It was three months after she had been taken into the Conclave. She'd been acting as a network intelligence specialist under Citram in her NETWINT team, translating the Maverick code to give the Ghosts transmitted movements. The Mavericks would regularly relay Triad positions and numbers amongst themselves in code, so Nyx had become a valued asset.

At that point, only months into her 'enlistment' as it was, all she had seen of the Ghosts were the efficient, deadly, stoic machines. Then one day, Vector burst through the doors of their hideout, hands full and with one foot in the air from kicking the door in. He had a bag full of video games over one shoulder, and both hands ladened with a case of varied liquors. Vidian and Vorn followed with smaller bags and boxes.

Mac and Citram had been bent over a set of plans for the better part of the evening. It was a high-profile strike that would break the Triad line trailing into Conclave territory for good. It would give them the room they needed to breathe while also give them a clear shot at Hypnos. At Saedah.

Looking at one another, the two smiled hesitantly and set aside the plans to pick up a remote.

It was the first smile she had seen that reached their eyes. It was the first smile she had seen since being recruited three months ago.

Then the shit-talking started. And, surprisingly, Vorn tapped her on the shoulder and motioned for her to take the headset off. He pressed the 'record' button, and informed her she was invited to join. Vector had stepped around the towering man with golden eyes to put the remote in her hands. Without pause, he spun to capture and haul Citram to the floor where she sat between his legs.

The kiss Vector placed on Citram's forehead had Nyx staring in shock. The others only looked on with varying shades of approval. Vorn rolled his eyes, but even he, the king of stoic, fought a twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Vidian nudged her with a shot glass and whispered in her ear, "Welcome to the family. There's no going back now." Nyx took the glass and welcomed the sweet tasting burn of her favorite honey liquor. She wondered briefly if they knew it was her favorite, but from the pleased and knowing gleam in Citram's eyes, they knew. Then Vidian's words echoed again. Like there had ever been any option of 'going back' after she knew their names. After she knew where their bases - all of them- were posted. After she knew who Saedah was. Just who Vorn actually was.

Vorn. That was a whole new level of conspiracy-theory.

That night had been the turning point, or possibly the result of some turning point with the Ghosts. Between the games, laughter, and rough-housing, she forgot who they were. She jumped into the rough-housing and shit-talking atmosphere with both feet, laughing all the while. She even managed to win a game or two, and shoved her victories in Vector and Vorn's faces. Those two were the resident gamers, and gave as good as they got when victory taunts began. She managed to almost hold her own against Vidian when the woman demanded an arm-wrestling match after another -of many- shots of whiskey.

Yet, when Nyx had agreed to take on Citram, Vidian barked a rough laugh and slapped her on the back. Somewhere in the strangled laugh, she heard something akin to 'bless your soul'. The game in the background paused as Mac vaulted the couch to land between her and Citram. He seemed equally dismayed at Citram as he was apologetic to Nyx. He went on about not wanting to have to mend bones. Everyone started telling Mac that he was over-reacting, and Citram wouldn't break Nyx. Not on purpose, anyway.

Nyx just shook her head, not understanding, and took another shot. While Mac was admonishing Citram, Nyx took up a controller to join the game in Mac's stead. Vector laughed, Vorn smiled, and all was right with the world. For a short time, all was right.

The women were the only ones drinking that night.

That had become a fortnight routine from that day. Every two weeks, the whole crew would gather for games, shit-talking, rough-housing, movies, and even some song and dance. Regardless of what was going on in the war, their R&R time was never missed.

The men and women took turns drinking, though Mac never partook of the 'evil water', as he called it. Vector even got sick a time or two. And the more drunk Vector got, the worse he was at everything - despite his protests to the contrary. Especially his drumming.

The band breakouts were few and far between, and always carried a faint undercurrent of sadness that Nyx never questioned or pointed out. Everyone but Nyx knew at least one instrument or could at minimum sing. During those sessions, Nyx just sat back and marveled at the people behind the Ghosts. The gifted people fighting to right an imbalance in the world. The people devoting their entire lives to righting that balance.

It wasn't much later that Nala and Troache were brought into the fold, as the undertaking grew far greater than Nyx could handle alone.

Troache and Vidian had quickly grown close, to everyone's utter surprise. They eventually spent every non-working, waking minute together. And the Ghosts worked a lot. There were few hours spent in merriment in the Ghosts hideouts. Later on, the two even spent many nights together.

Nala and Mac spent a lot of time together, also. Though theirs was purely a pupil-instructor relationship. Mac, shorter than all but Citram, seemed to grow ten-feet-tall in Nala's presence. He would put on the most amazing smile when Nala displayed her intellect and her hunger for more. When the two could get a few minutes together, Mac and Nala were speaking medicine, chemicals, or guns. More textbooks than Nyx had ever seen swapped hands between those two. Nala watched him with the wide-eyed admiration of a child in her hero's shadow. And with her uniquely askew naivety, Nala quickly became the baby sister of the group.

Looking across the group now, tense and in their Skins, she knew they were all hurting inside. This wasn't the reunion they had wanted.

Vector tapped her shoulder and nodded back toward the kitchen. It was obvious that the group would want some privacy to address the Saedah issue. It was heartbreaking that even now, with him out of Akumini's hands, there was still a 'Saedah Issue.' There was a lot of Saedah to put back together. But nothing could be set right in a single night. Or even in three.

Vector spent most of their time in the house in the East wing, dealing with the cats over the next two days. Saedah spent that time repairing the panel and enforcing the enclosure to prevent future outbreaks, as well as on the Com finding homes for the genetically engineered Jag kits. The rest, he spent in a little pool of strange liquid. The closed rooms by the medical suite housed a small, shallow pool of goopy liquid that they all claimed was akin to a miracle. Between the pool and injections of an triad-outlawed, conclave-made serum that sped up the healing process, Saedah was looking good; much better than Nyx would have thought possible. His wounds were almost closed, with fresh pale skin marking where the deeper gashes had been. Barely a scar remained of the lighter scrapes. His nodes were near invisible with his dark skin.

One afternoon Nyx took a plate of fruit to the pool room for Saedah. His appetite had been returning, and Mac encouraged him to eat as much as he could manage. He was in his shorts, head resting on a rolled towel on the tile edge. He looked up to her, running his hand down the near-healed bite wound before taking the plate. In a moment of openness, Saedah revealed that the species of Jaguar had died out on Gaea many generations back, and he was one of the few breeders of the recovered species. The cats had smaller litters than the original, with only one cub every six months or so. There should have been more, but many cubs did not survive the month.

Nyx learned that the engineered Jags were incredibly loyal, smart, and terrifyingly territorial. If it weren't for her and Vidian in the house, the two adults would be out. When Nyx offered to stay in a room to give him time with the cats, Saedah laughed tiredly. He declined the offer, but thanked her. He would have time with them. He was free again.

"They accept you." He said quietly. Nyx almost choked on a grape she had stolen from the plate before she regained composure. "The others." He lazily waved a hand at the door.

"Vidian still thinks I'll turn on you all." She said back, crossing her legs to sit more comfortably.

"Will you?" He turned his head to look her in the eye.

"No." Was her simple answer.

"I couldn't see you doing that, anyway." He reached for an orange wedge and sucked on the juices. "Why didn't you agree with them?" When it was clear she didn't understand, he elaborated, "My arm."

"I'm honestly not sure why my opinion mattered that much." She wondered aloud, reaching out to run a finger through the liquid, feeling the oily substance between her fingers. The consistency of jelly made her really not want to experience the pool. Ever.

"They accept you." He said again, splashing the goop over his arms again. "But that does not answer my question."

"Healing isn't just the body." She whispered. She noticed the way he stiffened at those words. "And I don't trust the grade of what they shoved in your arm. I don't trust it to not poison you."

He glanced at her, shocked.

"Why do you care so much? You don't know me." His eyes were narrowed.

"I've always been a sucker for someone in need, Saedah. I just happened to be able to help." she reached for another grape, pulling several free of the stem for Saedah. He watched her closely.

"Mac said they would have offered you a suit months ago, if you weren't so important with the Mavericks."

Nyx jolted upright, orange wedges and grapes skittering across the floor

"They what?" The words came out in a squeak. She wasn't sure, but after witnessing Saedah's session with the pod, she was unsure if she could do it.

"Mac said so." He grumbled, lids drooping low over his eyes.

"Are you medicated?" She demanded, a strange emotion accompanying that realization. It was somewhere between astonishment, anger, and hurt. But Saedah was already asleep. She stayed there to make sure the fool wouldn't drown, occasionally splashing the wounds with the goo. In the relative quiet of the room, aside from the purr of the pool pump, she wondered at what Saedah had said.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Mac spent much of the days in the med rooms with Saedah, analyzing his injuries. She wondered how long Saedah had been mulling that bit over before he gave in and spilled it.

Mac came in shortly after to move Saedah to a bed. When she started asking questions, the foolish man went and hid. Actually hid! But he also somehow managed to tell each and every one of the others to not speak of it before he went into hiding.

Citram spent much of the time in an electronics room with the lingering smell of solder. When Nyx went to her, she shut the door on her face and locked it. She could also have still been mad about Nyx not agreeing with her, though.

Vorn and Vidian sparred almost constantly in the Simulations room, when they weren't tinkering on the ships in the hangar below the landing pad, where the ships were lowered after landing. When Nyx trapped them in one place, they just ignored her. Vidian seemed to get some sort of thrill from seeing Nyx squirm.

Vector was thoroughly ensconced in the East wing with the murderous cats, where Nyx would never tread. He stayed there until Saedah finished repairing their old enclosure. The old enclosure took a solid twenty-four hours to complete.

Once the cats' enclosure was repaired, Vector and Vorn transported the two adult cats back to their enclosure with tight grips on their halters. The kittens were to stay in transport enclosures for a trader to pick up. Nyx really didn't care to know how they managed to get the evil beasts into the cages at all, according to the new gouges on both of their Apollo Skins. Those Skins were hard to damage. She would hate to be the guy that repaired those.

After trapping Vector in the pantry, he flat-out said that he would not be answering her questions. With that she gave up. He smiled, looped an arm around her shoulders, and said that giving up was probably a good idea. She was part of the group, and there would be a discussion, just not right then. Not at that time.

So Nyx went back to her job. For the short amount of time it took to complete her job.

Nyx, having only the self-appointed assignment of cooking and cleaning, contacted Troache when there was nothing left to occupy her mind. Kitty hovered over her every word, ensuring that she would not say anything prohibited. The male, of course, was vehement on coming to her after their rendezvous was missed. His insistence only grew when he learned they were all together, including Vidian.

As much as Nyx wanted, she could not reveal their location, nor even their departure date. Then the whole crew convened in the East wing, after a brief and unpleasant clean-up of cat droppings, to enjoy some games.

Early into the festivities, Saedah pulled Vorn to the side.

"What's with the training wheels?" Saedah asked, thumbing over his shoulder.

"Training wheels…?" Vorn responded, tilting his head to the side in a curious, confused manner.

"Yeah, the little tinker toy with the Phoenix icon slapped on it. You can't possibly think that'll get you where a real ship will…" Saedah paused, narrowing his eyes on his bond-brother, "do you?"

"I don't have the time for this any more. It's good enough." Vorn leaned against the wall, relaxed and smiling. "It'll be nice to have more boots on the ground again."

"Don't change the subject. It's a damned Bolo class P.O.S., V. What the hells happened to the real Phoenix?"

"Wrecked it."

"Wrecked it?" Saedah forced his mouth to work "Doing what?"

"Razing Aelmihtig and Duracore to the ground. Doing what we do best." He held a hand up to stall questions. "If we were to go over every little thing you missed, we'd be here till Beltine Break. And that was just two weeks ago. Suffice it to say that I did a few stupid things and blew up a few more. The Phoenix included. I just haven't had the time to pick out a new model."

"What he means to say," Vidian stated, barging into the conversation and wrapping an arm around Vorn's shoulders. "Is that he's a stubborn and picky bastard. That he's been pulled more into politicking and planning than fighting."

"And everyone just left him with the bolo. The smutching training wheels. It's so…" Saedah searched for the words that would convey his confusion.. "It's so civilian."

"Yeah," Vidian breathed, looking to the others in the rom. "Mac said something similar. More syllables and pretty words, but similar. Vorn shut him down, too." At this point, Vorn was pinching the bridge of his nose again. "That's when the bolo came around. Mac was tired of loaning out the runt. 'Training Wheels', huh? That'll be an epic name-"

"No way in hells infernos are you naming it that." Vorn snapped, meeting her eyes.

"Or what?" She teased, dancing out of his reach. "We hate that thing." Vidian joined the others, leaving Saedah to face an irritated Vorn.

"You!" Vorn snarled, pointing at Saedah. "This is your fault!" The corners of his mouth turned up in contradiction to his words.

"I didn't pick a blasted bolo, V. This one's all on you." Saedah grinned. "But if you don't want to be known as 'Training Wheels', I'd probably get another ship." Vorn sighed and nodded.

"Fine. I'll get another ship." He ran his hand through his hair. Was that gray starting to develop at his temples? "You lot are just a bunch of bullies." They turned to join the others as the game loaded. Vector distractedly passed Saedah a controller. He reverently took it, and for the first time he genuinely felt like things could go back to normal. Catching Vorn's calculating gaze, he announced that he'd talked Vorn into a new ship. A loud chorus of cheers went up at the news of a new Phoenix.

Then the trash-talking started.

By the time yawns were breaking out, it almost seemed like old times to Nyx.

It lasted late into the night, with a cycle of subdued laughter and the slow release of tension returning suddenly to awkward, tense silence. Each time Saedah got that far-away look in his eyes, the tension returned. Gradually, the group would work to break through the strain, silence slowly giving way to merriment and laughter. Then Saedah would be mid-sentence or abruptly cut off a laugh, eyes glazing over as he confronted something no one else could see.

Saedah had a long road to recovery.

On the morning of the fourth day, as everyone was packing final bags into their ships, their luck came knocking. With the whirring and pop pop pop of turrets, all hell broke loose once again.

The trader was supposed to arrive that morning to pick up the kittens. It had arrived. Unfortunately, and in good accordance with their luck, on the tail of the trader was a big problem. The trader was someone who had been a long-term peripheral to the Conclave forces, and came ahead of a destroyer.

Fighters rained into atmos like Armageddon itself. Saedah had been feeding the cats when the turrets fired up. Kitty loudly began issuing warnings from the sensors throughout the house, adding to the chaos of Apollo-skinned Ghosts darting every which way, including up. Saedah was white-faced and white-knuckled as he shouted for Nyx. She answered from just behind. The other Ghosts were firing up their engines, reluctant to break the seal of the hangar doors. There were two - Saedah and Nyx- without filters to breathe the toxic air. With a countdown blasting in Kitty's voice, Nyx and Saedah forced Bansi and Hans into the hangar and onto the Pegasus. The cats were none too pleased at the accommodations, never having been pleasant riders. Their loud protests echoed throughout the ship.

As soon as they were inside the Pegasus, the hangar doors roared open.

"You really are NOT lucky. You know that?" Nyx growled, wondering what kind of curse his parents had placed on him.

The trader, taking fire, crashed into the house above them. Saedah snarled something about the kittens, and watched the house erupt in flame. He was sitting in the pilot chair, anger coursing through him one second, then total calm the next. When he looked back at her, the red rings of his eyes were back. He nodded as Nyx placed the HUD over her eyes, since she hadn't been fitted with the HUD node, and took up the auxiliary weapons.

Kitty only controlled so many of the weapons, and it took a burden off Saedah to control those that were manual.

"Just get us out, big-guy." She whispered. Saedah chucked dryly before throttling the ship forward and out. There were four exits and six ships. Somehow all the Ghosts managed to escape the explosion despite the flames.

Surviving the flames was one thing. Surviving a fight so grossly outnumbered was another one entirely. Six ships were no match for the destroyer and her army. As such, they scattered. Saedah entered a coordinate, and without pausing to listen to Kitty's half-formed protest, Jumped while still in atmos. He didn't care how many fighters he took out in the shockwave. As his stomach rolled and a wave of dizziness washed over him, he actually hoped fiercely that he managed to take many.

But Saedah had missed out on over a year of developments within the Conclave. The destination he had entered, as Kitty told him after they entered Jump, was no longer a Conclave-held location. They had forty-five minutes to ponder what they might Fall into, before they arrived.

That forty-five minutes was filled with tenseness between Nyx and Saedah, the discontented yowling of Bansi and Hans, and the grumbling of Saedah as he checked over his ship. Nyx was sure Saedah was still on the fence where she was concerned, as he was extremely guarded when he looked at her. Right then, though, Saedah had his head and shoulders inside an access panel of the floor. The Darkness-cursed cat trot into the helm without any of the grace or stealth of other cats. It sounded like a horse trotting on the metal panels of the deck. Hans gave her a once-over, then stood over Saedah for a moment. With a loud purr, it leapt onto Saedah's butt and made himself comfortable before laying its full, huge body atop Saedah's.

Saedah, with his head and shoulders deep in wires and fiddling with the mechanical pieces below, began complaining loudly. The compartment muffled his voice, so Nyx could only assume by the vehemence of his words that he was cursing. The small flashlight in his mouth further mangled the words, but the tone spoke volumes of what he was trying to say. Saedah was trying to shake the cat off, but Hans thought it a game. It was difficult to not laugh at the situation. It was altogether impossible when Bansi came in, analyzed the scene, then took her own spot on Saedah's legs.

Saedah banged his head twice and scraped his arm before he was able to disengage from the access panel and roll to his back. He shoved at the cats, and started a whole new game with them. It was appalling how rough he was willing to play with them, considering those beasts were designed for destruction and death.

When the chime sounded, giving the two-minute warning, Nyx again took her seat at weapons with Saedah at the helm. With one gesture from Saedah, the cats leapt and played their way back to the cargo hold.

When the blank expanse of Jump vanished, Nyx looked out on a vast desert of a hot planet. Triad ships ringed the planet. There weren't many options. With Jump on cool-down, and any Jump they made traceable at that range, they couldn't run. That left going forward. With a deep breath, Saedah pushed the controls and they dove into airspace, praying for cover.

Ground-to-air fire assaulted them from below while they attempted to evade two Triad ships that took chase. It wouldn't be long before more took to the sky in pursuit.

"Phaenna was hostile on good days," Saedah explained. "But this? What the hell happened-" He ground his teeth as the ship lurched. "That this is what I get when I come back?" He fired on any target that was stupid enough to cross into his field of vision. Nyx was firing on their pursuers and hitting the ground cannons when she could spot them. The shields on the ship were weak, both from having just fallen from Jump, and having crossed into atmos.

Almost simultaneously, the two made a phone call. They needed backup. Saedah called Vorn. Nyx called Troache. The ship lurched more violently, and a metallic cacophony of clangs and screeches echoed from the engine compartment.

Saedah's grip on the controls went slack as he leaned back in his seat and cast a peculiar look at her. He moved the levers to show her that there was no controlling the ship. It was dead in the air, and they were going down hot.