Alaura rested comfortably in a chair, exhausted from the last battle. Her mind still raced with different thoughts and the aftertaste of adrenaline. The aches in her joints and wounds burned intensely, causing her to scream on the inside. Her fiery eyes locked onto Tanis, who sat on his bed as if nothing happened just an hour earlier. Alaura sighed in frustration, still lacking on a hint of why that ordeal happened in the first place. "What were you two thinking? You could've died. Tanis did die! If I hadn't-"

Malachi cut in sharply, "But we didn't. Okay? You can stop yelling at us like we're children." He rested his head back on the wall he leaned against as the sinking feeling of dread kicked around inside of his stomach. If I dragged Tanis out of there when I said we should turn back, none of this would've happened... Malachi thought bitterly to himself. Macey peered up at him from her spot on Tanis' bed, but didn't say anything.

"I'm not talking down to you. I was worried. Do you know what I heard when I woke up? Shooting. Yelling. Screams from the Hive. All of it was broken pieces coming through communications, and I couldn't tell if you two were in grave danger or not."

"D..." Tanis paused immediately. His blue optics were stuck on the lifeless ghost shell in his hands. Pure self-hatred rose in his circuits, increasing by the second. His optics failed to rise to look his fellow guardians in the eyes. He gave his life up for me... Agreeing to go into the temple was a horrible mistake. Tanis clenched his fists. "He said we could do it. I believed him. We thought we could handle it."

The muscles in Malachi's body screamed for rest. He allowed his mind to wander as he sunk into a chair on the opposite side of Tanis. Without thinking, he spoke out loud, "We're trying to save the solar system...but what if we can't? We've lost again, and again. How many more times are we going to lose? What if our efforts are for nothing?"

An undertone of anger seasoned Tanis' words, "We were sent here for a reason: to save humanity. It's our destiny." He forced himself to look up at his so-called-friends to see if they noticed what he meant. They remained silent and couldn't even look him in the eye. Were they tired? Defeated? Scared? Worried if Tanis ever found out what they did to him? The Warlock grimaced in his mind, bottling up all of the anger.

A tense silence kicked in. Not even the ghosts uttered a word out loud, or in their guardians' minds. Nothing stirred outside, leaving the land of Earth peaceful for once. Malachi had led them to an old home of his, which had been built over long ago. A huge home sat in its place, probably belonging to somebody important in this abandoned section of the country. Alaura reached up for the dogtags around her neck, yet hesitated for a moment. She clenched her hand and set it back down to her side.

Malachi put his head in his hands. "We are so fucked..." The way he muttered the sentence, so broken and hopeless, sent chills down Alaura's spine. This man wasn't the one to be broken. Hopeless, sure. But broken? It wasn't like him at all.

Alaura sat up straight, pushing down any pain that shot up her ribcage. She instantly shot back in a defiant tone, "So what if we are? This isn't the end of the war. There will always be more fights. There will always be enemies. The Intergalactic Empire is facing death. Not humanity. We are here to save as many as we can." The odds were highly against them, but what difference did that make? They were all going to meet their maker whether they liked it or not. Might as well do something while they still could.

A scoff escaped Malachi's throat before he could stop it, "Always the optimist." He lifted his head and looked over at her, waiting for the bickering to begin.

Jarvis spoke up from behind Alaura, "Someone has to in a time like this." He flew up into the air and rested himself on the bed next to Macey. These guardians were given a purpose. Dinklebot sacrificed himself for his guardian, and by the Traveler's Light, Jarvis was not going to let that go to waste.

"Why? Can't we just grieve in peace?" Tanis snapped fiercely.

Macey quickly jerked up from the bed and shook angrily. She projected onto the white sheets, "You aren't the only one who lost someone today!" All eyes were on Macey. She bobbed in the air for a second after the projection disappeared, then abruptly fled the room. Jarvis glanced around, shell scrunched up in frustration, before chasing after her.

Malachi's dark eyes bounced to Tanis, whose hands shook immensely. He searched his features or body movements for any more indications of anger, but came up with nothing. Why is he so difficult to read? Without putting more effort into it, he questioned in a serious manner, "What's wrong, other than the obvious?"

Where would he even begin? How they betrayed him? The dreams, or whatever the hell they were, engrained into his brain? The pain and anger he wanted to spew out, but couldn't express physically? Tanis didn't want to look at their expressions. All he could stare at was the dead shell in his hands. Bitterness crept inside of him and spilled into his words, "I saw something when I died. A memory." Malachi and Alaura peered at each other with a knowing look plastered on their faces. It made Tanis sick to his nonexistent stomach. "I saw my father. My real one."

Alaura began to come up with some form of justification for what they did, "Tan-"

"I don't want to hear your apologies!" Tanis took a moment to compose himself. His metal fingers scraped against the shell as the memories flooded back to his mind. "I remembered the neglect. The way he ignored me. How I felt isolated from the world. I knew I recognized those feelings somehow...I felt as if I had father issues, but couldn't comprehend why. Now I know."

"We wer-"

Tanis snapped at Malachi, nearly making a sharp biting motion towards him, "I'm not finished." Malachi backed off, sinking down into his chair once more. Tanis let a wave of calm wash over his mind, bringing him back into the realism of his dream. "Then I saw flashes of a war with others like me. Exos. All of us were on our way to a huge tower, but a group of people stood in our way. Friends. Family. People I've seen on the street." He paused for a second. "I think Exos were built for destruction...

"I saw you two in the group of people. I was almost to the tower, but there you were. You pleaded with me to stop and to abandon my journey. When I pulled my gun out and pointed it at Malachi, he froze. He tried to talk me out of it. Alaura...you begged me not to pull the trigger."

Malachi tore his eyes away upon hearing that statement. Was he seeing the future? Some crazy metaphor for what he feels? Did those books put something crazy into his mind? The Hunter's eyes flickered across the room to Alaura, who watched Tanis with wide eyes. Her hand gripped the arm of the chair tightly, as if she knew what it was like to target innocents like that.

"I couldn't control my actions. I helped slaughter all of those people. I was a spectator and someone else controlled my actions...or maybe my internal wiring took over." The Warlock hesitated, his whole rigid body shaking intensely. He shook his head; his voice almost broke with every word, "And I just...pulled the trigger. Alaura jumped in front of you and collapsed. Before you could react, I put a round through your skull..."

Tanis set his head against the dead ghost in his hands. Thoughts jumped from circuit to circuit in his mind. He was a monster meant for destruction. Not only the destruction of his enemies, but anything that stood in his way for...for some greater knowledge. Some common purpose he shared with other Exos. If his ghost would've seen what he did, what would the little light think?

Alaura reached out to set her hand on Tanis' arm, yet he quickly swatted it away. "Don't touch me! I'm...I'm this way because of you two. If you would have just let me die..."

Malachi leaned forward, eyebrows slowly knitting together as he watched his friend tremble with anger. The Hunter set the record straight, "Alaura wasn't going to let that happen, and I'm glad I listened to her. We wouldn't have been able to achieve a lot of what we've done without you. All those lives are saved because of you."

A shrill broken cry left Tanis' throat, "I'm a murderer! Something built for war..." His angry trembling softened. The memories of tears filling his eyes trailed back into his mind. Something inside of him yearned to be able to do that again, express emotions, cry, and a lot more. He wanted to sob right there and then, his body shaking with each breath. Tanis continued in a softer tone, "...and soon, I fear I'll turn against you guys without a second thought. It's in my nature."

Alaura looked away and closed her eyes. In that situation, what would she do? Neutralize him? Let him kill her? Knock him out until they find a better solution? Anything could go wrong. She protested, "Tanis, that won't happen."

"You don't know that for sure."

Tanis wasn't any different from them. Well...they made him that way. Malachi swallowed the first few words he almost said and thought it out before speaking. "Tanis, your teammates are in the same boat. Built for war, but on different battlefields. I used to be a freelancer. Alaura was in the goddamn army. You-"

A switch in his mind changed in an instant. Tanis' head snapped up as he yelled out with a fiery intensity, "I was the innocent one! I had nothing on my conscience! Now? Now I'm forced to. This," he set the ghost shell down and put both of his hands onto his chest, "this is me now. Whatever this shell used to be is dead, but it doesn't erase the protocols, or even the wiring. I could revert back to what this Exo used to be and kill you both."

Alaura couldn't accept that answer. That was Tanis in there. Nothing else. The dream meant nothing. It had to. With all the shit going on around them, what they needed most right now was glue to keep them together. This was tearing them apart. "This is us you're talking about. You wouldn't do that. We're a team."

"I couldn't stop myself in my dream. Who's to say that won't happen for real?" Tanis shot back, locking eyes with Alaura. She wouldn't give up and he was tired of it.

She began, "Tha-"

Tanis snapped once more, "Just leave me alone..." Letting gravity pull him down, he sunk into his bed. His hands curled around the little ghost shell and brought it to his chest plate as he turned away from his teammates.

Alaura bitterly nodded and got up slowly to leave the room. Malachi followed her side-by-side through the long hallway. He wrung his shaking hands and ran with different scenarios in his mind. It's better now, rather than too late...We're not going to make it long if we're not a team... He thought, and pushed the words out of his throat, "Listen, Alaura..."

She kept walking, eyes glued straight ahead of her. She almost waved her hand in dismissal, but stopped herself. "If this is about the last battle, I don-"

"Just listen, okay?" Malachi took a deep breath as they continued walking. His stomach twisted, and his heart thumped too fast for him to comprehend. Come on, Malachi, don't overthink this. This is simple. Just say it. He started forming his feelings into a statement, "I want to say this before shit hits the fan. I..."

Malachi paused when Alaura turned to him. By this time, they had stopped walking and stood in the middle of the hall, not too far apart from one another. Her red eyes locked onto his as she tried to figure out what he was thinking, which only made the hair on his arms stand straight. A flush of red threatened to fill his cheeks, so he quickly sputtered, "I...uh...you are very important to me."

Amused, Alaura half-laughed. A smile tugged at the ends of her pale lips and she arched an eyebrow. "Is this your way of expressing your feelings for someone?"

A heavy weight set itself onto his shoulders. Was this a mistake? Starting to sound like it... He dropped his hands to his side and grimaced. "Come on. Don't laugh."

"Okay, okay. I'm not laughing." The smile remained as she set one hand onto his shoulder. She hesitated, digging down inside of herself to find a respectable answer. The more she thought about it, the more her red eyes darkened and her bright smile turned to pity. "I appreciate your sentiment and would like to expand on it, but we really have to plan our next move."

Taken aback, Malachi narrowed his eyes and huffed, "So that's all you're going to say? I was worried sick about you when you were missing. Then, you got severely injured. You listen to Tanis and his whole spiel for five whole minutes. I finally muster up the courage to tell you about my feelings, and I get skipped over?"

Alaura furrowed her brow at his reaction. She threw her arms out and spat back, "What do you want me to say? I like you back? Our situation sucks? We can't do anything about it. This fight is too important. If one of us has to die, we'll do it in a heartbeat. I do like you, Malachi, but I don't want you to hope for something that might not even happen. Our focus should be..."

"All you think about is the fight! The war. The impending doom. Don't you ever think about yourself for once? What happens when we make it out alive?" He yearned to grab her hands and show her how much he cared. It's like she was an open book for him to read, always thinking about the same thing, over and over. She allowed her past to define her and her choices. As much as he was the pessimist here, she was pulling her weight on this subject too. A tinge of pain settled in his stomach. She fought so hard with Tanis, so why not now? "This isn't just about me. It's about you too."

Alaura almost laughed. Something small like feelings would be utterly crushed in battle. Her skin burned hot against the dogtags laying against her chest. "Humanity is on the line here. Our lives are on the line. I'm more worried about the success of the mission than something that can dissolve if one of us were to perish. Don't you understand that? False hope or getting something snatched away from beneath you is heartbreaking."

"You don't think I know that? I've experienced it, Alaura. Why do you think I kept to myself before I got stuck with you guys?"

Even if he was right to think of the hopeful future, that hope she once had for love died. Kai got killed in battle right before her eyes. To face that again would take more internal strength than she had. She closed her eyes and let out a held breath. "You are my teammate. I'm just trying to save one of us from pain."

Malachi uttered, pain now clear in his voice, "You mean yourself."

"No."

"Clearly it is. You don't want me to die. You're afraid that this is only a temporary thing." This girl could kick his ass three times over, and he'd still have feelings for her. Opening up like this meant something. Malachi watched her, sadness clear in his brown eyes.

Alaura threw her hands out in frustration and stepped closer to him. "So what if I am? We're losing everything here. I lost my team. Millions of lives are gone. I..." Alaura paused and a disgusted expression took over her features. She motioned to her pale blue skin and red eyes with her hands, and continued, "I look like this... Dinklebot is dead. We're fighting a losing war. How can I not be afraid that the only possibility, other than our trio of friendship, might go down the drain too? If we even live long enough to do something about it..."

Malachi grabbed her shoulders gently, staring at her straight in the eyes, "Don't even say that. All right? If you're going to die in the fight, we all are. You are the best fighter we have! And I like it when you give us orders." He winked. Alaura rolled her eyes and started to walk away, only for Malachi to pull her back. He chuckled softly, lightening up the mood. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding! If you die, it'll be a good day for me to die too."

The smile returned to Alaura's lips. Maybe...maybe it could work after all of this. He seemed dedicated enough. If they worked cohesively, survival was in their favor. The only solution was to take it one day at a time, starting with ending the war. Her red eyes looked into his in a heartfelt way, "Thank you."

"I lost my sister because of my own problem. I was addicted to stealing. To earn money for requests that would make me the most horrible person in this hall...I don't..." Malachi inhaled and released a deep breath, allowing the words to fall right out of his mouth, "...don't make me lose you too."

Alaura hugged him and rested her head on his shoulder. "So in other words, don't do something stupidly dangerous."

He snorted, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." His arms wrapped around Alaura tighter. The last time he was hugged was...God, the memory wasn't even there. He couldn't remember. Malachi shut his eyes in an attempt to engrain this memory in his mind. She felt comfortable in his arms, and the warmth that radiated from her put a fuzzy feeling in the core of Malachi's chest.

"That's a pretty short list." Both of them laughed for a short moment. Malachi backed up a bit and looked into her eyes. They risked their lives for each other over and over again, and to know it actually meant something to both of them established a comforting atmosphere. They glanced down at each other's lips for a brief moment.

Alaura was the first to break the silence, "Let's go plan some new tactics."

Malachi scratched the back of his neck nervously and nodded. Alaura walked ahead of him as his eyes darted to the ground. The heavy weight lifted off of his chest and he let out a sigh of relief. A small grin plastered itself onto his face before he caught up with her.

AN: This is one of my favorite songs from this album. Also, I had to make a #Malaura aesthetic for the biggest fan of this fanfic, Galaxy_Heathen! Hope this chapter gave you bit of feels.