Epilogue

I've got a way of knowing when something is right

I feel like I must have known you in another life

'Cause I felt this deep connection

When you looked in my eyes (I can't wait)

Now I can't wait to see you again

--Miley Cyrus, "See You Again"

***

It wasn't long enough.

That was the only thought in my head as I shook Ash's hand one more time and she gave a nod of her head to Lucy beside me, complete with an old fashioned, "Ma'am," for her that shouldn't have sounded as cool as it did.

I'd convinced her to come back to our place to wash off the dust and sweat from the fight, then Lucy convinced her to stay for dinner, then the kittens convinced her to tell them stories late into the evening, and finally we'd convinced her to take an extra bedroom and head out the next morning. After breakfast.

Honestly, for whatever being an ubermensch was, Ash was kind of a pushover. But even she had her limits, and she begged off a proper city tour and the only other Samurai she got to meet was Deus Ex who came by to complain-brag about cleaning up after us.

I swear, the brat tried to get a rise out of Apex. But no matter what she tried, the space cop never treated her anything but kindly. Not like a child, not like a god, just kindly. Right up until the very last moment, where she snuck in a ballsy headpat so fast the kid was already out the door and it was shut behind her before she processed what had been done.

She called me three times in the next two minutes. I didn't answer, but I damn well saved the messages for posterity's sake.

Now, Lucy and I had come along with Ash to where Myalis said would be the best location to open the portal without risking interference, and we'd all just said our final goodbyes.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Apex raised the transponder, what looked like some sort of retro-future one-button remote, and the air before her twisted and shimmered until it ripped apart into a doorway-sized two-dimensional wall of static.

It really hadn't been long enough.

"Hey!" I finally made myself shout, and she turned back to face us. "I'll be farming the points for that gateway, so you'd better be fucking ready to show us the same hospitality we gave you!"

Lucy elbowed me with a giggle, but Apex just grinned back. "It's a date!"

***

The portal made her feel like taffy, as if the very front of her and the very back of her were stuck in place and everything between them got stretched across infinity.

And then it was over and she finished her single step into a polished lab, onto the platform of the experimental gateway that had started the whole mess.

She had the room to herself for only a minute before movement in the hall outside led to a figure bursting into the room. A scrawny man with big, round ears and a long face scurried over to her. "Ah! Defender! Defender Apex! You're back! We sent notice to the Defenders as soon as we registered your transponder signal!

"Ah, Doctor Muscula." Ash turned said device over in her hand, tossed it up just a few inches and caught it again before turning back to him. "It worked like a charm, no problem."

"Wonderful, wonderful!" He looked around skittishly like he expected another there. "And, um ... the ... pred?"

"He resisted arrest and died in the resulting exchange," she answered simply.

The Union scientist nodded, almost more to reassure himself he was safe than anything. "Wonderful, wonderful," he said again. "Now, tell me, dear, we lost your tracker signal the moment you stepped through the gate. You must tell me where you ended up!"

She opened her mouth, unsure where to start with that one, but was saved when the door was slammed open again and a figure so big he had to turn sideways and duck to get through the door made himself known. Almost immediately, a much smaller figure darted past him and around all of the equipment to slam into Ash in less than a hundred pounds of white feathers tipped in a pastel rainbow.

"Ash!" the smaller figure, a little shorter than her gushed, burying his face into her shoulder. "You're alright! We'd been worried all night long! When we lost your tracker, I ... I knew you'd make it, but I just couldn't shake maybe the gate hadn't gone anywhere at all and I was never getting you back!"

Ash gently rubbed his back and squeezed his shoulders, but her eyes were on the much larger figure behind him, who wasn't saying anything and kept his hands calmly clasped behind his back, but his eyes were smoldering in an impatient glare. As it got worse, she started looking between the towering figure and the Chisay attached to her.

And then the big figure cleared his throat, a deep, bassy rumble that filled the room more effectively than a fog horn.

The bird boy yelped and jumped away from Ash like she'd turned fire hot before scurrying back to stand next to the figure he shared a uniform with.

"Defender Apex," the large figure greeted in a tone that almost seemed accusatory for taking so long. "Welcome back."

But the human just grinned and saluted. "Good to be back, Chief. Mission complete."