Chapter Text
You should have never gone in alone.
A late-night walk home from work had pulled you off your usual route when your watch began beeping urgently. A rush of naive excitement made your heartbeat quicken as you sprinted toward the dense forest bordering the park.
You quickly reported the Protofield fluctuations to headquarters, sending a live feed without waiting for a response. Why would you? This was just another Wanderer to add to your tally against Xavier.
He was only barely winning… by 52, anyway.
The beeping escalated into a near-constant tone. You silenced the device and dimmed the display, focusing entirely on the shadows along the treeline.
You burst into a clearing and stumbled upon a scene that looked almost peaceful. Moonlight silvered the grass, and dandelion seeds drifted lazily through the air as the creature ahead swung its heavy tail.
The Wanderer itself… It was much, much too big.
It stood nearly as tall as the towering firs encircling the meadow. Its body was a grotesque fusion of reptile and mammal: a long, dragon-like snout lined with sharp fangs, powerful hind legs ending in deadly claws, and a jagged ridge of ice crystals running down its back that caught the moonlight like shattered glass.
It remained mostly still, head tilted toward the stars, its only movement the slow, menacing sweep of its tail and the razor-sharp crystal at its tip. It emitted a low whine, neck stretched out towards the starry sky.
The air felt thick and bitterly cold. Every breath stung your throat like shards of glass.
Okay, so you would need a LOT of backup.
You lifted your watch, fingers at the ready to call Xavier, turning the display back up.
It was a fatal mistake.
Overlapping voices flooded from the speaker, shattering the meadow’s solemn silence.
“—n’t engage, I repeat officer, do NOT engag—”
“It’s an unclassified variant, energy levels are off the charts—”
“FUCK—respond, or I swear to god—” Xavier.
The beast had heard it too.
In a split-second decision, you considered fighting or fleeing…
You chose both.
It turned its head, and an icy stare and low snarl shook you to the bone. It tensed, fixated entirely on you. You could feel a wave of pure, sentient hatred radiating from it.
You pulled your Evol guns and fired, spinning away to run. The energy shots did nothing but bounce harmlessly off its thick, crystalline hide.
Your heart hammered as you sprinted. The thud of heavy feet grew louder behind you. You fired blind shots over your shoulder and dared one look back.
It was already looming over you.
Your foot caught on a gnarled tree root, sending you crashing forward. You hit the mossy ground hard, splitting your chin open on impact.
Scrambling onto your back, you came face-to-face with the beast. It loomed above you, breathing frigid mist across your face that burned your lungs. Up close, its dark eyes burned with cold, unforgiving grudge.
I’m going to die.
Distracted by that icy stare, you barely felt it when the crystal tail pierced your chest. Your vision blackened instantly as ice flooded your veins, turning your blood to frost.
As the world faded, the beast’s eyes softened, as if some ancient burden had finally lifted. Its jaw slackened, and a low whine rumbled in its throat. It lowered its head and licked at the blood on your chin.
Ah—At least it’d have a good meal.
The last thing you saw was a blur of silver-blonde hair and the glint of a large sword as Xavier screamed your name.
The gnawing ache in your stomach was what finally woke you.
It was a strange, hollow sensation—something between hunger, a stomach cramp, and the familiar pull of your period. You groaned into the pillow and shifted uncomfortably. Right. About that time of the month.
Attempting to roll over to ease some of the discomfort, you were cut short by the sharp yank of IV lines attached to your hand.
Your eyes snapped open.
The sterile smell of antiseptic and the steady beep of a heart monitor told you exactly where you were. Sunset light poured through the windows, bathing the room in warm orange. You groaned again and kicked your legs against the thin mattress.
You hated being in hospitals, so, so bad.
"Careful. You’ll rip the needles out."
A chair scraped against the floor. Xavier’s hand reached out to steady your legs. He looked exhausted, silver-blonde hair a mess. The moment his fingers brushed your skin, a sharp wave of repulsion hit you. His touch felt heavy. His scent was cloying and wrong.
You jerked your leg away, glaring. Xavier’s hand hovered for a second before he pulled it back, expression guarded.
"You're lucky to be alive," he said, his voice dropping into that familiar, quiet sternness. “Charging into an unknown wanderer without backup… You’re still as reckless as the day we met. You never think, do you?”
You rolled your eyes, the movement making your head throb. "Obviously I wouldn’t have done it if I had known—"
"I thought you were dead when I found you." He pulled out a small velvet pouch. "That Wanderer… it was strange. It didn't even fight back. It just stayed there, pinned over you, and let me strike it down..."
He offered the pouch toward you. "When it stabbed you, it left this in you. It’s a kind of Protocore, I’d guess. I tried for days to figure out what it was... and nothing."
You reached for the pouch, trying your best to ignore the stomach-turning nausea you felt as his hand grazed yours. You opened it, turning it upside down to let the crystal inside tumble out.
It was a teardrop shape, as big as your thumb, a lazy coldness seeping from it. The color was a dark, cloudy grey. You grasped it in your hand, feeling a strange form of relief wash over you. You let out a soft sigh.
Xavier watched you, head tilted. "I'm serious. Don't do that again. I can't always be there to catch you."
“Yeah, yeah,” you muttered, looking past him toward the door. “Thank you, Xavier the Almighty, for your heroic rescue once again.”
His eye twitched. You almost felt guilty for how much of a bitch you were being, but the words slipped out anyway. You changed the subject.
"I want to go home. Help me out.”
Xavier pulled his phone out, typing a quick message. “If I were you, I wouldn’t be so eager to leave.”
“And why is that?” you huffed.
“Your doctor nearly took my head off when I brought you in covered in blood.” He gazed out the window, hands in his pockets, trying to look casual. His shoulders stayed rigid. “Said I should be fired and blacklisted for letting you nearly die.”
“He performed surgery on your heart and Aether Core for over twenty-seven hours. You’ve been out for three weeks.”
Your face went pale.
“Zayne?”
His name had barely left your lips before there was a quiet, firm knock on the door. It was a mere formality, as Zayne wasted no time stepping inside.
He entered with his usual clinical stride, eyes fixed on the tablet in his hand, seemingly ignoring both you and Xavier. As he approached, the headache and irritation that had been gnawing at you began to ease.
Unlike Xavier’s suffocating presence, Zayne carried the clean scent of winter air and cedar.
"Since you're awake enough to be demanding, I assume your cognitive functions haven't been entirely stunted by your recklessness," Zayne said, his voice a low, freezing baritone.
You scoffed. “I’ll have you know, if it had been a normal Wanderer, or even 100 normal Wanderers, I would have been fine. It’s not my fault it was a freakishly rare and might I add, absolutely HUGE–”
He finally looked up. His gaze swept over you before settling on your face. Your breath caught. Your heart slammed against your ribs, and the monitors went wild.
He tsk’d, brow furrowed as he broke eye contact with you to check his tablet and the various displays around you.
“Is she okay?” Xavier asked, concern in his eyes.
“I’m fine, Xavier–” you couldn’t contain your irritated tone.
“She’s fine. Just a little tachycardic,” Zayne spoke over you, typing quickly. “Now, as for you–leave.”
Xavier stiffened. “I’ve been watching over her this entire time. We need to figure out what type of Wanderer it was. I’m not going anywhere—”
Zayne didn’t even glance at him. “If your ‘watching’ was worth anything, Hunter, she wouldn’t have been on my operating table for twenty-seven hours. Your presence here is as useless as your protection was in that clearing.”
Xavier flinched, his jaw tightening as he glared at Zayne. "I saved her."
"You retrieved her," Zayne corrected coldly. "Now leave. I need to examine the patient’s core stability. Alone. Unless you’d like me to let your boss know you faked your injury so you could stay here–"
Xavier looked like he wanted to argue, and at this point, you had all but shifted all the way to your right, where Zayne stood near the bed. Xavier shot you a frustrated, worried look before storming out, the door clicking shut with a sharp, heavy thud.
Alone with Zayne, the cramp in your stomach flared again—sharp and insistent. You hissed through your teeth, hands clenching the sheets.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were in pain?” Zayne asked. He moved to the side of the bed with efficient grace. He carefully parted your gown just enough to check the surgery site on your chest while keeping you modestly covered.
Your face warmed at the thought of him having seen far more during the operation. You moved to pull the fabric tighter together.
“Your labs are stable, and the incision is healing well.” His cool fingers traced lightly around the site.
The relief was immediate.
The tight knot in your gut finally loosened. Your shoulders dropped, and you sank deeper into the pillows with a long, shaky sigh. Without thinking, you reached up and caught his hand, pressing his palm firmly against your skin.
You had never felt so… Relieved? Peaceful? Content?
"I'm fine," you managed to whisper, your thumb absentmindedly rubbing the back of his hand.
"You are far from fine," he snapped, the gaze that had been on your joined hands shifting to your face, though his eyes softened with a flicker of raw emotion. "Do you have any idea how close you came to dying? You threw yourself at an Unidentified Wanderer like a child chasing a ball into traffic. If you're that eager to die, I'd prefer you didn't do it on my watch."
“Hmm…” you hummed absently, exhaustion pulling at you. Up close, his dark green eyes looked stormy, like pine trees in winter. “I’m right here… and you’re right here too…”
Your grip on his hand tightened just slightly as your eyelids grew heavy. “Besides… I wouldn’t leave you without your favorite patient…”
You heard his sharp intake of breath before sleep claimed you.