Hit. Hit. Crack.

Alaura punched a couch that she had propped up on the wall earlier. She grunted as she sent a kick at one of the cushions. Sweat dropped down from her hair to her brow.

The screams...God, she could hear the screams of all the lost civilians and her teammates. It clouded her hearing and formed a horrifying choir that echoed against the walls of her mind. She punched the couch cushions as hard as she could, and didn't let up.

The guilt wouldn't vanish. As happy as she was with her new makeshift team, letting her old team down seemed to be glued to her conscious. Alaura released a brief sigh and felt a warm heat surge through her arm down to her hand. She closed her now dark purple eyes before throwing one last punch. The couch lit up in a bright purple light, and disintegrated into purple ash-like flecks. Alaura opened her eyes and leaned against the wall tiredly, her chest heaving to take in fresh oxygen.

Jarvis monitored her closely, and computed the results from her training in his head. He showed her some possible statistics of overexertion on some parts of the body in the close future, and she nodded in response. Jarvis twirled his shell as he eyed his guardian, worried for her mental state.

The screaming in her mind ceased when a voice spoke up from the other side of the room, "You really need to calm down, Ms. Fight Club."

Alaura turned around to see Malachi leaning against the doorframe. She scoffed and ran her hands through her sweaty hair. Practicing for an hour had taken a lot out of her, but she couldn't just sit down and relax. Her body yearned to be active. "Yeah, and you're supposed to be resting, Deadshot."

Malachi smiled lightly at the fact that she used a nickname. With her playing his game, he felt more comfortable to open up. "I tend to rebel, if you haven't noticed it already."

"If that's what you call it. To me, it's simply not listening," she shrugged, a smirk lifting a corner of her lips. She reached over into her duffel bag and brought out a water bottle for each of them.

Malachi refused at first, but gave in quickly. He was in no mood to fight. He glanced around the room before sitting on the only couch left. The whole apartment was a mess, and his teammate only contributed to the mess. The small city evacuated a while ago, headed off to god knows where. Nowhere was safe with those creatures out there, and apparently, it was the fireteam's job to take them out. At least, that's what Alaura and Tanis believed.

"Do your wounds hurt a lot?" Alaura questioned as she took a sip of water.

"Just sore. The bleeding stopped last night," he answered. He leaned back a bit to get into a comfortable position and draped one of his arms on the back of the couch. The memory of the attack floated through his mind. The worry, the fear, it was all over in seconds once Alaura saved him. Then, suffering through some jokes to make her smile was worth it. Malachi's brown eyes peered over at Alaura longingly.

She was worth it.

He was done with trying to deny what he wants. Pushing down emotions, being in denial, squishing his mentality into what it used to be, it was all pointless. He was happily to admit to himself that he's changed, and internally, he already had in his heart. He had a team, and they meant the world to him. It was time to let go of his old mentality too.

"...Hello? Are you going to respond?"

Malachi was shaken out of his thoughts, a little disoriented on what was happening. He quickly replied, "What?"

"You're going to sit out on our next mission," she ordered sternly. The last thing they needed was another casualty. Alaura watched and waited or a reaction, for she expected retaliation. Malachi wasn't always the most cooperative, so she created responses in her head ahead of time to prepare.

He furrowed his brow, half in skepticism, and half in confusion. "To hell I'm not," Malachi shot back in a defensive tone. He sat forward as much as he could without straining himself and questioned, "What happened to being a fireteam? You and Tanis dragged me through the adventure just so you can bench me here? No. I'm going with you."

Alaura turned to face him fully and spat back, "I'm not going to let you go out there just to die. I might've been quick enough last time to save you, but what if I can't this time around?"

"What if I stay and you or Tanis gets injured, or even killed? I could've been there to stop that from happening," He raised his voice at her, but caught himself, and attempted to calm down before his anger got the best of him.

She narrowed her eyes and motioned to his wounds. "I need you to heal. If my team couldn't handle the Hive while fully healthy, how do you even stand a chance?"

Malachi scoffed as he stared her down. He challenged her, "I have you guys, a ghost, and on top of that, the power the Light gives me. I'm going with you whether you like it or not, sweetheart."

Alaura was about to retaliate until Tanis came through the front door of the apartment. Dinklebot followed close behind and entered the living room as his guardian shut the door. "We scouted the area and found supplies," Tanis declared proudly. He strolled into the room and plopped down on the chair across from his team. "I also salvaged some parts to upgrade our weapons."

Alaura's face blanked for a second before she turned her body to sit on the couch the right way. She cleared her throat, "That's good, Tanis. Thank you."

Tanis looked over at Malachi to see him nearly scowling. The Exo wanted to furrow his brow, or even frown, but his mood lowered at the fact that he couldn't. "Did I miss something here?"

Malachi's expression eased and he shook his head. "No, Tanis. Nothing worth mentioning, anyway."

A closed off answer. Tanis expected half as much. He shook it off and changed the subject to something more genuine, "I'm happy to see you're doing okay, Malachi."

"Likewise, buddy."

What did he mean by that? Tanis contemplated for a moment. As much as Tanis IV wanted to know his origins and other information, just one look at his fireteam made him feel wanted, as if all that ever mattered was them being together. He leaned back in his chair, yearning to smile. Dinklebot almost read his mind and settled down on the coffee table in relaxation. Tanis nodded, mainly for his own reassurance as a replacement for a smile, and spoke up in a soft, heartfelt manner, "I'm really glad you two are my friends. You're the only people I have that I can call a family."

"Family until our dying breaths." Alaura played with Kai's dogtags around her neck in thought as she said those words out loud. It seemed like yesterday they were just strangers trying to kill each other over an object. Time flies when you're in the middle of action. "Look at us. We've come pretty far if we consider each other family. Even if we're a little dysfunctional," she chuckled lightly.

"Dysfunctional is definitely the right word for it," Tanis snickered and nodded at Alaura. Of all the arguments, bickering, and wittiness they shared together as a group, he wouldn't trade it for the world. His friends had his back when no one else has, or at least, that's what he could remember.

Malachi's eyes flickered from Tanis to Alaura, a small smile warming up on his lips. A thought returned to his mind and he debated on if he should say it out loud. Doing so would make it real, something he could never take back. I trust them with my life. Alaura almost killed herself to save me. I have no doubt Tanis would do the same. He thought to himself. He licked his lips slowly and ceased the debate altogether.

He almost chuckled, a slight, breathless snort coming out of his throat. He was the most closed off person in the group, yet here he was, about to open his heart to them. If only he could tell his past self that to see his own reaction. "I agree with you, Tanis. When I..." Malachi hesitated for a moment, but saw his teammates turn their gazes to him and saw reassurance in their eyes. "When I got hit in the last battle, I thought that was it. I thought I was going to die, even if it was for the briefest second. When the second passed, my mind processed what I was thinking about because, well...people say their life flashes before their eyes. But mine didn't. I saw you guys.

"We were hanging out at some bar in some dream, or the distant future. Whichever suits your fancy. Drinking. Sharing war stories with other people. Living the dream of victorious guardians that saved the entire galaxy. And in that moment, I was happy. I am happy." That was the whole-hearted truth. A weight lifted off of Malachi's chest now that he finally said it out loud. "You two are my closest friends. After losing..." he paused, but quickly finished the sentence, "I never thought I'd be close to anyone again."

Tanis caught onto how Malachi skipped over the name he was going to mention. His fingers tapped against the arm in the chair as he opened and closed his mouth for a brief moment until he found the right words to say. "What happened to your partner?"

Then, came silence. Malachi bit his lip, and for a moment, he was left speechless. He didn't know what to think, or even what to say. His eyes locked onto the ground as he tapped his foot. It's time to finally talk about this. His heart rate increasingly sped up. This was the first time he'd actually say this out loud to anyone. "I, uh..." he paused, hesitant at first, but saw his teammates look at him in confusion and concern. He dragged his hand down his mouth and chin before continuing, "I had a twin sister named Macey."

Alaura and Tanis straightened their posture in realization of how the name came about for his ghost in the first place. Alaura leaned forward a bit, interested in what had happened. Tanis watched Malachi closely and tilted his head in slight curiosity.

"When we turned eighteen, we were kicked out of the foster care program and out into the real world. In order to make ends meet, I was doing work under the table. Odd jobs here and there. Macey found out, and well..." he rubbed the back of his tense neck for a moment, "she hated it at first. I would come home with bruises at first. Some black eyes. Got stabbed once, hurt like a bitch. Eventually, she warmed up to the idea. She joined me when I went out on jobs. Everyone in the crime world knew our names and what we were capable of. We were invincible. Inseparable."

A small smile formed on his lips, but it faltered as quickly as it formed. He took a deep breath and steadied his now shaking hands. "We robbed a guy out of state that had the right connections. Next thing we know, there was a hit put out on us. The thugs met us at our house, guns ready. I don't even know how the bastards knew where we lived."

Malachi's lips formed a tight line as fresh water came to his eyes. He blinked it back, but the pain inside stung his heart. "I told her to go. That I'd meet her there at the safe house. I had to fend them off to allow her to escape." Malachi hung his head as some water escaped from his eyes. It was one thing to let it happen. It was another to show his team the weakness he put out there.

He coughed to cover up the crack in his voice, "By the time I got to her, she was on the floor bleeding from a gunshot wound. She had taken out the guy that followed her, but not before he took a shot. He had made sure it was slow, and painful for her."

Malachi once held his sister in his arms as he screamed. He attempted to stop the bleeding, but she had lost so much blood already. Her blood stained his skin and her skin paled. The warmth that emanated from her seemed to grow cold and distant with the sound of her heartbeat. Her once bright brown eyes faded into nothingness. Malachi screamed his lungs out, agonizing over the loss of his sister. He didn't fear death at that moment.

He feared of being alone in the world.

"I told her, I got you..." He sniffled at the memory. Those words meant so much to him, and yet, he didn't have her. He lost her as he uttered those words. All he held was a lifeless body at that point. "She died in my arms. After that, I wanted to be alone. Isolated. Ignored all of my feelings and only focused on my hate. Took my anger and sorrows out on jobs and the like. So when I tell you guys that same expression, I truly mean it. I will not fail this time to protect anyone in my life."

Alaura frowned and set a hand on his shoulder in comfort. Malachi wiped away his tears with his sleeve and put his hand on top of Alaura's to show appreciation for the support. Everyone had lost something. Tanis' life and identity. Alaura's team and her identity. Malachi and his sister. They were all broken in similar ways, yet every single one of them carried the weight differently. Whether it was being optimistic and searching for it, or completely ignoring it altogether, they were bonded by these losses.

It made them stronger as a team.

Alaura raised her water bottle into the air as if it were an alcoholic drink. She toasted in a solemn tone, "To family." Malachi and Tanis did the same; all three of them drank water in memory of loss and celebration of new encounters. 

AN: Alaura's Void aesthetic. I think I love this one the most.