[Fanfiction] Rage

[KF5AQX]

Wait, a male frame on a female? When they say it changed her, did it literally crush her body into shape? If so, how in the hell can she even walk with crushed hips?

[Kalenath]

Wait, a male frame on a female? When they say it changed her, did it literally crush her body into shape? If so, how in the hell can she even walk with crushed hips?

 

Warframes heal the user. But yeah, it HAD to hurt...

[Pyromite]

Karl's dojo is a perfect place for Jac

[UnworthySeraph]

Loved how you sneaked in that "asylum" comment. 

[KF5AQX]

Warframes heal the user. But yeah, it HAD to hurt...

 

Even beyond the pain, her hip bones must be nearly useless now. She'd be nearly crippled outside her frame, right?

 

Unless she was a rather tomboy-ish woman, or the frames can actually heal bones...

 

Interesting thought, that.

[Venrel]

Wunderful Story, waiting for more :)

 

Also, I appreciate the fact that you took away these "fighting or dead"-Status from the Tenno and let them look like normal beeings that are not Supersoldiers without Off-Duty Problems.

 

Greetings

Venrel

 

PS: Sorry for my grammatical mistakes, english is not my native language.

Edited July 16, 2013 by Venrel

[Kalenath]

A Sister's Strength

 

Aeron was smiling as he and Sensei walked into the medical ward. He had always enjoyed running. The added agility that the warframes allowed made for some...interesting runs. Then the obstacle course that was specifically designed for Tenno in warframes and, well... he had enjoyed it immensely. Karl still wore his warframe, but Aeron had removed his. They both came to a sudden stop as they saw Amelia leaning against the wall.

 

"Doctor?" Sensei asked calmly.

 

"Ah, Sensei... Aeron..." Amelia shook her head, her face was stricken. "Um... Jac is in room four, she is... resting."

 

"Amelia?" Aeron asked slowly. "What is wrong?"

 

"That is one tough girl." Amelia said softly. "She walked here. I couldn't..." She swallowed heavily and Aeron moved to her side.

 

"What is wrong?" Aeron pressed. "Is Jac okay?"

 

"She is alive." Amelia replied, her voice heavy. "Do you know if she ever exited the warframe after she put it on the first time?"

 

"I don't know." Aeron said slowly. "Knowing her, I doubt it. Why?" Amelia shook her head, her face falling. "Amelia?" He asked, worried.

 

"The...marks on her bone structure are clear, Aeron, Sensei." Amelia said softly. "When she put the warframe on the first time, it crushed her hips and pelvis into a male shape." Aeron stiffened in shock. She nodded. "Walking here outside of the warframe hurt her. Very badly. When we put her under the scanner, her pain readings were off the scale. And she never made a sound."

 

"She always was tough, but sheesh." Aeron's face was stricken. "How bad?"

 

"We don't know the full extent of the damage yet." Amelia said with a sigh. "But... Tenno or human... Male and female anatomy are different. The warframe closed around her, constricted around her and crushed her body into the shape it desired. She is not going to be able to move far or fast outside of it. Not without a lot of rehab."

 

"Warframes heal their users." Sensei said into the silence that fell. "She moved well in the warframe."

 

"None of us had a clue she was so badly hurt until the scan started." Amelia agreed. "I don't know if she knew how badly she was hurt."

 

"Can it be fixed?" Aeron asked, his face closed.

 

"Aeron..." Amelia shook her head. "We would have to take her completely apart and rebuild many bones from scratch. Could we do it? Yes. It would take years even with the medical tech here. There are just so many deformed bones." Aeron looked sick and Amelia nodded. "Her vocal damage is fairly straightforward. It healed the way it is, and it's been that way for a long time. Jimmy and Alicia are looking into options. But Sensei..." Amelia looked stricken. "She can't go back into that Loki warframe. She can't. If we change anything and she goes back into it..." She paused as Aeron inhaled, fear and worry warring for prominence. The white inside his skull soothed the feelings, but did not wipe them away.

 

"It will change her back." Karl agreed quietly. "Forcefully. Warframes are designed to maintain the status quo of the wearer. One reason the wearers don't age. Okay, she won't. Doctor, how is she otherwise?"

 

"We have Jac on bed rest, fluids, and some basic painkillers." Amelia said with a nod. "She is badly dehydrated. If she was relying on the warframe for so long, she may have difficulty adjusting to life out of it. If she can even move." She shook her head. "I can't believe she managed to walk here. Alicia can't believe she managed to walk here. Alicia knew Jac was having trouble walking but none of us had a clue. Karen is sitting with her, talking to her. We don't want to leave her alone. Any strength has limits."

 

"Jac always was tough." Aeron said with a nod. "But yeah. Any... Any chance of her recovering?" He asked, cautious.

 

"I had a thought on that, actually." Amelia said with a nod. "If we do it surgically, the repairs will take a long, long time and there is no guarantee that she will recover fully. She did fine in the warframe, yes?"

 

"Yes." Sensei agreed slowly. "Doctor..." He said sourly. "You cannot be saying what I think you are saying."

 

"It might work. Get a female warframe." Amelia said slowly when he trailed off. "Put her in it. If what Alicia said is true, you can set it to gently and slowly reform her body. It will still take time, I don't know how long. But she will be mobile and it would keep her free of pain while it works." Aeron stared at her and Amelia shrugged. "In the end, the decision is hers. She is calm and lucid despite her pain. I think that may be the best choice. A full body cast that allows unprecedented mobility."

 

"I don't know...It hurts like hell when a new warframe activates the neural bond." Aeron said, shaking his head. "Sensei?"

 

"We have spare warframes." Sensei said slowly. "Not a lot of them, and more parts than actual full sets." He grunted. "We should talk to her. You say she is lucid?" He asked Amelia who nodded.

 

"Just enough painkillers to take the edge off." Amelia said with a sigh. "She didn't react externally although the neurotransmitters for pain decreased. Either the pain doesn't impact her...Or she has ignored it for so long that she doesn't notice it now."

 

"Could be either." Sensei agreed. "Aeron?"

 

"She always was tough." Aeron said, his voice low. "I.." He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes before speaking. "What do I say? 'I am sorry I never noticed you were being tortured every minute I knew you'?" He asked in a sarcastic tone.

 

"No." Amelia said quietly, coming to stand beside him. "You say you are sorry and that you want to help. Which you are and you do. She does love you, Aeron."

 

"I know." Aeron said, standing up straight. "Should we... She is under observation of course." He said slowly, thinking through each word. "Anything else beside her injuries?"

 

"Prolonged time in cryo took it's toll." Amelia said with a sigh. "She remembers you but Alicia asked her some questions and Jac couldn't answer them. Basic questions. Like the difference between a Bronco and a Lex." Aeron winced and then nodded. "Sound familiar?" Amelia asked gently.

 

"Yeah." Aeron agreed. "Most Tenno remember bits, pieces. It varies." Karl nodded but remained silent and Aeron continued. "I remembered my fight with Jac as well as my love for rifles. I... I can't remember much from before the War. I had a family once, I know that. I saw a picture of me as a kid. But I don't remember them. Those memories are gone."

 

"Some of the chemicals that make up memories are more susceptible to cryo damage than others." Amelia said with a scowl.  "One of the things that seems to hold them solid is if the memory is sharp or emotionally charged. Your fight with Jac was both, was it not?" She said gently and Aeron nodded.

 

"Sensei..." Aeron said quietly. "Can she stay until we figure out what to do?"

 

"I am not going to pick her up out of the bed and toss her out an airlock, Aeron." Sensei said with a snort. "Not without a lot more reason. We do need to talk to her." Amelia nodded and started off. The two males followed, silent.

 

Whatever they were expecting when the door to room four opened, hearing Karen laugh was not it.

 

"...that is bad, girl." Karen was shaking in mirth as she sat in her chair next to the bed. She chortled. "You are bad, Jac. Oh..." She jerked as Amelia entered the room, followed by Sensei and Aeron. "Doctor, Sensei, Tenno Aeron..."

 

Jac seemed to straighten a bit in the bed. She wore a patient gown and had wires and tubes connected to her. Aeron scrutinized her, but nothing seemed off. He wasn't going to doubt Amelia though. The Tenno in the bed flushed a bit under his regard. Amelia moved to check the monitors and Sensei to the wall. He nodded to Aeron.

 

"Jac?" Aeron asked carefully. "You okay?"

 

"I will be fine, Aeron." Jac said with a sigh. Her deep voice sounded...wrong coming from such a young looking woman. "The docs worry too much. I will be fine as soon as I am back in my warframe."

 

"Jac." Aeron said calmly. "Are you okay?" He repeated.

 

"I..." Jac seemed to wilt a bit. "No." She admitted, her masculine voice small. "It doesn't hurt..." She protested. "I know what pain is, I don't feel it from anywhere on my person."

 

"Probably because you have ignored it for so long." Amelia said with a sigh.

 

"Ah, doc... I..." Jac sighed and slumped back. "Okay, I don't argue with professionals. No, Aeron. I am not okay." She admitted. "I don't feel bad, just weak and dizzy. The fluids are helping." She said to Amelia who nodded with a smile. "The warframe did this?" She asked the room.

 

"Yes." Amelia said gently. Jac visibly deflated a bit. "It crushed your hips and pelvis into a shape more suited for it. Your elbows as well. Jac..." She walked to the bed and took Jac's hand in her own. "Almost every bone in your body was deformed in some way."

 

Jac was shaking her head but froze as Amelia laid her hand against Jac's, the fingers splaying to invite Jac to do the same. When Jac did, it was obvious that her hand was shaped differently from Amelia's. Aeron stepped to the other side of the bed and took Jac's other hand, which lay limp. He placed it on his and when the fingers spread to match his, it was far, far closer to his than Amelia's. Jac stared at her hand.

 

"It doesn't hurt..." Jac protested, her eyes flicking from one hand to the other. "It... Why doesn't it hurt, doctor?" She begged, looking at Amelia.

 

"I don't know, Jac." Amelia said frankly. "The chemicals that tell the brain that there is pain in the body are all over your body. But they hit your brain and it's like they stop. Maybe some kind of chemical barrier? Maybe a mental block of some kind." She shrugged. " We need to do a lot more tests to determine what it is."

 

"Aeron." Jac said quietly, both of her hands coming to take his. "What do I do?"

 

"Sensei has said you can stay, Jac." Aeron said quietly. Jac's face lit up but Aeron raised his free hand. "You can't use the Loki again, Jac."

 

"I... I know." Jac said, bowing her head. "I enjoyed the mobility. But..." She sighed. "I don't have any means of getting a new warframe." She scoffed. "Well, I don't think it matters much as long as I am stuck here." She waved at the bed.

 

"You won't be." Aeron said quietly. Jac looked at him and he smiled. He looked at the Rhino who nodded. Aeron looked back at Jac and his face was grave. "Amelia had a thought and we don't know if it will work or not."

 

"Oh?" Jac asked carefully. "What kind of thought?"

 

"If the Loki hurt you..." Amelia said softly. "A warframe designed for a female could help you."

 

"I..." Jac shook her head, bemused. "Yes." She mused. "It could repair the damage, couldn't it?" She asked. Aeron and Sensei nodded. "But it would have to do it slowly, or it might do more damage. Right doc?" Amelia nodded. Jac stared at them and then slumped a bit. "I can't afford a new warframe."

 

"If you could..." Aeron said calmly. "Would you?"

 

"Yeah." Jac said with a touch of heat. "But I don't have any of whatever you guys use for money or anything to barter with."

 

"You tell good jokes." Karen said from where she had been sitting quietly against the wall. "You are quick and smart and..." She broke off with a cringe as Sensei looked at her. Amelia shook her head at the exchange.

 

"Jimmy is waiting for you, Karen." Amelia said kindly. "Your treatments are almost done. It won't be long now before you won't need the chair."

 

"Yes, doctor." Karen said quietly. She rolled her chair up to the bed, took Jac's limp hand in her own and gave it a squeeze. "Get better soon, Jac. I want to hear the rest of that story." Jac smiled at her as Karen wheeled the chair and rolled form the room in silence.

 

"She is a good person." Jac said softly. She froze as the door opened again and Cora beckoned Sensei out. He went without a sound. "Was that a Grineer?" Jac asked cautiously.

 

"She was." Amelia said with a shrug. "Now she is a sort of headmistress here. Not Tenno, but learning." She paused as she looked at Aeron whose face had closed up.  "Aeron?" She asked.

 

"If you were in a cryopod from the end of the war until now..." Aeron said softly. Jac froze in place, her face and body going utterly still. "How do you know what a Grineer looks like?"

 

"I..." Jac stammered. "Karen said..." She broke off as Aeron retreated a step. "Aeron..." She begged.

 

"Don't lie to me, Jac." Aeron said softly, his voice going low and dangerous. "How do you know what a Grineer is?" He repeated.

 

"I don't." Jac said quickly. "I guessed from something Karen said."

 

"Did you?" Aeron asked slowly. "Rea sebulba!" He shouted at her and she froze again.

 

"Aeron, what the fu-...?" Amelia said as she recovered from jumping.

 

"You know what that means, don't you Jac?" Aeron demanded as Jac shrank back into the bed, her face paling. "Don't you?" He stalked forward only to freeze as Sensei spoke.

 

"Stand down, Aeron." Sensei said calmly from the doorway. Cora stood beside him, a Dera rifle in hand aimed at the bed. "She can't tell you."

 

"What do you mean?" Jac asked, her fear showing as her voice rose slightly.

 

"Jac." Sensei said as he laid a hand on Cora's rifle, forcing it down. "Code: Lotus, Seven Bravo Red Sierra Sigma Nine Three Four Gold." Jac jerked in the bed and then she screamed loud and long, clutching her head.

 

"Jac!" Amelia said sharply. "Sensei?" She demanded when he moved to block her path.

 

"I... I am fine, Doctor Amelia." Jac said as she slumped on the bed. "That... hurt... But..." She shook her head. "What was that?" She asked, worried.

 

"The Corpus tried to brainwash you while you were still in your pod." Sensei said with a nod. "Ordinarily, they dissect Tenno they capture." Jac gulped and he nodded. "They use the parts for this machines. In this case, they tried something new. It wouldn't have worked on a conscious Tenno. But a sleeping one?"

 

"I..." Jac shook her head. "I don't understand."

 

"Our resident techs were going over your Loki." Sensei said quietly. "They found where information was beamed into your skull via the warframe's neural links. Unluckily for them, the Lotus also apparently used that link to try and wake you. She implanted a series of codes to give you back your free will. They apparently blocked her signal, but couldn't get access back to your brain. Hence why you were heading to that brainwashing facility."

 

"So I wake up there, a prisoner. Probably out of my warframe." Jac said, slowly relaxing. "And they have all the time in the world to break my mind,  make me a monster. But... I..." She shook her head. "Aeron is right. How did I know your... friend is a  Grineer?"

 

"Karen did make some comments about them." Sensei said with a nod at Aeron. "Aeron overreacts around Corpus."

 

"I don't blame him. Karen said they killed his clan." Jac slumped in the bed. "I..." She bowed her head and when she spoke it was strong. "And the code?"

 

"The Lotus works fast, Jac." Sensei said with a nod. "And she can access any of our gear, so..." He shrugged. "Does it hurt now?"

 

"It does." Jac said slowly. "But now that I know it is there, its more an ache than pain. All over." She paused as Amelia sighed. "What?"

 

"Jac, that amount of pain would have any human writhing on the ground screaming her lungs out." Amelia was fed up with this.  "If everyone is done stressing my patient, she needs rest." The doctor snapped.

 

"Doctor, wait..." Jac said slowly. "Sensei...  If they did more, can you find it? Remove it?"

 

"Yes." Sensei said with a nod.

 

"Do it." Jac said softly. "I will not be a threat to Aeron. As for the rest? Let me think on it. Your hospitality is accepted, for now. I will do what I can to help when I am able."

 

"Very well." Sensei said with a nod. "Anything else?"

 

"Yes." Jac spoke quietly but with force. "Aeron..." She said, holding out a hand. "It's not your fault." She said at his stricken expression. "Sensei Karl... Will you take my oath?"

 

"Are you sure, Jac?" Sensei asked kindly. "A female warframe may not work. And even if it does, the neural bonding will be rough."

 

"Where Aeron goes, I go." Jac said quietly. "Sister to brother..." Her masculine sounding voice was pitched to Sensei, but her eyes were on Aeron. "...yours in life and death."

 

"Brother to sister..." Aeron said softly as Sensei said the same words. "...yours in life and death."

 

"Welcome, sister Jac." Sensei said calmly.

 

"Good to meet you, Brother Karl." Jac said with a nod. "Now if you could get this crap out of my head...?" She said sourly.

 

"Aeron." Sensei said with a nod. Aeron jerked to attention and nodded. "Stay with her. Amelia?" The human looked at him. "Alicia and Jimmy will be in when they are done with Karen's treatment. Take care of our new sister." With that, he turned and left the room, Cora following.

 

"Right." Amelia moved to a cabinet and started looking through the medical supplies there. "You need a nap, naughty girl." Amelia said with a snarl as she prepared a hypo.

 

"Do I get a bottle and pacifier with that?" Jac asked innocently. Amelia sputtered but smiled and shook her head as she readied the injection. "Darn." She looked at Aeron whose eyes were haunted. "When they are done with me, we will talk." Amelia injected her and Jac sighed. "Aeron? Her voice was slurring but recognizable. "I am sorry I am such a pain... I'll do better. I promise..." She took a deep breath and fell asleep.

 

"We will talk." Aeron agreed softly as he sat beside the bed.

[KF5AQX]

You worked in the hip crusher comment! :D

 

As for the chapter, oh boy, Corpus? This should be interesting. What female frame will she take? If she enjoyed the mobility of Loki, I would suggest a Nova, since it's nearly as fast.

[SLI-fox]

I suspect it'll be Nova as well, seeing as 1) It was hinted in that weird time-travel bit that Nova frames are near extinct since he Aeron had no clue bout it, B) since the frame's silhouette is probably the least *ahem* pronouncing *ahem* so it won't change Jac too much, and point the third) It'd be a great way to introduce the new frame to the overarching world these stories are set in.

 

*addendum: Looking at all the frames and comparing them to Loki's silhouette, the options of female frame that aren't too small to cause extreme (read: Bone crushing) damage are only Nova, Trinity, and maybe Nyx or Mag. Ember would completely destroy Jac's calves and waist, Banshee would also damage her waist and shoulders, Saryn is a bit to... shapely? lets it at that. And Mag and Nyx may be too compact over all, as well as possible ankle and torso destroying.

 

But truth is, all the female frames may damage her torso the most by constricting it.

Edited July 16, 2013 by SLI-fox

[Kalenath]

Changes in attitude

"Aeron?"

Jac's soft voice had Aeron sit upright in his chair. She had lain still in her bed ever since the three docs had done their work. She still wore the patient gown and the tubes still ran into her, but most had been slowed or shut off. Her voice, as always, was the masculine sound that was so wrong coming out of a girl's mouth. Her eyes were clear as she looked down at herself and then at Aeron.

"Hello Jac." Aeron said with a nod. "Sleep well?"

"I did." Jac said with a smile. "Thank you. How long..." She paused and grimaced. "You won't tell me how long I was in cryo, will you?" Aeron just looked at her and she sighed.

"Truth be told, Jac, I don't know." Aeron said softly. "I never asked. What I do know is that some landmarks that I remember in various places are gone. Destroyed or eroded." Jac stared at him and then nodded soberly. A very long time indeed. "My group... We spent the time asleep in cryopods on our ship, buried in an asteroid. The Lotus woke us, told us we were needed, so we dove into the fray."

"Who is the Lotus?" Jac looked confused. "Brother Karl said that earlier. It sounds...vaguely familiar but I don't remember anyone by that name."

"Neither do I." Aeron agreed. "Neither does anyone else I know. She is the voice that guides us in this time. Someone from this time. It's enough to know that we are needed. And yes, we are needed."

"How bad is it?" Jac asked quietly.

"Bad." Aeron said in a monotone. "It's a three way war with us tring to protect the remnant humans in the middle. The Grineer are a collections of degenerate clones. A few, like Cora, are oddities amongst their ranks. But for the most part, they are billions and billions of armored goons with guns." Jac winced at that and Aeron nodded. "Good news is that for the most part, they are not all that bright."

"A stupid enemy is a gift. Then the... Corpus?" Jac asked carefully. Aeron nodded, his face stone mask. "I am sorry about your clan, Aeron." She said sadly.

"They died fighting." Aeron looked away for a moment. "None of us ever said it, but we all knew. No Tenno expects to die in bed."

"No." Jac said quietly. "But it doesn't lessen the hurt. Maybe if I hadn't been stupid and wanted you all for myself, I would have been there to help..." She broke off as Aeron laid a hand on her closest one. She looked at him with wide eyes.

"Jac." Aeron said, his voice sure. "Don't."

"Don't what?" Jac asked, confused.

"What is past is past, Jac." Aeron said with a sigh. "If we could go back and change things, we would. But we can't." Why did he shiver a bit when he said that? The feeling passed. "We both made mistakes. Neither of us talked to the other. I...should have." He looked away for a moment and then back at her.

"I thought you needed space." Jac said in a soft, sad voice of memory. "So I gave it to you. My mistake. Then I drove you away."

"Jac." Aeron gave the hand he held a shake. "Stop punishing yourself. It wasn't all you. It wasn't all me. It was both of us." He shook his head. "I am sorry I hurt you. I want to help. Even if you were not my sister now, I would want to help."

"You are a good Tenno, Aeron." Jac said, her voice husky. "No matter what you say or think, you are a good Tenno. I... I won't press." She said with a gulp. "I won't drive you away again."

"Alicia is kind, but she is pressing." Aeron said with a sigh. "She says it isn't healthy, what I did to myself. But I was never interested."

"I understand." Jac said with a nod. "Lets...table that discussion for a while." Aeron looked at her and she smiled. "It's not comfortable for either of us. What is the third group? You said a 'three way war'."

"Infested." Aeron said with a nod. Jac stared at him and shivered. "Yeah." He said softly. "Some mistakes can't be fixed."

"I...I don't 'quite' remember why the Infested were created." Jac sad slowly. "But I do remember fighting them. Herding them at the enemy. They are loose?" She asked with a shiver.

"Yeah." Aeron said with a sigh. "Good news is that all three factions hate each other as much or more than they hate us. Oh, they attack us, but they also attack each other. And since they usually can't find us, they focus on each other."

"So we pick our targets and do what we can." Jac said quietly. "Sounds familiar." She sat up and then sank back down with a grimace.

"How the pain?" Aeron asked, concerned.

"Deal-able with." Jac said with a nod. "It's there, but I can handle it. I can barely believe my warframe did this to me. But I can't deny the evidence."

"Sure you can." Aeron said with a small grin. "But it would be stupid."

"There is the Tenno I knew." Jac said with a smile. But then it faded. "This problem you have... What is it?"

"Sensei and the docs think it is an evolved coping mechanism." Aeron said with a nod. "Any time my emotions go too far, they get... Well 'eaten' is probably the best word."

"'Eaten'?" Jac asked, incredulous.

"Yeah." Aeron said with a nod. "They vanish. I know they are there. But they can't touch me. And then they are not there."

"Oh, Aeron." Jac's eyes were glistening. "I am sorry." Her masculine voice was even deeper in her distress. Aeron smiled and gave her hand another gentle squeeze.

"I am coping, Jac." Aeron said with a nod. "I am alive. And now, so are you."

"Right." Jac said with a nod. "So, next step?"

"Sensei left a list for you to look over." Aeron pulled a datapad from a pocket on his bodysuit and head it out to her. "We don't have all the warframes in spares, but we do have several. We will need to be very careful getting you into a new one. Your body is acclimatized to the Loki."

"I don't get it." Jac said with a shrug. "I can't pay for it. Why are you all giving me one?"

"Myself?" Aeron said with a shrug. "I owe you for what I did to you so long ago. I am the last living member of my former clan, so all their resources are mine. We didn't scrimp on things, but we didn't splurge either. We were frugal, so there was a surplus. Those resources came to this clan. We are not hurting for raw materials or credits, Jac."

"It still feels like charity." Jac said with a half snarl as she looked at the list. "What the-?" She paused. "Nova?" Her voice held wonder now. Small wonder. Nova warframes had been rare before the War.

"Surprised me too, that they had a spare of that warframe." Aeron said with a nod. "Sensei said that the clan who was here before had no Novas, so how they got it or why, no one knows."

"So... Banshee, Mag, Nova or Saryn." Jac said with a nod. "He says we can get any of the others, we just don't have all the parts on site. I... I dunno Aeron." Jac said slowly. "If I... deformed to fit the Loki... Will I fit in a female warframe?"

"The docs say 'yes', Jac." Aeron said in a kind tone. "They are talking about some surgery to make sure your lower torso fits in without problems, but that may not even be necessary. You are not that big, Jac." He smiled to show it was a joke and she smiled back, a bit hesitant.

"The warframe adjusted inside once it realized I wanted to look male. Padded the inside to keep me from bouncing around." Jac said with a wince. "It wasn't very comfortable, mind you. But even then, there is no way I would have ever fit in a Banshee." She said with a sigh. "Simply too thin around the midsection. I have never been that thin."

"We could make it work." Aeron's tone was supportive.

"I... No." Jac said with a shake of her head. "Not Banshee. And Saryns always bothered me. I am not sure why."

"Well..." Aeron said with a grin. "If you had heard some of the jokes Matt and Joe made about Fran..." He broke off as his face went stricken. He curled in on himself a bit. The white surged, but it couldn't hold the rush of emotion that came suddenly and swept him away.

"Aeron?" Jac said, worried. "Aeron..." She said quietly, but with force. "Come here." She pulled on the limp hand that still held hers.

"They always made jokes about Fran's flatulence killing people..." Aeron said in a dazed voice. "I... always laughed... even when they were not funny."

"Aeron." Jac said sharply. "Come here." She demanded. She pulled on his hand and he let her pull him close until she could wrap her other arm around him and hold him while he shuddered. "Easy, Aeron, easy..." Jac said sadly as she held him as he started to cry. "It's okay. It's okay... Easy..." She crooned.

"She would get so mad." Aeron said through his tears. "And then she would laugh and it was all good."

"Remember the good, Aeron." Jac said as she held the shuddering Tenno. "Let go of the bad. It's all right, brother. It's all right." She soothed him as he wept.

"I am not all right, Jac." Aeron protested. "I am not."

"I don't care." Jac retorted. "It will be all right. I love you and I will not let you beat yourself up for something that was not your fault."

"You don't know that." Aeron said with a touch of heat. "You can't."

"Aeron." Jac said with a snap. "I know you!" He stared at her through tear clouded eyes and she hugged him close. "The Tenno I love is no coward. He is no shirker. There is no way he did not go down fighting as hard as he could. Any Tenno or group of Tenno can be overwhelmed, Aeron. I am sorry it happened to you. But I am not going to let you wallow in this anymore. Shape up. Now. Or I am going to go get a whip." Aeron froze and then started laughing weakly. Jac snarled at him, but it was silly as opposed to scary. "Oh, right. Laugh at me, you bad boy. I will beat you!"

"You would." Aeron said with an exaggerated wince. He relaxed slowly, the tears ebbing and stopping. "It hurts, Jac. Even through the white, it hurts so much."

"I know." Jac said sadly. She hugged him again and let him go. "I am here. You need a shoulder to cry on, an arm to lean on or a hand to beat the crap out of you, I am here."

"You and your threats." Aeron said with a bubbling laugh. "I had forgotten the threats."

"You are a bad, bad boy." Jac said, hitting Aeron on the top of his head lightly. "No cookie for you." Far from hurt, Aeron burst out laughing. Jac smiled indulgently at him, her face serene. "Better?" She asked when he finally managed to stop laughing.

"Yeah." Aeron said with a nod, wiping his face with his sleeve. "Thanks. I needed that."

"You are a mess, Aeron." Jac said softly. "But I don't care. I will help you. But to do that, I need to get out of this bed. And to do that..." She picked up the datapad from where she had laid it down beside herself. "Mag or Nova."

"My own foibles are not..." Aeron began only to pause as Jac reached out and laid a finger across his lips. "Wha-?"

"Banshee and Saryn are out." Jac said calmly as she retracted her hand. "Mag and Nova are both highly mobile. I liked the mobility of the Loki."

"Mag you can pull enemies to you or crush them. Nova you can wormhole and blow them to atoms." Aeron said with a nod. "Both are fast, if not that well protected."

"Loki was no Rhino or Frost either." Jac replied. "I liked being able to walk unnoticed, Invisibility was fun." She shook her head. "No more living in the past for either of us." She declared. Aeron looked at her and she scowled dramatically. "Don't make me beat you." Aeron snorted a laugh and she looked back at the datapad. "I only want to go through the bonding once." She said with a frown. "Mag... seems to be more general. Nova is more destruction oriented."

"Nova has Wormhole." Aeron admitted. "Maybe not as useful in combat as your Switch Teleport was, but useful."

"Might be useful for getting to high sniper perches." Jac said, thinking.

"Jac." Aeron said repressively. "This is about you and what you want. Not me."

"You taught me how to use a sniper rifle properly." Jac said mildly. "I may not be in your class with one, but I do enjoy using it."

"You learned fast." Aeron said with a nod. "Always thought you would make a better sniper than me someday."

"Anything is possible." Jac admitted. "Probably? Not so much. You have practiced a lot more."

"Not really. Fran didn't like snipers." Aeron said softly. "We fought close combat." Jac's eyes went wide at that.

"What?" The bedridden Tenno snarled. "She took a world class sniper and turned him into a melee pounder? Why that lousy, good for nothing, arrogant..." She was just getting into her tirade when the sound of a throat clearing came from the door, cutting her off mid-rant. Both of them turned to see Alicia standing there, tapping her foot.

"I don't see how raising her blood pressure is helping her rest, Aeron." Alicia said repressively. "Jac, do you need a sedative?" She demanded. Aeron recoiled his face shutting down as the white rose up and quelled his emotions. Jac shook herself before responding.

"No mommy Alicia!" Jac said in a mock little boy's voice. "Please don't make me nap! I'll be good! I promise!" Alicia sighed dramatically, but her mouth quirked in an almost smile.

"I can see that having you around is going to be...interesting, Jac." The other female Tenno walked to the bed and scrutinized the monitors. "How is the pain? And no fibs, girl." Alicia said with a laugh, but her face was serious.

"It's there." Jac admitted. "I can't really tell how bad it is, Alicia." She said in a dubious tone. "Is that because I am used to it?"

"Yeah." Alicia agreed. "The weakness? Dizziness?"

"Those seem to be gone." Jac said slowly. "Of course, I haven't tried walking or anything..." She waved at the tubes and wires that festooned her.

"You better not." Alicia said with a frown. "I know it chafes, Jac. But you are badly hurt."

"You think a warframe will help?" Jac asked cautiously.

"One that is set to you, as opposed to forming you to suit it." Alicia said with a nod. "Yes. Any ideas of which?"

"Mag and Nova are the two I am down to." Jac said quietly. "Honestly, I like them both. Nova has a mobility power though."

"There are always grappling hooks." Alicia said with a smile. "Your levels are good. We will need to do some corrective surgery before you go into whichever you choose." She cautioned Jac.

"The pelvis and hips I understand." Jac said with a nod. "But what else?"

"Aeron?" Alicia said with a nod to where he sat silent. "Can you raise your arm to show your elbow, please? Bend it a few times in different directions slowly?" Aeron did as instructed. "See how it bends, Jac?" Jac nodded mystified. "Look at mine." Alicia raised hers and bent it in various directions. Jac inhaled. There were visible differences. "The damage isn't as bad on your elbows, Jac. The lowest ribs will need some work too." Jac's hand flew to her ribs and Alicia was quick to reassure her. "Nothing bad, they just spread a bit despite everything your warframe could do. Those changes won't take long or have much discomfort. They need to be done before you go into whichever frame you choose."

"It comes down to opinion." Jac said softly. "Both are high mobility. Mag would be useful in more varied situations. Nova would be more destructive. Does the clan need anything in particular? Any holes in the lineup that I can fill?" She asked almost desperately. Alicia shook her head and Jac sighed. "Yeah, that would be too easy. And then I could complain it was all the clan's fault if I hate it." She said with an impish smile. "When do I go for surgery?" She asked finally.

"When you are ready." Alicia said kindly, her hand coming down to take Jac's.

"You are waiting on me?" Jac nearly squeaked in worry.

"How are we supposed to do it without the guest of honor, Jac?" Alicia said with a smirk as Jac chuckled. "You don't need to choose now. We have time." Jac looked at the medic and shook her head.

"Aeron, do you have a coin?" Jac asked after a moment.

"I can get one." Aeron promised her. "You want to flip it?"

"Get Karen to do it." Jac said quietly. "Heads, Mag. Tails, Nova. I am ready." She said to Alicia. Alica inclined her head to Aeron, who rose. He paused and then came to the bedside. He picked up Jac's hand, put it to his mouth and kissed it. He laid it back down and quickly left the room. Jac stared after him, dazed. "And he says he has no romance in his soul..."

"He does like you." Alicia said as she hit a control to let her move the bed that Jac lay on. All the doors in the medical ward were large enough to get beds through. "We all do, sister."

"Good." Jac said as she laid back. "I don't need to get my whips then."

"I do like you." Alicia said as she started the bed off. "We need some levity around here." Jac just smirked. Edited July 17, 2013 by Kalenath

[KF5AQX]

Whips...?

 

She's taking after Scorpions now?

 

ANNNDDD I just gave myself nightmares about Scorpions with invisibility and the old hit scan hooks.

[SOUP.CAN]

This is so damn amazing! I think that jac should go for the nova though.

[UnworthySeraph]

Do they even know what a cookie is?

 

On a different note, you've caused me to always be a bit hostile towards Frost Primes. Whenever I see one, all I can think of is Nicholas and all the horrible things he did.

 

Good thing I stuck to regular Frost, otherwise I'd be hostile towards myself.

[Kalenath]

A Cold Heart

 

Aeron was sitting by Jac's bed when she woke. He could tell she was awake because her breathing stilled from sleep rhythms for just a moment before she faked them again. He maintained his position, faking a doze, waiting to see what she would do. She just lay there, her eyes barely cracked, looking at him. Both of them were perfectly still. An old game, but one with a very serious aspect. In the real world, snipers had to possess the ability to remain perfectly still for long periods of time. Movement drew the eyes from a great distance. So, when snipers moved, they generally did so very slowly and cautiously. Then they picked a spot and stayed there until they had to move again. They could move fast on occasion. Aeron in particular was capable of intense bursts of speed in his Volt warframe. But most of the time, he preferred not to move fast is at all. When sniper faced sniper, usually the first one to move became dead. Neither he nor Jac reacted when the other occupant of the room spoke up.

 

"Are you two going to sit there, watching each other, all afternoon?" Karen asked sourly. "If so, tell me. I have other things to do." The chair bound woman set her book reader down and glowered at the two.

 

"Its a sniper thing." Aeron spoke softly, still not moving. "Jac and I used to play this game all the time. See who moved first." Finally Aeron raised a hand. "Point to you, Jac."

 

"You let me win. You never let me win!" Jac said incredulous. Then she paused. "What the-...? She said softly, then spoke again, even slower. "I... What is wrong with my voice?" Indeed, it wasn't the masculine sound the others had heard from her. It sounded...female.

 

"They fixed it." Aeron said simply. Jac's hands shot to her throat and stopped on the organic bandage that covered it. "I think they should have asked first." Aeron said, his voice severe.

 

"I..." Jac stared at him, her face baffled. "How?"

 

"They gave a technical description." Aeron said with a frown. "But if I have it right, what you did to yourself elongated the folds of skin that cut off air at intervals, creating what we perceive as audible sounds. The medic who did it shortened the folds of skin. I think."

 

"That is..." Jac shook her head. "This is going to take some getting used to." She said with a chuckle. "It's okay, Aeron. I was going to ask if they could. This just... Well..." She shrugged. "This is sudden." She looked down at herself and her fingers explored her lower chest, feeling her ribs. "I don't feel any different. I just sound different."

 

"Good." Aeron said with a nod. "I worried you would be angry."

 

"Because someone helped me?" Jac demanded. "Aeron. You really don't want that cookie do you?" Aeron had to grin at her sour tone.

 

"Cookie?" Karen asked slowly. "What the heck is a cookie?"

 

"Eh..." Jac shook her head. "Not sure. I think it was some form of treat from Ancient Earth. It's a very old joke." She admitted. "But it is funny. I like to make people laugh. I always have. Especially people I like." She smiled at Karen.

 

"I like you too, Jac." Karen said with a smile. "You are nuts, but a good nuts. As opposed to bad nuts. I saw too many of those." She said, looking away for a moment.

 

"What happened to you, Karen?" Jac asked, her tone turning serious. "You are a good person, but I see your pain every time I look in your eyes."

 

"Jac..." Aeron warned her.

 

"If I am being too forward, say so, Karen." Jac said softly. "But I do like you."

 

"I like you too." Karen said with a smile that faded. "Short version... Did you ever hear of Nicholas?" Jac went still and Karen nodded. "You did."

 

"Nothing good." Jac said flatly. "He and his clan went rogue and were being hunted by a Tenno named... Karl..." She trailed off and her eyes went wide. "Karl? Karl Sensei is that Karl?" Aeron and Karen nodded and Jac swallowed a bit. "So... this dojo.."

 

"Was theirs." Karen said with a nod. "All but two of them are dead now and those two are imprisoned. Good riddance." Old hate sang in her voice. Aeron looked at her, worried, but Jac just held out a hand. "Jac." She asked, curious.

 

"Come here, girl." Jac said gently. Karen rolled her chair close to the bed and Jac took Karen's hand. "It is none of my business what happened to you. How you wound up here. But you have to let go of this hate. It will destroy you." Aeron nodded. He hoped Karen would listen to Jac. The human woman dug her heels in every time he pressed her to do that.

 

"I..." Karen shook her head, her face falling. "I can't. It is all I am."

 

"Not true." Aeron said as he moved to stand beside the chair. "You are my friend."

 

"Our friend." Jac said fiercely. Karen shuddered a bit and Jac rose up from the bed and embraced Karen gently. "Let us help, Karen? Please?" She begged the human woman.

 

"Pushy Tenno." Karen said in a husky voice.

 

"Guilty as charged." Jac said, hugging Karen one more time before letting her go and relaxing to the bed as Karen sat back. "Did you flip?"

 

"I don't understand." Karen said, shaking her head. "You want me to 'flip a coin'? I had to look up what a 'coin' is and I couldn't find anything on 'flipping' one except some kind of ancient con game. What significance does ancient currency have?"

 

"None." Jac said with a nod. "Except that coins have two sides. If you have two equally valid choices, it can be a way to determine which to do." She shrugged. "Kind of hard to do with a credit stick or card." Aeron and Karen both chuckled at her tone.

 

"Aeron explained what to do, but... Throwing an ancient piece of currency up in the air, catching it, putting it on your arm and looking to see what side is up?" Karen asked, her tone dubious. "Why not use a random number generator? That would be more random. And simpler."

 

"I don't want true random." Jac said with a nod. "Two choices, Nova and Mag warframes. Two equal sides. I cannot choose between the two, Karen. So, I figured to use a traditional way to solve the dilemma."

 

"To get me to solve your dilemma, you mean." Karen said with a smirk.

 

"Ach, caught." Jac said with a grin. The grin faded. "You don't have to. But I do like you and you are impartial. You are the first person who came to mind."

 

"I would be honored." Karen bowed her head. "But I don't have a coin."

 

"Aeron?" Jac asked softly. "Did you get one?" Aeron handed her a small object and she examined it. It was a small disk made of metal. It was perhaps two centimeters wide. One side of the flat metal disk was blank, the other held a Lotus symbol. "This will work." Jac said, weighing the coin in hand. "Provided of course, Aeron hasn't rigged it to land on it's edge."

 

"Would I do that?"Aeron asked in an innocent tone.

 

"Yes." Karen and Jac chorused. They looked at each other and smiled.

 

"If you are not cheating, you are not trying hard enough." Jac said with a nod. "But... Sometimes, cheating does not get you what you want. Sometimes it gets you things you don't want." She looked at Aeron and her gaze was flinty. "If this coin is rigged, I am going to get up from this bed and get a whip." Aeron silently took the coin from Jac and replaced it with another he pulled from a pocket. "Good boy." Jac crooned. Karen sputtered a laugh.

 

"Always with the threats..." Aeron muttered.

 

"Is there any better way to get an idea through to you?" Jac asked sweetly and Karen laughed. "Anyway..." She held out the coin to Karen who took it dubiously. "Did he demonstrate?"

 

"He did." Karen said slowly, placing the coin on her thumb. "Ready?"

 

"Don't let us see it until you do. That is supposedly an important part of the tradition." Jac cautioned the human. "Heads -the symbol-, Mag. Tails -the blank-, Nova. Go." She said calmly. 

 

Karen flicked her thumb, sending the coin spinning up into the air. She caught it deftly and slapped it to her arm. She cupped her hand as she peeked under it. Aeron smiled at the look of concentration on her face as she scrutinized it.

 

Jac nodded. "Well?"

 

"Tails." Karen said as she showed the coin on her arm. Indeed, the surface that showed was blank.

 

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Jac asked with a grin. "Nova it is." Aeron nodded and hit a panel nearby, telling the others of the choice. They would get it ready for her, check it out completely before allowing her to bond with it. No one was going to take any chances with Jac just out of surgery.

 

"You need to recover a bit first." Karen said with a nod. "The quick heal works fast, but..." She shook her head.

 

"Thank you, Karen." Jac said with a smile. One that faded. "Can you talk about what happened?" Aeron stiffened, but Jac shook her head. "It's a girl thing, Aeron. She is hurting. I can help. I want to." She held out a hand and Karen took it again. Jac gave Karen's hand a squeeze and waited.

 

"I don't want to think about it, but everyone is pushing... I... It was during the War. I had been told of a job possibility." Karen said after a moment. "I was a refugee. My family..." She swallowed. "They didn't make it out of the habitat I grew up in."

 

"Oh Karen..." Jac's eyes misted and she gave the woman's hand another squeeze.

 

"I don't remember much after arriving at the interview location. Red light. Pain." She shook her head. "It's not... It's all a blur. I woke up here." She waved to indicate the dojo. "I have been here ever since."

 

"He didn't..." Jac said, horrified. "A human?" She demanded of Aeron who bowed his head.

 

"I..." Karen shook her head. "Nicholas was actually fairly kind, in an absent minded sort of way. He had a temper but he was careful. The others... were not always..." She swallowed. "I spent a lot of time getting patched up. I tried to escape a few times. I never got far. " Aeron kept his face under tight control but the white surged as his anger did.

 

"Oh no..." Jac's voice turned even more horrified. "No... Nonononono..." She pulled Karen close and hugged her tight.

 

"I think they intended me to bear more Tenno." Karen said sadly. "But I couldn't. I had been...hurt, you see... I had been evacuated for medical care." Jac gave a shrill cry and hugged her tight enough that Karen grunted. "Easy, Jac. My feelings on the leader are ambivalent. He was upset when I arrived. From what he said, I don't think they were supposed to grab me. I don't know."

 

"No loose ends either way." Aeron said, bending down to join the embrace. Karen stiffened, but relaxed. Aeron kept the embrace loose.

 

"It wasn't...bad...at first." Karen said slowly. "They were gentle. At first. Then... It was as if they just...stopped caring. They were not gentle after that." She bowed her head as Jac started to cry. "Hey..." She protested. "Jac, it's okay. Its past. It's done. They had stopped... what they were doing. They used me to clean. They didn't really need me to, but they couldn't let me go. Then one day, the leader, Nicholas came in with a silver thing in his hand. He put it on my neck and..." She shook her head. "It didn't hurt. And they never abused me after that."

 

"A silver thing on the neck?" Jac asked, face going white. "He didn't..."

 

"Sensei called it an 'enthrallment device'." Karen said softly. "When Sensei came after killing the renegades, he disabled me. My body was under something else's control. He cut deep, accidentally." She waved at her neck and Jac nodded, too stunned to show any more horror. "I am alive, and all I knew are dust and memories. This is not what I wanted, but I am glad I am here. Now. I am not a slave. Not  a thing. I am Karen." She said fiercely.

 

"You put the strongest Tenno I have known to shame, Karen." Jac said softly, hugging Karen again. "I am proud to call you friend."

 

"Jac?"A quiet voice pulled all eyes to the door where Amelia stood with Alicia.

 

"Nova." Jac said fiercely. "And anyone, anyone who tries to hurt Karen again will answer to me." Her tone might have shattered rock.

 

"To us." Alicia said, her voice about as soft as Jac's. "How is the voice?"

 

"It was a surprise." Jac said quietly, hugging Karen again and letting her go. "But a welcome one. I don't feel any ache or discomfort. Is that the painkillers?"

 

"Some." Alicia said as she and Amelia stepped in. Aeron and Karen both moved away from the bed to let the medics close. "Your body will take some time to acclimatize fully to it's new situation. We think now might be the best time to get you into the warframe."

 

"Get it over with." Jac agreed. "So..."

 

"You are unhooked, Jac." Alicia said kindly as Amelia opened a hidden closet and pulled an unpowered wheelchair from it. "Can you sit up?" Jac sat up and teetered a bit. "Jac..." Alicia warned, but Aeron was in motion, grabbing Jac gently and holding her as she swayed a bit.

 

"A little dizzy." Jac said softly. "Thanks Aeron."

 

"Anytime." Aeron said quietly. He wasn't sure how he felt about this. His body wasn't reacting as it should. He helped her sit and let her swing her legs off the bed.

 

Jac remained still while Alicia undid the monitor lines that connected her to the medical equipment. Then, with Aeron's careful help, she stood. He didn't need to help her much.

 

"Well, I didn't fall on my face." Jac quipped as she took a slow step to where Amelia stood with the chair. Alicia and Aeron both hovered as she sat carefully. "Really, you two. I am not going to break!"

 

"No." Aeron said with a grin. "If you fall, you are far more likely to break the floor if you hit it with your head." Jac swatted at him playfully and he grinned as he dodged. "Slow." He stilled as a hand grabbed him from behind. The white surged inside him and he forced himself not to move, not to break the hold, or the arm that held him. Something... Who was growling? Him?

 

"I'll hold him, Jac..." Karen said with a grin in her voice. "You beat him!"

 

"Karen..." Jac said urgently. "Let go!" The hand that held Aeron fell away and he forced himself to relax. "Aeron, it's okay."

 

"Too..." Aeron shook his head. "Too much... I am sorry, Jac... I... I can't..." He retreated towards the door. "I need...space..." A cry of dismay came from Karen, but Jac silenced her.

 

"It's not you, Karen." Jac said calmly. "Take what time you need, Aeron. I will wait for you. "

 

Aeron paused just outside the door, leaning against the wall, breathing hard. What had he been about to do? Hurt Karen? Kill Karen? He didn't know. He barely reacted as a huge presence made itself known to his senses.

 

"Aeron..." Sensei's voice was calm and serene. "Breathe. In, and out..." Aeron did as commanded, the air working into his lungs, dispelling his 'fight or flight' reflex. "She shouldn't have grabbed you."

 

"She didn't know any better." Aeron's voice sounded off to his ears. "Not her fault."

 

"Well, you just strained your voice again." Sensei said flatly. "Come along." The voice beckoned him on and he started off after it. "That's it Aeron, not far..." Sensei's calm words led Aeron's shambling steps into another room. "Jimmy? He had an episode and strained his voice."

 

"Lie down, Tenno Aeron." The voice of the cyborg medic was calm and assured as always. Aeron did as instructed. A sting on his shoulder told of an injection. "Rest Tenno. I will tend you."

 

"Sensei..." Aeron said through the waves of lethargy that suffused him. "I am not getting any better. Just a broken war machine..."

 

"Yes you are better, Aeron." Sensei disagreed quietly. "You don't see it, but we do. If Karen had grabbed you like that the first day you were here, she would be dead right now. You are better. You are not a machine, Aeron. You feel."

 

"Organic machine..." Aeron protested "Broken... Need a heart..."

 

"You have mine, Aeron." Jac's worried voice came from nearby. "Now and always." A hand took his and a kiss found his cheek. "Rest. Sleep. I will be here when you wake."

 

He did as ordered.

[Venrel]

This is the most awesome Fanfiction I've ever read

 

Thank you for your work

[SOUP.CAN]

Truly awsome stuff

[KF5AQX]

They fixed her voice! Huzzah, I was having trouble visualizing her in a husky man's voice.

 

Then again, I usually hear all voices as variations on like, two voices. My mind isn't so good at voices .-.

[UnworthySeraph]

Karen works for DE!!! 

She wanted to use RNG!!!

 

Great work on that chapter by the way.

[SLI-fox]

Will we get to know more about Hayden? After all, it's been confirmed that he was the original Tenno. I'd like to see another trip to the past (or maybe even a gaiden/side story fic) showing Hayden building Orokin society along with the rest of the Primes.

[Kalenath]

Repercussions

 

Aeron was dreaming. He had to be. But it was such an odd dream. He was lying on something that gave beneath him as he moved slightly. He cracked his eyes and he was wearing a Tenno bodysuit. He was lying underneath something that looked like a tree. Or...sort of like a tree. It wasn't white, or blue or any of the colors of plant life in any of the Orokin facilities he had seen. It was brown and green and the leaves were changing color from green to brownish red. He stared up at it for a moment and then down at what he was lying on. It was green. He stared at it, bemused. Was this grass? There were things in places on various habitats he had been on that people called grass, but they looked nothing like this. This was lush, not sparse and growing in odd places wherever it could find sun and nutrients. He shook his head, this was really weird. He reached down and plucked a blade of grass, then froze as it vanished into pixels in his hand.

 

"A virtual world." Aeron said slowly. "A prison?"

 

"No. A place of rest." Another voice sounded from nearby. Aeron should have felt fear as a new form appeared close by. He didn't. He felt...at peace. The male Tenno wore a Volt warframe, but carried no weapons. Wait? Was it a Volt? It had gold in odd places along it's structure. Some kind of Prime? "Hello Aeron." The other Tenno said in a kind voice.

 

"Do I know you?" Aeron asked, bemused by the calm he felt and the lack of white. He wasn't afraid. If this odd Tenno did wish him harm, Aeron had no chance. But he saw no hostility from the other's body language. Just sadness and a great peace.

 

"We personally have never met." The Volt said kindly. "But you met my wife. You did me a great service, all unknowing. I owe you, and I pay my debts."

 

"If I helped a brother in need, that is all the thanks I need." Aeron said with a shrug. "You owe me nothing."

 

"You don't remember." The Volt pressed. "They had to do it that way or causality might be threatened." Aeron stared at the other and the Volt snorted. "Never mind. Let's just say that yes, you did do something. You warned my wife and her friends than I might be unstable. They restrained me, helped me. Because of you."

 

"I am glad." Aeron said honestly. "We have lost enough kin as it is."

 

"Yes we have." Old pain sounded in the Volt's voice now. "We did everything we could, but it wasn't enough. Maybe you were right, what you said to Nyx. Maybe Orokin is a Phoenix. Or then again, maybe it's Hydra. I don't know..." He mused. "I am no philosopher. I am Tenno, no more, no less."

 

"These things I do not remember..." Aeron said quietly. "...are gone for a reason?" The Volt nodded. "Then why talk to me?"

 

"Things are different now." The Volt replied. "Something very bad is about to happen. And to understand why, you need to talk to someone else." He waved a hand and a golden orb spun into being nearby. The orb vanished and a male Tenno lay on the grass. The Volt's voice hardened. "Wake up, Nicholas."

 

"Nicholas!" Aeron was on his feet in a ready posture seconds while the hated name was still echoing. He paused as the Tenno on the ground jerked awake with a scream.

 

"No..." The form sobbed. "No more... Please..." He begged, rolling into a kneeling posture, his hand sup in supplication. "Please, guardian..."

 

"How many of your victims begged, Nicholas?" The Volt was implacable. "How many human and Tenno women did you put through hell to try and reproduce?"

 

"Tenno?" Aeron asked, shocked despite his deserved anger.

 

"Tell him what you did." The Volt commanded. "Now."

 

"I..." Nicholas was sobbing as he lay back on the ground. "I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know!"

 

"I am sure that is a great consolation to all your victims." The Volt snarled. "Talk now. Or I put you back in that orb for a few more virtual centuries in isolation." Nicholas froze and shook his head. "Or would you prefer hellfire? I can get Ember. She would love to do that." The Volt said with another snarl. "You earned every ounce of pain we give you and far, far more. Tell him, Nicholas. Tell him about Karen."

 

"Karen?" Nicholas asked, his voice small. "I..." He looked at Aeron and paused. "Tenno, help me! I didn't mean it! I thought they were spies! I thought they were the enemy!" Aeron looked at the Volt who indicated for Aeron to speak. "I don't deserve this! I was trying to help my clan!"

 

"Nicholas." Aeron's voice was flat. "Traitor. Murderer. Thief. Slave master. I couldn't care less about your suffering. I do care about Karen. What did you do to her?"

 

"No..." Nicholas screamed. "Don't make me remember!" He tried to flee, but a field of energy that shimmered gold barred his way. He snarled at the Volt. "Let me go or let kill me! Tenno are not monsters!"

 

"Coming from a Tenno who was a monster?" Aeron asked softly, his voice low and dangerous. "That is saying something. What did you do to Karen?"

 

"They were not supposed to..." Nicholas said softly as he crumpled back to his knees. "They were supposed to talk to people, get a feel for who might be interested in helping. They were not supposed to get in a fight with another Tenno. They were supposed to avoid contact. Karen got caught in the cross fire. She was dying. None of them were medics. They retreated, and brought her back."

 

"To the dojo..." Aeron said slowly. "And the Tenno?"

 

"She wormholed,  followed them into the portal." Nicholas said with a sigh.  "What was I supposed to do?" He demanded. "She was an intruder! She wouldn't talk! She wouldn't even let me let her leave! I didn't want to fight! She left me no choice!"

 

"You killed her." Aeron said in the silence that fell after the rants stopped. "That is where the Nova warframe in the supplies came from."

 

"No..." Nicholas said softly. "She was hit, bad. But her shields were strong. I didn't think any Tenno shields could withstand a gamma ray laser, but hers did. She got up! She was so strong... I... I disabled her and she broke my ice prison!" He said incredulously. "It took all of us to club her unconscious and all of us were hurt in the process. Those antimatter particles hurt like hell."

 

"And then?" Aeron said, but a faint trace of unease started to sprout.

 

"She kept fighting." Nicholas said sadly. "Even after we got her out of her warframe, she kept fighting. Until we had Medic wipe her mind."

 

"You what?" Aeron shouted, his hands coming up to rend and tear. Nicholas didn't move to defend himself and Aeron struggled to contain his anger. "You wiped a sister's mind because she wouldn't stop fighting? You... You..." Words failed him and he stepped back, shaking his head.

 

"'Idiot' is the word we use the most." The Volt said quietly. "His cyborg medic used Orokin tech to wipe our sister's mind. But he didn't know what he was doing. Their medical person had fled."

 

"Cora betrayed us." Nicholas said with snarl, only to writhe and scream again as the Volt played electricity over him.

 

"You speak when spoken to, traitor." The Volt said with a snap. "You have earned so much more than I can give. But I am always willing to hurt people like you. People for whom the end always justifies the means." The electricity cut off and Nicholas slumped to the ground, whimpering. "Scum like you killed Saryn. You have earned every ounce of pain we will give you and so much more."

 

"What does this have to do with Karen?" Aeron asked when he was sure he had his anger under control. But part of him was enjoying seeing the hated renegade hurt. He stepped back from that. "She is not Tenno."

 

"No." The Volt said sadly. "Tenno are... a philosophy that became a way of life and then evolved into a whole new subspecies. We were human. Baseline, we still are." Nicholas jerked and opened his mouth, but froze when the Volt raised a hand. "Don't tempt me, traitor." The Volt warned. "Or I will give you to Mag again." Nicholas went pure white at that and slumped back to the ground, silent. The Volt nodded and a smile was in his voice not. A not nice one. "Smart."

 

"Karen?" Aeron asked calmly.

 

"They wiped our sister's mind." The Volt said sadly. "She was a blank slate. And when they brought Karen out of her electronic limbo, she was nearly dead. Too far gone to revive even with Orokin tech. So, Bright Boy here had a brainstorm..." He snapped at Nicholas who cowered away.

 

"Oh no..." Aeron said, feeling faint. "He didn't..."

 

"Karen is in the body of our dead sister." The Volt said quietly, but anger was close to the surface. "She doesn't remember a lot. Much more than she thinks. They were going to use her for reproduction, but... either through happenstance or destiny or whatever... Our sister was sterile. Then the Sentient tech that this idiot was playing with did a lot of damage even before they shoved her into a cryopod. After?" He sighed. "She was and is a mess."

 

"So... our sister..." Aeron said slowly, shaking his head in horror.

 

"She is gone, Aeron." The Volt said sadly. "Beyond any chance of recovery. There is nothing left of her, not even a name." Aeron slumped and the Volt nodded. "I know."

 

"Whatever he is suffering is not nearly enough." Aeron said, glaring at the now crying form of the traitor.

 

"Ah..." The Volt said with a smug snort. "But as long as Orokin exists in any way, he will remain trapped in this limbo. He cannot escape and we are here with him. He is not and will not be enjoying this afterlife." He said dryly. "But that brings us back to Karen. The present day Karen."

 

"You and your renegades used her for your needs." Aeron said sharply to Nicholas. "Why?" He demanded.

 

"She was the only female there. Lis wasn't awake. We didn't dare wake her with Karl prowling around. She loved him. We didn't think she was aware!" Nicholas protested. "Even before we enthralled her, she never responded when we talked to her. None of the them did. Yes, we used her. I made them be gentle with her and Servant!"

 

"Her name is Karen! The other one's name is Mari! They are not your slaves or toys." Aeron paused and his gaze turned thunderous. " The lack of self awareness makes it all right?" Aeron demanded, his ire up. "So if you drugged them into compliance that would be okay too?" He snarled and looked at the Volt. "It's still non-consensual! Give me a knife! I want his privates to give to Karen, even if only virtually."

 

"Too late." The Volt said with a shrug. "Ember burned them off as soon as he arrived." Aeron stared at the Volt and against his will, shuddered. "Every time he regenerates, -which he does since he is immortal here- one of the girls takes them off again." Now he shuddered. "Mag used a spoon... That girl scares me."

 

"Works." Aeron snapped. He shook himself. "So... Karen is not Tenno. Then what is the problem?"

 

"Karen is depressed despite everything the clan has done for her." The Volt said softly. "She is stronger and faster than she remembers. She is able to do things she couldn't as a human. She thinks she is going mad. She is looking for a way out and thinks she has found one that does not involve making a mess for others to clean up. Such a considerate girl..." The Volt bowed his head.

 

"How?" Aeron asked slowly. "She can't open the airlocks. The weapons are strictly controlled and Miguel won't let her touch one without supervision. How?"

 

"It won't kill her." The Volt said sadly. "She thinks it will." Aeron went stiff. "Two warframes were prepared for Jac. Both of them ready for her imprint. They are persuading her to get into the Nova while you are asleep, to keep from stressing you. Once she imprints, she will sit with you and Karen will go for her final treatment. She left a note. That is how we know what she is going to do. She expects it to kill her."

 

"If she gets into the Mag warframe..." Aeron said with a wince.

 

"The Mag was assembled from parts. It will conform to her. Not immediately but quickly. Gently enough not to cause bodily harm." The Volt said softly. "But the neural imprint... She is not ready... At the very least, it will sear her brain, hurt her very badly. At worst? She goes mad."

 

"Wake me up." Aeron said with a snarl. "We can't lose her. Not that way."

 

"Time passes differently here. We have time. There is one more thing, Aeron..." The Volt sounded uncomfortable now. "I know what happened to you and why."

 

"What do you mean?" Aeron asked, quivering in his need to help Karen.

 

"You are not a berserker." The Volt said in a mild voice. "But you are descended from one. When they built the warframes... Some of who and what the originators were was infused into each warframe. It gives each of them a certain...feeling." Aeron nodded slowly. "Your Volt was built from plans of the original."

 

"I know."Aeron said dubiously. "What does that have to do with going berserk?"

 

"The original Volt was a berserker." The Volt said calmly. "Is a berserker." Aeron stiffened and then his eyes went wide. "The feelings are there, the propensity for losing control is there. You can't wear a Volt warframe again, Aeron. Your are too sensitive to it. It will drag you in and pull you down until there is nothing left but the white rage."

 

"It doesn't feel like rage." Aeron said, feeling faint.

 

"It is." Volt, the Volt -the first- said gently. "I will make sure that your medics find the proper files it would take them some time of searching the regular way. They are searching desperately for a way to help you."

 

"Good people." Aeron said softly. "I don't deserve them."

 

"Deserve has nothing at all to do with it, Aeron." Volt said gently. "And rest assured, we are handling Nicholas." Other warframes appeared nearby and Nicholas cowered away from them as they surrounded him. "Just a thought..." Volt said speculatively. "Nicholas had a bunch of spares for his own warframe."

 

"A Frost Prime?" Aeron asked, dazed.

 

"My arguments with Frost are legendary." Volt said as a form separated from the pack. Saryn stood beside Volt, her arm going around his shoulders. "But he is a good Tenno. A solid and dependable brother."

 

"Will I remember this?" Aeron asked.

 

"Not all." Volt said with a shake of his head. "But enough to hopefully save Karen."

 

"She needs a purpose, Aeron." Saryn said quietly. "You can find her one. Help her if you can."

 

"I will." Aeron promised. "What do I do?" He asked carefully.

 

"Wake up." Volt said quietly. "And remember..." The word remember echoed through the area, chorused by all the warframes that surrounded Aeron now. Dozens, hundreds, thousands of warframes, all chorusing the same word.

 

'Remember'

 

***

 

Aeron jerked awake, his heart thudding in his chest.

 

"Aeron?" Jac's voice was worried. He looked and she was nearby, her Nova warframe kneeling on the floor. "Aeron, it's okay. You are okay."

 

"I am." Aeron said urgently. "But Karen isn't. Is she still here?"

 

"They finished her treatment and she went to work." Jac said with a trace of caution. "Why?"

 

"I am not sure." Aeron said slowly. He tried to focus on why he was agitated, but every time he did, the memories faded. The urgency remained. "Terminal..." He rose from the bed, ignoring Jac's half stifled protest and walked to a nearby terminal. He keyed it up and froze. "Karen...sent me a message?" He read it and all the blood drained from his face. "No..."

 

"What?" Jac came up behind him and read over his shoulder. "Oh my god..."

 

'My friends, my good friends, I am sorry. I cannot do this anymore. I am not strong enough. I won't make a mess, I promise. Live well, Aeron, Jac, everyone. This is timed to be sent after I... After I am gone. Be well. Be happy, my friends.'

 

It was signed, 'Karen'.

 

"She is going to suicide!" Aeron called. "Medical emergency! Find  Karen!" He shouted.

 

"Karen is in the warframe storage bays!" Alicia called back. "How did she get in there?"

 

"The storage bays?" Those were four levels down in the dojo. "We will never get there in time!" Aeron said, grabbing for the wall to support him.

 

"Yes we will." Jac said with a snap. "Alicia, come here." Alicia ran in, her hands full of medical gear. She skidded to a stop as Jac threw her hand up and a portal winked into existence in front of her.

 

"Ah, Jac...?" Alicia said slowly. "We are not in warframes. Is wormholing safe for us?"

 

"I had time to study. Manual says it's stable. No radiation leakage detected, but... Safe isn't in our job description." Jac said with a snap as she grabbed Aeron around the waist and leaped through the portal.

Edited January 12, 2015 by Kalenath

[Pyromite]

So, Aeron needs new warframe? I believe Loki would be more than perfect for sniper, with it's decoy and invisibility

[UnworthySeraph]

Nice to see the dirt bag is receiving his dues.

[KF5AQX]

 

 

"Too late." The Volt said with a shrug. "Ember burned them off as soon as he arrived." Aeron stared at the Volt and against his will, shuddered. "Every time he regenerates, -which he does since he is immortal here- one of the girls takes them off again." Now he shuddered. "Mag used a spoon... That girl scares me."

 

It is a rare stor- You know what, screw it. I'm laughing too hard to resay it.

[Kalenath]

To stop a tragedy

 

Aeron was violently sick as soon as he felt Jac's feet hit metal deck. The feeling of being stretched in many different directions at once was...bad to say the least. He barely noticed the silent rows of warframes and the neatly labeled shelves with parts for said warframes. He was too busy being sick.

 

"Sorry about that." Jac said apologetically as she held him so his stuff spewed on the floor instead of her.

 

"Find... Find Karen..." Aeron managed to grate out between bouts of nausea. "Stop her..."

 

"Karen?" Jac asked, looking around. Aeron assumed that her warframe sensors were also sweeping the area. "Karen, it's okay. I just want to talk." There was no answer. "Aeron..." Jac said, scared.

 

"Yuck..." Aeron said as he finally stopped spewing. "Let's not do that again anytime soon, okay?" He scrubbed his mouth with his sleeve, trying to get the acidic taste out of it. "Blegh..." He shook himself. "Ah..." He rose from his knees and looked around. "Karen? We know you are here. Please, talk to us." He begged.

 

"Leave me alone." The voice seemed to come from everywhere. Karen was either hiding in shadows, or... Aeron froze.

 

"Jac?" He asked slowly. "Can you detect her?"

 

"No." Jac said, perplexed. "I should be able to, but she is cloaked somehow. That shouldn't be possible. The only thing that can hide from a warframe's sensors is... another... warframe..." She broke off as both of them reached the same horrible conclusion. "Karen!" Jac screamed. "Don't put on the helmet!"

 

"You can't help me." Karen said with a snarl. Both of them turned to where a Mag warframe hung on a rack nearby. The helmeted head shook. "I am going mad. I can't handle this. I need an end." Aeron took a careful step towards the warframe and Karen snapped. "Don't!"

 

"Okay." Aeron took a slow step back. "Why do you think you are going mad, Karen?" He asked reasonably. Anything to calm Karen down, to keep Karen calm.

 

"I..." Karen swallowed heavily. "I went from medical, where Jimmy finally got my nerves to connect again, to physical therapy in an exercise room. All automated. I... I ran..." She said slowly." I outran the treadmill."

 

"Between Alicia, Amelia and Jimmy..." Jac said reasonably. "You will recover faster. You won't have a choice." Aeron nodded, not moving.

 

"You don't understand." Karen said softly. "I could never move that fast. I tried hitting a bag set for a human of my mass and I knocked it off the stand! It was set for humans and I knocked it off the stand!" The Mag's head swung again. "I asked Jimmy and he didn't understand my question. He asked if my body was unsatisfactory."

 

"Is it?" Jac asked carefully.

 

"It's not my body, Jac!" Karen screamed. "It doesn't feel the same. My hair is finally coming back now that Alicia figured out how to stop the depilatory and it is the wrong color! Jac! I am insane!" Karen said sharply. Jac looked at Aeron, her helpless expression clear even through her solid faceplate.

 

"No, you are not." Aeron said quietly. "I don't know what is going on, Karen. But you are not insane. I am sorry I scared you, Karen. I didn't mean to."

 

"Not..." Karen gulped. "Not your fault. I shouldn't have touched you. Sensei explained."

 

"You had no way of knowing." Aeron said with a shake of his head. "I was doing so well. It not your fault I relapsed. Not your fault at all." He said gently. "Karen, please, don't leave us."

 

"Don't make this any harder than it is." Karen said sadly. "I need an end. I am not strong enough. You both say I am but I am not."

 

"Karen..." Aeron said heavily. "It won't work."

 

"What?" Karen asked, confused. "Yes it will. The backlash of energy when I do not accept the imprint will kill me." Jac inhaled, horrified, but Aeron just shook his head again. "What?" Karen demanded.

 

"Karen..." Aeron's voice turned super gentle now. "Warframes heal the occupant. That is what happened to Jac, why she survived being in a warframe that was unsuited for her anatomy. It will hurt you, very badly. But it will not kill you. It can't. It is designed that way."

 

"Then it will hurt me and then heal me?" Karen asked slowly. Aeron bit his lip and she snapped. "What?"

 

"Karen..." Aeron said softly. "There are limits. Warframes can repair anything physical. They cannot repair mental damage. Damage which you will take over the neural feeds since you were not ready to assume the warframe yet. You will be a vegetable or the mad you fear. Karen, take off the helmet, please. Before the sequence starts."

 

"I..." Karen's voice turned terrified. "I already started it! It's waiting for the final command!"

 

"Karen!" Jac screamed as Aeron ran to the warframe. He dropped it from the rack and Karen collapsed boneless to the floor. Indeed, she couldn't move until the neural imprint occurred. And when it did...

 

"Help." Karen begged in a small voice. Aeron ran his hand along the back of the helmet and shook his head.

 

"It's sealed fully. We can't stop it now. We have time, if not a lot." Aeron said as he gathered the limp Mag up in his arms. "How long since you started the sequence, Karen?"

 

"As soon as you arrived." Karen said, her tone stark with fear. "Almost three minutes."

 

"The usual delay was five, in case the Tenno had to set his or her mind to receive the imprint." Aeron said softly. "It is going to hurt like your brains are on fire, Karen. But none of it is physical. Karen, listen to me." He commanded as she started to cry. "You can do this. You can."

 

"I am not Tenno." Karen protested.

 

"You are now." Jac said with a sigh as she knelt beside the pair. "Listen to Aeron, Karen. He can help you through this." Aeron looked at Jac and his face was bleak. "Just relax, Karen. Listen to Aeron."

 

"Karen..." The male Tenno said softly. "Imagine yourself in a hallway. A dark, but not forbidding hallway. You know it. You know every nook, every cranny. It is a long hallway, and every ten feet, there are lights on the ceiling. Each is on a separate circuit. You can turn them on or off..." He kept his voice calm and serene as Karen slowly relaxed. "Imagine yourself walking down the hallway. As you approach each light, you turn it on. You are safe, you are calm."

 

"It..." Karen said in a daze. "I... I can see it... The hallway..." Then she convulsed in Aeron's arms and screamed as the neural binding started.

 

"Karen!" Jac exclaimed. "Aeron, the imprint! What can we do?" Aeron felt an overpowering calm descend on him.

 

"Jac, I need some power." Aeron said as he laid his hand on the twitching Mag's helmet, his hand finding a neural access port. "As much as you can spare." He undid his bodysuit's gloves.

 

"For?" Jac asked as she opened a power port on her warframe. Nova warfames had a lot of them, but then again, Novas rarely had any problems with generating power. Antimatter and all.

 

"If this doesn't work, take care of her, Jac." Aeron said and, before she could react, clamped his bare hand on the port.

 

"Aeron, you are not in a warframe!" Jac screamed in terror as the mighty torrent of power from her reactors found a path of lesser resistance. Through his body. It surged through him and into Karen's head, taking part of the white in his mind with it. Then the pain hit and he was swept away by it.

 

***

 

"That was very brave." A gentle female voice sounded in Aeron's ears. He looked up to see a Trinity warframe bending over him. The ceiling overhead was white and gold. Her finger was on his forehead and energy played from it. "So very brave, Aeron." This wasn't anyone he knew. Indeed, the warframe was chased with gold. But it didn't matter. Only one thing did.

 

"Karen...?" He managed to croak out. Nothing hurt, but he was so weak.

 

"She lives and her mind is intact." The Trinity said calmly. "You did well. Using your problem as a shield for her mind was inspired. Did you know it would work?" Aeron tried to shake his head and he couldn't. "Easy, Aeron." She cautioned him. "You just put yourself through a wringer. "

 

"Didn't know if it would work or not. I was out of options." Aeron said softly. "Wait... Jac? She will go nuts..." He felt worry, and wonder of wonders, the white did not hinder it.

 

"She is no longer your problem, Aeron." The Trinity said kindly. "You have earned your rest, Tenno."

 

"I can't leave Jac again..." Aeron protested. "I promised her."

 

"Is that the only reason?" The Trinity asked, curious. "An oath?" Aeron stared at her and he could swear she was smiling. "Well?" She prompted him.

 

"No." Aeron said with a small smile of his own. "But I had to work my way to it myself, didn't I?" She nodded and he sighed. "I am an idiot."

 

"Everyone is at times, brother. And yes, everyone finds their own way. Deep breath and hold it." The Trinity said with a snort as she held out  a hand. Green mist flowed around him and he did not breathe as it seeped around him. "That's it. I have done what I can." She said as she retracted her hand. "We need to finish this."

 

"Jac..." Aeron said, his heart aching.

 

"Hang on Aeron, I will bring her and..." The Trinity gasped softly. "And now that she made physical contact, slapping Karen, I can bring them both." She sighed. "My kin, can you separate them, gently...?" She admonished someone Aeron couldn't see.

 

Suddenly the air was filled with profanity. Jac was swearing up a storm.

 

"Let me go!" Jac screamed. "I'll kill you! You stupid, good for nothing arrogant selfish pile of refuse! I will rip your ears off and eat them! Then your eyes! Then your fingers! In a warfame or out, I will kill and eat you!"

 

"Jac..." Karen was begging. "I am sorry."

 

"Sorry?" Jac exclaimed. "You killed the man I love and you are sorry? I will show you sorry!"

 

The sound of a blow came to Aeron's ears and he managed to roll on his side to see Jac in the hands of a huge Tenno wearing a Rhino warframe. It wasn't Sensei. The warframe was...different. Like the Trinity, it had gold in places. Jac was struggling for all she was worth to get free, her hands and feet striking the Rhino with no apparent effect. He appeared to be ignoring her attacks even though each one set his armor to ringing. The Mag that was Karen knelt on the floor, unmoving. A Banshee warframe was holding her, gently it seemed. The Banshee was...off as well. Other warframes surrounded the group, many of them with gold in strange places. The Trinity looked at Aeron, her posture expectant and he sighed.

 

"Jac, calm down. She would taste terrible." Aeron said quietly when Jac finally took a breath. Suddenly, there was dead silence in the room.

 

"Aeron...?" Jac's tone was hushed, scared. "I... How? You... You flatlined..." She was crying now. "You died."

 

"Not quite." The Trinity said calmly. "And not for lack of his trying." She said with a snap to Aeron. "That was very brave and very stupid, Aeron."

 

"Thin line between the two, Ma'am." Aeron said with smile. "A very thin line." His breath was coming in gasps now. "Jac, come here." The Rhino set Jac down on her feet. She knelt and crept to Aeron's side on her hands and knees. "I... I need to see your face..." He said softly.

 

"Aeron..." Jac said softly. "I..." Her hands came up and her faceplate slid back. She was red faced. Tears had been falling for some time, long enough for some to dry. But she had never looked prettier, to his eyes anyway.

 

"Karen..." Aeron held out a hand to Jac and another that shook he held in mid air. Jac took his hand and cradled it close.

 

"I..." Karen said from her spot. "I am sorry, Aeron..."

 

"Karen." Aeron commanded in a weak voice. "Come here." The Banshee let her go and Karen crept to Aeron's side, staying as far from Jac as she could. "It was my choice, Jac." Aeron said, gasping. "She was stupid, but it wasn't her fault. As for what I did? If you had thought of it first, I would be grieving for my love."

 

"Your..." Jac froze, her face scared. "What did you say?"

 

"Shut up and kiss me." Aeron said with a snap. He pulled Jac close and held her against him while he did what he could. Which wasn't much, he was totally inexperienced and very weak. Finally he let her pull away. "Wow. Jac of the Tenno at a loss for words..." Aeron said with a smile at her expression. "I wish I had a camera. No one will ever believe it. The mind boggles..."

 

"You..." Jac sounded unsure, childlike. "I..."

 

"I have been selfish and stupid, Jac." Aeron said with a sigh. "Now, I can say it: I love you, Jac." Her face lit up and he nodded. "But now there is something we need to do." Jac looked at him and then they both looked at Karen who recoiled a bit.

 

"What?" Karen asked slowly. Aeron extended the hand she had not yet taken further towards her.

 

"You are going to need a lot of help, Karen." Aeron said with a sigh. "I will have hurt you, saving you. I don't know if I can go back or not." Jac stiffened in rebellion, but Aeron continued. "Jac, it isn't her fault. She is alone and scared. Karen... Come here." He beckoned to her and she sidled closer, like a dog that had been badly beaten. Wanting to trust, but not totally sure she could. "This is your choice, Karen."

 

"What choice?" Karen asked as she stopped just out of reach, not moving.

 

"You lost your family." Jac said, her tone soft and sad now that her anger had spent itself. "We are offering you a new one. The warframe you wear makes you one of us, Karen. But it is an awful responsibility. A terrible burden."

 

"I..." Karen shook her head. "I never...It was supposed to kill me..." She said, dazed.

 

"It didn't." Aeron said, feeling faint. "We offer you a place where people take you for who you are. Not what, but who." He smiled at Jac who nodded. "I love Jac, but I also love you, Karen. The loves are different, but no less real. Come, Karen. Join us."

 

"You hurt yourself, saving me." Karen's voice was sad now. "I didn't mean to... I didn't want to..."

 

"I know, Karen." Aeron said with a sigh. "It's not your fault. Nothing that has happened to you is your fault. Well..." He corrected himself with a smile. "Except nearly frying your synapses in a purloined warframe, but hey... Nobody's perfect." He said with a laugh. Karen reached up slowly and her helmet retracted. She too had been crying. "Don't cry, sister. It's all right." Aeron promised.

 

"I...feel..." Karen slumped a bit. "This... Strange..."

 

"Is it white?" Aeron asked carefully.

 

"Just a little." Karen said slowly, thinking hard. "It is dulling the edges of my emotions, but doesn't take them away."

 

"Jac?"Aeron asked softly. "Do you mind sharing me?"

 

"Aeron!" Jac snapped. "After all this time waiting? What kind of a question is that? I will take what I can get!" She reached out and took Karen's limp hand and pulled her close. "You need help and I am offering. I am sorry I was angry with you, Karen. As Aeron says, it isn't your fault."

 

"Jac." Aeron said softly. "I may not be able to come back from this." He paused as a throat cleared nearby. All three looked up to see the circle of Tenno had withdrawn, but the Trinity stood nearby with a Volt in the same gold. "Yes?" He inquired politely.

 

"Your body can be healed, Aeron." The Trinity said calmly. "You depleted your mental energy reserves badly however."

 

"I see." Aeron said with a wince. That might kill him anyway, if his brain couldn't keep up the charge to function.

 

"Does he need a jump start?" Jac asked. "I have power..."

 

"Someone else will provide it." The Volt said with a sour laugh. "And it may provide a little bit of closure to Karen."

 

"Me?" Karen asked with a squeak.

 

"Yes, Karen." The Trinity said sadly. "You were hurt and abused. You were tortured and enslaved. All because of one insane Tenno." A small gold sphere appeared in her hand. Suddenly it became transparent and a form was seen beating on the inside of the sphere. Karen recoiled.

 

"That... No..." Karen was shaking as both Aeron and Jac held her. "That is Nicholas? He is not dead?"

 

"Oh, he is dead." The Volt said with a sour laugh. "Karl made very sure of that. But any Tenno who inhabits a warframe leaves traces of him or herself in places that can be reached by those with the knowledge. This is all that is left of him." He waved at the sphere. "We will use his energy to heal Aeron." The imprisoned Tenno was screaming and beating harder on the walls of his spherical prison, but no sound was heard.

 

"Will that destroy him?" Karen asked, her tone sharp.

 

"No." The Volt said with sigh. "But I can guarantee you he will not enjoy it. And he will never leave that prison if we have anything to say about it. And our computations show it will take him about three hundred years of regeneration for him to be able to summon the energy to converse, let alone do anything else." He said dryly. "Short of dropping it into the sun, which we did consider by the way... This may be the best use of a bad being."

 

"To save a life." Karen breathed. Then she smiled. "I like it. I will not be him."

 

"Good." The Volt's words were heartfelt. "One sadistic Mag is more than enough." Something hit him from behind and he sighed as he pulled a Kunai throwing blade from a non-vital spot. "See?" He asked as a wicked chuckle came from the massed warframes.

 

"What do we do?" Jac asked as Karen came close to Aeron again. All three shared a hug.

 

"You don't need to do anything,  Sister Jac." The Trinity said gently. "You won't remember most of this. But do try to be careful with Sister Karen. New sisters bruise and break easily." She came close and held the sphere over Aeron, A golden mist came from it and saturated all off three of them. Then, like a waft of breeze, they were gone.

[SOUP.CAN]

ermergerd!