"You've been getting awful chummy with the enemy, Hart." Drew glowered when she sat down in the cafeteria. "The Wolf really better company than your own people?"
"Knock it off." Red said defensively, sitting down across from her.
"Got your pet fighting your battles for you now, too?" The officer sneered. "Gonna need some bigger balls than that, kid."
"She's just confused about where her loyalty is." Evans said from a different table.
She grit her teeth and stood up, glaring at everyone who was giving her dark looks. Taking a breath to yell at them to mind their own business, she caught sight of their commander looking in through the window and sighed. "I'm not hungry." She said, leaving the table and making for the exit of the barracks.
"Hart." The Commander said, walking up to her.
"It's not like I'm suddenly his friend. But after hearing his side of things, I can't pretend that we were the only victims anymore. He was a victim too." She said, cutting him off before he could admonish her. "And Lin wasn't even on Earth when the Liberation happened. Her relationship with Fuse isn't enough to condemn her and Yolanda-"
"Enough, Hart." He interrupted. "You don't have to defend yourself to me."
"Seems like that's all I have to do anymore. After ten years of serving with these guys, I expected more benefit of the doubt than what I'm getting."
He nodded and leaned on the railing. "I tried recruiting him the other day. Heard he was looking for work since the girl barely makes enough to pay for the essentials and I thought he'd be a good officer."
"Sir, that's-" She started, then clamped her mouth shut.
"Idiotic? Suicidal, even? Yeah, I know. But it's not my job to cater to feelings, it's to keep this station and the people on it safe. His actions on Earth, whether it's Keystone, Wardham, or whatever he's done that's landed him out here, those aren't my problem." He said, a suppressed laugh came out as a cough and he shook his head. "Instead of playing it safe, he's heading out with the mining crew next week. Him and Cruz."
"He's what? Did you tell him who all was on that crew, sir?" She demanded.
"I told him. He said it'd be fine, that he's just there for the job. Talked to the Foreman after and he said that the job was open to anyone willing to go. Wasn't his job to screen backgrounds."
Ana closed her eyes and took a breath. "He can't get on that ship, sir."
"Not our call, Hart." He said, pushing off the railing. "I made peace with what happened a long time ago. Woke up one day and realized that I should be grateful that I'm alive to be pissed. That was it, that was my moment. I think you're probably on your way to having yours. The rest of those guys, they've got to figure it out for themselves."
With that, he headed back into the barracks, leaving her to consider his words. She hadn't forgiven what happened and still had plenty of anger and resentment, but it had been fading the last few weeks the more time she spent around them. Red had suggested that maybe she wasn't seeing Fuse as a monster anymore and it was hard to argue with that. He was human. He laughed with Cruz and doted on Lin like she'd seen thousands of other people do with their friends and loved ones.
"Grateful to be alive, huh?" She murmured, staring down through the deep spiral of the station.
~
"Kuro." Lin whispered, shaking him gently. He jerked up, panting and looking around the room quickly before she turned his face toward hers. "I'm right here."
He sighed heavily and rested his forehead against hers. "Sorry."
"It's okay." She said, rubbing his arm. "You haven't had one in a few days and it's early enough that I can have breakfast with you before work."
He breathed out a laugh. "Always a silver lining."
"We're alive, Kuro." She replied quietly, kissing his cheek and sliding out of the bed. "I got first shower."
She disappeared into the bathroom and he made his way into the room to find Yolanda sitting at the small table. "Dream?" She asked.
"Yeah." He muttered, walking over to the coffee machine and pouring a cup. "Thought I might've been past them finally, but I guess not."
"One day, maybe."
He shrugged, sitting down across from her. "Before, I never had dreams. But since I... came back or whatever we're calling it, I can't seem to escape them."
"Well, you're not the same person you were. Sergeant Fuse did what he had to to accomplish his mission within the boundaries he found acceptable. Kurokawa operates differently." She said with a shrug. "You remember how scared you were of the memories when they first started coming back? You're still that person, just with the soldier's knowledge and experience."
"Maybe." He muttered, setting his cup down. "It's as good an explanation as any."
"I'm just pulling shit out of my ass, kid. But I do not miss the other guy." She grinned.
"Makes two of us." He said, then stretched.
"Lin joining us for breakfast?"
He nodded. "In the shower now."
"You should've joined her." She said, lifting the mug to her mouth to hide the grin.
He gave her a confused look. "Why?"
~
"Got the full escort today, Lin?" The corpulent man behind the counter said heavily when the three of them walked in.
She beamed. "Yep. Even got to have breakfast together!"
Every inch of him moved as he clapped his hands together happily. "How lovely!"
The shop owner, Jorvis, initially hired Lin to do minor repairs to the tech he sold in his shop. But she very quickly got loaned out to do work on the ships that required maintenance or various things around the station. It had earned her a reputation that made her very popular with the permanent residents of Albion while Fuse and Yolanda recuperated.
But once the soldiers began retrieving her from work at the end of the day, they playfully started referring to her as royalty with Fuse and Yolanda acting as her attendants. Neither of them really got what was so amusing about it, but played their part as best they could since it made the smaller woman happy.
"Trinket says that her lights are still on the blink and Command wants to discuss the software upgrades you brought up when you get a chance." Jorvis said, cutting straight to the business. "There's also a ship in dock four that needs a once over. They'll be here for a few days, so there's no rush on that."
"Copy!" Lin said with a smile, then turned to Yolanda and Fuse. "Usual time?"
"You got it, sis." Yolanda said, putting down the scanner she was looking at.
Fuse nodded. "We'll be here."
She beamed and headed out of the shop while Jorvis nodded to Yolanda. "Cut you a deal on that."
"Like I could afford your prices." She scoffed.
"What's your budget?"
"Nothing." She laughed. "It's why we're taking that mining job next week. Three weeks of work for a years salary seems like a good deal."
Jorvis nodded. "Well, I'm sure you've been warned, but most of that crew have beef with the Wolf of Wardham."
"Only every time it gets brought up." She muttered darkly, looking at Fuse.
He shrugged. "I'm not trying to win anyone over and we already told the foreman that we'll defend ourselves if they try anything. He was fine with it, so long as we picked up any slack our injuries cost him."
"Besides, we're out of shape. Fuse might still be freak strong, but I'm having trouble picking up a fork these days." She said, smirking. "Heavy work is a good rehab."
"I don't think anyone's ever said that before, love." Jorvis said dubiously.
She shrugged. "Well, maybe they will."
They said their goodbyes to the shopkeeper and idly made their way down to the sublevels where they knew they could find some day labor in the salvage bunker. After getting their passes from the security officer, they began sorting through their section, trying to decide if anything they found could be repaired sold.
"D'you think Lin could do something with this?" She asked, holding up a destroyed comm unit.
He shrugged, tossing a shovel full of scrap into the furnace. "Maybe, but it'd take her a few days and we'd only get a couple bucks for it. Not enough for the effort."
Yolanda nodded and tossed it past him into the furnace. "Seems like an oversight, doesn't it? I mean, we basically lived in trillion dollar hardware and knew pretty much everything about it other than how to fix it if it got damaged. And those things got banged up quite a lot."
"Mine was a second generation unit, so it never really needed anything too complex done to it beyond basic maintenance. Which I did myself most of the time." Fuse said, continuing to shovel.
"Benefits of being analog." She muttered, tossing larger scraps. "You were running our software in your HUD, though. Didn't that ever need updates?"
"Never did them." He answered.
"Explains how Echelon was able to hack into it and free up your armor."
He paused. "You know, I never actually gave it any thought before."
"Seriously?" She sighed. "No, I guess you were too busy."
He shrugged and they continued to work until an officer Fuse recognized as a man named Evans walked into their area. After giving them disgusted looks, he straightened his tie and walked over to Fuse.
"It's my duty to inform you that Lin has been placed into custody pending an investigation into possible sabotage of our defense network." He said dully, then smirked. "Your presence has been formally requested, so if you'll please accompany me."
Fuse dropped the shovel and Yolanda made to follow, but Evans held his hand out. "Only him."
"That's bullshit. I'm not leaving him alone with you." She snarled, advancing on him but Fuse stood between them.
"Cruz, it's alright. Go talk to Jorvis."
"But-"
"The more we cooperate, the easier we can clear up this misunderstanding." He said, narrowing his eyes at her.
Her expression darkened, but she nodded. "Yes, sir."
~
"KUR-!" Lin screamed when he and Evans walked into the room, but a hand covered her mouth, stifling her.
Fuse felt his pulse quicken when his anger spiked, but he forced himself to not show any hostility as a handful of officers surrounded him. "Get on with it so you can let her go." He said, eyes locked onto the man holding her.
"Did you hear that? I believe he threatened an officer with bodily harm in due process of an investigation." One of them said, pulling out a baton.
"Finally showing his true colors. Only took him four months." Evans' smug voice said from behind him.
Fuse sighed, lowering his gaze to Lin. Her red eyes were no longer fearful, but resolute. She nodded to him and he turned to the officer holding the baton. "Do it or let us go."
The officer lunged, bringing down the baton across the his head. Half his vision went red, but he kept his gaze trained on the man, who seemed unsettled by the lack of response. Another baton slammed into his stomach and Fuse turned to look at the one who'd struck him.
"What're you waiting for!? Hit him!" Evans shouted. "We don't have all day!"
He absorbed a number of blows before being hit with a taser to the back of his neck. Lin cried out as he dropped and the assault continued, begging them to stop. One of the officers struck her with a backhand that knocked her out of the chair. She tried to crawl over to him, but the same officer kicked her in the face and knelt down, prepared to start beating on her as well.
A gunshot brought the beatings to a sudden stop. The security commander stood in the door looking absolutely furious while Ana and Yolanda moved to help the two victims. The soldier shoved the officer away from Lin and pulled her to her feet while Ana knelt down next to the battered Fuse.
"Can you move?" She asked when his eyes fluttered open.
"Lin?"
"I'm okay, Kuro!" She lisped through swollen lips.
He groaned as Ana helped him to his feet. "It's not as bad as it looks." She said.
"Tell that to my body." He mumbled.
"Get them to Winston's." The commander said, waiting until they were gone to raise his weapon. "I should. I could get most of you before you got the gun out of my hand."
Evans spat. "You're defending that murderer now too?"
The barrel pointed to his head. "Has he killed anyone since arriving on this station? Has he hurt anyone? Did he fight back when you kidnapped that little girl to trap him and beat him senseless?" The older man snarled, then holstered the weapon. "No. That's the answer. And you lot are acting just like those bastards at Wardham and I've got half a mind to treat you like he did them."
A few of the officer's faces twisted in shame while the rest glowered at him. Evans, however, was undeterred. "It takes animals to fight animals. You should know that better than most, Commander."
"You're all suspended until further notice. Surrender your weapons at the duty stations. Or leave the fucking station if you can swing a ride. I don't really give a shit." He said, turning and walking away from the men.
Evans turned to the men in the room. "We'll tell them the plan's on. Fuse won't have recovered much before the freighter leaves. So he'll be in no shape to survive what comes next."
~
"Take these for the pain." Winston said, handing Fuse two tablets. "Your wounds are already closing, so I'm not gonna waste stitches on you."
"Gee, thanks doc." Yolanda spat, but he ignored her and tilted Lin's chin back.
"Yeah, you'll need one or two. Shouldn't interfere with eating or drinking, though." He said, gingerly lifting her top lip and nudging her teeth. "Those don't feel loose, but your kind are tougher than you look."
Lin raised an eyebrow. "My kind?"
"Yeah, don't know the name. Tall bastards. We get them in from time to time." He said, picking up the microstitcher and aligned it with the cut. A click later and the wound was closed. He swapped the stitcher out for a penlight and shone it in her eyes. "The eyes gave it away. Those fractal irises of yours. Never seen one as small as you before, that's what threw me off first time I saw you. That and the red color's new. Usually they're light blue, almost like crystal. Occasionally I'll get one with a darker shade."
"I see." She murmured.
"You certainly do. No signs of a concussion. Alright, clear out. I got real patients to look after."
Yolanda scoffed as Fuse got to his feet and helped Lin slide off the exam table. She looked up at him briefly, then stared down at the floor, but didn't let go of his hand as Ana led them out of the medical ward.
"Grouchy bastard." Yolanda said as they headed for the lift.
"Maybe you could share tips." Fuse muttered, smirking at her when she glared at him. "Hey, I'm injured too."
"They're already closed, smartass." She snapped.
Ana pressed the button, then leaned against the panel. "Why didn't you fight back?"
Lin's hand tightened around his at the question and Yolanda scowled at the floor. "Because that would've just proven them right." She said bitterly.
"You're allowed to defend yourself, you know." Ana shot back.
"Not against them." He said. "And not with Lin in the room. She could've gotten hurt if they'd decided to pull a gun."
"Shit, she got hurt anyway." Yolanda said. "If he fought back, it could've been worse."
The lift opened and they stepped aside for the people getting off before entering. Yolanda punched the button for their level more aggressively than necessary, earning a look from Ana. "Sorry."
"This was a message." Ana said. "Had to be. You two are fixing to be gone for three weeks."
"Yeah, they wanted to soften me up for whatever they've got the others planning." Fuse said dully. "And they wanted me to know that they could get to Lin."
"You know I'll keep an eye on her. Red, too." Ana said.
He nodded and looked down at Lin, who still hadn't lifted her head. "Yeah, that'll be good. I'm sure Jorvis and the others at the market will too."
"Jorvis adores her." Yolanda said with a chuckle. "He was ready to go to war when I told him what happened. Never thought a person that big could move that fast."
~
"What is it?" He asked, walking out of the bathroom.
Lin was clutching the bloody shirt tightly with her eyes closed tightly. "I never really thought about it before."
"Thought about what?" He asked, sitting down next to her.
"That I'm not human." She murmured. "I knew I wasn't, but..."
"It's easy to forget." He said, staring at her white knuckles. "But what about it?"
She opened her eyes and looked at him. "I've had dreams where- where you and I-"
"Ah." He sighed, laying back. "There is that."
"Anatomically, we're compatible for it, but-"
He covered his ears and curled in a ball, his upper body turning red. "I can't hear this!"
She stared at him, then realized what she'd been describing and blushed crimson. "I didn't mean it like that!" She cried, then sighed. "Maybe I did."
Fuse unfurled and spread himself out on the bed. "You know, we never really talked about it. Might be the perfect time since we're kind of on the topic."
She shook her head. "You're about to be gone. Then we've got to figure out if and how we're going to get home. Then there's everything going on that we'll have to deal with or fight through."
He sighed. "Yeah."
"But..." She began, then paused to take a steadying breath. "Would you be okay with someone not-"
"The same age as me?" He interrupted. She stared at him, then slapped him with the shirt before getting up from the bed and walking into the bathroom.
After shutting the door, she leaned against it and pressed her hand to her chest as she looked at herself in the mirror. "Thank you, Kuro."