of a lot of things.” The faster I kill Uldren the sooner I can go home. “Your sister’s alive, but, she’s trapped.”

“I was already aware of this,” his eyes narrowed. He was technically right, but for completely the wrong reasons. You swallowed. 

“Yeah, uh… there’s… on Earth, there’s a shard of the Traveler. You need both Darkness and Light to— to open the portal in the Watchtower, and— that shard’s the easiest way to get it. Um— you already have the Darkness… I think… so you just need the Light.”

“… I see.”

He stood, taking one elegant step after another towards you, until he was crouching over you. He reached out one hand and tilted your chin up to meet his gaze. You were in too much shock to resist, unable to do anything but look up and see the Darkness swirling in the gold, how it crept up his neck. His fingers were cold, like the chill of deep space was trapped under his skin.

“Why would I go all the way to Earth when I have you?”

W… what?

“I believe, instead of a shard of the Traveler, I have all the Light I need right here.”

“What are you talking about?” you whispered, horror crawling down your throat as you slowly realized what he was saying.

“You’re different than all the other Guardians I have met,” he finally released you, but he didn’t step back. Still too close. “They were mere sparks, while you are… a blazing fire.”

What the fuck are you talking about?! You took my Light!

But he hadn't, not really— you were still connected, you just couldn't use it (or feel it, or feel your Ghost, he was gone, L was gone—)

It had to be because of your origins. When you arrived in this universe, you must have been… charged with Light somehow. In that case, was it the Traveler that brought you here? It was the only thing that made sense, if Uldren was right. It was the one Light-aligned entity strong enough to pluck you from your home dimension.

And if that was true…

Uldren really could use you instead of the shard.

That was…

That was very bad.

-------

Flux was waiting for them when they arrived on the Shore, helmets on and weapons already in hand.

Cayde and Premise transmatted to the surface, Aargren and Jane not far behind. 

Karjal nodded in greeting, hand clenched around his sidearm. “Any news from Ikora?”

“No,” Cayde answered. “We’re probably on our own.”

“But there’s seven of us, right?” Delaney said. “Finding Y/N should not be too hard, surely.”

“Let’s hope,” Jane mumbled. “The Shore’s pretty damn big.”

“If Uldren’s even still here,” Premise mentioned. “If it were me I’d be on a jumpship to Mercury right about now.”

“Hey guys!”

Adelaide had wandered away at some point, and was crouched next to the slain body of a Fallen. Her Ghost Maisy was out, scanning it.

“There’s an odd energy signature here,” she noted. “Could be related. Marking it on your tracker.”

Adelaide looked up, inspecting the surroundings, before hopping up a ridge to a terminal the pirates had set up. Maisy scanned that too— the cliff face behind it shifted and disappeared, revealing a tall opening in the rock.

“Oh shit, smuggler’s tunnel?” Premise asked as the whole group joined Adelaide.

“Most likely,” Cayde answered. “Good a place to start as any.” He drew the Ace of Spades and stepped into it with no hesitation, everyone dropping into a single file line behind him on instinct. Cayde almost pitied the poor Dregs they came across after a group of Fallen rounded the corner and came face to face with the business ends of six guns and a bow all aimed right at them.

That taken care of, they moved through the winding tunnels with little regard to concealing their presence. They came out on a flat plain, and on the ridge above them—

“There!”

All seven weapons snapped up as one, aimed at the lone Scorn Baron. 

His slow, rasping voice echoed through the area; “Perhaps you will give my children a better fight than your Guardian friend.”

Cayde was the first to fire, but Fikrul was already gone, disappearing to who knows where. Dark mist swirled as more Scorn transmatted in around the strange Servitor husk before them.

“Fantastic,” Premise drawled, Arc energy gathering in his hands.

“At least we know they’re still here,” Karjal noted.

“Spread out,” Cayde ordered, as if they needed to be told.

There was quite a decent horde—even a couple Abominations—but between all of them, it took less than two minutes for the Scorn to be decimated. Cayde was especially vicious, putting just a little too much effort into his shots, his stabs. Aargren ended up next to him just as they were taking the last ones out, shooting him a look that was unseen under his green helmet but Cayde knew what it meant anyway.

You okay?

He didn’t have a reassurance for him. He took the coward’s way out and looked away.

“Someone’s hacking our comms,” Sundance suddenly announced. 

A beat of silence, then—

“You’re late. Here I was thinking you’d given up, Cayde.”

“Petra!” Premise exclaimed in excitement.

“We all need to talk, face-to-face. I’m on my way to see an old acquaintance. Word is he wants Uldren and his Barons dead as much as you do. Problem is, the feeling is mutual, so my acquaintance is laying low in a hidden bunker. If we want him to open the door, we can’t leave any witnesses— clear the area.”

“Oh, don’t tell me…” Aargren groaned.

“Who is this acquaintance?” Delaney asked.

Cayde huffed humorlessly to himself at Petra’s theatrics. “You’ll see. Come on.”

He reloaded Ace, flipped the cylinder shut, and pressed forward, Emerald and Flux behind him.

Chapter Text

The only thing you could tell about your surroundings were that they were underground. When they moved you from the throne room, they’d blindfolded and gagged you, dragging you along with no way to tell what was in front of you. You’d tripped so many times your knees and legs were aching under your armor. You hadn’t had such a level of consistent pain since you were rezzed. Usually L healed it in a matter of minutes, regardless of the severity.

You tried not to burst into tears at the thought of him held captive like that, Light-cage constricting his shell, but it was hard. You never—... where had they even gotten tech like that? You knew it existed here, something similar had happened to Zavala’s Ghost at the end of Season of the Chosen, and you knew there were some lore books that detailed the Hidden using them against rogue Lightbearers and Shadows of Yor, but…

To have it used on L…

The only thing keeping you from a complete breakdown was the knowledge that Cayde was alive. I saved him. I saved him. Cayde’s still alive. I just have to stay alive too.

Easier said than done. They hadn’t given you any food or water since you woke up in that damned throne room, and every time you tried to speak to the Scorn Captain guarding you, he answered with such a long string of screeches and screams that you gave up entirely after the first couple attempts. You had to wonder if he was speaking a corrupted version of the Eliksni language or if he was actually incapable of speech. Oh great, was that racist? Species-ist? Specist? 

The thirst was really starting to get to you.

It had been at least a day since you’d rezzed, you estimated, not that you had any way of telling time. Probably long enough for Cayde to make it to the City and back again. Knowing him, he was probably throwing himself at every Scorn he came across right about now. You just hoped he hadn’t gone alone. 

What had changed from the Forsaken you knew? How different was the sequence of events? Cayde not dying was the big one (the only one that mattered, really), but Uldren kidnapping you had definitely not been on the list of things you’d wanted to happen. You couldn’t imagine it was too different yet, but things were happening, and you had no idea what they were, because you were stuck underground somewhere.

Uldren hadn’t told you what the plan was, but from what you could gather, instead of using the shard of the Traveler, he was going to use you to open the portal to the Dreaming City. You didn’t even know that was possible. He had said you were strong in the Light, but… to be that strong… to be on par with a literal shard of the Traveler…

If he was right, then that wasn’t normal. 

Which was concerning for a whole number of reasons.

Did that mean it really was the Traveler that brought you to this world? It was the only thing that made sense. Between the Light thing, and that vision, it could only be that. It certainly wasn’t the Darkness, at any rate. 

Okay. Whatever. It didn’t matter how you got here, because you were now, and you were able to affect things.

What you needed was a plan.

However, it was significantly harder to make one when you didn’t know what Cayde was doing. It was probably a safe bet that he was back on the Shore by now (if he’d ever left in the first place), but you had no idea whether he’d gone with someone or not. You hoped he’d at least taken Premise like he was originally planning. You couldn’t comm anyone without L, unfortunately. Which now that you thought about it, was a significant oversight on the Vanguard’s part, what if you somehow got separated from your Ghost and didn’t have another way of communication, AKA your current situation?—

Focus. C’mon.

Okay. Goal 1, no matter what else came after it, needed to be find L. The gnawing fear in your chest at not knowing where he was was growing by the minute. You couldn’t do anything else until you knew he was safe. Goal 2; you had to operate on the assumption that Cayde was running around the Shore looking for you, so just riding out the plot of Forsaken was probably your only option. You didn’t know how much of it would change considering Uldren didn’t need to go down to Earth anymore, but the next big event would probably be the Fikrul fight or the Voice of Riven fight. Neither sounded appealing, in all honesty, especially when you couldn’t get at any of your weapons. 

It was such a stereotypically video game problem, not being able to access your inventory. You had no idea where your Hard Light went, and due to L’s situation you couldn’t transmat any other weapons to yourself either, you’d certainly tried. That wasn’t something you expected to be affected by your lack of Light.

And no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t summon even a flicker of Arc energy, much less anything else. And everything was so cold, whether that was just an effect of being underground for so long or because you’d literally been cut off from the Light you had no idea. Probably a combination of both. And without it, you didn’t have the physical strength to break your chains or fight your way out. You’d tried taking a punch at the closest Scorn, and were left with a cracked nose and half a concussion for your efforts. Without weapons, without the Light, you were… pretty much helpless.

So all you could do until Uldren needed you was… sit there. Making a break for it wasn’t an option, and it wasn’t like you could negotiate with your captors. Sitting tight was your only real option.

…

You hated it.

-------

Aargren was just a couple steps behind Cayde as they followed him to a large entryway, where another horde of Scorn was waiting for them. Premise jogged to catch up with them, motioning to Aargren discreetly. He fell back, now abreast with the Stormcaller.

“Is…?” he jutted a thumb at Cayde, voice barely making its way out of his helmet.

Aargren shook his head minutely, shrugging. He honestly couldn’t tell if he was fine.

Neither of them got the chance to say anything more, because Cayde charged straight into the swarm of Scorn and started blasting. By the time anyone else found a Raider or a Captain in their sights, they had already died from a neat bullet wound to the head. Aargren couldn’t help but be impressed at the ruthless efficiency, despite the possibly concerning reason behind it.

They entered the building with no more chatter, the distinct technology of the Fallen littered everywhere. Aargren and Premise hopped in front this time, more cautious than they were in the smuggler’s tunnel. 

“I’m sending you some backup. Please, don’t shoot the backup,” Petra sounded in their ears.

Gunshots, further ahead. Aargren rounded the corner, and—

A Fallen jumped from the ceiling and tackled a Scorn to the ground, shooting it with a roar of satisfaction. He lowered his bow, seeing Premise do the same with his rifle out of the corner of his eye.

“Oh shit,” he heard Addy mumble behind him. 

“You guys friendlies?” Jane called.

A second one glanced towards the assembled Guardians and cheered with two of his four fists raised.

“... Does anyone speak Eliksni?” Premise asked.

“He says yes, they are the backup,” Karjal responded, voice clipped.

“Wait, you actually speak Eliksni?”

“You don’t?”

“Come on,” Cayde ordered, brushing past the two and right into the gravity lift behind them. Premise shrugged and jumped in after him, everyone else following one after another.

At the bottom, a fight was already raging; said Fallen backup were engaging the Scorn, and it looked like it was at a bit of a stalemate. Flux and Emerald paired off without Cayde even saying anything, spreading out to all corners of the battlefield and taking down every Scorn they could see. It was comical how quickly the tide turned in their favor. Seven Guardians was an insane force to be reckoned with.

Emerald and Flux were used to fighting alongside one another, they’d done it practically since they were rezzed. Cayde was an interesting addition to that dynamic, a wildcard. The last time Aargren had seen him in action outside the Crucible was the Red War, but even back then the circumstances were completely different. They’d had to be careful, fighting with guerilla tactics instead of their usual ones. Seeing the famous Hunter Vanguard fight with the full power of the Light behind him was almost distracting, the other Gunslinger just a blur as he threw grenades, knives, and got off more Golden Guns than Aargren could count. 

He got distracted and nearly put an arrow in a Fallen soldier when he spun around too quickly. “Shit, sorry!” he called as he jumped away, hearing the annoyed chattering below him as he leapt onto a ledge to get a better vantage point.

They systematically eliminated the entire Scorn force around the Fallen buildings in less than ten minutes. There were a couple massive ones that were harder to kill, but Delaney and Karjal herded them all into one place for Adelaide to take out with a well-timed Arc Staff. 

“We’re all clear out here Petra,” Premise announced.

“Great, now get over here.”

A few Fallen motioned for them to follow, and led the group through the buildings and over to a stone wall. A section shimmered, and like the ones before it, dropped to reveal a large opening. Petra was standing behind it, arms perched on her hips.

“Cayde,” she greeted, nodding to the rest of them.

“Does he have intel?” he got straight to the point.

She gave him an odd look, one Aargren recognized. She had noticed too.

“That’s what I’m hoping.” She glanced behind Cayde at the clan assembled there. “Quite the army you’ve brought.”

“We just wanna find Y/N,” Jane said.

Petra nodded. “Well shine your shoes Guardians, you’re about to meet… the Spider.”

Aargren groaned to himself. “Fantastic.”

“The who?” Delaney questioned.

“I got it,” Premise quickly volunteered, moving to stand next to Cayde. “You guys stay out here and make sure those freaky zombies don’t come back.”

“You sure?” Jane’s helmet tilted to the side.

“Yeah, we’re good,” he assured, slapping Cayde on the back. The Hunter just glanced at him, but otherwise showed no emotion.

Something unknown twisted in Aargren at the sight. “Fine by me.”

Cayde nodded, to the rest of them and then Petra, who turned to lead them into the bunker entrance behind her. The door slid shut behind the three, leaving the rest of them standing awkwardly outside.

Adelaide was the first to speak up. “Soooooo… anyone else worried about that?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so pissed off,” Jane mumbled.

“He’s just worried about her,” Karjal reminded. “We don’t know why Sov took her. He and Y/N are close, it makes sense that he would act reckless when trying to find her.”

Aargren bit his lip behind his helm. “Yeah.”

Regardless, he still didn’t like it.

Chapter Text

Petra, Premise, and Cayde descended into the bunker, their way lit only by dim lights. Cayde glanced at the other Exo out of the corner of his eye— he was staying abnormally close, Riskrunner slung over his shoulder, Crown of Tempests glinting as he glanced around. 

Petra had her hood up, and stalked down the stairs with purpose as she led them to meet her ”acquaintance.”

The Spider was perched high on his throne, twisting an empty Ghost shell with one hand. It had been a while since Cayde had met with him, but he was always a little surprised at how large he was, especially up on that throne. It was probably intentional.

“Ahh, if it isn’t Petra Venj, the worst jailer in the solar system!” his deep voice boomed with a laugh as they approached. “What brings you to my home away from home, away from home?”

“I heard you lost the Shore,” Petra sneered.

“Gah! You lost my Shore,” Spider pointed at her, voice low, shifting forward in his seat.

“Thought you might want some help getting it back,” she motioned to the two Guardians. 

“The Godslayer himself! Fancy meeting you here.” Premise mumbled something unintelligible under his breath. “And the fabled Hunter Vanguard,” Spider guffawed when he stepped forward. “It’s been a while, Cayde-6.”

Cayde just casually rested a hand on his holster.

“Guess it has. I see you’re still able to pull in some business here.”

“No thanks to you,” Spider huffed. “From what I hear you were supposed to stop the breakout, not let it happen.”

“There were two Guardians at the Prison of Elders when it fell,” Petra cut in before he could respond. “Cayde and another. When Uldren escaped, he kidnapped her, and we need to find out why.”

She stepped forward; “We all want the same thing, Spider. Uldren and his Barons, out of the picture.”

“What is it you’re…?” the Eliksni mumbled to himself, before laughing again. “Ohoho, I see! Despite our clear, mutually aligned interests, I’m sorry, but I can’t help but feel it is I who will come up short.”

Petra slowly reached down for her knife, while tiny sparks of Arc Light danced down Premise’s gauntlets. Cayde didn’t move an inch.

“It’s true. I know where Uldren and his ‘Barons’ scheme,” Spider continued. “You go, scratch your itch, find your missing Guardian. Then we can just say… you owe me.” He leaned forward again, that empty shell still clutched in three-fingered hands. “Do we have a deal?”

Cayde took a step closer, optics narrowed at the Shore’s only law. “Deal.” 

“One more thing before I give you the location of the Barons’ soiree. The Prison of Elders continues to leak like a sieve. Someone should clean up that mess before traipsing off for murder and mayhem. What do you say friend? Quid pro quo before you go?”

Cayde hummed. “Hm. Tempting. I have a counter offer.”

Faster than anyone could see, the Hunter whipped the Ace of Spades from its holster and leveled it at Spider’s head.

The guards on either side of his throne were on them in an instant, spears pointed at his throat. Petra and Premise had drawn their weapons as well, but Cayde’s sole focus was on the kingpin.

“You tell us where to find the Barons, and I don’t put a hole through your skull right here, right now.”

To his credit, Spider looked unperturbed. He stared down the barrel of the hand cannon, amusement dancing in his glowing eyes.

“Cayde, you surprise me,” he purred. “Of all people I expected you to understand the value of a good deal.”

“Cayde,” Premise whispered harshly, probably wondering what in the hell he thought he was doing. He ignored him.

“Oh I understand it perfectly well. I just don’t give a shit right now. Give us the location, I get my Guardian, we clear out the Scorn we come across in the process. Everyone wins. No errands, no bounties.” He pulled back the hammer on Ace, the threat clear as day. “Final offer.”

The Fallen guards glanced worriedly up at their boss. After another long moment, Spider burst into laughter, something that sounded more menacing than anything. 

“I should have expected something like this from you, friend,” he drawled. “Fine, have your deal. But when the time comes, know that I’ll expect to be compensated.”

“Send the bill to the Tower,” Cayde dismissed, dropping his revolver. With a flick of Spider’s hand, the guards also lowered their weapons. “Now the location.”

“Well,” Spider started, “it was, up until recently, mine. Conveniently for you, it’s close. My associates here can lead you to it. If you could be so kind as to retrieve some of my caches while you’re off enacting your revenge, I’ll make it worth your while.”

Cayde chuckled to himself, turning to leave. He didn’t put Ace back in its holster, but Premise reluctantly lowered his Riskrunner to his side fully as he and Petra followed him out. 

No one said anything on the way out of the bunker, the silence so thick Cayde could feel their eyes on him. He didn’t turn around.

The others were waiting outside, one of Spider’s underlings with them. They all looked up at their return.

“You know the way?” Cayde asked the Eliksni. He chattered, nodding, and motioned for them to follow.

“They know where Y/N is?” Delaney exclaimed, straightening.

“They know where the Barons are,” Petra clarified. “Which means Uldren and your friend probably aren’t far behind.”

“No time to waste, let’s go,” Cayde motioned to the Eliksni who had accompanied them. He nodded, and everyone redrew their weapons as the soldier led them away from the bunker.

-------

“So how’d it go?” Aargren whispered to Premise, from the very back of their group.

“He threatened to shoot Spider if he didn’t give us the intel,” the Warlock cringed.

“He what?”

“I know you Hunters are supposed to be quick on the draw and everything but that was a little much,” Premise said. “Spider was gonna give it to us anyway. I don’t know why he…”

Aargren glanced up— Cayde was just a step behind their guide, hand clenched tight around his hand cannon. “He’s not taking any chances,” he mumbled. 

Premise looked up as well. Hummed. Pulled his rifle to his shoulder. 

“I’m worried about her too,” he admitted. “Let’s just kill these guys and find her.”

“Yeah.”

-------

“Cayde…”

“Don’t even start, I know.”

Sundance was silent inside his head for a long moment as he followed Spider’s associate. She’d been almost entirely quiet ever since Y/N got taken, which was not like her.

“Cayde, I—”

“I know, okay ‘Dance?”

He felt the slight stab of hurt his tone shot through her shell, and tried to send over his apology— stress got caught in the message, so it ended up more like a big ball of fear-anger-terror-rage-I know it’s not your fault I’m just so scared.

They’d known each other for so long that no other words needed to be spoken. He felt Sundance’s demeanor soften. “I’m worried about her too. Just… don’t get careless, Cayde.”

He wanted to promise he wouldn’t, but he honestly didn’t know if he was able to— Sundance seemed to understand anyway.

Her Light in his chest bloomed a little, a reminder that she was there for him no matter what, and he clung to the feeling shamelessly, trying to block out all the other emotions that were clogging up his brain.

It helped, a little.

-------

You were jolted out of the little sleep you were able to get by a sharp kick to the ribs. Gasping, you curled into yourself, only for the Scorn holding the chain binding your wrists to yank you to your knees. You cried out, then snarled, jumping up to headbutt him in the face.

You were promptly reminded why you had never tried that.

They had pried off all your armor except your boots, so there was nothing but your thin undersuit to protect you from one of the Lurkers taking his lit torch and shoving it against your torso.

Fire-hot pain lanced through you, and you screamed, dropping back down to the ground. But he held it there, even as you sobbed and your vision whited out.

It seemed like an eternity before he pulled it away, and you were left gasping, tears falling unbidden from your eyes. The Scorn gave you no time to recover, wrapping his fist around the length of chain and tugging even more forcefully than before.

You stumbled to your feet—being dragged behind them sounded awful—and let them lead you to wherever they were going. Your vision was still spotty, and the only thing you could decipher from your surroundings was that you were out in open air again, being led up stairs and across a bridge.

What’s going on? Why are they moving me? What’s happening?

You didn’t have any answers, and your captors weren’t about to give you any. Despite the searing agony in your side, you desperately wanted to punch them, kick them, do something other than shuffle along like a hostage. But with your Light the way it was, and without a weapon, you were stuck. Dark droplets of your blood dripped from the not-quite-cauterized wound and fell to the floor as you were herded along.

You were led into another asteroid, and then to a large underground room, one lined with odd spinning turbines, and the movement sparked recognition in your brain.

You knew where you were. It was starting to come back to you. In Forsaken, you fought Fikrul for the first time in this room. Wait, no… was it Fikrul? No, Fikrul raised a Scorn here, and you fought that one. Fikrul escaped, along with the rest of the Barons.

The Fanatic himself was nowhere to be found, but another of the Barons was— Elykris again, the Machinist, if you remembered correctly. 

She was barking out orders to the hordes of her troops entering the room, but either they weren’t speaking English or your hearing had gotten knocked out somewhere along the line. Caches of supplies, guarded by Raiders and Wraiths, transmatted away one after another. It was all so… organized. 

For some reason—probably space racism—you thought it would be a little more chaotic than it was. But it wasn’t— it was methodical, intentional.

They were evacuating.

The thought hit you the second your jailers dragged you over to a cache, and on instinct, you resisted, pulling against your binds.

The closest Scorn punched you so fast you didn’t even see it.

You dropped, a mouthful of blood splattering across the floor. You thought you saw something white and solid fly with it, and running your tongue across your teeth confirmed the missing space.

You felt the familiar tingle of transmat envelope your limbs before you could crawl to your feet.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t a far trek to the hideout the Scorn had commandeered— they were even waiting outside for them when they got there. Thank the Traveler, Cayde thought, after that conversation with Spider he really wanted to shoot something.

The looks the others were giving him weren’t helping that urge. He could hear them whispering to each other, probably about him, and while in any other situation he would be jokingly asking if they were at least spreading good rumors, right now he really didn’t care. All he wanted was to shoot that damn prince in the face, find Y/N, and then take a long, long nap. Preferably close to her.

(Preferably really close. Like uncomfortably close. When he got her back he doubted he’d ever be able to be apart from her again. 

When, not if. He refused to consider the alternative.)

They came upon a walkway, and across from it, the entrance to the hideout. A tall Scorn was standing guard, Elykris, if Cayde’s memory served, kitted out in so much tech it was a wonder she could still stand up straight.

The fireteams briefly crouched behind a short wall, surveying the battlefield. There were a couple of Spider’s associates firing warning shots over a collapsed walker, and the Scorn fired back, but neither side was advancing.

They were going to change that.

“Karjal, Aargren, up high on either side. Jane, Adelaide, go protect those Eliksni. Delaney, Premise, right down the middle.

“Where are you going?” Jane asked.

Cayde held up Ace, pointed at the sky. “Around the back.”

“Flank ‘em and spank ‘em,” Premise grinned. 

“Got that right,” Adelaide agreed. 

“Hit ‘em hard guys,” Cayde exclaimed, before leaping away.

They followed the plan immediately— Aargren and Karjal clambered up the tall buildings on either side of the battlefield, firing from above, everyone else jumping down. Jane held out a Ward of Dawn for the Eliksni to hide in, while Premise and Delaney charged straight ahead, right in front of Elykris. They made for quite the distraction, Solar and Arc flying everywhere as they attacked the Baron with ferocity.

Cayde skirted along the edges of the battlefield, taking down any stray Scorn he came across, making his way towards the entrance Elykris was guarding.

Why just her? he wondered. Where’s the rest of ‘em?

He managed to get behind the Machinist, in between her and the hideout. He briefly considered making a break for it while she was distracted, but common sense won out. If they took her down now, there’d be less problems down the line. Cayde planned on hunting down every single Baron regardless.

He fired at Elykris from behind, who whirled around when she realized she’d been flanked.

“Get clear!” Karjal shouted over comms. Cayde backed off just in time to get out of the blast zone of the massive Nova Bomb the Warlock had just thrown. Elykris shrieked, a terrible grating sound, the edge of it catching her before she transmatted away.

“Coward,” Cayde growled to himself as she disappeared. He didn’t wait for Emerald and Flux to catch up with him, taking off into the hideout. It wasn’t confirmed that’s where Y/N was, but it was their best bet. If she was anywhere she would be in there.

“Wait up!” Delaney called behind him as he hung a right, descending deeper.

The void of space hung around them as he ran through the asteroids. They came upon a large room, Eliksni writing scrawled on the walls. It was no surprise that there were more Scorn waiting for them. By the time everyone else caught up, Cayde had taken care of them all and was moving on.

There was another Baron in the next room; The Rifleman, Pirrha. “Go on, take out your Ghosts! I need the target practice!”

“You mother—” Aargren chucked a knife sheathed in Solar, but he transmatted away before it landed. 

“Come back and fight us!” Premise yelled in frustration. 

The Guardians swept through the next few rooms like an unstoppable tidal wave until they came upon a commandeered walker.

“Grab that scorch cannon,” Cayde ordered, and Jane darted over immediately. The additional Scorn were dead in a matter of seconds, leaving only the tank at the far end of the room. Jane aimed and fired at the same time Delaney shot her Gjallarhorn, crippling two of its legs in one go. A translucent shield appeared around it, preventing any of Premise’s knee-jerk Riskrunner shots from hitting, but that problem was easily solved by him running through the forcefield, whipping out his sword, and cutting off the remaining legs in two smooth motions.

The shield flickered and died, and once Premise jumped away, the two Titans finished it off with a couple more shots. “That was clean,” Adelaide whistled to herself. 

They continued on, the unnatural silence of the hideout falling over them as they traversed a pool of bubbling acid into the next large area. The exit at the back of the room was blocked by a massive gate, a couple caches of supplies sitting in front of it.

“Isn’t that Spider’s logo?” Aargren asked, stepping closer to one.

“Wait,” Cayde ordered, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him back right before his hand touched it. He motioned, everyone took a step back. Cayde shot at it twice, the gunshots echoing around the large chamber, and—

The cache fell apart, flimsy metal revealing a hidden tether anchor. It was blown to pieces by at least twenty bullets before it could do any actual tethering, but it was a good enough distraction for a horde of Scorn to transmat in.

“I got it!” Premise called, taking a running jump into the air and summoning his Stormtrance. Cyan energy lanced from his body and detonated the dozen or so Screebs that were swarming, chaining from them to the Stalkers and Raiders. They were all dead in the blink of an eye, the Arc fading from his body as he reined it in. 

Everyone had been turned towards the battle, but at the sounding of a horrible grating noise behind them, they whirled on their heels with weapons in hand. They had been doing that a lot today.

The gate which had blocked their path was rising into the ceiling. Karjal appraised it with a dry look. “That wasn’t us, was it?”

“Nope,” Cayde clipped. “Got a feeling all that was the Trickster. She always was a real piece ‘a work.”

They continued on through the hole in the asteroid, onto the mess of platforms and bridges that connected it to the other. But Cayde stopped, knelt down, fingers brushing against the dark spots mixed with dust on the floor.

Aargren turned around when he realized he wasn’t following, calling back to him, “Hey, what’s up?”

It took him a moment to respond, fingers brushing over the droplets, coming back stained red. “This is human blood,” Cayde said softly, more to himself than anything. The puddle was comparatively small, but fresh, and the lingering scent of charred flesh in the air made his chest start to ache with worry. It was so faint only an Exo’s sensors could pick it up, but it was there, and that meant—

“She was here,” he said louder, standing, walking then jogging then sprinting outside as the panic he’d managed to push down surged back with a vengeance. 

“Boss, wait up!”

He didn’t stop, jumping across the scaffolding more than crossing it, mind running at a million miles an hour, a thousand possibilities flashing through his processor at lightning speed.

She was here. They hurt her. I’m going to make them pay.

On the bridge leading into the next asteroid, the Hangman was waiting, flame cauldron in hand swinging slightly by its chain. Cayde flew into him with reckless abandon, finally having a target to direct his rage into. Reksis Vahn was not expecting such aggression, and roared when the bullets sunk into his skin. He swung, Cayde dodged, shot him again, reloaded. 

He knew what the Baron was going to do even before the transmat particles whisked him away. The fireteams caught up just as the Scorn was disappearing.

“You’re kidding,” Premise exclaimed. “Again?”

“They’re not trying to fight,” Jane said. “They’re slowing us down.”

Cayde made no reply, charging forward, like he’d been doing the entire time they’d been in this damn hideout. 

The Fanatic’s voice echoed around them, either through hidden speakers or projected through sheer force of paracausal will; “You fight… you kill… it pleases me. Pleases King Uldren.” Delaney scoffed at the title. “You think you will defeat my Scorn, my siblings, and my father all at once?”

“That is indeed the plan,” Karjal muttered to himself as they ascended the stairs, further into the rock.

“You think you will succeed where Cayde-6 failed?”

That struck a nerve, and Cayde couldn’t hold back the snarl that escaped his vocalizer, mixed with the various defensive hey!’s from his companions.

“Kill a Fallen, I claim it as Scorn. Kill a Scorn, I raise ten more!”

Up more stairs they went, disabling fire-spitting Solar totems on the way to clear their path. They came upon a shielded door, behind which was Fikrul himself, standing in front of a large, kneeling Scorn.

“Can you Blink through there?” Jane turned to Karjal, who shook his head.

“Not through that shield, no, it would fry me if I tried.”

“I do not need Barons to slaughter you,” Fikrul kept going, haughty pride in his rasping voice. “Rise, my Scorn, and give these dead things their Final Death!”

As if on command, the shield blocking the entrance flickered out, and Fikrul did as his Barons had been doing, retreating behind another shield, beyond their reach. Cayde heard Jane curse under her breath. 

“You went through all the damn trouble of leading us here, so get the fuck back out here and fight us!” Premise yelled, throwing a hand up.

No one had the time to concur, because the other Scorn in the room got to his feet, murder in his eyes as more transmatted in. 

The fireteams scattered, each taking on their own little group of enemies, leaving Cayde with the big one. Not that he minded. Letting his Solar Light finally explode into one of the most powerful Supers he’d cast in a while was a relief.

Two shots in both legs, one to the forehead. It wasn’t enough to kill the exceptionally powerful Scorn, but it made him fall to a height where Cayde could easily reach up and slit his throat, lingering Solar from the Golden Gun coalescing onto his bowie blade.

Dark Ether-tainted blood spurted from the wound in a wide arc, coating his entire front before he could turn away.

“Yes, yes, yes! Killing is what you do, killing is all you do!” 

Even though Fikrul’s champion had been defeated near-effortlessly, more Scorn poured into the room, even after the first wave had been taken care of. Cayde joined the others, a whirlwind of destruction, and he saw Aargren do a double take at his bloodstained appearance before the last of the Scorn died.

They reconvened in the middle, everyone aiming at the Fanatic through the shield that was still up. “I do not fear the dead. I control death. And you … more use to me alive. Go. Pursue your Guardian friend. I claim your Fallen victims for my Scorn army.”

“Don’t you dare—!”

The shield dropped the second Fikrul transmatted away, Aargren’s arrow imbedding halfway into the metal wall right behind his head.

“Well shit,” Adelaide exclaimed. “There goes our best lead.”

“The hell do we do now? Rett, can you trace ‘em?”

Rettie appeared at Premise’s request, scanning the place Fikrul once stood, before shaking himself midair.

“I’m sorry… they’re gone.”

Cayde just stood there, staring, a hundred curses flooding his mind and not a single one making their way out of his mouth.

“Look down there.”

He glanced down at Sundance’s words, to the splatter of human blood he almost hadn’t noticed under the dead Scorn, and the tooth sitting in it.

“Cayde… shit man, you good?”

Aargren had taken a step towards him, taking his helmet off, and there was a distinct look of pity on the Awoken’s face he’d never seen there before, and for some reason, that made him really, really angry.

He had no idea what to do with that emotion.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine. None of this is mine,” he motioned wryly to his bloodstained appearance. The clan just stared at him. He knew there was a wild look in his optics he couldn’t quite rein in, but slipping back into his old habits helped, even if he felt Sundance’s disapproval. “Since that went so spectacularly poorly, guess we have to go crawling back to Spider, huh?”

“He might know where they’re going,” Karjal added. “Where to… start looking.”

Cayde couldn’t hold back a huff, glancing back down to the red stain on the floor that was the first he’d seen of Y/N in days. “He better.”

Fucking disaster.

Chapter Text

“We can pair off,” Jane said, motioning to the scraps of paper on the table.

Flux, Emerald, Cayde, Petra, and a couple of Spider’s associates had crammed themselves into one of the buildings outside the bunker, staring at what little intel Spider had been able to provide them with. He’d sent them along with an amused chuckle that somehow made him sound even slimier than he normally came off.

“Two Guardians to two Barons,” Premise continued, arms crossed, actually looking like a Warlock for once in his life. 

“If we’re doing our normal raid pairs, who’s going with Cayde?” Adelaide jutted a thumb at the Vanguard. 

“I will,” Petra volunteered, stepping forward.

“Uh, hold on, you’re not—...”

“A Lightbearer? This is as much an Awoken matter as it is a Guardian one,” she noted, leveling her gaze at Premise. “I need Uldren contained, and seeing as you’re already hunting him, it makes sense to assist each other.”

Cayde was once again reminded how glad he was to be dealing with Petra and not Mara. The Queen had always rubbed him the wrong way. Where she was obscure, Petra was direct, and it was refreshing.

Cayde absently picked at the edge of his cloak as he listened. He’d cleaned off the Scorn blood when they got back to the bunker (most of it, anyway), but the fireteams were still giving him odd looks.

“Fair enough,” Premise raised his hands in mock surrender. “Anyway, Jane and I call the Machinist. And the Sniper, or whatever.”

“Rifleman,” Jane corrected. “That’s fine.”

“Fikrul is mine,” Cayde bit out, and all eyes landed on him. “And the Hangman.”

Jane nodded, rearranging the papers on the table. “Aargren, Addy, how ‘bout the Rider and the Trickster?”

“You just chose them cuz we’re Hunters,” Aargren raised an eyebrow, and Jane scrunched her nose at him.

“That leaves the Bomber and the Mindbender for us,” Karjal picked up the corresponding sheets, handing one to Delaney. She squinted at it for a moment before handing it back to the Voidwalker.

“They will not be an issue,” she assured.

“Does Spider have any idea where Uldren is?” Adelaide questioned.

“If he does, he didn’t say anything,” Premise admitted.

“He’ll go to the Watchtower,” Petra said, hesitating to continue. “I… our people’s greatest secrets lie inside. There’s no other reason he would come to the Shore. He cannot be allowed to enter it.”

“We won’t let him,” Cayde said, shifting from where he was leaning against a wall. “We’re gonna hit ‘em so hard and fast he won’t have time to get there.”

“Divide and conquer,” Karjal mumbled to himself. 

“And if anyone gets any leads on where they’re keeping Y/N, divert there,” Jane added. “She’s still our first priority. She might be with one of the Barons or Uldren, and we still don’t know where her Ghost is.”

The unspoken hope that L was still alive undercut her words, but nobody commented on it.

“Alright, no time to waste people,” Cayde straightened, drawing Ace. “Comm if you hear anything.” He snatched the relevant intel from the table and nodded to Petra, who followed him outside.

The fireteams glanced at each other as they heard him mount a Sparrow and jet off, waiting until he was solidly out of earshot.

“He’s kinda scarin’ me a little bit,” Adelaide said softly.

“Dude emotionally drops off the map for hours and then all of a sudden he’s acting fine again? I don’t buy it,” Premise snorted.

“All the more reason we need to get moving,” Karjal said. “Traveler knows how they’re treating Y/N right now, if they haven’t killed her already.”

“Dude,” Aargren exclaimed.

“I’m being realistic,” he shot back. “There is a reason most Guardians get shot on sight instead of kidnapped. We’re more trouble than we’re worth, diplomatically speaking. If she hasn’t managed to break out by now, they either have Light-restraining technology or they killed her Ghost, in which case she’s as good as dead.”

“I do not think she’s dead,” Delaney spoke up. “Cayde said Uldren had told him that he needs her for something, that something is probably inside the Watchtower. In which case, if he is not there yet, he would keep Y/N alive until he does get there.”

“Still…” Premise grimaced.

“Sittin’ here talkin’ about it ain’t gonna solve anything,” Adelaide suddenly announced. “C’mon.”

Her words spurred them to action, Jane making sure everyone had the correct info before driving off into the Tangled Shore in search of their targets.

And in search of the reason they were there in the first place.

-------

“This is an awful idea,” Adelaide called over the roar of the engine. She was sitting atop a stolen Pike, riding side by side with Aargren through the Cobble and into Sorik’s Cut. His green cloak fluttered behind him, and not for the first time, she admired the way his frame stood out against the background, before reminding herself that they were here for one reason and one reason only, and they hadn’t completed that mission yet.

“It was your idea,” he replied, boosting a little to get in front of her.

“I never said it was a good one,” she shot back.

“Well I don’t know how else to convince Yaviks to come out and fight us,” Aargren shrugged. 

“... Kill her minions?”

“That’s… honestly? Yeah, let’s just do that.”

“You don’t need to kill them,” Silvey added. “There’s chatter on the comms— you just need their signals, to triangulate her position.”

“Well maybe I wanna kill ‘em,” Aargren muttered petulantly. “If I don’t Cayde probably will. Or Y/N if she wants some revenge. I sure fuckin’ would.”

“When was the last time you saw him that worked up? When was the last time a Guardian got kidnapped?”

“I don’t even know, you want history, that’s Prem’s thing,” he answered. “But Cayde wasn’t even that freaked out during the War, or at least, not that I saw. I’m pretty sure he’s allergic to talking about his emotions.”

“Him and the whole Vanguard,” Adelaide huffed. “Those three need a break.”

Aargren’s reply was cut off by the shriek of a Scorn, audible even over the roar of their Pikes. 

“There’s one!” Silvey called.

Their conversation was forgotten in favor of the familiar thrill of battle.

-------

“I understand that the Hellmouth changes people, but this infatuation with the Hive is truly concerning!”

Karjal’s voice was undercut by his frantic sidearm shots, which weren’t doing nearly as much crowd control work as he had been hoping. He yelped when one got too close, flailing out with a hand sheathed in Void as he jumped backwards. It did the trick, but they just kept coming.

He hated the Ascendant Plane with a passion, something Delaney didn’t seem to share. She looked as chipper as ever, leaping around the miniature throne world with all the casual fluidity of someone who was born for the battlefield. He was often jealous of her enjoyment, of how easy it seemed to be for her. In all honesty, Karjal would rather be sitting in the Tower archives at the moment, but they had been given a job to do, and the one thing he hated more than his combat inadequacy was a task unfinished.

In addition, the thought of leaving a fellow Guardian in the hands of the enemy like that unsettled him to his core.

Delaney shouted in confusion, and Karjal turned to see that the Mindbender had disappeared, and the portal he had come out of was gone too. But there were two more portal frames in the throne world, the question was which one would—

“Right!” he called, and she whirled, trusting his observations intrinsically. An unlucky Knight caught her shotgun blast to the face as Karjal took down the ether-shields protecting Hiraks as quickly as he could. It was a little difficult, he didn’t have any long-range weapons other than his LFR, but they eventually fell, leaving Delaney free to whip out her Gjallarhorn and wreak havoc as she normally did.

Karjal might not have liked the field much, but he had to admit, there was a certain beauty in seeing a flaming Solar hammer hit a massive enemy square in the face.

-------

“Why do all of these assholes just run away?!”

Premise and Jane had come across a sniper’s nest high in a tower, and when Jane had taken a couple shots of her own, Pirrha had responded by vanishing from sight and taking off into the landscape.

They’d re-mounted their Sparrows and charged after him, but he was fast, faster than Jane expected him to be. They tracked him to the underside of the asteroids, through Hive-infested tunnels deeper into the rocks. His mocking voice trailed after him, and she grit her teeth at the sound; “King Uldren wants you dead,” he chuckled. “I bring him your bodies, keep your Ghosts. Or sell their shells to Spider.”

Devon bristled inside her Light, and Jane had to agree with the reaction. “What is it with this guy and his Ghost obsession?”

“No idea,” was Premise’s terse reply.

They fought their way through waves of Scorn and Hive, taking down the illusions of the Baron as they found them, but it was getting a bit ridiculous. 

“Or I mount your Ghosts on my wall, next to that Titan’s, hah!”

Jane and Premise froze in their tracks.

“There’s no way,” he muttered. “We’ve been on the Shore, we would’ve felt it… right?”

“Not if we were far enough away,” Jane answered, a horrible sinking feeling settling in her chest.

“He has to be bluffing,” Premise insisted. “Uldren still needs her, he wouldn’t…”

“He doesn’t need her Ghost if she’s already alive. He could’ve…” killed him, “... to make sure she didn’t run away. Maybe that’s why she hasn’t— escaped.”

“No. I won’t believe it ‘till I see it,” Premise spat.

They rounded the corner, and Pirrha was right there, grinning wickedly at their conversation. Premise threw himself at him, but before his hit could land, he darted away, dissipating into a veil of Dark Ether mist before reappearing much further down the hall. “You bastard! Get back here!”

-------

Petra let Cayde lead the way to Quitter’s Well. It was far from the first time she had seen him fight, but it was the first time she had seen him so ruthless, so aggressive. It made her wonder just what his missing Guardian friend meant to him, if he was barely even cracking jokes. He’d held it together well enough around the others, but when it was just her, she saw him slipping. 

It made some part of her nervous. That this was all it took to shake the seemingly unflappable Vanguard. 

Then again, his normal attitude could very well be a façade. He had seemed to lean into it a little too hard after the Red War decimated the City. She certainly didn’t blame him, if that was the case. She hadn’t been in the best of states during the Taken War either.

Still, it was… odd. Unsettling.

They tore through the underbelly slums of the Shore, following the trail that would hopefully lead them to their first target, the Hangman. They’d tried looking for the Fanatic first, but the information Spider had given them was either too old to be of use or misleading as to his current whereabouts. The Hangman’s trail, however, was easy to follow. 

The tunnel they were traversing dumped them out in a large room, where the husks of dead Servitors littered the floor and cages were stacked to the ceiling like pillars.

“Charming place,” she grimaced. The longer she spent on the Shore the more she missed the architecture of the Dreaming City.

Cayde didn’t respond, instead scanning the area. It was empty, but probably wouldn’t be for long— the Scorn had a nasty habit of ambushing.

Right on cue, they materialized, along with their much larger Baron— who was exactly the one they were after.

Cayde dove headfirst into the fight without a word—and really, they were worried about Petra, when Cayde was acting like that?—and she did what she could to support him. It wasn’t normally the role she took in situations such as these, but she wasn’t about to get in between a Hunter and his prey.

Cayde danced around Reksis Vahn, getting just close enough to tempt the Scorn into taking a swipe, only for the Gunslinger to dodge out of the way and take a shot. The back and forth was infuriating the Baron, and he roared, long and vicious.

Petra had to leap around the fire that spewed from the Hangman’s mace, cursing when the edge of her cape got singed. Cayde paid it no mind, sliding between his legs when the Baron took a step, whipping out a knife, and burying it deep in the exposed skin of his back.

Vahn stumbled forward, and Cayde sliced at the joints, severing one arm at the elbow and cutting the other off completely.

Petra was just finishing up eliminating all the other Scorn in the room when Cayde grabbed one of the spikes on Vahn’s helmet, yanked his head back, and pressed the muzzle of his hand cannon to the underside of his jaw.

“Now I’m gonna ask you a question,” he articulated, slowly, carefully, “and you’re gonna give me a straight answer. Where is Uldren Sov keeping Y/N?”

The Hangman didn’t move for what seemed like eons. But then he started laughing, the discordant sound echoing off the stacks of cages around them. He didn’t, in fact, answer Cayde.

“Alright you son of a bitch, I’m gonna give you to the count of three,” he snarled, jutting the Ace of Spades harder into his skin. “One.”

Reksis Vahn cackled louder, like he was enjoying it, like he didn’t fear the impending doom rapidly approaching. Maybe he didn’t.

“Two.”

Petra stepped closer, one arm raised to— do what? What would she even do? She doubted she could stop Cayde if she tried, and she—

She didn’t want to.

The Scorn Barons—Uldren—had torn apart the Reef, had nearly destroyed her home so many times, when Uldren was supposed to protect it. The sting of seeing the Queensbrother fall so far from grace still hurt, after all this time. A part of her continually balked at hunting down the Prince of the Awoken like an animal, but he was…

Petra wasn’t even sure if he was the same person anymore. Those dark flickers in his eyes she had seen when she locked him up in the Prison of Elders suggested otherwise.

She was the Queen’s Wrath. Her loyalty was to her ruler, her people.

Uldren seemed to have given both of those up.

The Hangman’s mocking laughter had faded, glowing eyes gleaming with cruel mirth. “King Uldren…” he ground out, and Cayde leaned forward at the words. “He… will win. The girl… will… let him.”

Their gazes locked for a split second, multiple levels of understanding passing between them.

Petra didn’t flinch at the gunshot, even though she wanted to.

Reksis Vahn collapsed to the ground, and Cayde stepped away, staring at the carnage, frame eerily still.

Petra moved to his side, eyes narrowed carefully. “Cayde?”

He took a moment to respond, holstering his weapon and turning. “Come on, we have to find the Fanatic.”

Petra sighed, reloaded, and followed him.

Unsettling indeed.

Chapter Text

You missed L so damn much.

Ever since the Machinist had stuck you in yet another underground cell, you’d had nothing but time on your hands, to think, to worry, to panic, to try and fail to keep your burn wound from getting dirty. They’d finally fed you at least, if you counted the probably-expired Awoken rations they’d no doubt stolen as food. Medical supplies were nonexistent, and it wasn’t like you carried any— you’d never anticipated being apart from L for so long.

You were pretty sure the wound was infected, anyway. Not something you’d ever had to deal with, but there’s a first time for everything. The skin around it was red and inflamed, and the longer you sat there, the more unwell you felt, until you were mostly sure you had a fever.

You chuckled to yourself, a little deliriously. Great. Just one more thing to deal with.

It was so much easier to force the humor, even in your own mind. You were no stranger to stress—not after waiting for Forsaken for so many months—but this was a completely different kind of anxiety. You had no idea what was going on out there, and your fever-addled brain wasn’t doing you any favors in imagining. All you could do was sit there and wait for something to happen. 

You were so worried about Cayde. In an ideal world, he would be hunting down the Barons right about now to get to you, but a part of you didn’t want him to. You had tried so hard to save him from all this, and if that idiot got himself killed because he was trying to rescue you, you’d never forgive him.

But maybe you should give him some more credit. He’d managed to survive this long. Granted, he’d been stuck in the Tower for years prior, but you’d seen firsthand how good at his job he was. Outside the Prison, he stood more than a chance of surviving—and then kicking the ass of—whatever the Shore threw at him.

But you—

You still should have just killed Uldren the second you realized you were in this universe— should’ve waltzed right up to the Prison and shot him dead in his cell. Then you wouldn’t have needed to deal with any of this. It absolutely would have caused problems for you down the line, but then at least Cayde would be safe.

You’d cut off an arm to know if he was safe right now.

Unfortunately for you, you could barely summon the strength to sit up at the moment, your burn wound throbbing in time with your heartbeat. Apparently Uldren didn’t need you healthy for whatever he was planning on doing to use you to open the portal.

How would that work, anyway? From what you remembered from the cutscene, Uldren kinda just… lifted up the shard of the Traveler and the Voice of Riven came flying out. You were sure there was some sort of funky space magic going on there, but you were too out of it to hypothesize any further. 

You guessed you’d find out sooner or later. Hopefully never, but things hadn’t exactly gone according to plan lately.

…

… Fuck, you missed L.

-------

“The Trickster and the Rider are down,” Aargren reported.

“So are the Mindbender and Bomber,” Karjal added.

“We got the Rifleman, but we haven’t been able to track down the Machinist,” Premise said.

“She’s the Fanatic’s right hand, she’ll be harder to find,” Cayde noted. “We got the Hangman but haven’t been able to find Fikrul either.”

“No word on where Y/N is?” Jane questioned. All she got back were negatives. Cayde’s hand clenched around the grip of the Ace of Spades.

“There’s… something else,” Premise started, and Cayde could hear the hesitancy from across the comm. He and Petra slowed down, pausing behind a rock formation on their way back to Spider’s lair.

“Pirrha had been talking,” Jane continued, “kind of… implying that… Y/N’s Ghost was dead.”

"What?!"

“No, absolutely not!”

“That’s what I said!”

”He was probably just saying that to get in our heads and slow us down, but…” Jane sighed over the protests. “We don’t know. Could be true, could be a lie.”

“It’s not true,” Premise insisted, “but we have to find her, like now. I’m getting like, actually scared now.” 

Cayde took a moment to process the information, internally had a panic attack for all of three seconds, then locked it down with practiced efficiency. 

“Who’s closest to the bunker?”

“We’re outside right now,” Karjal said.

“Get everything Spider has on the Machinist and give us the coords, we’ll rendezvous there. Everything on the Fanatic too. Had a feeling he wasn’t giving us everything.”

“Got it,” the Warlock affirmed, disconnecting from the comm. 

Petra looked up at Cayde, at the stony look on his face, making sure she was disconnected as well before speaking. “Hey.”

He glanced back. “Mm?”

“Are you sure you’re good to do this?”

“Wh— yeah, ‘course I am, what makes you say that?”

They continued hopping down the rocks, to get on more even ground.

“Cayde.”

“What, Petra?”

She took a deep breath as her boots hit the dust seconds after his. “Just how important is this missing Guardian to you?”

He huffed to cover his slight flinch at being so directly confronted. “Pretty damn important.”

“I figured.” She stepped up to him, put a hand on his shoulder. “But you need to be a bit more cautious. It’s like you’re trying to get yourself killed. You’re not alone out here Cayde.”

“I know that.” He tried to snap, but there was no bite in it. “I know.”

Petra held back another sigh. 

-------

It’s your fault. It’s your fault. It’s your fault.

The words wouldn’t stop echoing around his metal skull. He never should have let her go. He should have forced her to stay at the Tower, where it was safe, if he had then she’d be there right now instead of held hostage by that infuriating prick of a prince—

If he couldn’t get her back, he…

No. He would. There was no other option. He would get her back or die trying.

It’s your fault. It’s your fault. It’s your fault.

He knew he was reckless, he knew he made a game of skirting the line between confident and dangerous. It was who he was. But he never should have gambled with Y/N’s life. Not her. Never her.

“You leave me behind and I’m following you anyway.”

Would he have been able to stop her from going? He didn’t know, and he would never find out— not that he could truly deny her anything. 

But he should’ve tried. Tower life had made him complacent, he was slowly coming to realize— Hunters were naturally rebellious to authorities, but even their Vanguard wasn’t free from the consequences of his actions.

It’s your fault. It’s your fault. It’s your fault.

He hadn’t told her he loved her. She didn’t know. He never should have waited, he never should have put it off for so long, she was the most important person in the whole damn universe to him and she had no idea—

It’s your fault. It’s your fault. It’s your fault. 

Y/N, forgive me. Please be okay.

-------

“This is the spot?”

“Should be just through there.”

Karjal pointed to a tunnel in Sorik’s Cut. Premise hadn’t even noticed it when he and Jane had been over that way earlier, but according to the intel Karjal and Delaney brought back, the Machinist’s lair was inside. The acid pooling around the entrance was more than enough to keep away any of the rogue Cabal or Fallen in the area.

They entered the tunnel, Cayde in the front as always, with Petra close behind. It dumped them out in a basin, surrounded on all sides by high walls and that same acid saturating the ground.

“Yo, is that a Drake?”

The City-made tank was sitting idle off to the side, guarded by a small group of Scorn. They were killed before any of them could raise an alarm, leaving Cayde free to inspect it. His Ghost flashed into being, before scanning the tank and disappearing inside.

“Nav module and turret are shot,” she reported, “but there’s extras around here.”

“Think we can take this thing all the way to Elykris?” Aargren asked.

“How did she even get something like this?” 

“You’d be surprised how much tech goes missing in the field,” Cayde mumbled to himself, eyes scanning the ridges above them for the replacements Sundance said were around.

“We got company, ten o’clock, two o’clock,” Premise squinted as Dark Ether-Mist flooded the room, “Uhhhh, three o’clock, four, nine— just— everywhere.”

“Astute observation,” Karjal drawled, pulling out a fusion rifle.

“I got the turret, Del, grab the nav module,” Cayde motioned. She took off running at the order, leaping up the scaffolding affixed to the walls while he dove to the right. The turret was tucked away in a small building, a group of Scorn huddled there. Cayde threw a grenade just to be done with it, hefting the machinery onto his shoulder once it had detonated. He swiftly returned to see the others engaging small groups, not even close to something they couldn’t handle.

Delaney jumped down just as Cayde was setting the turret next to the tank’s tread, nav module solidly in hand. They shimmered in transmat, Sundance seamlessly installing them from inside the Drake. 

“Your chariot awaits,” she announced as he felt her return to his Light.

“I call shotgun!” Premise exclaimed as he and Cayde clambered inside, the Vanguard taking a moment to make sure all the settings were in order before grabbing the controls. It was a testament to how tense he was when he only felt a small glimmer of joy at finally getting to drive one of these after so long, instead of giddy glee.

The tank shifted slightly as the fireteams (plus Petra) clambered on top, perched on the sides and front. 

“Gotta blast that door open,” Aargren said over comms.

“I see it,” Cayde answered, swiveling the guns around to point in the appropriate direction. 

The muted boom thundered through his chest as he fired the main cannon, the reinforced blast door he was aiming for getting blown wide open. Premise let out an elated whoop at the power, and Cayde shoved the controls forward and steered them through the hole he’d just created.

I’m on my way. Just hang on.

-------

If one more person manhandled L, he was going to lose it. 

He’s been passed from Fikrul’s claws to a chieftain, then back to Fikrul, then to Elykris, then bizarrely to Pirrha, then back to Fikrul, then between three other Scorn in rapid succession before ending up in Elykris’ grip again. The second he got the Light-cage off his shell, and himself out of the pouch he’d been stuffed in, he was going to give her a piece of his mind.

In the hundreds of years he had been searching for his Guardian, he had never been in such dire straits as he had been for the past two days. Letting his dimension-hopping, future-knowing Lightbearer get captured by the Darkness-infected Prince of the Reef and his reanimated Scorn had not been what he was expecting. At the very least, Cayde had been alive last L saw him, which was what Y/N had been worried about ever since he found her. 

Cayde was no doubt on the Reef by now, but his attempts to contact the Vanguard (or anyone else, for that matter) had been jammed. Transmat was no good either. Less causal methods of communication were also refusing to function— in addition to the Light-suppressing cage, the bag Elykris had stuck him in seemed to function like a mini Darkness zone, preventing him from vanishing into Y/N’s Light, not that he would have been able to anyway. It was saturated with Dark Ether, which did more than enough to keep him from squirming around too much. It also stunk to high heaven, some combination of the Ether and a rank acid that permeated the air.

L had resigned himself to being jostled around as Elykris moved, tied to something on her pack and dangling off it like a keychain, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

This is humiliating.

The utter emptiness the Light-cage induced was strikingly similar to how it had felt when the full size version latched onto the Traveler. He hadn’t found his Chosen when the Red War kicked off, he was searching along the South American coast at that time, and the radio silence he’d received when he’d tried to contact the City had almost been more paralyzing than his sudden lack of Light. By the time he reached Last City-controlled space, Premise had reforged his connection at the Shard of the Traveler and everyone was off trying to retake the City.

He’d felt completely useless then, hiding in the corner of a building on the Farm as they waited for news, unbound to a Lightbearer as he was.

It was remarkably similar to his current circumstances.

He couldn’t decipher much about his surroundings considering his predicament, but he heard Elykris ordering supplies around, consolidating and redistributing as needed. Her hideout maybe? Or another Scorn-controlled facility?

A noise sounded off in the distance, and L felt Elykris turn towards it, spitting out a sharp command to a Scorn he couldn’t see. And then he heard it again, and again, steadily getting closer. It almost sounded like… explosions.

The noises continued until it sounded like it was right outside their door, and L still couldn’t see, but Elykris was agitated, moving back and forth, causing him to swing like a pendulum.

And then all of a sudden, the loudest explosion yet tore through the area, causing his fins to lock up in uncertainty, even under the constraint of the cage’s prongs. A familiar voice rang out from a ways away—

“Where the hell is Y/N?!”

Chapter Text

“Guardians! I’m over here! Cayde!”

He had left the controls of the Drake to Premise, taking up a position at the top of the tank as they neared the back of the lair. But the tiny, strained, glitching voice that echoed through the space stopped Cayde in his tracks.

“Is that— L?!”

Elykris laughed at Adelaide’s exclamation. “You want the Ghost back? Come and take it!”

Cayde’s optics locked onto the source of the voice— a bag hanging off the back of the Machinist’s pack, dangling precariously from where it was tied. The sheer relief that flooded his frame was so intense he grabbed onto the side of the tank to steady himself. Pirrha had been lying. L was alive, which meant that even if Uldren had hurt Y/N, the damage was reversible. She would be okay. 

But if L was here, where was she? It would make sense if they’d been separated, but if she wasn’t here, that meant she was probably with Fikrul, or Uldren himself.

And there was also the issue of somehow taking down Elykris without getting L crushed.

The Baron crouched, the tech on her back glowing red-hot.

“Oh shit—” 

“Get down—!”

Cayde grabbed Petra by the waist and yanked her off the top of the tank a split second before it exploded, throwing shrapnel every which way. He managed to block most of it with his body, but he heard her hiss as a flying piece scraped her leg. He narrowly managed to avoid dropping her in the puddles of acid dotting the area.

“Shit, Premise!”

Rettie flitted out from under the wreckage, shell spinning and glowing. Before Elykris could take a shot, he vanished, and a spiked gauntlet shot out of the twisted metal. Delaney was closest, and she grabbed onto his hand to hoist him out of the flames.

“You bitch! That was my fucking tank!” 

Jane had scrambled up one of the higher ledges, sniper rifle in hand. “Draw her fire, I’ll try to free L,” she ordered over the comms. 

“Be careful,” Cayde said, like he needed to tell her.

“I will.” 

Cayde, Petra, Adelaide, and Karjal moved to the left, while everyone else went right. “Over here you damn zombie!” Aargren called, waving his bow in the air with one hand. Adelaide had copied him and was charging her from the other side with a rocket launcher primed and ready.

Elykris let out a snarl and shot her scorch cannon, causing her to dodge-roll out of the way, popping out a second later to return fire. Aargren had drawn his own grenade launcher and got off two shots before having to move back to put some distance between him and the horde of Scorn underlings that just transmatted in.

Bang!

“Shit.”

“Jane?”

“L’s fine, she just moved.”

“Please don’t shoot me!”

“Someone get ready to catch him.”

“On it,” Cayde confirmed. “Karjal, Premise, couldja—”

“Way ahead of ya,” Premise interrupted, a grin in his voice. The two Warlocks leapt into their respective Supers, Karjal into a Nova Warp to clear out the Scorn harassing Aargren while Premise directed a Chaos Reach at Elykris, aiming just to graze her shoulder, not to blast her head open. Delaney helpfully chucked a Solar grenade on her other side to keep her from moving away.

“Go now!”

Cayde darted forward without hesitation, maneuvering around the flying Light to get around to the Machinist’s back.

Bang!

The rope holding the bag to Elykris’ pack all but evaporated as the sniper round cut through it. Cayde silently praised Jane’s well-honed aim as he had to dodge forward to get close enough to catch the Ghost before leaping away.

“Got him!”

“Hell yeah, give her hell guys!”

Jane dropped down from her perch and held out a Ward of Dawn for them as the Guardians unloaded the full force of their arsenal on the lone Baron. Petra took potshots at the stray Raiders that Karjal had missed to keep them from sneaking up on anyone while Cayde looped around the edge of the room to join them. Elykris screamed, firing a salvo of rockets in the air. The ground shook with their impact the second Cayde slid into the bubble, precious cargo in tow. Jane grunted slightly with the effort of keeping the Ward up against the resistance, but it didn’t even waver.

Cayde crouched down towards the back and ripped open the top of the small burlap sack. There was— that was Light-restraining tech around his shell, where in the world—

He grabbed ahold of the thing and carefully pried it off L’s shell, tossing it to the ground carelessly. L trembled in his hand before taking flight, nearly knocking into his horn in his haste to escape. “Cayde! Uldren has Y/N, they’re going to the Watchtower, I think he’s going to use her for something, we have to get over there—”

“Woah, slow your roll little guy,” he held out his hands. “We’re gonna get her back, don’t you worry. You doin’ alright?”

His shell shivered around his core, like he was shaking off whatever remnants of Dark Ether were left on him. “Yes, I’ll be okay, no permanent damage. Though that cage was not pleasant.”

“You guys nearly done over there?” Cayde called over his shoulder, despite the cacophony of multiple heavys firing not having slowed in the last thirty seconds.

“Just about!” Karjal shouted back, pulling the trigger on his linear fusion rifle from where he was kneeling just outside the Ward. 

Elykris was still screaming, and Cayde couldn’t find it in himself to feel bad about it.

“The Scorned Barons always stand together! Divide us… but you cannot break us!”

“Literally everyone else is dead, but okay!” Premise shouted back offhandedly.

Cayde gently grabbed L and pulled him to his side as the fireteams kept up the onslaught, muzzles of their weapons poking outside the barrier.

She let out a long cry as she fell to one knee, then two, then further into a heap, overheated weapons sizzling as they made contact with the ground. Aargren was at her side in an instant, arrow aimed at her head.

“I bought them… time… the Scorn… the Barons… stand together… forever…”

She breathed no more.

Aargren slowly released the tension on his bowstring, turning back to the others and nodding. Cayde let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

“We good?” Premise called.

“We’re good,” the Hunter answered. 

L shook a little in Cayde’s hand, and he felt Sundance appear and fly down, gently bumping against his shell in comfort. His fins were slightly crushed, the clear imprints of the cage’s claws marring the metal of his casing— the sight made Cayde want to kill Elykris all over again. You did not fuck with someone’s Ghost, end of story. They weren’t just the thing that gave you your powers, they were your best friend, the other half of your soul more often than not, and seeing someone else’s little buddy so obviously abused made a wave of rage crest in his mechanical heart. That was Y/N’s Ghost they had hurt.

L and Sundance's eyelights flickered as if they were having an entire conversation that no one else could hear, and they probably were— there were certain frequencies that only sentient paracausal machines could use.

“So what now?” Jane asked.

“The Watchtower,” Petra said, holstering her weapon. “It’s the only place left. When… when he returned after the war, he told me he could hear Queen Mara in his head. Cayde… forgive me. I could have prevented all this. But instead I locked him away in the Prison of Elders.”

“It’s not your fault PV,” Cayde sighed, standing, finally letting go of L. Sundance returned to his Light and the other flitted close to his shoulder. “If anything it’s mine for not killing the bastard when I had the chance.”

“You guys can blame yourselves all you want once we get Y/N back,” Premise interrupted. “If we know where he’s goin’ then let’s go!”

Cayde motioned with Ace, towards the door they came in. “Lead the way Petra.”

We’re on our way. Just hang on a little longer.

-------

A sudden surge of Light jolted you out of your feverish half-sleeping state. You groaned slightly, chained hands coming up to brace your wound on instinct and immediately regretting touching it. It was still oozing, and the swelling hadn’t gone down in the slightest, which was pretty worrying. It had actually gotten worse from the looks of it. Great.

But forget all that, what was it you just felt? That rush of Light made you slightly more coherent, but what did it mean? The bond between you and L seemed sturdier, but it was still hard to sense him. Did something happen to the cage?

You fumbled for your Light, for a single spark of Arc— anything. But your thoughts were numb, sluggish, your focus even worse. Despite your apparently gargantuan amount of power, you weren't actually that good at harnessing it, at least compared to the clan that had adopted you. You could feel it returning, but it didn't heal you, and the fever was making it hard to even keep your eyes open. Everything hurt so much.

You couldn’t think on it any longer however, because the door to your cell banged open, and none other than the Fanatic stood outside it. 

The new room you’d been stuffed into was little more than the size of a closet, not even big enough for you to lay down flat on your back. There was no way Fikrul would fit, so he just bent down and grabbed your ankle, yanking you out of the room. You cried out before you could stop yourself, being pulled on your back as he just kept walking.

“Waitwaitwait wait, jus’ lemme stand—”

Your leg dropped to the ground, heel hitting the ground hard. “Ow.”

Fikrul turned, his two primary hands grabbing you under the armpits like an unruly cat and depositing you roughly onto your feet. You stumbled, a sudden wave of nausea slamming into your brain. He grabbed you again before you could steady yourself, taking the length of chain that bound your wrists and pulling you along. He was at least twice your height, and you had to jog to keep up with him, wincing every time you took a step.

Your heart was pounding in your chest, and your arms shook with the effort it took to keep them raised. Everything ached, your wrists were a bloody mess from the chafing, the wound in your side was still screaming, and all you wanted was to burst into tears from the unfairness of it all. 

Why you? Why did Uldren need you? Why were you here instead of literally any other Guardian? Why did you get chosen to be pulled from your home and dumped into a post-apocalyptic, war-torn hell?

It was hard to remember the good you’d done when you hadn’t eaten in hours and hadn’t seen the sun in days. Everything on the Shore was so purple.

All of a sudden you were out of the tunnels, being led to a single Pike parked outside. Fikrul all but threw you onto it, draping you over the handlebars on your stomach like a dead body. You screamed, because that fucking hurt, there was some pointy bit of metal that was digging into the flesh right above your wound and if you had to go the entire ride like that you were going to lose it—

Fikrul started up the bike, boosting forward with absolutely no warning, and you shifted around, that piece of metal jamming into your side, and—

Your ragged, exhausted body finally did you a favor and let you black out.

Chapter Text

You awoke when Fikrul tossed you onto the ground, skull banging against the stone floor. For a solid ten seconds, you couldn’t move even if you tried. Being injured and held captive for days was not a good combination for your poor body, and the concussion you’d probably just sustained didn’t help matters. 

But you managed to get your arms under you, so you were at least sitting instead of laying on the floor. It was a kind of white stone, and you followed it up the purple, iridescent walls that somehow felt familiar.

Your eyes traveled further, to the silent Awoken man standing before you with Darkness crawling up his neck and nearly snuffing out his eyes.

Oh. Right.

Shit.

“This is as far as you go,” Uldren said, leveling his gaze at the Fanatic behind you.

“Please. For you, I go… instead,” Fikrul rumbled in response, in that stilted cadence of his. “All know… darkness lives here. Death. You are not of Ether. Can’t bring… you back.”

“All the same.”

That tone made you shiver, the easy authority behind it. 

“Yes, Father. We ever serve and await return.”

“Go. Inspire…” he took a step forward, towards you, but his focus was entirely on the Scorn Baron behind you. “... and avenge your murdered friends.”

You heard Fikrul’s departing footsteps, but didn’t turn to look. It was taking what little energy you had left to keep from falling over again.

Uldren finally looked down at you, but there was something off about his gaze. Like he was somewhere else. It was one thing to see it in a cutscene and something else entirely to have such a look centered on you.

“I’m… not afraid.”

He looked away, to something to the side, but there was nothing there. Riven. She was talking to him.

The rest of the hallway in front of you was shrouded in gray mist, almost like a barrier. All of a sudden he was looking at you again, stepping closer.

You recoiled back, you could feel the Darkness on him, you were talking before you even realized it—

“Uldren… Uldren wait, you don’t have to do this. Please.”

You had to stall. You had to stall until Cayde got there. Was he even coming—?

It didn’t even look like he heard you. He roughly grabbed your wrists, pulled you forward, even as you tried to back away, but you didn’t have the strength to put up a meaningful resistance. Your head was throbbing, the world was swimming in your vision. Uldren didn’t look much better to be honest, eyes unfocused, legs unsteady, and he wavered a bit himself as he dragged you closer to the barrier.

“Yes.”

You couldn’t remember the rest of the dialogue for the life of you, but Riven was probably being creepy again, manipulating Uldren, encouraging him to tug you through the shimmering threshold into—

-------

Cayde had managed to convince Petra to approach the Watchtower from the air as he and the fireteams did from the ground. As skilled as she was, they were pretty much walking into a warzone, and if something disastrous happened to the last real leader of the Awoken people, Cayde would never hear the end of it. As well as the fact that he’d, y’know, feel all kinds of guilty about getting his friend killed. He already felt bad enough about letting Y/N get taken.

The thought sent a physical stab of pain through his chest. She was so close, he knew it. L perking up more and more the closer they got basically confirmed it. The little Ghost had been adamant about coming with, despite the danger— ”My Guardian is hurt, she needs me, I have to help her” —so Karjal volunteered to babysit and tucked him into the folds of his robes while he hung out at the back of the group and watched their flanks.

Cayde had allowed it for the sole reason that he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop the little Ghost even if he tried. L would probably have dove right into the middle of the fighting if it meant getting closer to his Guardian. Regardless, Cayde was tempted to have Karjal take him and run for the hills, because allowing Y/N to come was what had started this whole disaster in the first place. But keeping a Ghost from harm was, mercifully, a lot easier than a whole person, and there were seven of them now— and Cayde had made it clear that the Warlock was to stay far, far away from the brunt of the fighting, something Karjal was happy to oblige in.

Cayde’s original impression had been correct— they were stepping into a warzone, and it was significantly harder to just walk up to the Watchtower than he had anticipated. It was like every Scorn left on the Shore had congregated there for the sole purpose of making their job more difficult. It was working— they’d had some close calls, thank the Light for healing rifts. 

“Lay down some cover, I’m going for that Chieftain up there!” Aargren called. 

Rounds flew as Delaney and Premise stepped out from their protected positions, spraying the battlefield with auto rifle and SMG rounds. Aargren leapt into the open and threw a grenade towards the shielded Scorn on top of the ridge, landing on said ledge moments later and stabbing it straight through the skull right after the grenade detonated. 

“Abomination!”

Aargren jumped out of the way just in time to dodge the lightning bolt that shot past his face. Jane nailed it with a rocket to the head, the round flying right over his helmet as he fell back to the ground.

“Hey! Careful where you’re shooting that thing!”

“Stop being so wiggly and I won’t have to be!”

“More on the left!”

By the time they made it to the base of the Watchtower, Cayde’s wires were thrumming with so much artificial adrenaline it was all he could do not to leap off the stone pillars.

“You enjoyed killing them?”

Dark-Ether mist spread through the small courtyard in front of the entrance, the Fanatic’s voice filtering through. All of a sudden he materialized, slamming his staff down into the ground. The Arc surge it let off sizzled over Cayde’s plating like static electricity. 

“You enjoyed putting them in dirt— where you belong?” 

“Geddout the way!” Premise yelled, and the group scattered, Cayde ending up behind a large crystal outcropping with Adelaide. 

“Did it make you feel good?” Fikrul was still going, lightning shooting up from the ground where they had just been standing.

“Delaney, get this bastard!” Karjal called across the space.

“The Darkness is too strong here, I need more time!” she shouted back.

“Anyone else got a Super?” Jane said.

Cayde’s teeth plates ground together as multiple negatives sounded out. Del was right— the Darkness was much more oppressive here, probably due to the Fanatic’s presence. He might be able to get off a Golden Gun in a few minutes, but until then it was traditional weapons only.

“He’s doing the thing again!”

Static rolled across the field, and he and Adelaide dodged out of the way just in time to avoid being roasted by the bolts shooting down.

“Premise, Karjal, ad clear,” Cayde ordered over the commotion. “Everyone else, focus on the Fanatic!”

It was pure chaos in the courtyard, the fireteams running every which way and taking shots when they could, trying to stay out of range of the Baron’s staff. 

“Kaniks. Reksis Vahn. Yaviks. Pirrha. Araskes. Hiraks. Tell me that killing my friends made you feel good. Tell me!”

“You take my girl, this is what happens,” Cayde ground out to himself as he shot a stray Scorn that got too close. 

The group was able to get a few more good shots off at Fikrul, before the air shimmered around them, the scent of ozone and Ether filling the area in a split second— and then they were being dragged, through thin air and further into the Watchtower. He heard the others call out in surprise, and then the mysterious force let go, leaving them to drop right on top of Fikrul.

They managed to activate their jumps to avoid landing on him, but Cayde ended up right in the middle of one of those glowing circles he was summoning, he could sense the lightning crash down before it actually happened—

“Shit!”

His desperate slide knocked him hard into the wall, electronic nerves all lighting up in searing agony at the surge.

“Cayde!”

He managed to get to his feet as Sundance forced a wave of fresh Light through him, dulling the pain enough to get his bearings. Premise had gotten up close and personal and was just punching the shit out of Fikrul, at least until two arms came flailing out and knocked him aside. But Delaney and Aargren were right behind him, the Gunslinger letting loose an arrow that stuck in his forearm while the Sunbreaker unloaded a shotgun shell directly to his face.

The Fanatic roared, and lightning flashed as he kept calling it down, trying to keep them separated.

Cayde set his jaw, steadied his footing, and through sheer force of will, fighting through the suffocating Darkness, summoned enough Solar Light for a single shot.

It went right through the center of Fikrul’s forehead.

His death cry was loud and long, collapsing to the floor, the lingering electrostatic charge in the air lessening with every second. “The Scorn… are… forever…”

Cayde slumped against the wall before righting himself, shaking his head to try and get his bearings. The Darkness let up, but only by a little— he could still feel it pressing against his soul, and he had a feeling it would only get worse the further into the Watchtower they got.

He expected to feel some sort of satisfaction at finally taking down the last Baron, after days of hunting them—had it only been days? It felt like weeks—but all he felt was tired. Tired of the anger, tired of the hate, tired of not knowing if Y/N was okay. He hadn’t run himself this ragged in years.

But it didn’t matter, because Y/N was in there somewhere. He was going to get her back. Everything would be fine once he got her back.

“Everyone okay?”

Premise only got affirmations in return, thank the Light.

“L?”

“I’m alright,” the little Ghost called from safely inside Karjal’s jacket.

“Damn Cayde, that was a bad hit, y’alright?”

Adelaide offered a hand, but he didn’t take it, shrugging off the last of the lingering effects.

“‘M Fine. C’mon.”

He reloaded Ace without even looking down, everyone following him automatically as he climbed the steps further into the tower, mindful of the Dark wisps that looked way too close to Taken effects, in his humble opinion. 

“Guardians, everyone still alive down there?” Petra’s voice filtered through the comms.

“We’re all good,” Jane answered.

“No one has stood where you are since the Queen closed these doors. Hunter, Warlock, welcome home, cousins,” she addressed the two Awoken in particular. Aargren and Karjal shared a quick glance as they trudged forward.

“Keep moving. I’ll get to you as fast as I can.”

“Might wanna take a rain check on that PV,” Cayde said, getting a closer look at the black spots on the wall as they climbed the stairs. “Have a feeling things are gonna get ugly in here.”

Now that he got a good look at it, that was absolutely Taken goop splattered around the hall. Premise came to the same conclusion moments after he did.

“Ah shit, is that what I think it is?”

“If I never see another Taken Thrall again it will be too soon,” Karjal mumbled.

“Says the guy who was nerdin’ out the entire time we were on the Dreadnaught,” Adelaide chuckled.

“Says the Hunter who died seven times trying to get across that chasm.”

“Hey, clear comms,” Jane suddenly called.

They reached the top of the stairs, and—

“Not again,” Karjal groaned.

The portal to the Ascendant Plane wavered slightly where it was blocking their path, the black-and-white seeming to bleed through to their dimension.

Cayde adjusted his hood, spun Ace by the trigger guard. “Buckle up kiddos, things just got a bit more complicated.”

Chapter Text

The Ascendant Plane was freezing. Cayde couldn’t suppress a shudder as he and the fireteams stepped through the portal, the sudden lack of color a stark contrast to the Awoken architecture behind them. Karjal let out a disgusted huff.

“She’s gotta be in here somewhere, right?” Premise asked, scanning the environment through his weapon’s sights. 

She has to be. There was nowhere else she could be, and if they hadn’t found her yet, that meant she was still with Sov, he still had her—

The thought spurred him onward, everyone following as they hopped up the floating debris and further into the Watchtower.

“Anyone see another portal?”

“Nope, the ground’s super fucked up though,” Aargren mentioned as they attempted to climb up a slanted part of the hallway.

“No kiddin',” Adelaide snorted. 

“Wait, up there!”

Above them was indeed a portal— Cayde took a sharp breath as he entered it and ended up back in the navy and purple of the tower.

“The line between dimensions is super thin here,” Sundance noted over comms.

“You think there’s any Taken around?” Jane questioned.

“I hope not,” Premise muttered.

“Seconded,” came Karjal’s reply.

The corridor ended in a large hall with towering pillars on either side. The second Cayde stepped off the stairs leading to it, the Darkness closed in around them.

“You fucking jinxed it,” Aargren drawled as he drew an arrow, pointing it towards the mob of Taken that had just appeared on the other side of the room.

“Hey, it’s not my fault—”

“Guys!” Cayde shouted, a little harsher than he meant to, but it got the point across.

“I call the big guy,” Premise exclaimed, pulling out his sword, “can someone get those Vandals up there?”

“On it,” Jane drew her sniper and posted up behind a pillar.

“Cayde?”

“I’m with ya,” he answered, holstering Ace for the first time that day and pulling a machine gun out of transmat. He’d been saving ammo on purpose, but he had entirely run out of patience, and needed the Taken to die as quickly as possible so he could get back to more important things, like shoving the barrel of a gun up that egotistical prince’s ass.

“Hey, where’d ya get tha— woah!”

Premise had to glide out of the path of the black and white orb that was sailing his way, an open palm full of Arc flailing out and batting it aside.

Cayde moved as well, setting up his angle. He hoisted the machine gun to his shoulder, set the sights on the Taken Cabal’s head, and held down the trigger. The recoil was bad, his arms were going to ache after this, but his stance was steady, and he didn’t let the thing leap out of his hands as he kept it pointed firmly in the Taken’s direction. 

The rapid firing roared in his ears—or whatever he had instead of them—drowning out everything else as he emptied the substantial magazine into the head of the Cabal. But Taken were made of sturdier stuff than most others, and it didn’t look like it did much, the thing just shrieking and shooting back. Cayde cursed as he reloaded, and that gave Premise the chance to run in with his sword raised, swinging at the foe with enthusiasm. He got a few good swipes off before the Taken hit back and he had to move.

But Cayde had reloaded by then, swinging the muzzle up once more and unloading on the target, and through the noise he managed to hear Premise join in with his SMG and a whoosh that was probably Delaney shooting off a rocket.

Yep, that was a rocket— it dealt the killing blow to the Taken, its remains imploding on themselves and disappearing off the mortal coil completely. Cayde whirled on instinct, ready to unload the rest of the rounds into any remaining enemies, but the room was empty, save for the Guardians he had came here with.

“Is that all of ‘em?” Aargren called.

“I believe so,” Karjal responded.

Cayde dropped the machine gun back into transmat, glancing around one more time—but there was nothing left to shoot. He drew the Ace of Spades.

He didn’t call for everyone else to follow him— he didn’t need to. They fell into step behind him as they climbed the stairs at the back of the room, leading them further onward, past a massive geode of some kind that was probably an Awoken relic— he wasn’t even curious.

They continued on, through another Ascendant portal, traversing the plane with little issue and slaughtering all the Taken they came across. There was a brief moment of panic when they reached a dead end with no sign of another portal, but then they killed a Vex and it helpfully opened for them.

Truthfully, Cayde barely registered any of it. It was just background noise, necessary to endure to get to his end goal.

Back into the material world they went, avoiding the immense Taken orb blocking half the hallway. L suddenly flew out of Karjal’s robes, getting in front of Cayde.

“She’s in there!” he cried out, and Cayde felt his mechanical heart seize at the words. “She’s inside! I know it!”

“Well then what the hell are we waiting for?!” Premise all but yelled, marching up to the double doors. 

Cayde— well, he got there first, shoving them open with all his might. The chamber was huge, but he didn’t care— at the far end of it were two figures— and a looming, pulsing presence over them—

Y/N, she was—

-------

Uldren dragged you so fast through the portals you were having a hard time staying lucid. Your brain felt like it was lagging, like you were watching a PowerPoint instead of experiencing being pulled through the Ascendant Plane again and again. You’d honestly forgotten about that part, it had been years since you played Forsaken, when was it going to end —?

When you got back to the City, you were going to sleep for a solid twenty-four hours with no interruptions. And then take the longest bath of your life. Wait, your apartment didn’t have a bathtub, just a shower, but you could have sworn you saw a tub in Cayde’s bathroom the last time you were there, maybe he’d let you borrow it—

Uldren had been mumbling to himself as he dragged you, cut off no’s and I can’t’ s making it past the fog in your brain. It felt like you were dreaming, some combination of the infection-induced fever and the repeated entering and exiting of dimensions. Maybe on some level, Uldren knew what he was doing— what he was walking towards, what he was going to unleash, what he was forcing you to approach. Whether it was the Darkness’ influence or his own twisted devotion to Mara that drove him forward, you had no idea.

When you finally entered what you remembered as the boss room, its sheer size briefly caught you off guard— nearly enough to distract you from the rising dread in your chest. It was finally happening. After waiting so long, this was finally happening, and yet—

Uldren stumbled a little as you both made it to the massive portal frame— the one to the Dreaming City. You knew what was waiting on the other side, but you couldn’t even say anything, speaking was an impossibility, everything hurt and you couldn’t think and you just wanted to go home—

Uldren suddenly grabbed your wrists, hauling you to your feet. You hadn’t even realized you’d collapsed to your knees. He forced you forward, and—

And you felt it, the presence on the other side, reaching out, taking hold of you—

You writhed, trying with all your might to free yourself from Uldren’s grasp, pathetic whimpers being squeezed from your lungs, but he was too strong, and you were too weak, you could feel those phantom tentacles snaking across your body, crawling down your throat, taking hold of your Light and scooping it out—

You screamed.

The world flickered.

“Y/N!”

Chapter Text

Y/N’s body was floating three feet off the ground, thrashing midair as she screamed, and Cayde had never felt such fear at a sound before.

Tendrils of pure Light were being ripped from her skin and flowing up to the portal frame at the back of the room, and Darkness was joining it, pulled from Uldren’s eyes— he could feel her Light being stripped from her, that wonderful spark she’d had ever since they met being pulled out of her— and the portal started to glow, flashing, all of a sudden the room became pure white, he couldn't see—

“What the fuck is that thing?!”

“Holy shit, look!”

And then he could see again— a hulking mass of rounded flesh was emerging from the portal, the inside of its clawed mouth glowing a sickly purple as translucent tentacles stretched out towards Uldren’s kneeling form.

He reached back, letting them curl around his arms, lifting him to his feet. But then he seemed to realize what was in front of him, and he cried out, limbs flailing, trying to free himself, but it was no use, they raised him up, bringing him closer and closer to that gaping mouth—

Cayde was frozen in horror— everyone was. Even the Ghosts were silent. His limbs felt like they were made of lead— he’d been alive for a long damn time, and never in his life had he seen something so— grotesque. He could only watch as the eldritch beast swallowed Uldren whole, him screaming all the while. 

Y/N had fallen to the ground beneath it, crumpled in a heap. He was too far away, he couldn't tell if she was breathing or not—

“Y/N!”

He didn’t know if it was him or L who had yelled, but they both made a mad dash for her body at the same moment, the little Ghost making it to her a split second before he did. The thing was still above them, casting a shadow, but the others had started shooting at it, and it let out a demented roar, moving to the side in midair as it followed the diversion.

Cayde slid to his knees at her side. She looked like she'd been through hell. Her hair was crusted with dried sweat and blood, sticking to her scalp, she’d been stripped of all armor except her boots, the mark he’d given her was gone, there was a festering burn on the side of her stomach that had bits of her melted undersuit stuck in it and made him sick just looking at it, and her poor hands—

They were curled around the chains, the raw skin of her wrists bruised and still bleeding. He pulled his knife from his belt and superheated the blade with Solar, slicing through the links as easily as butter. He sheathed it once more, grabbing her hands with one of his own, completely at a loss.

“L—...”

His blue beam of light scanned her, almost frantically, and then he slumped down in the air. “... Whatever Uldren did, it almost completely drained her of her Light. I can’t— I can’t fix that, not like this. Before I can heal her, she’s going to have to…”

Cayde swallowed thickly, setting Ace down as he wrapped his other arm under her shoulders, propping her up on his legs.

Her eyelids fluttered weakly, eyes unfocused, and his breath caught again when they landed on his face.

She was still with him.

-------

You felt… cold. Colder than you’d ever been. But there was warmth, something on your hands, and something hovering above you…

It took an enormous effort, but you managed to crack your eyes open, squinting at the points of light just above your face. 

“Hey there sweetheart,” a familiar voice said, strangled with an emotion you'd never heard in it before, but it was him, he was here—

“Cay—” a sob-turned-cough choked off the rest of the word, and he was quick to respond.

“Hey hey hey, it’s alright, I’m here, don’t worry, it’s gonna be okay. L here is gonna fix you right up, o-okay?”

His voice cracked, and you finally noticed the other point of light you’d seen, hovering over you and radiating such concern you could feel it.

“Oh, Y/N…”

Your amazing Ghost, your unconditional supporter— he moved down, pressing the front of his shell to your forehead, and while you didn’t have the strength to reciprocate, you mentally leaned into the motion, greedily drinking in any drop of Light you could. You didn't know why you were so cold, why everything was fuzzy, darker.

Far off, somewhere in the distance, you thought you could hear gunfire, but it didn't really matter, because L was here, Cayde was here, and he was alive, and you could finally go home. 

“Y/N, stay with me for just a little longer darlin’,” he exclaimed when your eyes fell shut again. “Listen, L can’t— well, he can heal you, but somethin’ happened with your Light, you’re gonna needa die first before he can fix it, are you good with that?”

You only half-understood his words, more than willing to let yourself drift now that he was here. What were you even so worried about before? Cayde was here, and he was alive, and that was all that mattered.

“Y/N, do you understand? Ya gotta answer me hun,” a note of desperation crept into his voice. 

You managed to pry your eyes open one more time, nodding as much as you were able. The world swirled before your eyes, like you were looking through a mesh screen.

“Cayde, you have to…” you heard L trail off. You felt his Light retreat slightly, and if you had the presence of mind, you would have reached for him, but as it stood, it was all you could do to stay conscious. 

“Are you sure it’ll work? If you can't rezz her…”

“I’m sure, Cayde. It will work. I’ll rezz her.”

He shifted, releasing your hands, and the gleam of black and white metal flashed in his grasp.

But he didn’t do anything, he just held it.

You were somehow able to fix your eyes on his face, leaning ever so slightly more into him. 

“It’s okay,” you rasped out. Those crystal blue optics met your’s, searching for a lie, and they didn’t find one. “I trust you.”

He took a breath, and you closed your eyes, content, feeling the warmth of the still-warm muzzle through the air as he held it an inch from your forehead.

You didn’t even feel it.

-------

You were alive, you were conscious, and you were lucid— the world exploded into technicolor, and you gasped hard, air rushing into your lungs.

“Y/N!” 

You were standing, and Cayde was there in an instant, his hands a reassuring weight as they ran over your body, your shoulders, arms, the sides of your torso. Your own joined his, checking for damage— the burn wound was gone, leaving your ruined undersuit, so was the fever, and you reveled in the clarity of your own thoughts for all of two seconds before you were folded into a crushing hug.

Cayde’s grip was vice-like, as if he couldn’t hold you tight enough. Your own wasn’t any less desperate, and you buried your face into his hood, trying to keep the tears from spilling from your eyes.

“I missed you,” he whispered, orange lighting against your neck.

“I missed you too,” you returned with a misty smile. His presence was overwhelming and soothing in equal measures, his arms so solid around you. You could smell oil and spice, ozone and Dark Ether, a cacophony of scents old and new— remnants of the battles he must have fought to get to you.

Something small bumped into your arm, bullying his way into the hug— it was L, and you let go of Cayde with one hand only to hold your Ghost to your chest.

“Holy shit, thank the Light you’re okay,” you breathed, feeling his shell twitch slightly in your grasp.

“You too.” You didn’t know it was possible for Ghosts to sound choked up.

All you wanted was to stay there forever, but the gunfire was quite audible now, and you had to pull away to get a look at what was going on around you.

It was… Emerald and Flux, they were here— and they were running every which way, corralling Taken, taking shots at the Voice of Riven whenever they could, and holy shit, it was big, and disgusting.

“You’re okay, right?” Cayde’s eyes scanned your body (and so did L’s beam), searching for any lingering damage, but thankfully, there wasn’t any.

“I am now,” you responded, entirely serious, unable to keep from grinning.

L was flitting around your head, and your fingers brushed his shell— fuck it was good to see him.

“Goddamn, I missed you two,” you said again, and Cayde huffed as he patted your arm once. There was such relief in his expression, you didn’t know Exos could emote that expressively. 

L’s fins fluttered in your hands, before he vanished and returned to your Light. It felt so good to have him back there, you had no idea how you’d ever stood it when he wasn’t.

“I’m never letting you out of my sight again, that was awful.”

“It was,” you agreed mentally.

“Are you fuckers gonna help us or ya just gonna stand there making googly eyes at each other?!”

You glanced back over to the battle— Premise was shrieking, gliding high over a group of Taken whilst throwing a grenade.

“We’re coming!” you laughed at the absurdity.

L helpfully transmatted some spare mismatched armor onto your body, and you rolled your shoulders as it settled.

Without a second damn thought in your head, you started charging towards the battle, Arc-aided speed causing little sparks to fall off your boots— fuck your Light felt so good, it was fantastic to feel it in your veins again—but Cayde called from behind you—

“Hey, wait up! I think this is your’s!”

Something materialized in his hands— your Hard Light, you realized. “Oh shit, yeah! Yeet it over!”

“Do what now?”

“Toss it!”

With no hesitation, he overhand chucked the thing clear across the room, and you caught it just in time to use the momentum to slam the stock into a Thrall that had run up on you. It felt so amazing to hold the thing again.

Cayde shot two more that were approaching from behind you, raising an eye ridge at you as he approached. “Where’d’ja find that word?”

“For future reference, yeet means throw,” you laughed, spraying a stray Acolyte with Void rounds.

“Guys, now is not the time for an English lesson!” Premise screamed again.

“Coming!”

Cayde’s arm brushed your’s as he passed you, and you glanced at him—

He was giving you that smirk you loved so much—

And you joined the fight.

Chapter Text

“Nice of you to join us!” Karjal yelled, reloading his linear fusion rifle. “We’ve only been fighting for our lives for the past five minutes!”

“Don’t get your robes in a bunch, you’re fine!” Cayde called back, effortlessly executing the three Taken Psions blocking his way as you both ran to the group. The fireteams had huddled behind the tall pillars on the left side of the room, and the Voice of Riven didn’t advance on them, instead shooting balls of purple energy from its mouth whenever anyone poked their head out.

“What are you guys doing here?” you called to them.

“Y/N, you’re practically my baby sister, what was I supposed to do, not come find you?” Premise asked incredulously. You spluttered as he continued, “What in Shaxx’s flat asscheeks are we even fighting?!”

“Shaxx’s what?” Jane exclaimed.

“A Chimera, a Taken Servitor!” Karjal answered. “But this one is massive!”

“No shit!” Aargren stabbed an arrow into the head of a Taken that got too close, ripping it out of its body to shoot at said Chimera a split second later. It responded by lobbing more balls of energy, and the Hunter had to duck away.

“It is good to see you on your feet Y/N!” Delaney came up behind you and thumped your helmet in a friendly gesture. “I’ve had enough of this nonsense, I’m going to punch it.”

“Delaney, Delaney no—”

The Sunbreaker cackled wildly, ignoring Karjal’s shouts, and stepped out from behind cover. She took a running leap at the Voice of Riven, fist raised—

And was promptly engulfed in an Ascendant portal that spawned directly in her path. 

“Del!”

Karjal jumped for it, but it disappeared before he could reach it. “Shit!”

“Uhhhh, guys?”

Aargren pointed at the Voice of Riven— a shimmering white forcefield had materialized around its entire body. You took a couple cursory shots at it, and your Void rounds bounced right off. It was like you could see the ‘IMMUNE’ text appearing next to it, the sight was so familiar.

Wait, I know this— if Delaney’s in the Ascendant Realm… this is the first phase, she has to kill the portal guard to get back here which takes down the shield. And then we do that—... one or two more times, I think.

Now that you could actually think straight, the finer mechanics of the boss battle were coming back to you. It functioned a little differently than how you remembered it, but the end result should still be the same.

All of a sudden there was a strange, echoing scream, coming from the Voice of Riven— and you froze when you recognized it.

“Is— is that Sov? He’s still alive in there?” Jane questioned.

“If he is, he won’t be for long,” Cayde said from your side, and you glanced at him out of the corner of your eye. There was something dark and dangerous in his tone, in his expression. You’d… never heard that in person before. What had happened while you were missing in action?

“Well what the hell do we do now?!” Adelaide called, taking out a whole group of approaching Taken with a trace rifle. “How’s Delaney gonna get out?!”

“Everyone shut up and let me think!” Karjal snapped.

You stepped forward to say something, to explain, but before you could open your mouth, another portal opened in the middle of the room. None other than Delaney came charging out of it, Gjallarhorn trained on the Voice of Riven immediately. The second she stepped foot back in the room, the invulnerable barrier shimmered and died.

“Go!” she shouted, and you automatically pulled out your Edge Transit. You could actually do that now, since you had L back, and it felt so good to be able to swap your weapons like normal.

Everyone took aim at the newly-exposed Voice of Riven and unloaded a flurry of rounds—you even saw Cayde whip out a machine gun, when did he get that?—and the Chimera bellowed out a low cry. More purple balls of energy, so similar to what normal Servitors shot, were spat out from its yawning mouth, colliding with the pillars serving as your cover.

“You said this thing was a Taken Servitor?” Premise called over the din of battle as Delaney rejoined you, sliding behind the tall barrier Jane had thrown up. “Why’s it look so fucked up? Normal Taken don’t look like that!”

“Once we kill it you can dissect its corpse all you like!” Karjal answered, reloading his LFR.

“Really? Promise?!”

“Eyes up!” Cayde called, and you stopped mid-trigger pull as your opponent became shielded again, this time by two small Taken Blights floating a ways away. 

Aargren shot the first one down with a well-timed arrow, while you peppered the second one with Void rounds. They both exploded (imploded, more like), leaving the Voice of Riven vulnerable once again.

“How many times is it gonna do that?” Premise yelled.

“Who knows, just keep shooting, it’ll die eventually!” Cayde yelled back.

“When’s eventually?”

“Do I look like a mind reader to you?!”

A sudden, slightly hysterical laugh burst its way out of you, even as you punched Taken Thralls and loaded your shotgun with more shells.

“What’s so funny?” Cayde was shoulder to shoulder with you. He hadn’t ventured more than three feet from your person since he got there. 

“Nothing,” you beamed at him, despite your helm covering it. “Just missed you guys.”

“Feeling’s mutual sweetheart,” he grinned back, shooting an Acolyte over your shoulder. You weren’t surprised to hear the nickname anymore— you were however surprised to hear him say it in front of other people.

“You two should just kiss each other!” Delaney shouted with great mirth in her voice, and you choked on your breath.

“Del! We’re in the middle of a battle!” Jane chastised.

“That’s what you’re worried about?!” you exclaimed, incredulous. You could not believe they brought that up now, of all times—

“Another portal! Who volunteers?”

“I call next!” Adelaide said at Aargren’s shout, jumping into the swirling gate and disappearing before anyone could say otherwise.

“You guys are fucking crazy,” you laughed.

“You ain’t seen nothin’, trust me,” Premise promised, launching a kinetic grenade into a group of enemies. “Think this is the least weird thing we’ve done in a while.”

“Speak for yourself, I’m gonna be having nightmares for weeks,” Jane chimed in over the blast of her shotgun.

“At least it’s not Ogres,” you had to mention. “I hate Ogres.”

“Don’t say that, you’re gonna jinx it, Taken Ogres are even worse,” Aargren interjected, and you just snickered behind your helmet. 

It was insane how different the atmosphere was compared to just a few hours ago. You weren’t even that nervous anymore, all you felt was the thrill of battle, the empowering mix of adrenaline and Light, the familiar recoil of the gun in your hands. Cayde’s presence, right next to you, not letting a single Taken get past him. It was exhilarating to see him in action again, working in tandem with the two fireteams. You allowed yourself a solid five seconds to just admire him, the way his Solar Light sparked with each precision shot, how smoothly his motions flowed into each other.

But then Adelaide reappeared, and you had to focus your fire on one target again. Rockets flew and bolts blasted into the pulsing flesh of the Chimera, it roaring at the contact.

You heard Uldren screaming again—“Sister! Help!”—and whatever good humor you’d managed to create was dampened at the sound. He was still in there, you were still going to have to…

Just focus on the fight right now.  

Puddles of Taken matter were spreading across the floor of the entire room, shrinking your little bubble of protection. Adelaide yelped as her foot caught in it on her way back to cover, shaking it off her boot when she landed on the platform.

More Taken Blights shielded the Voice of Riven now, but they were destroyed almost as fast as they spawned, one after the other. 

You kept up the pressure, switching back to your Hard Light when you ran out of heavy ammo. It had to be close now, there were eight Guardians shooting the damn thing. The fight hadn’t taken nearly this long back in your world.

You could feel the Darkness moving through the room and roiling around the Chimera, but it wasn’t enough to stifle your Light, not with so many Guardians feeding off each other, not when you were so in the zone, not when you were so close to finally ending this entire ordeal for good.

You were sick and tired of being afraid. No more.

Arc surged through your chest, and you let it build, less so pulling it to the surface and more so letting it overwhelm you.

Cayde saw what was happening and took a step back. “Go get ‘em Y/N!” 

Your heart swelled at his words, and you jumped, letting the Light pull you up, bursting into motion as you Thundercrashed through the air.

Your raised fists collided with the top of the Voice of Riven’s mouth, and that was it— it shrieked, shaking in place, trembling and writhing as its flesh-and-metal body tore itself apart. 

You grunted a little when you landed, watching as the Chimera all but evaporated into the sterile neutrinos— and watching as the body of Uldren Sov dropped from the mess and onto the floor below.

“Oh come on, I wanted to dissect that thing!”

Chapter Text

“Guardians!”

Petra’s voice sounded from the entrance of the portal room, and you turned to see her running up to you, sidearm raised.

“You missed all the fun!” Aargren shouted, stringing another arrow. “We killed the thing already!”

“What thi—... is that Uldren?”

You turned back to see Cayde already standing over him, Ace of Spades pointed directly at his head.

The Awoken Prince was struggling to turn onto his back, and when he did, clear orange eyes blinked up at cold, unyielding blue.

Seeing the two of them there, with the portal frame as their backdrop, in that pose, was so utterly surreal. Cayde staring down at him instead of the Young Wolf, entire body tight with apprehension, and the utter resignation in Uldren’s shoulders, knowing it was over.

Emerald and Flux formed a loose circle around them, all weapons trained on the man. Petra stepped up to the platform, her own gaze leveled on her monarch. You could feel the history behind that look, the sheer lengths he went through to make it come to this, the regret and rage in her own glowing eye.

Uldren chuckled weakly, leaning back on his elbows. “Congratulations. You have my undivided attention.” His expression twisted into a snarl. “Now where’s my sister?”

“She’s not here, Uldren,” Petra cut in, “and if she was, this would be a whole lot easier.”

“So,” he exhaled, “this is to be a reckoning.”

“Damn right it is,” Cayde bit out. “Y’know I never did like you. Peacocking around like y’ owned the place. And then you couldn't just be happy with breaking out, no—” you heard the leather of his gloves squeak as he gripped Ace harder, jerking it towards Uldren slightly, “—you had to go and kidnap my girl, because apparently freedom just wasn’t enough for you, was it? I should do a hell of a lot more than just shoot you.”

“Cayde, wait,” you raised a hand as L compiled above your shoulder. “Look at him. He’s finished.”

“So that’s it?” The hand not held tight around Ace waved in your direction in disbelief, his optics flashing. “You don’t want him to pay for what he did to you?”

"I..."

Your eyes flickered over his faceplates, then down to Uldren. For months his face had haunted your dreams, the threat of what he’d done in your time more than enough to cripple you. But seeing him now, skin smudged with dirt and Taken gore, not even able to sit up straight, he only looked… pathetic. Broken. A shell of the arrogant, driven man he’d been.

You looked down at the person who’d nearly taken everything from you, and all you felt was some kind of distant pity.

“He’s done a lot more than just that,” Petra exclaimed, other hand coming up to brace the one around the grip of her handgun. You often forgot that in addition to recent events, he and the Scorn Barons had been terrorizing the Reef for years, leaving the Queen’s Wrath to struggle to keep her already-fractured people from splintering even further.

Uldren leaned up, spitting his words at Petra; “Everything I did, I did for her!” He chuckled again, out of breath. “Funny. The line between Light and Dark—”

“—is so very thin,” you spoke over him, mumbling more to yourself than anything. You’d heard it so many times back in your world. It was truer now more than ever.

Cayde glanced to you, eye ridges creased in confused suspicion. He wasn’t the only one.

“Do you know which side you’re on?” the prince’s gaze flickered from Cayde to you and back.

“I do,” you stepped forward after a moment, adjusting your Hard Light against your shoulder. It wasn’t pointed at him, but it didn’t need to be. You took a breath and looked down at the man, dismissing your helmet. His eyes searched your’s, looking for… you honestly didn’t know what. Mercy? Understanding? He had no idea, but you were probably the only one in the room who could see the whole picture. But even so…

“Uldren,” you started. You bit your lip, choosing your words. “I’m… I’m sorry it turned out like this.”

He didn’t respond, just stared up at you. There were so many emotions, so many things left unsaid, by you and Uldren and Petra and Cayde, from centuries long past and from just two days ago— you were almost overwhelmed by the sheer implications.

Ace’s barrel lowered the slightest bit, then raised again with renewed determination. Petra didn’t protest, and neither did you. Whatever Uldren’s death meant to Cayde, what it meant to you to be carried out by his hand… you weren’t going to take that away from him.

It was time. Everyone there knew it.

Uldren’s eyes fell closed, accepting his fate.

Despite everything, you looked away as Cayde’s gunshot echoed with finality across the entire room.

It was over.

-------

The trek out of the Watchtower was slow and solemn. You didn’t need to lean against Cayde now that your Light was flowing freely, but you still did anyway as you went back the way you came.

The fireteams were spread out in a sort of protective formation around the both of you, minus Premise, who had volunteered to help Petra deal with Uldren’s body. Personally you thought he wanted to inspect the portal as well as whatever Taken remnants were left in the room, but it was a nice gesture from the normally-frenetic Stormcaller.

Cayde had grabbed your hand and hadn’t let go. He’d never done that before. It worried you more than you would admit.

He hadn’t said a word since Uldren died, either.

You gripped his hand a little tighter. He squeezed back.

You passed the body of the Fanatic on your way out the front door, and even though you knew he wouldn’t stay dead, you avoided it all the same. Cayde was more than happy to put himself between you and Fikrul as you stepped out into the courtyard.

The Ghosts had brought everyone’s ships around, so you didn’t have to pick through the battlefield below to get to them.

“Premise can get a ride with us,” Jane assured, green eyebrows quirked. She had to have seen your entwined hands but didn’t comment on it, which you were grateful for. “We’ll see you back at the Tower, yeah? It’s good to have you back, Y/N.”

“Good to be back,” you smiled at her, and she gave a thumb’s up as Sundance transmatted you and Cayde up to the Queen of Hearts. 

The cabin was thin but long, shelves and a bunk built into the walls, with the cockpit at the very front. Cayde ducked inside briefly to set your course, and when he disappeared from view, you sank to the floor, knees pulled to your chest protectively. L materialized in your hands, fins fluttering as your fingers stroked his shell.

“It’s done,” he whispered. “You did it.”

“We did it,” you whispered back. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”

“I didn’t do anything,” he protested, but you shook your head.

“You were here, that’s more than enough. Thank you. I’m so glad you’re safe.”

“I’m glad you are too. That was…” he trailed off, avoiding your gaze.

There were gouges in L’s shell, no doubt from the Light-cage’s grip and from being manhandled by Scorn, and he smelled faintly of Dark Ether— a fresh wave of anger crested in your chest and then receded, not having anywhere to go. The beings who had done it were already dead. Cayde and the others must have freed him before they got to you. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”

“Y/N, it wasn’t your fault, but I forgive you anyway.”

“Thank you,” you lightly kissed the top of his shell. “I’m getting you a new one of these. It’s been too damn long.”

He chirped slightly in your hands. “I’d like that.”

Cayde returned from the cockpit, having shed his gloves and clunky greaves, darting to your side immediately when he saw you were on the ground. “Hey, you okay?”

“I’m fine, just— tired,” you admitted. You were, now that the frantic energy of the battle was wearing off, it was starting to settle into your bones in a way you’d never felt before. 

“Well you don’t need to sit on the floor,” he huffed lightly. “C’mere.”

You took his hand and let him hoist you up to the thin mattress in the cutout in the wall. The sheets were old, obviously not having seen much use lately, but they still managed to smell like him, cinnamon and gunpowder and something like burning you’d come to associate with Solar.

“You wouldn’t happen to have any food around here would you?”

“Oh, yeah yeah, sure, I gotcha, gimme one second here—”

He crossed to the opposite side of the cabin in just two steps, throwing open various drawers as he rummaged. 

You watched with a sort of fondness as he shuffled about, mumbling to himself, before Sundance appeared with a granola bar held aloft in her beam of light.

“Ah, perfect, thanks buddy,” he snatched it from the air and held it out to you; you took it gratefully. “The second we get back to the City we are ordering a feast, you won’t even be able to look at ramen by the end of it.”

“You underestimate how hungry I am,” you smirked as you ripped open the packaging.

“And you underestimate how much glimmer I have saved for this exact situation.”

You snorted, quite used to his Cayde-isms by this point. “What’s the salary of a Vanguard, anyway? Do you guys even get paid?”

“We don’t get paid so much as we do the paying,” he responded easily. “Which also means we pay ourselves, but Zavala usually handles all that. Somethin’ ‘bout me and a ‘gambling addiction,’ whatever that’s about.”

You snorted again, taking a bite of the bar in your hand, then another, and then it was gone.

Cayde cleared his throat. “So.”

“... So.”

Neither of you continued speaking. You briefly noticed L and Sundance retreating to the cockpit, but their eyelights were still peeking through— at least they were giving you the illusion of privacy. Your attention was drawn back to the Exo standing in front of you, obviously warring with his thoughts as he shifted in place.

“I'm sorry,” he blurted out. He opened his mouth to continue, but then he didn’t, throat lights flashing for a moment.

“Sorry for what?” you had to ask. 

“Letting you get taken. I shoulda— fuck, I should’ve done something, but I was too busy bein' angry at whatever it was you weren’t tellin’ me, which I'd still like to know by the way, but I just— shit Y/N, it’s my fault you got kidnapped, and— and I’m so sorry.”

“Cayde…” you trailed off, at a loss for words. “Cayde, I was gonna follow you anyway, you know that right? There’s nothing you could’ve done that would have kept me at the Tower, or to stay behind in the Prison.”

“Was that a part of your secret— whatever?” his hand waved in front of him. You swallowed and nodded. “I’m not stupid, Y/N, I figured you were hidin’ somethin’. An’ I know you just got back from— all that— but we ever gonna have that conversation you promised me back there? Cuz I didn’t forget, and you’re still acting weird, and I’m startin’ to think you know a lot more than you’ve been sayin’.”

Ah. That.

You swallowed hard, crumpling the foil packaging in your hands into a ball, tossing it into the tiny waste basket in the corner of the room. 

“... I did say I would explain.”

“Uh huh. Not like, forcing you or anything, but you literally finished Sov’s sentence back there, I’m starting to think you’re a time traveler.”

You huffed slightly to yourself, remembering when you learned about the Exo Stranger’s true origins. “Not quite.”

“Then what, then? You gotta give me something here sweetheart, I just killed a town’s worth of Scorn for you and probably made an enemy of the Spider for life.”

You blinked at his candor. “What… happened, after I got taken?”

“I damn near went insane tryna find ya is what happened, Petra had to talk me down. Petra. The angriest woman I've ever met.”

You grimaced, not expecting the sudden vulnerability he was displaying. For all his quips and good humor, he very rarely was open like that. Usually he was the one supporting you, and you thought about the times he had comforted you after a nightmare, about the offer to ‘call whenever’ you hadn’t had the chance to take him up on. 

He cared. He cared a lot, and you were only just starting to realize how much.

“... I’m sorry. Please don’t feel guilty— getting kidnapped was not part of the plan.”

“There was a plan? You tellin’ me you knew something was going down?”

You bit the inside of your lip. The not-quite-betrayal creeping into his tone made your cheeks flush in a strange kind of shame.

“Let me explain. Please.” You swallowed hard. “It… it’s so complicated.”

“Please, by all means.”

“... You might wanna sit down.”

Chapter Text

“So… long story short, I’m not from this universe.”

There it was. You’d finally said it.

“Like… you’re an alien?”

“No—” you took a breath, started over. “Sorry. I guess it’d be more like I’m from a different dimension. A… an alternate version of Earth. Of this universe. Back there, the Traveler never came to Sol. We never got a Golden Age. That’s because…”

You trailed off, bit your lip. Fuck, you were really about to do this, weren’t you?

“Y/N?”

“You’re not real.”

I said it. Holy shit.

Cayde blinked at you. “... Come again?”

“All this—” you motioned to the ship around you, “the City, the Traveler, the Light, the Darkness— you, Zavala, Ikora, everyone— this entire reality—... back where I come from, you’re not real. It’s all… fiction.”

Cayde opened his mouth to say something, but you steamrolled right over him. “It’s all a video game. Well, two video games, we’re in the second one right now, but still— over there, it’s not— real. Before I came here, the only way I knew you was as a fictional character. And y— back in my world? You died, at the Prison of Elders. You died and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it because that’s just how they wrote the story. I couldn’t let that happen. And now that I think about it, I should have just killed Uldren the second I realized where I was, I could have avoided all this. But it’s too late now I guess, it’s over, you’re not dead, and now everything else I know is probably wrong, because I don’t know how much this changes things, I just don’t know—”

“Y/N, slow down, just breathe a second,” he raised his hands placatingly, kneeling down in front of you from where you were seated on his bunk. “What are you tryin’ to say here?”

“I watched you die,” you choked out. Your fists clenched with the effort it took to keep them from shaking. “What you did— killing the Barons, Uldren— I did that, in my world. He shot you execution-style with your own gun after the Rifleman killed Sundance. Why do you think I kept telling you not to take her out when we were in there? You just— pulled her out. Right in the middle of the Prison. And she… she got… well, you know. That’s why I warned you earlier. I couldn’t— I wasn’t— I couldn’t let it happen. Not again. For you and her. An— and then I killed all the Barons. One right after another. Singlehandedly. And then the Fanatic, and then the Voice of Riven, and then Uldren—”

“The voice of what?”

You cursed to yourself. “I’ll explain later, it’s not important right now— just—... I’m so sorry. I wanted to tell you. I wanted to tell you so many times, but…”

“One question,” he raised a single finger, “If—... all that… is true… how’d you get here?”

“That’s the thing,” you exhaled a laugh. “I have no idea. I think I died in a car crash in my dimension, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in the Cosmodrome with a Ghost in front of me. Which is so weird, because, that’s the tutorial. I lived through a tutorial I played years ago. What I think happened is that the Traveler brought me here when I died in my world, to do… something. I think it wanted me to save you, cuz— you know when L couldn’t rezz me? In the doubles match? I had a vision, and it told me ‘not to waver.’ Because I was already planning on changing things in the Prison, and that— it just confirmed that that was probably what I was brought here to do.” You laughed to yourself. “I thought shit like this only happened in fan fiction.”

“In what? Actually, don't answer that, I don't wanna know.”

Cayde leaned back on his heels, optics flickering between his own hands perched on his knees and the space between you.

“So… lemme get this straight. I’m not real?”

“Not in my world,” you clarified. “But all this?” you motioned around you again, “this is definitely real. The multiverse isn’t just a theory, apparently. I'm not tryna— give you an existential crisis or anything. What happened is like— the equivalent of you suddenly waking up one day halfway through the plot of your favorite novel and trying to keep your favorite character from dying at the end. That’s what happened to me, pretty much.”

Cayde didn’t respond, and the longer the silence dragged on, the more nervous you got.

“... How much, exactly, do you know?”

You swallowed.

“Pretty much… everything. Everything important, anyway.”

His eyes finally met your’s, before he heaved a huge breath and got to his feet, plopping down next to you on the bunk.

“I know everything— and I just— never said anything,” you continued, bordering on helpless. “I was terrified of messing something up, of changing something I didn’t mean to. Besides, I didn’t think you’d believe me. I still can’t— it’s so hard to imagine, even now, and I’m living it. I was sent here for some reason, and I needed to save you, and— I did. All of that never happened.”

Cayde still didn’t say anything, which was so unlike him that you filled the void with your own words instead. Everything you’d ever wanted to tell him was coming out all at once, and you couldn’t summon the willpower to stop. You didn’t want to stop.

“But even if it wasn’t my destiny to stop it from happening, I would have tried anyway, because I— because you’re a good person Cayde, and you don’t deserve to go down like that, you won’t go down at all if I have anything to say about it, but even more than that— I don’t— I, personally, do not want you to die, cuz— I didn’t just save you cuz you were my favorite back in my world,” you quickly explained, “I saved you cuz— you’re my friend here, I know you now, and it’s worth so much more now that I actually know you, and you— you’re— to me, you’re— I just—”

That finally made you pause, because even after all that— when should you tell him your feelings? You weren’t on a timer anymore, you were in completely uncharted territory now. All of your future DLC and season knowledge meant jack shit because things were different, Cayde was alive. 

But maybe you should wait until later to voice that particular development. He had enough to deal with right now, far be it from you to add your own feelings to that dumpster fire.

But Cayde finished your sentence for you— “You care.”

Your eyes had drifted off somewhere in the middle of your rambling, unable to hold his gaze for so long, but they snapped back to him in an instant.

“I—… I do. I care so much. You have no idea how much I…”

“I think I have some idea.”

That startled you a little, eyes going wide, you had no clue what the next words out of his mouth were going to be—

“You’ve been holdin’ onto all that ever since you were rezzed?”

“Y— yes?” And had no small amount of breakdowns over it, but he didn’t need to know that. “Nobody knew except L. Premise and Rettie probably suspected something was up, but…”

Even now, you couldn’t believe you’d done it, Cayde was alive, you’d saved him. You were in FTL at that very moment, on your way back to Earth. You didn’t want to see another asteroid for at least six months.

“... But yeah. That’s—... my whole thing.”

More silence. You were going to lose your mind.

“Y/N, I—” he sighed, turning to face you more, “I don’t even know what to say. That’s… insane. I don’t even know what…” he huffed to himself. “I was expecting something like, ‘I’m a Hidden agent,’ or ‘I’m actually three Psions in a trenchcoat,’ not… that. Damn Y/N, I can’t even imagine… havin’ to deal with all that by yourself. You could have told me— hell, you could’ve told Zavala, or Ikora, they’d’ve probably been more help than me.”

“I know, I could have, probably should have. Told any of you, that is. But I— I didn’t know what was going on, didn’t want to mess anything up on accident, I was just so—… scared.” And while it was shameful to admit, it felt good, in some masochistic way. The only person you’d said those words aloud to was L.

“I’d be worried if you weren’t. If I had to deal with all that I’d be scared shitless.”

“You… does that mean you believe me?”

“Well you’re obviously not lying,” he answered. “I know you that well at least. Oh, pop quiz— tell me something you have no business knowing!”

“Uhhh, um— I know about— your caches,” you offered awkwardly. “Hearts are for a girl you knew?”

Even though he’d asked for it, he still blinked at you in surprise. “Well damn. I think I forgot about that. Huh.”

He paused for a moment, and the silence that stretched between you was much less tense than before. “I should probably thank you, y’know. For saving my life. It’s— there’s no way any of that was easy.”

“No,” you burst out, chuckling a little hysterically. All of a sudden you felt like crying. “No, it— it wasn’t.”

You tried to keep the tears from falling, but you knew it was a losing battle. He scooted closer on the bunk you were sitting on, less than a foot from you now— every bone in your body was screaming out to touch him, hold him, make absolutely sure he was alive—

Your hand actually came up a little bit before you regained control of yourself, letting it fall awkwardly to your side. Cayde blinked at the expression on your face, before realization dawned.

“Okay, come ‘ere.”

He grabbed you and pulled you to his chest, and you froze, stiff for at least five seconds before you registered what was happening. And then you wrapped your arms around him, hugging as tight as you dared, which was becoming more desperate by the second.

He was just so warm, even through his jacket, so alive, his Light felt like pure sunbeams around you—

That was all it took for you to start sobbing into his shoulder, gloves fisting into his cloak as he gently rubbed your back. 

“Shhh, it’s okay Y/N, it’s over. It’s over. We’re safe.”

The edges of your armor surely dug into him, but he didn’t say anything, just let you cling to him as the last two days and everything you’d held on to for the past year finally became too much. 

To be a Titan was to protect. The entire time you were in the Prison, you’d shielded him, tried your damndest to make sure the future you’d seen never came to pass. You’d died doing so. Were kidnapped doing so.

But now he was holding you, doing the one thing you’d wanted to do since this entire nightmare started. And it felt good to be held, and then to hold him back, to feel his hands gripping your torso and the way his head angled against your own as you ugly-cried.

It took longer than you expected, but you eventually felt the twinges of embarrassment from breaking down like that, and started to pull away (not that you wanted to, but you weren’t about to take advantage of his kindness). “I’m— I’m sorry, I didn’t—“

“Hey, you’re alright, I’m good to stay here as long as you need. Robot, remember? Arms don’t get tired.”

You sagged against him and sniffed into his hood, half in amusement, half in relief that he wasn’t going to make you move. “Thank you,” you mumbled into him, holding on that much tighter.

“Thank you. For not lettin’ me get myself killed. Guess I shoulda been more careful.”

“I mean, yes, but that was what,” you sniffled, “your first real mission in how long?”

“Yeah, I maaaay have gotten a little excited.”

You snorted a little. “Do anything that stupid again and I’ll…” you didn’t finish the play threat.

“Zip tie me to a chair, probably,” Cayde drawled. “After you steal all my knives.”

“I wouldn’t be able to find all your knives.”

“Yeah, probably not.”

You sighed a little through your nose in amusement, finally letting yourself relax in his grip.

Cayde must have sensed the exhaustion creeping up on you, because all the rest of his armor disappeared into transmat, your chestplate jerking a little at the sudden lack of resistance. You dismissed your’s as well the second you realized his was gone, leaving you both in whatever underlayers you had on.

Cayde still hadn’t let you go.

“C’mon, we’ve both had one hell of a day. Ya gotta be beat.”

He pulled away, but only as much as strictly necessary to guide you both to lay down on the tiny bunk, him underneath and you on top. You were situated in such a way that you were chest-to-chest on top of him, head still tucked in the crook of his now-bare neck, arms wrapped around his shoulders. He was much more comfortable to lay on without your armor in the way, clad in the cargo pants he had on under his chaps and a longsleeve. L had switched out your ruined undersuit when he’d put your armor on, so you didn’t have to worry about getting dried blood on him.

Under normal circumstances you’d be mortified. You were literally laying on top of Cayde-Mother-Fucking-6, cuddling him like he was a body pillow, and yet— you found you didn’t care. You were so tired. More tired than you’d ever been in your life. You almost fought to keep your eyes open, but they fell shut before you could consciously make the decision.

A quiet rumble from the man beneath you, whose arms were still locked tight around your middle, now with his legs bracketing your own— “Sleep well Y/N.”

If he said anything more, you didn’t hear it. You slipped into the blessed calm.

-------

“So are you going to tell her or should I?”

Cayde glanced over at L’s quiet question. He was floating next to the cot, Sundance right behind him. They’d both read the room and retreated to another corner of the jumpship while Y/N explained it all, though he had no doubt they’d been listening. 

“Tell her what?”

“Sundance told me everything. Well, most things. You should say something at some point. I think she’s done enough of the heavy lifting.”

His tone wasn’t accusing, just a statement of fact, almost defensive in an odd way. It was something a lot of Ghosts did when their Guardians were involved. Cayde had heard it from his own too many times to count. 

“Yeah… I will, just— not yet. Now’s probably not a good time.”

He glanced down to the woman in his arms, who’d all but passed out the second he laid them down. He’d been unable to do the same, despite how much he wanted to, mind swirling with all the information she’d given him.

Alternate dimensions are real. Y/N’s from one of them. In that universe, I’m not real. 

It was fucking insane to think about. The Warlocks would have an absolute field day with information like that.

It explained some other things too, like why she was so strong in the Light, why certain things seemed so familiar to her.

She’d known it all from the very beginning.

And ever since she was Risen, her entire goal had been… to save his life. Him. She’d had to deal with all that, alone, for an entire year. He couldn’t even imagine what that would have been like. 

A memory rose to the surface— so many months ago, the two of them standing on scaffolding, him asking her if anything was wrong. Her strained smile, her guarded words, and him taking it at face value. He had known she was hiding something, but assumed if she wanted to tell him, she would. He’d never considered that she couldn’t, not from her point of view. How torturous that must have been.

He held her a little tighter.

It was… so weird. He would have said he’d seen weirder, but the truth was he hadn’t. Y/N’s existence was the most bizarre thing he’d ever heard of.

And I wouldn't change it for anything.

The thought briefly surprised him. To be honest, he could have done without the absolute stress of the last few days, but the rest of it…

If anything, he loved her more now. And he still hadn’t told her. He’d been two seconds from blurting out a poorly-rehearsed love confession when she had launched into the tale of her extrauniversal origins. He could be honest with himself— it had completely thrown him for a loop.

No. He wasn’t gonna make it all about his feelings— better to wait until she felt up to it. And until he was ready. He had the chance to romance the shit out of her properly now. He had to plan.

But in the meantime, there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell he was ever letting go of her.

“… I’ll tell her soon.”

L nodded, moving to set his shell on Y/N’s back, and Sundance tucked herself on the shoulder that wasn’t occupied by Y/N’s head. It was comforting to have his Ghost so close, especially after what Y/N had said.

The Titan shifted slightly on top of him, seeming to hug him even tighter. He leaned over to press an Exo-kiss to her hair before letting his head drop down so it was resting on top of Sundance’s shell, taking a deep breath with mechanical lungs. 

“You seem to be handling this well,” L’s low voice floated over.

Cayde snorted to himself. “Oh, trust me li’l guy, it just hasn’t sunk in yet, give it a few hours.”

L bleeped a little at the moniker, shell pieces slightly spreading out over Y/N’s back. With Sundance curled on his shoulder, he was sure it made for an adorable sight.

His thumb ran tiny, absentminded circles over Y/N’s clothed skin, processors whirring at lightning speed. He had a thousand questions, mainly pertaining to just how much she knew—about him, about his past, about the Exos, Andal, Ace and his Queen—but they could wait. They could all wait.

For now, he just held her as she slept, and sent silent thanks to any entity who was listening that he was alive to do so.

Chapter Text

It was early morning in the City when you made it back, early enough that the sky was just starting to lighten, and it seemed fitting as the Queen of Hearts glided into the hangar. Even the air, that always seemed a little tinged with exhaust due to the massive metropolis below you, seemed lighter, or maybe that was just the overexhaustion getting to you.

You’d woken up when the ship landed, in exactly the same position you’d fallen asleep in— laying on top of Cayde with his arms wrapped around you. Your’s had fallen numb by that point, and that was really the only reason you could convince yourself to get off of him. The trip had barely been an hour and a half, and exhaustion still clung to your limbs despite the nap— that wasn’t something L could fix. The physical reminders may have been gone, but others would need a little longer.

Luckily, it was early enough that most of the hangar crew hadn’t gotten there for the day yet, save for the frames, who didn’t even look at you as Cayde hoisted you onto his back with surprising ease. You protested half-heartedly, but conceded, letting him carry you all the way to your apartment in the depths of the Tower, your Ghosts trailing behind.

L unlocked the door and Cayde took a couple steps inside before setting you down. “Light, I needa shower so bad,” you grimaced. 

“Well don’t let me stop you,” he said. He’d put his cloak back on, and it swished around his legs as he inspected your cupboards, opening your fridge. “I’ll, uhhh, figure out something here.”

Sundance tilted her shell in your direction, whispering loudly, “Twenty glimmer he gives up in fifteen minutes.”

“Ten minutes,” you responded, a smile tugging at the edges of your lips despite your fatigue. 

L bumped into your back, urging you along. “Come on, the sooner you clean up and eat the sooner you can go back to sleep.”

“Now that is a tempting offer!” Cayde called over his shoulder.

You chuckled quietly, making your way into the bathroom and shutting the door. You stripped, leaving your undersuit on the floor to be dealt with later, and climbed into the water spray the second it got lukewarm.

… And you promptly slid to the shower floor, all but collapsed under the weight and relief of it all.

“Y/N?”

L peeked around the edge of the shower curtain, and you managed a tired smile.

“I’m alright, just…”

He flew up to press the front of his shell against your forehead. “It’s a lot.”

“It is,” you agreed.

“I’m so proud of you, you know. You did so well.”

You sniffled incredulously even as your cheeks warmed with the praise. “I’ve been doing nothing but crying for the past year.”

“As anyone in your position would!” the back of his shell spun as he flitted through the water. “I think you did incredibly well.”

“I appreciate it,” you told him sincerely.

“It’s no problem,” he chirped. “Now where's your washcloth?”

It took a while to get yourself to an acceptable level of cleanliness, mainly because you kept zoning out under the comfort of the hot water, long enough for a hesitant knock to sound at the door.

“Ya doin’ alright in there?”

“Almost done,” L called back for you.

Once you dried yourself off, L dressed you in a pair of sweatpants and the fluffiest hoodie you owned, shooing you out the door and over to the couch. 

Your apartment hadn’t come with a dining table, but you’d acquired a coffee table in your first weeks at the Tower, now sitting in what counted as your living room. It was occupied by takeout containers from the ramen stall in the Bazaar— the closest fast food place, naturally.

Cayde was still running around your kitchen, tidying up things that didn't really need tidying. Hunters hardly ever sat still, you’d found, their Vanguard even less.

Sundance was hovering near the food, and the napkins she still held in her blue beam suggested she had been the one to fetch it. The employees there were probably used to Ghosts picking up orders for their Guardians. “Cayde, get over here, it’s getting cold,” she called across the room.

“Coming!” He simply vaulted over the back of the couch, effortlessly landing next to you. You yelped a little as he bounced on the cushions, giggling at his enthusiasm. 

“I got your favoriiiiite,” his eyes flashed playfully, and your amusement grew as he handed you a pair of disposable chopsticks.

“For the record,” Sundance leaned closer to you, “he gave up after eight minutes.”

“Hush you, so I’m not the greatest chef this side of the solar system,” Cayde huffed, swatting at his Ghost. She dodged effortlessly and rolled her glowing eye.

“We could always make cookies again,” you offered.

“Oh, I’m down for that,” he cracked open his bowl. “Maybe not the cleanup though.”

“You are the one who started chucking flour at me,” you laughed.

“Hey, that act of violence was made in self defense, I was fearing for my life!”

You just shook your head goodnaturedly, sipping at the still-steaming broth. 

You lapsed into silence after a moment, and out of the corner of your eye, you saw Cayde’s throat lights flash a couple times, yet he didn't say anything.

Your Ghosts had already moved to the kitchen. Those two could be really discreet when they wanted to be.

“So.” He cleared his throat. “I have questions. Lots of ‘em.”

“... I figured.”

“I’m not gonna pester you with all’em right now, I can wait, I just needa know one thing.” He paused for a moment, resting his elbows on his knees. “You know about—... Ace and my Queen?”

You nodded slowly, not meeting his gaze.

He exhaled at the confirmation. As far as you knew, he’d never told anyone about them. “Were… do you… do you know if they're real? If they were real?”

You swallowed, trying to figure out how to best verbalize your thoughts.

“We… never got a direct confirmation,” you admitted, words chosen carefully, “but, the way the information was presented… I think they were real. Ace was, at the very least. I don’t know much more than you do, to be honest.”

And that was assuming you remembered those journal entry fragments right; even before you’d been sucked into Destiny, it had been a while since you’d read that lore.

Cayde leaned back in his seat, optics flickering as he glanced away, and you looked at him pensively, watching the statement process in his brain.

His voice was thick with an unknown emotion when he finally spoke— “That— that’s good. Thank you.”

“No problem,” you answered, entirely serious. If your knowledge could bring him any level of closure…

“Oka-ay, well, that was my one question for the night, dig in sweetheart,” his voice was still a little unsteady as he brought his noodles to his lip plates.

“Cayde… you can ask me whatever you want,” you insisted, shifting slightly so your knee was touching his. “You deserve answers.”

“And you deserve rest, I can wait, promise,” he held one hand up, the other over his chest in a swearing-in gesture.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“... Alright.” You weren’t going to push him, but he needed to know the offer was open, whenever he wanted to ask. “Hey, I’m… sorry. For keeping this from you for so long. I don't… I didn’t want to. There were so many times I almost told you, but I— couldn’t take the chance that it would fuck something up, I was— I was scared,” you confessed, again. “And I know that's not an excuse, I should have been more— proactive, or something, but I just sat on all that information like a dumbass—”

“Y/N, we have no idea what would've happened if you told me ahead of time,” Cayde quickly said. “I’ve got no clue what I’d’ve done if I were in your shoes.” 

“Shoot Uldren in the face first thing on Day One,” you mumbled to yourself.

“And who knows what that woulda changed,” he continued. “I’m not gonna blame ya for makin’ the best calls you were able to make at the time. ‘S not like I can judge. Light knows I’ve made some, ah, questionable decisions in my day. Prison of Elders notwithstanding.”

You hummed low, raising your chopsticks again. “I don’t know. I just— I don’t know,” you repeated, at a loss for words.

Cayde bumped his shoulder into your’s, and kept the contact as you continued your meal. “It’s alright. Can’t change the past.”

That startled a chuckle from you. “That’s literally exactly what I did, but okay.”

“You know what I mean,” he leaned into you comically. “Now eat, you look like you’re boutta pass back out.”

“Please don’t do that!” L called from the kitchen, and you heard the small clink of two Ghost shells colliding as Sundance presumably knocked into him.

“Leave them be!”

“I’m just saying—”

You smiled fondly at their bickering, Cayde offering an amused smirk from your side.

You eventually finished your ramen, and Cayde dramatically offered his hand to you when he stood. You took it with an equally mischievous look, and let him lead you to your bedroom.

You flopped face-first onto your pillow. “You staying or leaving?”

“I was just gonna take the couch,” he shrugged. “However, I have a much better idea, and it involves picking up where we left off on my ship.”

You turned your head just enough to raise a wry eyebrow at him. “Now that didn’t sound innocent at all.”

“I will not apologize for worrying,” he put his fists on his hips in mock offense. You just snorted and rolled over, patting to the empty space next to you.

Cayde fist-pumped with a small “yes!” and dismissed his cape and what remained of his armor, all but leaping onto the mattress.

You managed to get both of you under the covers before what little energy you’d regained from that nap gave out. Luckily, Cayde wrapped you in his arms of his own volition, holding you securely to his chest. You were coming to realize that the motion was as great a comfort to him as it was you. Your Ghosts settled on the pillows next to you, reassuring little points of Light in your mind’s eye.

“Thank you, again,” Cayde murmured into your still-damp hair, his horn nudging the top of your head. “I’m so glad you're safe.”

“You too,” you whispered, eyes falling shut.

Whether it was Cayde’s presence or just the exhaustion, you didn't have a single dream.

Chapter Text

You swallowed anxiously, standing motionless in front of the door to Zavala’s office.

“You’re not in trouble,” L assured, for probably the tenth time. “It’s just a debrief.”

“I know,” you replied. There really was no reason for you to be nervous. You’d heard from Premise and the others that it wasn’t uncommon after particularly hard missions for the commander to check in personally, but still, it was your first time having been summoned to do so, and you couldn’t help the uncomfortable buzzing in your limbs as the door slid open.

“Ah, Guardian, come in,” Zavala instructed from behind his desk. You stepped inside, L vanishing into your Light.

You’d slept well into the afternoon, and woken up all but crushed into Cayde’s body with how tight he was hugging you. Exos were heavier than they looked, but you’d really had no desire to move, his weight reassuring. He’d already been awake, one hand having snaked free to tap at a datapad as he grumbled to himself, probably catching up on paperwork.

You’d had a single, prolonged thought when you felt his other hand tracing idle shapes into your skin from where it was wrapped around you— “ there is no way in hell this is platonic.”

Which, really, would be fantastic, but you were not equipped to have that conversation yet. Too much had happened for you to just— come out and say it. You were still a little frazzled, from being held captive for two days, from telling Cayde the truth.

Yeah. Waiting was a good idea. If you ever worked up the nerve to tell him you were in love with him.

How was it you’d told him you were from another dimension before you confessed your feelings? Honestly.

Cayde had startled when he realized you were awake, and it hadn’t been long after that before he got called away to deal with some incident involving Marcus Ren and a prototype Sparrow. Sundance helpfully informed you before they left that there was lots of fire.

Never a dull moment.

“It’s good to see you well, Guardian.”

“Thank you sir,” you answered politely. You’d never quite gotten over the urge to be professional around Zavala.

“I read the report Cayde submitted,” he continued, “and it would be quite beneficial if you could help fill in the gaps.”

“Was that what he was doing earlier?”  you silently questioned L.

“Apparently,” he sent back.

“What do you need to know?” you said aloud.

“Take me through what happened after you arrived at the Prison of Elders,” he suggested. “From your perspective.”

“Well,” you paused, biting the inside of your lip. You felt extra bad about having to lie now, especially when one Vanguard knew your secret but the other two didn’t, and you tried to ignore the twinge of guilt as you spoke. “Cayde and I met Petra Venj at the Prison, to get the breakout under control. We… when we got inside, we learned that Uldren Sov and his Barons had escaped as well, and, uhh… we decided to take a shortcut to cut them off.”

Zavala's eyes narrowed at that, but he didn’t interrupt.

“We… were overwhelmed,” you continued. “Cayde got thrown through a wall, Uldren killed me, held my Ghost hostage so Cayde couldn’t shoot him, according to him Uldren just… grabbed my dead body and ran. After also killing Cayde so he couldn’t follow. They forced L to rezz me, Uldren said something about using my Light to open a portal— he— he was trying to find M— Queen Mara. She’s— dead, right?” you tacked on awkwardly, hoping he didn't question your slight blunder.

“She is,” Zavala confirmed, nodding for you to continue.

“He wanted… he said he wanted to bring her back, that she was calling to him, and he needed… my Light to open the portal. They stuck me underground for a couple days, I was unconscious or delirious for most of it honestly, they— they had L somewhere else, put a— they had stolen City tech, some sort of Light suppressor thing—” Zavala frowned at that, but didn’t comment, “—I don’t know, when they put it on him I couldn’t use my Light, otherwise I would’ve Thundercrashed him into next week, but anyway— Uldren eventually dragged me to the Watchtower, that’s where Cayde and the others caught up with me, Uldren— I still don’t really know what happened, but— he used my Light and his Darkness to open the portal, and a— a Chimera came out. I don’t know, that’s what Karjal said it was. It… ate him, we killed it, turns out Uldren didn’t die when the thing ate him, we killed him, and now I’m back here.”

“... I see. Did you have any issues with resurrecting? Ikora tells me there was an incident in a Crucible match prior to this.”

L was quick to compile in the air and answer for you— “That was just a glitch, don’t worry, it’s been resolved. We’ve had no issues since then.”

Zavala nodded slowly, appraising you with bright glowing eyes. Why do all your friends have eyes that glow? Sheesh.

“Good to hear it. In any case, it would be—”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence, because Cayde burst through the doors, Sundance trailing behind, and smelling faintly of smoke.

“Cayde—” 

“The hell are you doing,” he demanded, stomping right up to Zavala’s desk.

“I tried to stop him,” Sundance sighed, shell drooping in defeat.

“Cayde, what—” the commander tried to start.

“You got my report, yeah? What’re you interrogating her for?”

“Additional context,” Zavala raised an eyebrow at the Hunter’s behavior. “We need to better understand the situation on the Reef if we are to continue as allies. Especially after you just killed their only remaining monarch.” You grimaced a little.

“You can wait with that, she just got back, geez,” Cayde exclaimed, motioning to you with one hand. You and L glanced to him with a similar look of confusion, at how … protective he was being. That was new.

“I just killed a town’s worth of Scorn for you and probably made an enemy of the Spider for life.”

Okay… maybe not so new. You still didn’t have the full story of what happened when you were MIA, you’d have to ask about that later, but something had to have gone down.

“Cayde, it’s alright,” you took a small step towards him. 

“Debriefs can wait,” he insisted, staring down Zavala, who met his determined gaze with one of his own.

Nobody said anything for multiple seconds, before Cayde turned on his heel and gently herded you out of the room. You let him, turning over your shoulder— “I’ll, uh, submit a report later?”

You saw Zavala sigh, obviously choosing not to fight Cayde over it. “Indeed, Guardian.”

The doors automatically slid shut behind you. “Cayde, uhh…”

“I told him not to bug you ‘bout all that yet,” he preemptively defended, crossing his arms. 

You and L shared a look. “Hey, it’s… fine, really. I think you're supposed to do your debrief as soon as possible so the details don’t get fuzzy,” you chuckled slightly. “I don't mind, Cayde.”

“You sure? Cuz you still look kinda out of it and I don't know, I just— it's a lot, and I don’t know—...”

“Cayde…” you stepped closer, a gently reassuring smile on your face, “I appreciate that you’re worried, but I really don’t mind. He’s just doing his job.”

“I know, but come on,” he scoffed lightly, but the fight had drained out of him, saying it just to say it now. “Wait, you didn’t tell him right?”

“No, no,” you quickly answered, “I don’t… agh, I kind of want to but at the same time…”

“Yeah, no, I get that, no rush,” his hands waved, “got all the time in the world. Come on, let’s get outta here.”

“Where are we going?”

“Wherever you want, sweetheart,” he grinned at you, something that never failed to send the butterflies in your stomach into overdrive. 

“Anywhere?”

Cayde had turned away, but he glanced back to you, eye ridge raised in exaggerated suspicion.

“You’re gonna make me nervous if you say it like that,” he exclaimed.

Your face scrunched up in thought. “Hmm. Show me the weirdest place you’ve found in the Tower. Like the most hidden, out of the way broom closet no one’s used in years.”

He looked surprised by your suggestion, blinking owlishly. “Really? Well, now that I think about it, there’s a couple—... oh! I know! Come on, this way!”

Your Ghosts vanished as Cayde took your hand, and you could feel his presence through your gauntlets, solid, bright, reassuring. The smile on your face only grew as Cayde led you deeper into the depths of the Tower.

Chapter Text

“Damn, you weren’t kidding,” you chuckled. Cayde was halfway through crawling through the entrance to an air vent, lower half still sticking out. You did the mature thing and refrained from slapping his ass like your impulsive thoughts were telling you to. “Am I even gonna fit through there?”

“If you ditch the armor,” he responded, his voice muffled. “Just— gimme a sec—”

His legs flailed as he shimmied his way completely into the vent, the dull banging of his motions echoing through the small space. “Follow me!”

You sighed fondly, transmatting most of your armor off and clambering into the air duct yourself. It was a tight fit, but you managed to squeeze yourself inside, following the shuffling limbs in front of you.

“How far do we have to go?” you called ahead. You knew back in your world, there were secret areas of the Tower you could get to by climbing through the vents, but this wasn’t one of them— you were at least twenty floors down, having come from a nondescript, windowless hallway that was more of a necessity for structural support than anything. 

“Not too far, hang a right up here!” 

You did as he said when you came to a junction, following for a little further until Cayde all but fell out of the vent, face popping back into view a split second later, all lit up with excitement. “Through here!”

You managed to get your torso out of the duct, Cayde helpfully grabbing you so you didn’t fall to the ground like he did. When you were back on your feet, you got a good look at where you were— it looked to be the space between the outer and inner walls of the Tower, the room only about as big as your bathroom, with a couple of panels pulled off to function as a window, facing the Wilds outside the City walls.

There was a cache or two stacked on the floor, as well as a small pile of pillows and blankets along one wall. The panels that had been pried off reached floor to ceiling, so it was more like a hole in the wall than a window, and the cushions were sat right in front of it, presumably to get as much fresh air as possible. It was actually quite cozy. There were even glowing engram string lights hung up on the low ceiling, probably “borrowed” and never returned to Eva during the Festival of the Lost. 

It was also fucking freezing, considering it was February, and you didn't have your armor to help keep in your body heat. You snatched a blanket from the pile and wrapped it around your shoulders, shivering a little.

“I got a couple of these around the City, remind me to take you to the one on top of the hangar,” he grinned at you, plopping down on a large circular pillow you knew for a fact was from the Bazaar. Sundance flashed into being and flitted to the top of the caches stacked in the corner, where there was a tiny, fluffy nest the perfect size for a Ghost. She trilled a short electronic note, and L joined her, settling in next to her. “I come down here when I wanna be alone, gets so noisy up there sometimes.”

You paused at that, taking a seat next to him. “And you brought me here?” The last thing you wanted to do was encroach on his personal space, considering how busy the Vanguard kept him.

“You don't count,” he assured. “You’re like… like…” his face scrunched up as he tried to think of the words. It was adorable. “You get me, y’know?”

“I—...” You had no idea how to respond to that.

“I just mean— now that I think about it actually, you prolly get me cuz of the whole— what you know thing, right?”

“Uh, I mean— it started that way,” you were quick to explain, “but the longer I was here, the more I got to know you, actually know you, like— like you always hold your cards a certain way when you have a good hand in poker,” you listed, “what your favorite order is from the ramen stall, you keep your deck in the same pocket of your pants every day—”

“Which deck?” he asked, and your brow furrowed. 

“Huh?”

“Which one? Cuz I got—” he pulled out the one you were referring to, the slightly-battered carrying case of normal playing cards he kept on his person at all times, but then he reached into the corresponding pocket on his other leg, revealing the familiar case of Uno cards you’d given him.

“You— you keep those on you?”

“Well, yeah,” he exclaimed like it was obvious. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I— well— I dunno,” you floundered, “I haven’t seen you use them.”

“That’s just cuz I haven’t had the chance, usually whenever we play on game night we use someone else’s,” he said. “And I kinda— I don’t wanna ruin ‘em, too, they look super nice and I do not trust Delaney with any of my cards, not after we tried to play Bridge—”

“What happened?”

He got a faraway look in his optics. “Ask Karjal. I’m still too emotional.”

You snorted, trying to get back on track. “The point is,” you continued, “I like you for you, not because I liked the character I knew back in my world. Same goes for everyone else.”

“Oh, I was meanin’ to ask you—” he suddenly cut himself off, stuffing his decks back in his pockets. “Ah, nevermind.”

“Cayde, you can just ask,” you rolled your eyes goodnaturedly. “I’m not gonna get offended or anything, I told you for a reason. It’s honestly kind of a relief to talk about it,” you admitted. “After keeping it a secret for so long.”

“Fair point. I guess I just… I don’t know,” he sighed. “So like— wait, I just had a thought— you know ‘bout the whole Light-feeling thing, right?”

“You mean how I can feel other people’s Light? Kinda? Uldren said somethin’ about that,” you said. “I don’t really notice it on other people a lot, to be honest. ‘Cept you.”

“Really?” he answered, almost incredulous. “Actually, no, that makes sense. I dunno if anyone ever told you, but your Light is like— way stronger than anyone else’s. Like stupid strong.”

“Really?”

“I don’t know how Sov knew about it of all people, but— that’s probably cuz you’re not from here.”

“I was thinking that too,” you nodded. “If the Traveler brought me here, it— somehow had to pull me from my dimension into this one, and like— I don’t know a lot about the science behind it, but that had to have taken a ton of paracausal energy, and I guess…”

“Some of it just… stayed in you?”

“Probably,” you shrugged. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

Cayde hummed. “Freaky. It would explain a lot though.”

“Yeah. I guess I always wondered… why me? Don’t get me wrong, I’m so glad I got to come here, but like… I don’t understand why the Traveler wanted me, specifically.”

“Like I said before hun— cuz you care,” his shoulder bumped your’s. “It knew you’d do everything you could to change things. And look!” He threw his hands up, a grin on his face. “You did it! I’m alive! Thanks again for that, by the way.”

You blushed, trying to hide your embarrassed expression. “I just did what anyone else would’ve done.”

“But no one else did it— you did. And I’m glad as hell that it’s you. Seriously.”

You flushed harder, fighting the urge to pull the blanket around your face. “... I’m glad it was me too,” you admitted.

He knocked into your shoulder again, and you pushed back, giggling a little. He chuckled, and you wanted to bottle the noise and only hear that for the rest of your life.

It was silent for a moment, both of you just basking in each other’s presence (and you secretly enjoying the Solar he was throwing off) before he spoke again.

“So, you know everything?”

“For the most part, yeah.”

“I—... ah, fuck it. How far into the future do you know?”

You swallowed at the broad question. “Like, three or four years, give or take. But that depends on if time passes the same here as it does in my universe, which I don't think it does? Back in my world,” you clarified, turning to face him more, “there was roughly four months in between that whole business with Rasputin and the Prison of Elders, but here it’s been— nearly a year now. That’s the thing I haven't been able to figure out, cuz there’s no reason for that to happen, at least not that I know.”

“I’m the last person you want answering your time dilation questions,” he answered lightly. “But that is weird.”

“I fucking hate the multiverse sometimes,” you laughed breathily. “So damn complicated for no reason. Paraverse? Omniverse? No idea what this qualifies as.”

Cayde shrugged. “Couldn’t tell ya. Ikora’s the one with the technical terms, I just shoot things and look cool.”

You laughed abruptly. “You look magnificent,” you teased. 

“I do!” he replied. “I look as cool back in your world?”

“The coolest,” you assured, leaning into him. “There are whole cutscenes highlighting your badassness and everything.” 

“Light, that’s still so weird,” he confessed. “How many of those, uh, are there?”

“A decent amount,” you answered after a moment, “for a lot of things, not just you.”

“Were there any for… the Prison…?” 

The mood died immediately. His voice lowered as he spoke, like he was unwilling to bring it up.

You fell silent, not entirely sure what to tell him. “... Yes.”

“Do you… wanna talk about it?”

“... I probably should, shouldn’t I?”

“That’s not what I asked, sweetheart,” he said gently, tone nothing but soft. “Do you want to?”

You looked away, at both the subject and his consideration of it. 

“I think I do.”

You’d given L the brief rundown of Cayde’s death in those first few days, and he’d politely never asked for more than you gave him except for clarification’s sake. Other than that, you’d never gone into detail about it, despite how much you thought about it. Which was constantly.

Cayde was quiet, leaning back into you in silent support, all but radiating Light, and you wanted to burst into tears yet again at the action.

“I… so you know when we were in the security hub and I had to shoot the Hive gunk off all the machines? We split up after that, back in my world, and… and you went down to the bottom level by yourself. The Barons were waiting, the Rifleman—... shot Sundance.” 

Two lights flashed in the corner of your eye— the Ghosts were looking over the edge of the caches they were resting on, silently watching but not interrupting. 

“That’s why I told you not to take her out. After she…” you shook your head. “You got thrown through that wall, Uldren took the Ace of Spades, he shot you, and then we—... the player— I …”

Your hands twisted into the fabric of the blanket around your shoulders. “You joked about it. Uldren asked if you had any last words and you told him ‘how’s your sister?’” You huffed in ironic amusement. “You said it wasn’t my fault. You said the Vanguard was the best bet you ever lost.”

You shifted, pulling your knees to your chest. “I know about your messages too. The ones in the caches you made for the people who might have killed you. Ikora does care about you, you know. She was ready to tear down the whole Reef just to get to Uldren. She said she was gonna “mount the head of that son of a bitch on his precious throne.” That’s a direct quote, by the way, first time I ever heard her swear— anyway. Then, the player— me, in this case—did mostly what you did. Hunt down the Barons to get to Uldren. We got Ace back, don’t worry. We used it to kill him after it was all done. And then—...”

Riven. The Black Fleet. Crow. Everything else that came after.

You stopped there, a lump in your throat, vocal chords refusing to function any longer. “Ye-ah.”

Cayde was silent at your side, gaze fixed on some point on the dusty floor. “Wow. That’s…”

“Yep.”

“... Huh.”

“Yyyyyep.”

You stared at the ground, an odd sort of tension settling around your shoulders. 

And then Cayde grabbed your hand, fingers interlacing with your own. “Shit Y/N, I… I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine.”

“It felt different, in my dimension,” you admitted. “I mean, I only knew you as fictional, I was sad, sure, and I cried a little, but it wasn’t— life-ruining, you know? Cuz it wasn’t real. But then I got here, and you were real—you are real—and it just— it was different. I don’t know when it started to matter more, but all of a sudden it just—...” 

He squeezed your hand tighter.

“I’m so glad you’re real. I’m so glad you’re alive. Fuck, I… I don’t know what I’d have done if you died.”

You didn't even want to think about it. You'd avoided doing just that for months, because you couldn’t fail. You couldn’t. And despite how wrong it had gone, you hadn’t. Cayde was alive. How much of that you could attribute to your own actions or just sheer dumb luck or even destiny you had no idea, but you were beyond grateful for it all the same.

Cayde released your hand, but only so he could pull you closer to him, wrapping his arms around you, blanket and all. You clung to him in turn, letting his Solar Light soak into you, letting out a long exhale at his embrace. 

“I’m not goin’ anywhere darlin’, you don’t have to worry ‘bout that,” he reassured, pulling away after a moment to look you in the eyes. “Promise.”

His horn was gently bumping into your forehead with how close you were pressed together. You pressed back, basking in his presence. 

And then you sniffed hard, desperately trying to not start crying again. A laugh startled its way out of your throat. “Shit dude, when did my life get so complicated?”

“Uhhhh, roughly eight and a half months ago, if I’m remembering the dates correctly,” Cayde answered lightly, causing you to chuckle again.

“Sounds about right.”

Chapter Text

“Miss, uh… Rey?”

“Ikora, please,” the Warlock Vanguard nodded slightly, a gracious smile on her lips.

“Ikora,” you corrected, stepping nearer to the wooden archway she was standing underneath. It was well into the night by now, and the Bazaar was emptying out, but she was still working it seemed, a datapad in hand and multiple folios on the table near her.

“I wanted to inquire further into the incident that happened in the Crucible match four days ago,” she got right to the point, and fuck , that had been four days ago? It seemed like weeks. “Cayde spoke to me after it happened, he sounded quite concerned.”

“I— he did?”

“Yes. Any details you’d be able to provide would be helpful.”

“Well, um…” You shifted your weight a little, having expected this line of questioning but still not having formed a good response. “So, Premise shot me and I died, right? And when I was dead, I think I— had a vision?”

Ikora visibly straightened her already-perfect posture, eyes narrowing the slightest bit.

“I saw— well I saw the Prison of Elders,” you admitted, skipping over everything else. “And I could tell that the Traveler didn’t like it. I think it told me ‘soon’ and ‘not to waver,’ which I took to mean ‘shoot first ask questions later,’ and then we actually got called to go to the Prison, so I guess it was a prophetic vision?”

“You didn’t tell Commander Zavala this,” Ikora raised an eyebrow at you.

“Oh, did I not?— no, Cayde interrupted us before I cou— oh shit, I didn’t explain that to Cayde—...”

“I’ll inform him,” she waved, and you resisted the urge to grimace— you should probably be the one to tell him, since you could tell him the whole story, you were pretty sure you mentioned it already but it wouldn’t hurt to be thorough— “I suppose that would explain the delay in resurrection. The Thanatonauts will certainly find this interesting.”

“Do… people usually take a little bit to rezz when they’re seeing visions?” you had to ask.

“It hasn’t happened frequently enough for us to form metrics on it,” she told you, “but I’ll be looking into it. If you’re able, I’d like a more detailed report on exactly what you saw so it’s in writing.”

“Of course, I’ll do that,” you nodded. 

“And with the one for Zavala, looks like we’ll be doing a lot of paperwork in the near future,” L commented.

“Now I know how Cayde feels,” you smiled dejectedly to yourself.

“Maybe he can help us.”

“He can barely do his own paperwork, there’s no way,” you mentally chuckled.

“One more thing, Guardian,” Ikora added before you turned away. “I don’t know if you’ve been made aware, but us Lightbearers can feel the Light around us, to a certain extent,” she motioned with one hand. You politely nodded along, having already had this conversation. “That includes other Lightbearers. You in particular, have an unusually strong presence. And based off what you encountered on the Reef, I believe it’s for that reason that Uldren Sov was able to use you the way he did.”

“Yeah… that’s what he said too. When he kidnapped me,” you clarified. “I don’t… really know what that means, but apparently I’m the only one who he could’ve used?”

“Most likely. I’m still investigating why that is.”

“Why… what is?”

“Why your Light is so strong,” she clarified, and you resisted the urge to gulp. 

“Uhhhhh, any luck?”

She raised an eyebrow. “It would go much swifter with your cooperation.”

You felt L wince, and were already coming up with ways to sabotage said investigations when you said, “Um, sure.”

Oh boy.

-------

“L, seriously, get whatever you want.”

The little Ghost almost seemed to cringe from where he was floating above the Eververse display. His fins twitched, gouge marks from the Light-cage and Fikrul's claws still marring the pale metal. After you managed to get away from Ikora, you decided that you couldn't stand looking at it for a second longer, no matter that it was nearly midnight. Tess had gone home for the night, but the kiosk was still open, and you both glanced down to the screen.

“I don't need anything fancy, really,” he said.

“Dude, you deserve way more than just a new shell, for real,” you fired right back. “Just pick one, do you have any idea how much Bright Dust I have? I literally do not use it for anything else.”

His eye flickered, turning back to the display as the options slowly scrolled past. He hummed to himself, a short buzzing note, wirelessly taking control and searching for something. Contrary to how things worked in your world, the entire Eververse catalog was available instead of being on a rotation, something you didn’t take advantage of nearly as much as you should.

A picture popped up on the screen— a red and white shell with painted laurels climbing up the fins— the classic Last City shell.

“Really? You just scrolled past like, forty Exotics,” you laughed.

“Hey, you asked me what I want, this is what I want,” he insisted, sounding embarrassed. “I don’t need any of those fancy ones, they look uncomfortable.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure, really.”

“... Alright then,” you hummed, reaching over to select “purchase” and quickly pay. A neatly-packaged box compiled on the table in front of you, and you grabbed it to move out of the way of the other Guardians at the stall. There were always a couple, no matter the time of day.

You hopped up to the platform above the landing pad, plopping down cross-legged facing the Wilds. The shell was sitting in pieces inside the box, and you narrowed your eyes at it for a second. “So how does this work actually?”

“Here,” L dropped down in the air to hover close to it. His shell started spinning, detaching from his core in much the same way as when he rezzed you. Strands of Light peeled from the old shell and curled towards the new one, causing it to start to float as the old one fell to the ground.

L’s eye core zipped straight into the new shell, and the fins fluttered as they settled in around him.

“You good?”

“Yep,” he assured. He shuddered again, and color bloomed over him, replacing the default red and white— now he was matching the shader on your armor. 

You couldn’t stop the grin that flew to your face at the sight. “Better?”

“Much better,” he sighed, zipping around your head in a circle as if to test it out.

“I’m glad,” you smiled, and you truly meant it— after what your Little Light had been through for you, he deserved to feel better. About himself, about everything— and if he felt even a fraction of the relief you felt getting rid of that old, crunched shell, then he was going to be okay.

That was all you ever really wanted, anyway. For everyone to be okay.

-------

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

Sundance turned around at the sink, where she held Cayde’s plant in her blue beam. The Hunter was taking a quick shower before you two headed to game night at the hangar, and you could hear faint humming coming from the bathroom if you listened hard enough.

“Hm? Oh, sure.”

“Sorry, this is kinda, uh… out of the blue, but—... what exactly happened, while I was gone?” You paused. “Cayde didn’t really, uh, say much about it. And I kinda… got the impression it wasn’t good.”

Sundance was silent, carefully setting the plant down in the sink to drain.

“He…” she sighed. “Cayde’s not really the type to talk about his emotions. I have to pry it out of him most of the time. Seeing you get taken… he went a little, uh…”

“Crazy?”

“That’s one way to put it,” she huffed slightly. “Do me a favor and never get kidnapped again. Felt like he was three seconds from losing it entirely when we finally found you. I haven’t seen him that desperate since… Andal, really.” 

You blinked at the comparison. Since Andal? You were as important as Andal Brask to him?

“... Oh.”

Sundance snorted, an oddly electronic sound. “Yeah, in case you didn’t know how highly he thinks of you.” She suddenly zipped up to your face, shell fluttering— “You break his heart and I’ll pour cement in your armor.”

“Oh, you— you don’t haveta worry about that,” your arms waved, laughing nervously. “Wait, how do you— you know I—?”

“L and I do talk, you know,” she rolled her eye at you. “Nothing else to do while you two are busy getting into food fights and looking into each other’s eyes on rooftops.” 

Whatever you were going to say died on its way out of your mouth, but thankfully, you were saved from further embarrassment as Cayde threw open the bathroom door.

“Hey, ready to g— woah woah woah put some fucking clothes on!” you shrieked, whipping around.

“What? I have a towel!” he protested. It was true, he did— but the sight of it wrapped around his hips which his chest completely bare had already been seared into your brain.

“I mean pants!”

“Yeesh, so demanding,” he drawled, and you couldn’t hold in a snicker as you heard him pad up the stairs to his room. 

Sundance was openly laughing at your predicament, and you stuck your tongue out in her direction as Cayde scrambled for spare armor.

As you waited, your gaze landed on the single picture in his apartment, hanging by the front door. You hadn’t recognized it before, but now that you took a closer look, it must have been his old fireteam. The man wearing Cayde’s cloak—which was actually Andal’s cloak—must have been the man himself, and you saw Cayde and who you thought was Shiro-4 also in the line. You didn’t know any of the others, but they were mostly Hunters, smiling at the camera, or actively cheering, in Cayde’s case.

You stared at it for a long moment, some bittersweet emotion rising in your chest. You never even saw all that in-game, you’d just read about it in lore books and tabs and occasionally comics. But it had happened, it wasn’t just ancient history to you— Cayde had lived through it, was probably still dealing with it in his own way.

… You were as important to him as Andal Brask?

You didn’t get the chance to think any longer on it— Cayde came thundering down the stairs, newly clothed, slinging the towel over the railing as he jumped to the main floor.

“We’re gonna be late, c’mon!”

You just shook your head at his antics and followed.

-------

“Y/N, swear on my Ghost, when I saw you floating in the air like that, I just about shit myself.”

“Please don’t swear on me,” Rettie asked from his perch on his Guardian’s shoulder, a little desperately. Premise pouted over his hand of cards as the deck slowly made its way around the group.

You’d finally gotten around to teaching everyone Spoons after getting back from the Shore, and the entire group had taken to it much more enthusiastically than you’d anticipated. Probably because it required speed and, well, violence, to get to the “spoons” before their opponents. You were using spare parts instead of actual spoons, donated by Amanda and the other hangar techs joining you for the game, all laid out in the middle of the circle you all had made on the floor. The game was often followed by Uno, and whenever someone busted out a pack or two of the cards you’d made, your heart swelled in a strange sense of pride. It wasn’t like you’d created the game, but you’d introduced it to the Tower, and you made the custom cards. You were still getting messages from Guardians who wanted their own pack. 

“It was freaky though! Like she was possessed or something!”

“Ir was pretty freaky,” Jane tilted her head towards you from where she was sitting cross-legged from across the circle. 

“I was getting my Light scooped out,” you huffed.

“You can’t just say that like it’s no big deal!” Premise exclaimed.

“I mean it is a big deal, but it’s over now, and fuck am I glad it is,” you admitted, taking a new card as Cayde passed it to you and setting down an old one.

He was to your right, sprawled out on his back with his legs slung onto your lap. He had to contort into an odd position to stay that way and still play the game, but he somehow managed to keep his cards angled away from you so you couldn't see his hand. “Same here.”

“Thought you'd want to get out of the Tower for a while,” a Hunter you didn’t know very well chuckled.

“Oh don’t get me wrong, it was great to be back in the action again, but that snobby stuck-up prince just sucks the joy right out of everything!”

For a long, strange second, you felt like defending Uldren. You knew what the Black Garden had done to him, what Riven had done, but only you knew. Maybe you could explain it to Cayde, so he could understand the circumstances that drove him to do what he did. Context was important, so much more so when dealing with something as complicated as fucking Destiny lore, which wasn't actually lore now and more like history—

Aargren shot forward and snatched a small wrench from the ground. And all of a sudden everyone was diving for the pile, clambering over each other and shouting in excitement. You managed to get your hands on some sort of air filter before you leaned back so no one could grab it out of your hands. These games could get aggressive.

“Motherfucker!” one of the hangar techs exclaimed, coming back empty-handed. “You Guardians have unfair advantage, your reflexes are too fast!”

“Or maybe you’re just a sore loser,” Amanda smirked at him, waving the mallet in her hand in his direction.

The tech just raised his middle finger, causing everyone to break into laughter. 

“Better luck next time!” Delaney gleefully slapped the man on the shoulder, causing him to jolt forward and drop his cards. 

“Careful Del, you’re gonna break his back!” Adelaide cried.

“I’m— urgk— fine,” the man coughed, looking like he was still struggling for breath. Karjal looked on with the expression of someone who’d been dealing with this for a very, very long time.

“Alright, hand ‘em over,” the Hunter from earlier motioned, collecting up the spare parts from everyone and setting one aside. Amanda reshuffled the cards with an experienced hand, the tech who lost scooting back so Delaney and Premise on either side of him could close the circle. 

“You two are awfully comfy,” Jane waggled an eyebrow at Cayde’s positioning, and you narrowed your eyes in warning.

“What can I say, Titans make good footrests,” Cayde shrugged, nothing but casual, lifting his head up slightly to look at her.

“I’ll take your word for it,” Jane raised her hands in mock surrender, waited until Cayde’s head fell back to the ground, and then winking at you obnoxiously. You just sighed.

Amanda dealt out the cards again, sliding over your four. Cayde got his as well, and he frowned, sitting up fully. You made a small sound of question as he took a card from his hand and carefully inserted it into your own, taking one of your’s to replace it.

“What’re you—?”

“No reason,” he grinned cheekily at you. The Ace of Hearts was now pinched between your fingers, in addition to your other three cards. You stared at it for a moment, before rolling your eyes at his antics as he laid back down. 

This man.

Chapter Text

“Where are y’all off to?”

You glanced up at Amanda’s question, seeing all of Emerald and Flux strutting through the hangar, fully armed and armored.

“Petra Venj needs us to kill the last wish dragon,” Premise announced nonchalantly, like it was just another Tuesday.

“The what?” you blurted out, scrambling to your feet. The fucking raid, how did you forget that? 

Cayde glanced over from where he was leaning on a steel beam. “Wait, that’s today?”

“A wish dragon!” Premise enthusiastically answered you. “Or ahamkara, whatever you call ‘em. Shaxx has one of their skulls over in his area, you ever take a look at it? Anyway— the thing finally got released or unchained or whatever, so we’re heading over to take care of it.”

“I have to say, as a matter of principle, I disagree with killing the last of any species, wish dragon or no,” Karjal cut in sourly.

“Well I don’t,” Aargren flipped a knife in one hand. “Let's murk this thing already!”

“I’ll meet you guys in orbit,” Premise waved, and surprisingly, no one questioned it, trotting off to their jumpships and taking off with little preamble.

“Hey Y/N, couldja come here for a sec?”

Premise waved you over, and you gulped, moving to follow. Cayde stood up straighter at the question, glaring over at the other Exo with suspicious optics.

You gave him a reassuring nod, waving, and he backed down, but still stared after you as Premise led you a ways away from Cayde and Amanda and the other techs in the place.

“So, despite everything, I’m actually not stupid—shocking, I know—and Rettie told me a while ago that L asked him about Petra and the Reef, months before you guys ever went,” he started, and your heart sank as your cheeks flared.

“Now you clearly know something about the future, that’s kinda obvious, but I’m not gonna pry and make you tell me all your deep dark secrets. You’ve obviously been making an effort to keep all this under wraps, so I won’t ask. I just gotta know one thing. Is there anything I should know about what we’re walking into? Tips, tricks, that sorta thing?”

You stared at the Stormcaller, temporarily dumbstruck. Out of everything you were expecting him to say, you weren’t expecting that.

You opened your mouth to try to lie, but the words wouldn't come out.

“I… uh… okay,” you took a breath. It had been a hot minute since you played Last Wish. “So, when you reach the end, and you kill her, it’s not actually the end. There’s more, and it’s on a timer, but don’t panic. Panicking gets you killed.”

He nodded, deadly serious. “Got it. Anything else?”

“The wish wall can teleport you to different encounters, but I can’t remember any of the combinations off the top of my head, sorry.”

“Hold on, wh—”

“And rally at the banner every chance you get— wait, do those exist here?”

“The— what?”

“Oh, nevermind then, in that case just save your heavy ammo for the bosses—”

“Okay, uh, I think that’s too much information,” Premise laughed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You probably don’t have to worry about the wish wall,” you explained. “But that first part’s important— killing her isn’t the end.”

“Good to know,” he nodded. “Anything else, uh, relevant?”

“Not if I want to keep my secrets,” you smiled innocently. You actually just didn't remember anything else that could be helpful that wasn’t a glitch—it had been a long damn time since you’d played Last Wish, and who had ever done Riven legit, really?—but he didn't need to know that. “Seriously though, be careful, yeah?”

“Don’t worry, we can handle it,” he shouldered his Riskrunner. “We’ve killed like, two and a half gods at this point, a single dragon shouldn’t be too hard.”

“I mean, you say that now…” you trailed off. “Just— be careful. You or Karjal are probably gonna have to run Well, just so you don’t, y’know, die.”

He heaved a huge sigh. “Yeah, prolly. Dude, I hate using Solar, I always get way too overheated, maybe I can convince Karjal. Ack, I should probably get up to the others. You guys gonna be able to run tactical or are we on our own?”

“I mean, I can try, but I don’t think the signal’s gonna get through,” you admitted. “I’ll see what I can do at any rate.”

“Eh, was worth a shot. I gotta go— thanks for the tip!”

“No problem,” you called as he ran away to his jumpship. “Don’t do anything stupid!”

“No promises!”

You couldn’t help your smile as you watched him fly away, despite the sudden nervousness in your chest. You believed in them completely, logic said they would be fine, but you still worried as Premise’s jumpship disappeared into the clouds.

Cayde approached you, hand on his hip. “What was all that about?”

“Uh— I think he knows,” you admitted. “But he didn’t… want to know anything. Just if there was anything to help them with the raid.”

“What’d you tell him?”

“That Queenswalk is a bitch.”

“What?”

“I’m sure he’ll tell you about it when they get back,” you smirked. 

-------

And then they didn’t come back.

For nineteen hours.

The second they reached the Dreaming City, the comm connection you’d maintained with them severed without warning, so you were left with radio silence for the entire day.

You’d started getting nervous around hour twelve, and when hour eighteen hit with no word you were just about to start the flight over there yourself when you finally saw their jumpships pop back up on the system.

“Emerald! Flux! Is anyone reading me?”

“Y/N,” Premise’s exhausted voice burst from the speakers. “Y/N you were right. That fucking sucked. I think we just accidentally released a curse.”

A relieved laugh burst from your chest. “Good to hear from you too.”

“We’re all okay, we can talk when we get back, I’m gonna go take a power nap,” he sighed, and you huffed into the mic.

“See you then.”

“Wait, what about the loot?! What loot did you get?!” Cayde suddenly exclaimed, leaning over you to shout into the mic, but the call had already ended. “That little…”

“We can see when they get here,” you laughed, leaning back in the seat in the hangar you’d claimed. “I’m sure they’re out of it.”

-------

“Look at this new gun I found!”

Premise bounded off the ship enthusiastically with it held high above his head in victory. Of course he got the One Thousand Voices.

The rest of the fireteams trudged off their jumpships looking dead on their feet, into the growing crowd of Guardians and civilians that had gathered.

“This thing’s fucking crazy, watch!”

“Nononono, Prem wait—”

Jane’s exclamation was cut off by Premise hoisting it to his shoulder and firing it into the air. It whined as it charged up, and a beam of Solar arced towards the hangar door to the outside. The line it drew in the air detonated a second after the beam ended, almost like fireworks— a few of the civilians screamed, the other Guardians just cackling at the display.

“Woah-hoh-oh! That thing’s awesome!” Cayde yelled, pushing through the throng to get to him. “Hand it over, I wanna try!”

“He hasn’t let anyone touch the thing since he found it,” Adelaide said from where she was leaning on Aargren, looking utterly resigned.

Karjal was leaning on Delaney similarly, but straightened when he saw the crowd that had gathered. “Premise, please put down the fusion rifle, we’re in the Tower.”

“Absolutely the hell not, I earned this thing!” 

The other Warlock just sighed along with Jane as Premise shot it into the air again, sparking more explosions as he laughed wildly. 

“Come on, lemme try!” Cayde cried.

“No! It’s mine!”

“Pleeeeeeeaaase? I’ll be careful!”

“You just wanna set shit on fire!”

“And you don’t?!”

Amanda finally butted in— “How ‘bout not starting fires in my hangar?”

“I second that,” Jane added.

“Boo, you guys are no fun!”

“... Can I get a turn too?”

“Delaney, no—”

You just laughed, shaking your head.

-------

“Hey, Y/N, wait up a sec!”

You turned, being careful not to jostle the spare parts in your arms. Premise was running down the stairs to the hangar, arm waving aggressively in the air. You were a little surprised to see him— it hadn’t even been a full day since they got back, you’d have thought he’d still be resting. But Premise was as energetic as ever as he skidded to a stop in front of you.

“You are surprisingly hard to track down,” he exclaimed, putting his hands on his knees for a moment.

“I don’t know, I mean, I’m usually down here,” you shrugged as much as you could. “They like putting me to work, heh.”

Since Cayde hung out in the hangar most of the time, that meant you did too, and when he was off wrangling Hunters or falling asleep in meetings, Amanda liked to ‘get you to help out,’ as she put it. 

“Well hey, set that down a sec, gotta talk to you.”

You swallowed, very gingerly placing your load down on the closest overturned crate. “About… the raid?”

Premise just nodded, motioning you over. He led you to the right corner of the hangar, behind a couple stacks of something or other.

“Okay, so, super quick— when we were in there, Riven mentioned you. I don’t think the others heard, cuz none of them reacted, I think she was talking to just me, anyway—”

“Wait, she knew me?” you had to question.

“Knew of you, at least,” Premise answered. “I couldn’t exactly ask her about it cuz, y’know, the others were right there, but she said— she said somethin’ like, ‘She knows of the girl’s presence, her path is one fraught with danger.’ And then something like ‘the one who walks two worlds shall break it or forge it anew.’ So that’s, um…”

You could just blink at him, mind running at a mile a minute to try and understand his words. 

She knows of the girl’s presence…

Savathûn? It was the only she you could think of. But how did she know? You knew she had control of the Taken at this point, maybe some combination of that and her Hive magic alerted her when you got to this dimension…

Which was fucking terrifying. Savathûn, the Witch Queen herself, knew you existed. You had no idea what to do with that information.

The one who walks two worlds shall break it or forge it anew.

Nice. No pressure. Thoughts whirled in your head, possibilities, events you wanted to change, people you wanted to save— you might as well have gotten the go-ahead from the Traveler itself. 

And you could do all that, you realized— it was possible.

“Does… that help any?”

Premise was looking at you expectantly, and you shook yourself. “Y-yeah, it does, actually. Thank you.” 

“Thank the Light, cuz she tried to kill me right after she said that, so,” he barked out a laugh. You could only laugh along.

Well… that certainly happened.

Chapter Text

Cayde stared down the two Ghosts, who glanced to each other at the same time before looking back at him.

“... It’s the middle of the night, what’s this about?” L asked. 

He and Y/N had stayed over at each other’s houses more often than not since getting back from the Shore, but tonight they were actually in their own apartments for once; slightly planned on Cayde’s part, since he needed to talk to her Ghost without her knowing.

It had been nearly a month, and an hour rarely went by where they weren't together. Cayde hardly ever let her out of his sight. He knew it was probably overkill, and possibly a little stifling, considering he was a Hunter with an intimate understanding of how annoying it was to be under constant surveillance. But the events of… Forsaken, as she called it, had scared the fuck out of him, especially with the knowledge of how it could have gone, and he wasn’t quite ready to go back to keeping a respectful distance. 

(That was only half true. He really, really wanted to be this close forever. Physically and otherwise. He might be able to tone down the overprotectiveness but the urgent need to be around her was probably there for life.)

Y/N, in all fairness, kept him as close as possible as well. He suspected it was reassuring, to have that constant reminder that she didn’t have to worry about his well-being anymore. Well, not like that anyway.

Those couple days had been one hell of a wake up call. He’d come to the realization that he didn’t want to die— either of them to die, really—before he could tell her how he really felt. 

It would be his first time doing so, to anyone, and he was nervous as all hell about it, but he just—

He couldn’t wait any longer. He might actually explode.

Cayde was perched on the edge of his couch, one leg bouncing as he toyed with the handle of the knife on his hip. The two Ghosts floated in front of him, L's new shell glinting in the light of the single lamp he had on. “So, I got an idea. That one spot on the Wall, picnic, classic wine and dine. I give her this—” he held up the new Titan mark sitting on the couch next to him, “—and confess my undying love. Thoughts?”

Sundance already knew, but L blinked his optic at him. “That… is a fantastic idea.”

“Wait— really?”

“I can’t say anything more than that, but I’ll absolutely help you. What’s the plan?”

Cayde just grinned. 

-------

You hadn’t gone on missions for thirty-eight days now. It was the longest break you’d ever taken by more than double, and you felt a little bad about shirking your literal job, but…

Hanging out with Cayde had been really, really nice.

Well— you say hanging out, it was more like spending every waking moment hanging off of each other. Cayde had never been quite so physically comfortable with you before, but you couldn’t lie, it was fantastic, being able to hug him whenever you wanted and not get anxious about it because half the time he was the one initiating.

You were presently shoulder to shoulder with him, one of his arms slung over you as you sat near his station in the hangar with the Colonel in your lap and a datapad in your hands you were both staring at.

“—nonono, cuz if I put those two on a fireteam together, that Arcstrider’s gonna complain later that she had to do all the work, because those other two never get anything done when they’re on the same team, they just argue all the time.”

“But she literally requested those two.”

“That’s cuz she and the Nightstalker are best friends, and he’s been trying to get with the Dawnblade for over eight years now, and she keeps rejecting him,” Cayde explained, like it was the simplest thing in the world.

“Okay, you— you lost me. How in the world do you remember all this?”

“My Hunters bring back a lot of gossip. More than actual intel. I know everything, Y/N. Everything.”

You laughed a little, the Colonel ruffling her feathers from where she was settled in your crossed legs. “Whatever you say.”

Cayde leaned further into your side, and you leaned back, utterly content. You’d been scared that telling him the truth about your origins would drive you apart, but if anything, it brought you closer together— with that last bit of secrecy obliterated, any unconscious walls you’d built around each other came crashing down with it. It felt so good.

The reds and oranges from the setting sun streamed in through the open hangar doors, and Cayde suddenly got to his feet, stretching his arms out dramatically. “O-kay, I think that’s enough work for the day!”

“Cayde, we sat down twenty minutes ago,” you rolled your eyes.

“I said what I said,” he snatched the datapad from your hands and dropped it into transmat, humorous smile on his face. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Where?”

“It’s a surprise!”

You humored him, curiously growing, gently removing the Colonel from your lap with a small “sorry girl.”

Cayde held out his hand, and you took it, the familiar tingly feeling of transmat spreading over your skin.

You ended up on that one spot on the City wall, the one he always took you to. You might be so bold as to call it your spot, seeing as you only went up there with him. But when you arrived there, there was a blanket set up, with plates, and— were those candles?

“Cayde, what…?”

“Surpriiiise!”

He excitedly waved you over, motioning for you to sit next to him. “We never really celebrated the whole ‘we’re not dead’ thing, I figured we could do that now! Soooo, we’re both not dead! That’s always good, right? Small victories!”

“Yeah,” you huffed a laugh. “Always good.”

“Okay, so I didn’t know what you were feelin’ tonight so I got a little bit of everything— ramen, curry from that Indian place we went to, think I got some pasta here— also I have uh—“

He pulled a tall bottle from transmat, looking like he didn’t know where to put it. “You like wine? I don’t know, thought it’d be nice, not like it does anything for me but I mean—“

“Cayde,” you giggled despite yourself. “It’s alright, this is…”

“It’s too much, isn’t it? I knew it—“

“No, no, Cayde—“

He’d been fretting over the setup in front of you, but turned back at your exclamation.

“It’s—… it’s perfect.”

His mouth dropped open for a couple seconds, no sound coming out. “I. Uh. Y-eah, yeah, of course! ‘Course! Come on, sit down, before it gets cold! It’s only been sitting up here a little while, promise—!”

You laughed again, taking a seat as Cayde knelt on the blanket and grabbed plates for you.

Your Ghosts appeared, L bobbing close to you. “We’re gonna go— uh—“

“Have fun you two!” Sundance interrupted, running into L’s shell and bulldozing him off the wall. “Just go, just go!”

You stared after them. “… What was that about?”

“Huh. Couldn’t tell ya.”

You reached over each other as you served yourselves, grabbing spoonfuls from the various containers that had been carefully stacked to one side. True to his word, It was all still hot, and you had to wonder how far in advance Cayde had planned this.

The candles were making you think he had some sort of ulterior motive.

“So.”

You looked up at him, but he didn’t continue. “Agh, just— enjoy, sweetheart.”

“I feel like I’m being prepared for something,” you commented wryly, digging in anyway.

“Uh—”

Cayde shoveled pasta in his mouth to avoid answering, even though Exos didn't need to move their mouths to use their voice boxes, but you let it go anyway. A thought was teasing the back of your mind, one you were almost scared to form fully— and you didn't dare. 

“Why is it always sunset when we come up here?” you asked casually instead, and Cayde glanced out to the horizon.

“I dunno,” he answered. “It’s always kinda felt like our time, y’know?” 

The way he said that—”our time”—made you pause, mostly because he was right.

“... Yeah, it kind of does.”

Sometimes, when you were in the EDZ, staring up at the Shard of the Traveler with the evening sun lighting it up, the sight was so familiar your thoughts drifted to Cayde of their own volition. You thought about him a lot, to be honest. And not always in the context of I have to save his life. Sometimes it was “I really like being around him.” Other times it was “I didn’t know I could talk with someone this much and not get bored.” Occasionally it was “holy shit, he looks really hot standing like that.”

Like you’d told him before, getting to know him in real life instead of through a computer screen was the best thing you’d ever done. Maybe not in those exact words, but the meaning was there. You had no idea that just being around someone could be so much fun.

And now that you didn't have to worry about Forsaken, you could just enjoy being around him, enjoy loving him—