Chapter 8

Cayde turns around after hearing his name, but he couldn't see anyone among the sea of people trying to get his attention. Sundance floats next to him, scanning the crowd as well.

"Cayde?" The red, white, and gold ghost ask, turning to him.

The exo shakes his head and turns back around. "It's nothing; I just thought I heard someone calling me." He gives a light shrug. "But I guess I was wrong and hearing things." He turns back around and begins to head home.

# # # # # # # #

Nax struggles against the mask man's hold as she keeps her eyes close, trying not to stare into the mask. "Let me go!" She orders as she tries to stop her heart, pounding hard in her chest.

"Let you go? Why we do that?" Mask one asks with a chuckle. "We just want to play."

Mask two laughs behind him. "Yeah, we hear you had this crazy side."

"The crazy side where you attack your fellow guardians in the plaza when you arrive." Mask one chime in

Hearing these, she opens her eyes and focuses on the human eyes; thankfully, it helps as she slows down her heartbeat. She took a moment to focus on her breathing. "So, you want what? To make a name for yourself. If you wanted to fight the 'feral' warlock, you could have approached me like normal and ask me."

Both men look at each other and let a loud breaking out into laughter. Luckily for them, they are far away enough from the crowded street.

Seeing them distracted, Nax takes this chance to try to get free. She tries to kick him in the shine and groan. But completely miss and only kick air slightly grazes his leg.

Feeling her leg grazing his leg, he turns back around; he grabs her blue hair, and with some force, he hits her head to the wall behind her. He smiles under his mask, watching as her eyes glaze over.

"Hey." Mask two speak up, sounding worried. "Should we bind her hands or something?? I mean, we are warned what she can do."

"It's fine; look at her; I hit her hard enough that her head can't focus. Besides, if we have her tied up, she can't do as much damage when she goes crazy. Just keep a lookout and make sure no one is looking this way." Mask one orders Mask two.

"Al... alright." Mask Two takes a step back and leans against the wall looking back and forth at each end of the alleyway.

Nax fights nausea as a black spot appears in her swimming vision. The voices of the two men sound so far away. 'Come on, keep it together, Nax. Now is not the time to pass out, not here and not in front of them. Where is Beeze? I need him to go for help.' She begins to move her head, but the slight movement made her instant regret it as a wave of nausea hits her as the world spin. She closes her eyes to try to stop the spinning. 'Okay, don't look around just yet. Focus on breathing.'

"Hey, Warlock!" Mask one calls out to her watching her closing her eyes and stops moving. He lightly taps on her face to get her attention. "Come on now, don't pass out on us now; you won't be able to join in on the fun we have a plan for you."

"Maybe you hit her too hard?" Mask two suggest.

"Maybe." Mask one sighs. "It will be a shame if she did pass out; she will miss out on the fun."

"What fun?" The blue awoken croak out, still trying to stop the world from spinning but recover nausea, and their voices now sound closer. "If it was a fight you were looking for a fight, we could have done it in the crucibles."

"The crucibles? Oh, dear warlock, we don't want to fight you in the crucibles.:

"If that's not what you want, then what do you mean about fun? Are you two trying to attack me? Even if you did that, you wouldn't make a name for yourself; you will have a target on your back." She tries to growl to sound threatening but even doing that made her regret it.

"Isn't it obvious? We want to see this feral side. We want to see how she handles civilians."

Her blue eyes go wide in shock; she has a mixture of relief that the world stops spinning but is horrified that these men want to cause harm to innocent people. "You're insane." She whispers. "Do you have any idea what will happen if I go feral?"

The mask one chuckles. "Oh, we are aware of the damage you can cause in that state."

"Then, why? What will you two accomplish? Why are you both so willing to have innocent people to get hurt?" Nax asks, raising her voice.

Mask one lets go of her hair and gently caress her cheek. "Let us worry about that. Right now, we should get started. It looks like just wearing fallen masks doesn't send you into that state, so tell me, what really triggers you?"

The awoken glares at him. "Fuck you, like hell I'm going to tell you. You have no idea what kind of damage that state will cause. I'm sure you know I went through four fire teams when I went into that state, and they thought it was too much to handle. Do you think you two normal humans will be able to handle me?"

"Hey, Josh? Maybe," Mask two begin to say, having second thoughts about what they are doing.

"Shut up!" Josh snaps, turning to his friend.

Seeing the opening, the warlock begins to create a scatter grenade in her left hand.

"Josh! She's making a grenade!" Mask Two yells, scrambling away from the two trying to get out of the blast zone.

"Oh no, you don't" John turns back to Nax, grabbing her other hand and pressing them together. "Go ahead and try; you will be destroying your hand before actually hurting us. Are you sure you want to take that risk?" He grins, seeing her glare again.

The blue warlock begins to mumble something.

"What was that?" He asks, leaning in closer. "I can't hear you." He says in a singsong tone.

She waits for him to come a bit closer before she tries to headbutt him. But as he jerks his head away. Nax shoves him getting free. She runs to the end of the alleyway until Josh tackles her slamming her to the ground. She flips on her back to try to push him off. "Get off me! Beeze!"

Josh cut her off by covering her mouth. "Shit! Looks for her ghost, don't let it escape." Mask one orders Mask two as both men look around for the teal ghost.

Mask two notices Beeze appearing at the end of the ally before it disappears into the crowd. "Josh, it just left!" He cries out point where the small ghost has just been.

"Then go after its dipshit! We don't need it to get help or draw a crowd." Josh yells in frustration.

"Right, I'm on it!" Mask two says, running off into the crowd.

"Take off your damn mask, you moron!" We don't need to draw any more attention." Josh yells as he watches Mask two as he rips off the mask and slips into the crowd.

Nax bites his hand hard enough to taste blood in her mouth.

"Ah! You stupid bitch!" He recoils his hand and slaps her across her face.

Her left ear begins to ring, and she can taste more of the familiar metallic taste in her mouth, telling her she bit her lip hard. But as she looks back at the man, she has a smile on her face.

"What's with the smile?" Josh snaps as his blue eyes narrow.

"I'm guessing you didn't see who was in the crowd, did you?"

"See who? Is it Evie? We can handle that hunter."

"I'm sure you can try, but Beeze is heading to Cayde 6. I was trying to get his attention before you idiots grab me. When Beeze tells him that you grab me, he will be none too happy about it." Nax's smile fades into a frown as Josh begins to laugh.

"Oh, that's ever perfect; the hunter vanguard goes toe to toe with the feral warlock. Tell me, warlock, has he seen that side of yours?" Nax staying silent was the only answer he gets. "Ah, I see. Do you think he will still be your little friend once he sees it? Ah well, I guess we will find out." Shifting his position, he remains to straddle her waist, making sure to pin her left arm to her side, firming gripping her right hand. "Since the mask didn't work, maybe the pain will." He bends her thumb down far enough that both hear a loud creak of the bone breaking.

As she felt a sharp and sudden pain, Nax begins to cry out as she tries to struggle to get her hand free.

"Shh, shh." He says s calmy, covering her mouth tightly, muffling her cries. "You don't want to disturb the peace." He chuckles.

She blinks back the tears refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing them. 'Don't scream; it's only going to get him off.' the warlock tells herself.

# # # # # # # #

Beeze drops down into the crowd, weaving through people's legs, trying to stay hidden from his pursuer. After a few seconds, he raises above the crowd to see where Cayde is before diving back into the sea of people.

Mask Two looks among the crowd looking for the ghost, and once he spots him, he begins to head towards its direction, only changing his course a few times when the teal ghost appears from the crowd. 'Where is this thing heading to?' Mask two looks up ahead to see Beeze is trying to reach to see Cayde 6 and his ghost. 'Shit!' He begins to push his way through the crowd trying to get to the teal ghost before it reaches the hunter.

The teal ghost dodges the human's hands as Mask Two tries to grab him. Beeze dives right back into the crowd weaving through people's legs, trying to make it to Cayde. Feeling that he's far enough from Mask Two, he raises from the crowd to look for Cayde, and he begins to dread watching him turn around the corner. "No, no!"

Beeze sends a message to Sundance, but none of them are answering back. "Come on, why aren't you two answering?" He turns around and sees Mask Two gaining on him. The ghost turns back around, send a distress signal. "Come on! Come on! Answer!" He pleads as he avoids another swipe by Mask Two.

# # # # # # # #

"Cayde, Beeze is sending me another message again," Sundance informs him.

Cayde slows down and lets out a defeated sigh. He has been ignoring the messages; he still feels like a jackass for not noticing her discomfort and continues to drag her into those small tight restraints. "Hearing her apologies for something that she can't help; it's going to make me feel like more of an ass.

The red, white, and gold ghost bobs up and down as it waits for a yes and no. "So, decline the fifth message? The last one has been marked as a distress single.

"Just tell them that I'm unable to answer and assures her that's I'm not mad about her unable to come; she doesn't need to worry." He tells his ghost as he makes his way through the crowd.

The ghost flies in front of its hunter, making the exo stop. "Cayde! They send twenty messages in less than two minutes, and the last five are distress messages.

Cayde looks surprised. "Twenty messages in less than two minutes?"

"Yes, and the last five are marked urgent." The red, white, and gold ghost sighs.

"Alright, alright, go ahead and play them." The exo says, stepping out of the crowd.

"Playing the five messages. Message one." The ghost twirls as it begins to play them.

"Cayde! Help!" Beeze's panicked voice plays through Sundance.

Hearing the panic in Nax's ghost, the hunter begins to scan the crowd looking for him.

"Message two," Sundance announces.

"I'm being chased by someone wearing a fallen mask!" Beeze cries out.

"Message Three."

"Are you two hearing these messages?"

"Message Four."

"Look behind you!"

"Message Five."

"Turn around for the love of the Traveler."

Cayde optics goes wide as he turns around to scan the crowd once more. But he didn't see the teal ghost. 'Wait a minute; I turn the corner.' He pushes his way through the crowd, and just as he rounds the corner, he watches two hands snatch Beeze from the air and into the sea of people. "What the hell?"

# # # # # # # #

As Josh breaks another one of her fingers, he tightens his grip on Nax's hand, stopping her from jerking it away. "Now, now, no need to pull away; we have two more to go and not to mention your other hand.

The warlock tries to focus on her breathing. She could prevent herself from crying out in pain, but she was having difficulty breathing with him still sitting on her chest. Sweat begins to form on her forehead. She begins to try to wiggle free. 'If I just need to get my other hand free, I can.'

Josh breaks one of her fingers and adjusts his sitting position to make sure her right hand still pin against her side. "I don't think so, warlock."

# # # # # # # #

Seeing the ghost disappearing in the crowd, Cayde scans the sea of people for anything out of place, a hint of teal, or someone acting funny. His optics catch a brown hair olive skin man going against the flow of people pushing his way through the crowd. He makes his way towards the man.

"Hold still, you little," Mask Two begin to threaten the small ghost as a brown leather glove clamps down on his shoulder. Looking to see who it is, the color drains from his face as he looks into the face of the exo vanguard.

"Is everything okay with your ghost?" Cayde asks, looking over the man's shoulder seeing Beeze struggling. "Is that your ghost?"

Mask two let out a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, it's just my ghost is malfunctioning with a new shell, but when I was trying to remove it flew away. It seems like the little guy doesn't want me to take it off. Odd right?"

"Really?" Cayde didn't sound convince and rubs his chin. He knows very clearly that this guy is lying, but he wants to see how deep of a grave this man is willing to dig. "You know, it's strange this ghost looks a lot like the one that belongs to the blue warlock.

The brown hair man lets out another nervous chuckle. "Funny about that; hopefully, she doesn't have the same issue as I do."

The hunter gives him a gotcha smirk. "How do you know the warlock I was talking about is she?"

"Really? I mean, I only know one warlock that has a teal ghost that floats around her. I mean, that's why I wanted the teal shell for my ghost. Speaking of which I should go, I need to head back and fix my ghost." He starts to leave, but Cayde tightens his grip.

"You know what I think? I think you're trying to steal this ghost for some reason. As a matter of fact, I don't think you are a guardian. Now, why don't you let go of this ghost before I make you." The exo growls in a low tone as his optics change from blue to orange.

"Cayde!" Beeze cries out, struggling in the human's grip.

"It's alright, Beeze. I'll get you back to Nax." The vanguard assures it.

"They took Nax! His friend is keeping her in an alleyway."

Mask two eyes go wide and shove Cayde away and run into the crowd.

Taken by surprise, the hunter stumbles a few steps back and watch him escape. "Shit! Hey!" He yells, following him in the crowd.

# # # # # # # #

Nax stops struggling and remains still as she tries to focus on her breathing and not on the pain or the creature scratching at the back of her mind begging to be free. 'No, not here.'

Letting out a disappointed sigh, Josh looks down on the small trembling warlock. He grabs her chin, forcing her to look at him, as he tries to see if there is any hint of change. "Damn still nothing." He lets go and begins to rub his chin to think. "What else is there that could set you off?" He asks himself.

"Just, just give up Josh, if you walk away now, nothing will happen to you or your friend. We all can forget about this." Nax says, trying to keep her feral side in check.

The masked man ignores her. "Masks don't work; pain doesn't either; what else is there?" Thinking for a moment as a thought pop in his head. A smile slowly comes across his face. "There is one thing."

The smile sends a chill down Nax's spine; she has seen that smile too many times on Red, thinking he has a chance to sleep with her. She starts to struggle, trying desperately to get her right hand free.

Josh pins down her broken left hand and leans in closer to her. "I wonder if those fallen creatures have done those kinds of things. I did hear rumors, but you're the only survivor of them." He leans in closer, his face inches from hers. "I also heard how much of an animal you are in bed. Tell me, did they teach their mating habits?"

Nax sneers. "Go to hell."

# # # # # # # #

Cayde tries to keep up with Mask two, but a food cart slowly passes in front of him. Once the path is clear, he looks in the crowd and realizes he lost them. "Shit!" The vanguard curses.

"Cayde! Beeze is sending me a single we can track him this way. Go down this ally on the left and make a right."

With the help of his ghost, Cayde can catch up to the two.

Confident that he lost the exo, Mask two slows down as he approaches the alley where Josh and Nax is. He holds up the ghost glaring at him. "Listen, you stupid little thing, if you cause any more trouble, I will turn you into scrap metal, and your little guardian won't be able to have her ghost to revive her."

Beeze looks at him, then over the man's shoulder. "I think you should turn around and look behind you."

The brown hair man slowly turns around only to retrieve a solid punch squared in the jaw, making him fall backward knock out cold by the time he hits the ground.

Cayde stands over him heavily, breathing his optics now a blazing red.

Free from Mask two's hands, he flies up top Cayde.

"Where is she?" The exo asks the teal ghost ignoring the unconscious man at his feet.

"Stop it! Let-" Nax pleads, cut off suddenly.

Hearing her voice, he looks around and sees two figures in an alley, one pinning the other to the ground. His hand balled up in a fist as he rushes towards them.

# # # # # # # #

"Why must you fight this? Don't you want to have some fun? I mean, I notice you haven't gone home with anyone since you've been on R&R. Aren't you stress? Don't you have so much pent-up anger?" Josh asks, but he already knows she can't answer with his hand over her mouth.

"I can help you with that." He chuckles as he moves his other hand under her shirt. "Come on, let us have some fun," He whispers, finishing his line by doing a fallen call in her ear.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Cayde yells, grabbing Josh by the shoulder and yank him off Nax. He punches Josh so hard the mask breaks, and he was able to break his nose.

Josh fell back backward, sitting on the ground and holding his bloody nose. "Cayde 6?! How?!"

The hunters crack his knuckles. "Oh, that should be the last thing you need to worry about. You should worry about how close you are in the hospital since I'm going to beat the ever-loving shit out of you." He growls as rage has filled his voice. As he takes a step forward, he notices movements out of the corner of his optics. "Nax?"

Nax stumbles through a dark, damp dirt tunnel, trying to fight the panic threatening to take over her body. 'I need to hurry. If they discover, I've gotten out against it won't take them long to find me.' A hand grabs her arm, making her turn around to see it face to face with a fallen captain with red eyes. "No!" She screams, shoving it away from her, and turns around to run away. But as she reaches the end of the tunnel, she can see its block by fallen. 'No, no, no! They're going to make me fight again. I need to get out; I need to escape.!' She begins to create a grenade in her undamaged hand. 'Got to get out! Got to get out!'

"Nax, no!" Cayde yells, seeing what she's trying to create. He rushes up behind her and grabs her pinning her arms to her side.

"NO!" The warlock cries out in terror and begins to struggle against the fallen captain. "Let me go1" Let me go!" She screams in desperation. "I don't want to fight anymore, please!" She pleads. "Don't put me away!" She tries to pull away from his hold.

Cayde grunted as she elbows him in the ribs to escape. He lifts her, stopping from pulling but causing her to start kicking.

"No! No!" The warlock begins to yell; her voice fills with terror. Her cries have brought the attention of passersby as more crowded at the ally entrance. "Don't put me in the dark!"

"Beeze! Help! I don't think I can keep a hold of her for much longer."

The teal ghost flies in front of his guardian, trying to get her attention. But with her head thrashing about, he's unable to get her focus on him. "Cayde, I can't get her to look at me. I need you to keep her head still."

The vanguard lets out another grunt as he narrowly misses her trying to head butt him as she tries to bring her head back. "Easier said than done, Beeze."

"You have to! She's not here; she thinks she's somewhere else. I can get her to calm down, but I need her to look at me."

Adjusting his hold on her, he reaches up and grabs her chin keeping her head still. "Go, Beeze!"

"Nax! It's okay! You're safe! You're in the tower!" The teal ghost tells her, watching as her eyes begin to show recognition.

The small teal blue begins to form into a familiar ghost. "B...Beeze?"

She looks around and sees that's she's no longer in the cave but the alleyway.

Beeze drops a bit in relief. "Yes, Nax, it's me. You are safe now. You are here with Cayde and me."

"Cayde?" She looks behind her and sees Card holding her and not the fallen Captain. Her heart sank once she realizes the fallen from the alley entrance wasn't fallen at all. She looks and sees civilians, her struggling suddenly stops, and she can feel Cayde's grip loosen a little bit. "I almost lost it in the tower. I almost attack civilians." Knowing what could happen, her legs gave out, and she began to drop to the ground.

"Woah, I got you, little warlock." The exo assures her tightening his grip on her. With her stop struggling, the hunter can look at the damage those men have done to her. He can see her left hand severely damage with all her fingers bend in different directions. A large bruise begins to form on her cheek, and hand shape bruise over her face. 'Those fucking bastards! Why the fuck did they torture her?' He looks behind him to see where Josh is and sees that he's gone. "Shit."

"I can heal her if you just hold her for a little bit longer," Beeze tells Cayde flying above both and bathe them in the traveler's light.

The exo notice two things after getting heal, the ache in his hands melt away and two a small gentle shaking coming from the blue awoken. "Nax?" He looks down and watches her frame shaking. He can hear her talking but too low that he needs to lean in; he can listen to her sobbing in his arms. "Oh, Nax." He sighs, his optics turn back to blue.

"I just want to go home." Nax pleads with them.

# # # # # # # #

Nax allows the hot water of the shower to wash away the dirt and grim of the alleyway off her blue skin, as well as the blood from her hair. She traces her hand over her stomach and follows the trail where Josh's hand went. The memory sent a cold shiver through her body and a wave of nausea. She can feel bile threatening to make its way up her throat. The warlock covers her mouth to stop herself from throwing up; she stumbles out of the shower she hunches over the toilet dry heaving. Once the heaving stop, she turns off the shower and pulls a towel off the rack. 'I fucked up.' She thought to herself as she wraps the towel around her cold, wet body. 'I almost hurt someone again.'

"Nax?" Cayde calls out, knocking on the door. "Are you okay in there?"

She stares at the door for a moment before answering, holding the towel closer to her body. She didn't trust her voice right now. She's worried that if her voice will croak, what will Cayde do? After her break down back there, the only thing she did was sobs. She remembers seeing pity on the exo's face. A look she was hoping not to see on his face. Not when they were just becoming friends. 'Just go home; how long are you going to stay here?'

# # # # # # # #

"I am sure she's okay; she just needs some time to get herself together," Beeze assures him.

The exo reluctantly steps away from the door and towards the living room. Cayde looks over to the teal ghost. "Are you sure about that? I've never seen her like that or like this." Gesturing towards the bathroom.

"It's been years since she has done this. It will take her some time to recover." The ghost explains.

"Was that her feral state?" He asks, looking around the apartment; he can see nothing had changed since he brought her home that night; she was drunk. He picks up a blanket from Nax's blanket nest and begins to fold it, feeling like he needs to do something.

"Cayde, you don't need to do that. I'll get to it later."

"I need to do something while I wait." He explains, placing the folded blanket on the couch and picks up another one.

"You don't need to wait for her; it could take a while for her to come out."

"No, I can wait." He places the folded one on top of the other one and continues folding. "Also, you didn't answer my question. Was that her feral state?"

"No, I wish it was; it would be a lot easier to handle her."

"What was that?"

"Fear state, maybe? It hasn't happened in years, and it's rarely happening, so we don't know what causes it. Just something triggers it, and she gets trapped in a memory."

"What memory was that?" The pleads and cries that she has done in the alley bubble to the surface of his memory.

The teal ghost sinks low. "I don't know."

The exo watches him sink. "Beeze, please, I need to know what that was back there. Nax almost attacks civilians. If Zavala and Ikora hear about this, they want to know what happens. I need to learn as much as I can so I can defend her from them.

"But I can't help you; I don't know the memory she was in because back then, they kept us separated until they needed me to revive her."

"They? Who's they the fallen?"

"Yes, they,"

"Beeze!" Nax yells, making them both jump in surprise.

Both turn to see the awoken leaning against the doorframe. She changes into a set of grey sweats; her blue hair still damps from the shower that she spends almost an hour there.

"Nax." The exo puts the last folded blanket down and begins to approach her. But seeing her tensing up, he stops.

"I'm fine." She tells him, but her tone is a bit strain and monotone. "Thank you for helping me back there. But you don't have to hang out here wasting your time off."

"Wasting my time off? Nax someone attacks you; Something happens to you in that alley." He approaches her again, but this time he moves slowly, trying not to make any sudden movements. But stops as he watches her flinch.

"I'm okay, don't you worry about what happened. It will be okay. You still have time to enjoy your day off. "She tells him as she tries to step back a bit, giving them space. But seeing him approach her again, she sidesteps and makes her way towards the kitchen.

"Nax, I don't give a damn about my day off., I'm worried about you more than a day off. Why did they attack you? Did they tell you?"

Nax didn't answer right away as she opens the fridge door and takes out the water pitcher. She tries to hide her tremors as she reaches for a glass. "They didn't say anything," she tells him, turning her back to him.

"So, they just grab you. They just torture you for no reason. That doesn't make sense."

"ENOUGH!" She yells, slamming the cabinet close and lean over the counter. "I don't want to talk about it, okay?!" Her shoulders begin to sag as the tremors start to get worse. "I... I just want," A leather hand reaches past her and takes another glass out of the cabinet. Nax turns towards him and watches him pour them each a class.

"I'm sorry." The exp tells her, staring at the white cabinet door. "I don't mean to push you." He places a glass next to her. "But seeing what they had done to you makes me," He grips the glass but realize he could break it, place it down, and takes a breath. "Okay, let's change the subject. Are you hungry?"

The warlock blinks a few times. "What?"

"Are you hungry? Did you eat anything today?"

"Not since breakfast?" She answers, a bit confuse.

Cayde shakes his head. "That's not good." He turns around and opens the fridge and sighs, disappointed seeing the fridge empty He went in the cabinets and seen them empty. "What did you eat for breakfast air?"

"Cayde, what are you doing?" The warlock asks, watching in confusion as to the vanguard rummage through her kitchen.

The blue exo turns to her. "I'm making you dinner but seeing you have no food here, I'm wondering if you really do have anything for breakfast. Sundance places an order at my favorite pizza place. What kind of pizza do you like?"

"Um, cheese? Wait, wait, what about your day off?'

"Nax, the only thing I wanted to do on my day off was to hang out with you." The hunter explains.

Nax feels heat coming across her cheeks, hearing him telling her that.

"Now, there this pizza place I want you to try, so go pick a movie while I order food," Cayde says, shooing here away.

Still surprise and confuse, she walks towards her small collection of DVDs in the living room. "Beeze, what is going on?"

"Well, it looks like you're having a movie night with Cayde."

"But why?" She asks, looking at Cayde, talking to his ghost, and going through her cabinets.

"That's what friends do, Nax; he wants to make sure you're okay. I know Evie has never done anything like this, but some people have movie nights when they have a bad day." The teal ghost explains.

"What am I supposed to do?" She asks, holding an action movie in one hand and horror in the other.

"Pick a movie, enjoy some pizza, and try to forget what happened today. Even for just a few hours." Beeze tells her.

# # # # # # # #

Josh and his friend sit in a small room, tending to their broken noses.

"What are we going to do, Josh?" Mask Two asks, nervous.

"Well, first, Nia, we are leaving the last city; Cayde is going to be hunting us down. So, while he is busy taking care of his warlock, we should take this chance and leave."

Nia nods in agreement. "Should we tell him about us failing the job?"

"No, he'll figure it out," Josh tells him as both are unaware of the door behind to open.

# # # # # # # #

After two movies, two pizzas, one cheese, and one that looks like it could burn a hole in your stomach just by looking at it, Cayde felt a little bit of weight on his right side as the credits roll on the second movie. He looks over and sees that Nax had fallen asleep and leans against him.

Beeze approaches them and begins to try to wake her up. "Sorry about that, Cayde. Let me wake her up so you can head out."

The hunter raises his hand, stopping the ghost. "No, don't." He whispers as he slowly and gently maneuvers himself and the blue warlock where she can lay her head on his lap, and he can sit comfortably. "It seems like she hasn't slept in a while, and what happened to her today? I'm sure she's going to get nightmares, so I rather let her get as much sleep as she con. Get me one of those blankets."

Beeze brings over one of the folded blankets. "Are you sure, Cayde? You don't need to stay here all night. I can take care of her."

Cayde chuckles. "I swear you two are peas in a pod. If I didn't want to do it, then I wouldn't offer to stay. So, is there anything else to watch? I need to introduce this warlock to more movies."

"Well, I was planning to watch Ispy. Would you mind if we watch that?" The teal ghost asks.

"Mind?" He puts his feet up on the coffee table, careful not to wake her. "I love that show!"