Work Text:
Pelna gasped as he felt the magic run through him. What was going on? In a rush, it all came back to him. The attack, the princess, the demon. The last thing he remembered was pain, and then darkness. He felt hands on him and he flailed, still trying to get his breath back.
“You back with me, Pelna?”
Pelna blinked up at the figure above him, trying to make out who it was.
“Wakey, wakey.” A hand patted Pelna’s cheek, managing to be comforting and condescending at the same time.
Pelna coughed. “Tredd?”
“There you go. You need to be more careful.” Tredd grabbed Pelna by the shoulders and hauled him up to his feet. “Lucky for you, I pay my debts. And I happen to have had a phoenix down on me.”
Pelna swayed and nearly fell, but Tredd’s hands on his arms kept him up. “What’s going on?”
Tredd snorted. “I’m going to need you to keep up here. You saved me last time, this is me returning the favor. Now, get your shit together, Khara. You’re going to want to get out of here.”
Pelna just blinked at Tredd. His thoughts were sluggish as he swayed on his feet.
“Pelna! I don’t have all day!” Tredd shook Pelna before letting him go.
Pelna stumbled before catching himself. “Yeah, yeah, go, I’ll be fine.”
In a second, Tredd was gone down the hallway, and Pelna realized it wasn’t just his balance that was off. The whole ship was swaying. The big fucking demon must still be on the ship. Shit!
Pelna wanted to go after Nyx and the princess, but he didn’t know which direction they’d gone or even how long he’d been out. He moved to tap his comm to find it gone, lost during the attack. He grimaced and started running down the hallway as best he could as the ship shuddered. He hated to admit it, but Tredd was right. At this point, his best bet was to get out of here and rendezvous with the others on the ground.
He turned the corner, and kept going, aiming for the door where he came in. He ran into another glaive, Conicerus he thought. He was about to wave him towards the exit when Conicerus turned and slashed his dagger at him. Pelna got his own dagger up in time, and stepped under Conicerus’ blow to strike back. Pelna cursed as the body dropped to the floor and the ship tilted wildly. What the fuck was going on?
Explosions rang out, and Pelna could tell the ship was going down. It was time to get out of here and figure things out on the ground. He ran for the exit, doing his best to keep his feet as the ship fell around him. More explosions, and part of the ceiling came down. Pelna twisted out of the way, but he could feel lines of fire as shrapnel hit him. Ironic, if Tredd went to all that trouble to revive him, only for him to die in the crash.
Pelna made it to the door and wrenched it open to find the ground much closer than it should be. He threw his dagger and warped after it. He came out of his warp to find he hadn’t made enough distance, and the ship was still coming down on his head. He shielded his head as the flaming debris rained down, but it wasn’t enough. Something hit his head, and darkness took him.
Pelna groaned as he woke up. Pain stabbed him in the head, side and leg. He opened his eyes, and immediately closed them as the light made the pain spike. Fucking hell. He wasn’t dead, he hurt too much to be dead. So that was something. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes a crack. The light still hurt, but after a minute, his eyes adjusted. He was laying in a debris field, scraps of airship all around him. And when he lifted his head a little, he discovered some on his leg, too.
Pelna dropped his head back on the ground and concentrated on his breathing. He couldn’t hear any sounds of active combat, so whatever that demon was, it was probably dead. And whatever was going on with some of the glaive was probably over, too. He didn’t hear any activity around him, just the cracking of overheated metal. He took a deep breath, propped himself up on his elbows and tried to pull his leg out from under the scrap of metal. Pain screamed in his head, and darkness swallowed him once more.
The next time he woke up, everything seemed quieter. The area around him had gotten cool, and Pelna shivered. He opened his eyes to find that it was dark, and he instinctively reached for his dagger. He found it next to his hand, but he was still pinned under debris.
Voices came from his left, and he turned to see a figure walking towards him.
“Vic, come see! One of ‘em’s alive!” The figure hurried over and kneeled down next to Pelna. “And he’s a glaive!”
Pelna stared as the woman looked him over.
“Looks like you got yourself in a bit of pickle, glaive.” The woman eyed his leg critically.
“Pelna, my name’s Pelna Khara.” Pelna tried to smile, but the pain was still throbbing in his head.
Another man, Vic Pelna assumed, appeared at the woman’s shoulder. “That don’t look too good.”
The woman smacked him as she stood up. “We’ll get you out of here as soon as we can. Come on, help me get this off of him.”
With a lot of tugging, and a few swear words, the two managed to get the piece of ship off Pelna’s leg. The pain was somehow worse now, but Pelna counted his breaths, determined not to pass out again.
“Now, we only got the weak potions they give out to hunters, but it should help some.” The woman took a small bottle out of her pocket and handed it to Pelna. The man whispered something into her ear, but she ignored him.
“Thanks.” Pelna took it and downed it immediately. He felt the rush of magic and the pain ebbed a little. It wasn’t strong enough to actually heal him, but he could think.
“Name’s Lydia, and this is my partner Victor. We’re hunters out that way, and when we saw the ships go down, we came to see if there were any survivors. You’re the only one we’ve found.”
Pelna smiled, hoping the expression conveyed his gratitude. “Thanks, Lydia. You’re a lifesaver.”
“Now, can we get out of here? Demons’ll be showing up any minute.” Victor’s eyes were scanning the horizon, darting back and forth.
“Help me get him up and we can go.” Lydia’s voice was curt and she grabbed Pelna’s arm.
Between the three of them, they got Pelna standing, but he wasn’t able to put any weight on his leg. Besides the injured leg, he had what he was pretty sure were some broken ribs, and a possible concussion. But he reminded himself it could have been worse.
He leaned on Victor as they led him to the car, and helped him in the backseat.
“We’ll take you back to our base where you can rest up. Ain’t no one getting near Insomnia right now,” Lydia declared as she drove off.
Pelna thought about protesting, but he was in too much pain. He wouldn’t be much use right now, anyway. He’d report in the morning, once he could find a working comm device. He dozed in the backseat, only waking up enough to stumble after Lydia and crash on the couch she pointed him at. He was back asleep as soon as he stretched out.
He woke up to raised voices and he groped for his dagger, only to find it gone. He tried to pull his spare out of the armiger, but he couldn’t reach it. He tried a quick lightning spell, and couldn’t use that, either. What was going on? He couldn’t feel his magic at all. The voices came closer, distracting him from the mystery.
“You brought one of the Kingsglaive home? Did you even ask him what he was doing out there? Do you know what they did?” The door burst open, and someone Pelna assumed was the owner of the angry voice stalked forward.
Lydia stepped in front of the man and put her hand out. “We found him in the wreckage nearly dead, and he ain’t done us no harm. You watch your tongue about guests in my home.”
The stranger glared at Lydia, but stopped moving forward. “They say the Kingsglaive are the ones who let the Niffs in! That one of them is responsible for killing the king!”
“What!?” Pelna sat straight up and grit his teeth as the room spun. As soon as the room settled, he looked at the stranger, fists clenched in the blanket covering his knees. “What happened to King Regis?”
Lydia looked at the ground, and even the stranger seemed to deflate a little. “The Niffs took Insomnia. The king and the council are dead.”
Pelna’s head spun and he rested his head in his hands. While he was laying here, sleeping, his friends, his king died! And he did nothing! He tried to stand up, only to fall back down.
“What do you mean the glaive had something to do with it! That’s-” Pelna stopped himself as he remembered Conicerus’ attack. Was it possible some of the glaive had something to do with it? He shook his head.
The stranger sneered. “They even tied one of your own, Libertus Ostium, to the initial attack on the Citadel.”
Pelna shook his head again, even as the throbbing in his skull returned. This had to be some kind of bad dream or something. Libertus was angry over Crowe’s death, sure. Enough to leave the glaive. But enough to attack the Citadel? Nothing made sense.
“They can’t be trusted.” The stranger implored Lydia one more time.
Pelna took a deep breath. “I don’t know what happened or what’s going on, but I’m loyal to the king, to my oaths. I would never betray them. I was trying to stop the Niffs when the ship went down.”
Pelna and the stranger stared at each other, and a third person pushed their way into the room. Pelna’s eyes widened as he recognized them.
“Aves, relax. I know him. I’ve worked with him before, and Khara’s trustworthy.” Tabitha, one the Crownsguard Pelna had worked with in the past, placed a hand on Aves’ arm. Aves scowled, but remained quiet.
“Tabitha, what’s going on? What are you doing here?” Pelna looked to her for answers.
She sighed. “Insomnia’s under Imperial control now. The Marshal and Lieutenant Elshett have all surviving guard contacting local hunters for help evacuating civilians. We came here to ask for Lydia and Victor’s help.”
“And then you come in here, threatening my guest.” Lydia glared at both Aves and Tabitha.
“Apologies, Lydia.” Tabitha raised a hand in peace. “We’re just all on edge here. Would you be willing to help, Khara?”
“Of course. What do you need?” Pelna tried again to stand, and growled in frustration as he fell again.
“You’re not getting out of that bed for at least a week with those injuries.” Lydia transferred her glare to Pelna, hands on her hips.
Pelna sunk back into the cushions, scowling.
“It might be for the best. The rumors out there among the guard are getting a little wild, and Aves isn’t the only one looking for someone to blame. You’d be safer laying low here. Lydia and Victor are good people.” Tabitha dredged up a smile for Pelna, but it was a weak, tired thing.
Pelna squared his shoulders. “I may be bedridden for the moment, but I can still help. I’m good at comms, you know that, Tabitha. Get me a comm and some maps and I can help coordinate the evac from here.”
Tabitha and Aves shared a look, before Aves frowned and looked away.
“Alright. We could use the help, honestly. As useful as the hunters are, they don't have the military training of the guard or the glaive.” Tabitha pulled out a guard issued comm and handed it to Pelna. “Lydia should have a map. We’re using beta to gamma frequencies at the moment, standard code, your station designation is Garuda.” She hesitated before adding, “You might want to be careful advertising being a glaive.”
“I got it,” Pelna muttered. He supposed it was true enough, anyway. With the king dead, and Insomnia taken, there wasn’t any glaive any more. At least that explained why he didn’t have magic.
“You staying for breakfast?” Lydia asked.
Tabitha shook her head. “We have other hunters we need to check in on, but thanks for the offer.” She gave Pelna one last look before leaving, while Aves avoided looking at Pelna all together.
Lydia waited until they’d both left before turning to Pelna. “Well, not the best wake up but it’s good to see you awake. How you feeling?”
Pelna’s lips tilted up in a half smile. “Like shit. How bad is it out there?”
Lydia sighed. “Bad. We’ve been seeing Imperial ships overhead all morning. It’s a damn shame. But you still need to eat if you’re ever going to get better enough to get out of that bed. I’ll be back with breakfast.”
“And some maps, please.” Pelna readjusted the blankets around him.
“And the maps,” Lydia agreed.
True to her word, she was back with a hot breakfast, and a ream of maps of the area. She pointed out where they were, and some prominent local landmarks. After Pelna borrowed a pen and some other supplies, he made notes while he ate, listening to the activity on the comm. The reports were all over the place, the numbers didn’t agree, and people kept talking over each other. Tabitha was right, it was a mess.
Pelna listened and made notes for most of the morning, getting a feel for the evacuation, and the operators on the comms. Some were guard, he could tell by their cadence, but most seemed to be amateurs, probably hunters. Once he had a general idea of who was who, and the directions they seemed to be working with, he started contacting people.
He was careful to only use his station id, there was no point in provoking another reaction like Aves. But he confirmed the numbers people were dealing with, and passed on the confirmed numbers to the relevant stations. When he got a chance, he gave some of the newer operators a crash course in comm code. He kept track of the developments on his maps, and made sure to update the surrounding stations, even ones further out.
He rarely left the couch he was laying on, much less the room. Lydia brough food at regular intervals, and he made quick bathroom breaks. But otherwise, he was on the comms, coordinating. As the days went by, it became less about locating and guiding survivors as it was monitoring Imperial patrols. Before Pelna knew it, he had been promoted to running the comms for the surrounding area, though he had been de facto running them for some time.
He was doing some stretches in his room when Lydia came in with a small bag. Pelna stood up, hiding a wince, and looked at her, eyebrows raised. His injuries were healing nicely, and he was no longer bedbound, but he was still not back to 100%. Part of him wondered if he would, without the help of potions for healing.
Lydia handed over the bag. “Since you’re some kind of communications wizard, I thought you might be able to do something with this.”
Pelna opened it up, to see an Imperial comms device in pieces. His eyes widened. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Repair it, so we can keep a better eye on the Niffs, of course.” Lydia looked at him like he was crazy.
Pelna sighed. He was good at using comms, could repair Lucian ones no problem, but tinkering with Niff tech wasn’t something he had a lot of experience in. He could probably figure out something, but who they really needed was Tredd. There wasn’t a piece of tech Pelna had seen that Tredd couldn’t take apart and put back together, usually better than he found it. Pelna sighed again as he laid out the pieces on the bed and tried to make sense of them.
An hour later, he gave up. He didn’t have what he needed here. He found Lydia and asked, but she didn’t have it either. She did give him the keys to her car and directions to the closest outpost, though. It was the first time Pelna had left since Lydia had dragged him from that wreckage, and he was having mixed feelings about it. At least he wasn’t wearing his old glaive uniform, but some of Victor’s old clothes.
He made it to the outpost in good time, and negotiated with the traders there for the tools he needed. It was moderately busy, and Pelna kept an eye on the crowd, unused to this many people after staying at Lydia and Victor’s so long. He turned as he caught a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. It couldn’t be!
Pelna paid the trader quickly, and ran in the direction he had last seen him. He turned a corner to find a knife at his throat.
“Is that any way to greet a friend, Tredd?” Pelna stayed still as he watched Tredd.
“Is that what we are, Pelna?” Tredd sounded tired, not nearly as sarcastic as usual.
“You did save my life,” Pelna reminded him.
Tredd snorted and put his knife away. “What do you want?”
“I can’t just want to see how you’re doing?” Pelna’s mouth twitched up in a grin.
Tredd just looked at him, not saying anything.
Pelna sighed. “I was worried, you know. I’m glad to see you got out of that ship in one piece.”
It was Tredd’s turn to sigh. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
Pelna eyed Tredd. The man was an asshole, had been the whole time Pelna had known him, even if they were something like friends. But he’d never seen Tredd looking so…defeated. It’s not like there wasn't a reason, but somehow he’d never expected Tredd to be so affected. He couldn’t just leave him like this.
“Actually, I could use your help with something. I’ve come into possession of some Niff tech, and you’re much better at that shit than me.”
A ghost of Tredd’s old smirk came back. “I’m glad you’re finally recognizing my superior skill.”
“You had to be good at something considering your complete lack of social skills.” Pelna’s grin widened.
Tredd snorted. “And why should I lend you my expertise?”
“Oh, you have a lot on your agenda? Busy schedule?” Pelna raised his eyebrows and gestured at the empty alley they were in.
“You don’t know, I might,” Tredd muttered.
Pelna gave a Tredd a look.
“Fine, what is it you need help with?” Tredd sighed and put his hands in his pockets.
“Come back with me, let me show you. I’m working with the hunters in the area, coordinating things. Unless you have better things to do?” Pelna started walking out of the alley, watching Tredd.
Considering how tired Tredd looked, Pelna was willing to bet he’d been on his own since the Fall. Probably hadn’t eaten much either, from the look of him. What had happened to Tredd that day after they parted ways? It couldn’t have been good. Though there wasn’t much good about that day.
Tredd paused, before following Pelna. “I guess I don’t.”
“Here, you can help me carry stuff.” Pelna ducked into the store. If he was going to bring back another mouth to feed, he should stock up.
Tredd snorted, but didn’t protest when Pelna handed him bags. Pelna was actually getting concerned by how quiet Tredd was being. Tredd always had some cutting remark to make. What had happened to him?
They climbed into the car after putting the supplies in the trunk, and Pelna filled Tredd in on the way to Lydia’s place. How after the airship Lydia and Victor had found him, let him stay while he helped organize the evacuation and then the resistance. Tredd snorted derisively at that part, but didn’t say anything. Pelna finally asked what happened to Tredd, and the silence from the passenger seat was almost tangible.
After a moment, Tredd answered, “Does it matter? We lost, and the Empire can do what it wants.” He turned his head and muttered, “So much pointless death.”
Pelna let out a breath. He was pretty sure he wasn’t meant to hear that last part. “So what, you’ve just been hanging around Leide?”
Tredd shrugged. “Just laying low. Didn’t have anything better to do.”
Pelna nodded. “Probably for the best. A lot of the remaining guard out there don’t think well of the glaive.”
Tredd looked at Pelna. “That why you’ve been hiding out here?”
Pelna tilted his head in a noncommittal gesture. “I’ve been doing what I can to help out with ruffling too many feathers. Lydia and Vic are good people, even if Vic keeps to himself, and I have to do something.”
There was silence from Tredd’s direction.
“I’ve got experience with comms, so I’ve been running comms for the area, off a repurposed guard comm, if you can believe.”
Tredd snorted in disgust.
“Yeah, I know.” Pelna’s voice was filled with his own disdain. “But I’m making it work. And today, they dropped a Niff comm in my lap. In pieces, of course. That’s why I was there, I needed the tools to repair it.”
“ You were going to repair it?” Tredd was incredulous.
“I’m not completely helpless, you know. But lucky for me, I ran into an expert.” Pelna smirked.
“What are you going to do with it?”
“Track Imperial patrols so our people can avoid them. Maybe even sabotage them, if possible. I’ve been doing what I can with what I have, but this will be more accurate.”
Tredd scoffed. “We lost, don’t you know that?”
“Of course I know that!” Pelna took a deep breath. “But I’m not going to let them hurt innocent people if I can avoid it. There’s been enough death.”
Tredd slumped in his seat and looked away. After a moment, he added, “you better have gotten everything I need, I don’t want to have to go back to the outpost.”
Pelna’s shoulders relaxed as he smiled. “Don’t worry, you’ll have what you need.”
They arrived at Lydia’s place, and Pelna handed Tredd all the bags before they entered. Lydia and Victor looked up from their respective places in the kitchen when they entered. They both froze at the sight of Tredd.
Pelna smiled. “This is Tredd, he’s an old friend. He’s going to help me with my little project.” When they didn’t lose their looks of suspicion, he added, “he also saved my life.”
Lydia smiled as she wiped her hands. “Any friend of Pelna’s is welcome here. Go put up your things and join us for dinner.”
Pelna led Tredd back to what had become his room, and helped him put away their supplies.
Tredd looked around at the heavily annotated maps along the walls. “You’ve been busy.”
Pelna shrugged. “There’s a lot to do. The hunters do their best, but they don’t have a lot of formal training, so it was easiest for me to take over most of the logistics. Now, let’s go eat.”
Tredd looked dubious, but when Pelna clapped him on the shoulder and pushed him in the direction of the dining room, he went with it.
Tredd stayed quiet through dinner, only answering direct questions with the bare minimum. It was a little concerning, but overall Pelna appreciated it. He didn’t need Tredd pissing off his hosts with some sarcastic quip.
Then as soon as they finished they ended back in Pelna’s room, examining the Niff comm. They spent the next few hours working on it, Tredd looking it over with his usual thoroughness when it came to tech. Before Pelna knew it, they had fallen back into their old habits, bickering good naturedly over the usefulness of this or that part. The familiarity of the actions hit Pelna harder than he expected. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed being with people he knew, doing things he was good at.
After the reception he’d gotten the first day after the Fall, he’d laid low, not wanting to complicate things more. He’d kept an ear out for people he knew, and as the weeks passed, he heard about some glaives joining the guard and helping out, but none of the people he was close with. Which meant bad things, probably. Especially Nyx, since his special talent was always being in the middle of the worst of it. He considered reaching out to the Marshal the couple of times he’d talked to Monica, but they had never been all that close, so he didn’t think his condolences would be welcome.
He hadn’t been around anyone he knew since everything went down, and he hadn’t known he’d missed it this much. The feeling of shared knowledge, knowing how someone would react. Even the bad inside jokes. Tredd might not have been his first choice for a reunion, but they’d worked together enough times on various tech, that the familiarity was enough.
Pelna shook himself as he realized he was just staring at Tredd, and went back to arguing about the benefits of replacing this part. Tredd gave him a strange look, but continued the conversation without bringing it up. They had almost finished when Tredd started yawning.
“Alright, let’s sleep on it. We can pick this back up tomorrow.” Pelna stood up and grabbed some extra blankets.
“Am I sleeping here?” Tredd looked around the small room.
“Unless you’d rather sleep outside.” Pelna snorted. “We’ve both slept in worse places. It’ll be like being out on missions again.”
He handed Tredd the blankets and pillow, and Tredd sighed. “At least you don’t snore.”
Pelna laughed. “Floor or bed?”
Tredd shook his head. “Floor. I’m not kicking you out of your bed.”
“Fair enough.” Pelna turned out the lights and settled down. He thought he might be bothered by having someone with him, but he was asleep in seconds.
He woke up to Tredd moving around. He rolled over and opened his eyes to find Tredd bent over the comms. “What are you doing?”
Tredd sat up and gave him an unimpressed look. “I fixed it. You’re welcome.”
Pelna held his hand out, and Tredd handed it over. Pelna turned it on and Niflheimr came out. He grabbed a pen and started taking notes. He was by no means fluent, but he knew basic words, and he could make out the chatter between what appeared to be airships.
“See? I know what I’m talking about.” Tredd’s smirk was smug.
“Yeah, yeah. You’ve very impressive.” Pelna paused his notes to look at Tredd. “Thanks, really.”
Tredd looked away and scratched his cheek. “Yeah, whatever.”
Pelna chuckled to himself, and went back to his notes. When the transmission stopped, and Pelna was sure he’d gotten all of it, he went through the notes to pull out the relevant information. The whole point of this was to get an idea of the Empire’s movements, so he needed place names. He was startled when Tredd shoved a plate of food in front of him, but he kept working even as he ate.
The comm picked up a few more transmissions throughout the day, and by the evening Pelna had a pretty good picture of the movements of the nearby fleet. He summarized his findings and passed it along to Monica, who was coordinating their wider efforts. Then he blinked as he realized how hungry he was. His stomach growled as he smelled steak, and he looked up to see Tredd holding a couple of plates.
“I forgot how focused you can be when you’re working. Eat.” Tredd shoved the plate at him.
“Like you’re any different,” Pelna muttered, heat in his cheeks as he took the plate. He’d completely lost track of time.
He took a bite of steak and gave Tredd a look. “Where’d the dualhorn come from?”
Tredd snorted. “While you were off in your own little world, Vic asked for help with a hunt. I didn’t have anything better to do.”
Pelna tapped his foot against Tredd’s. “Thanks.”
“Don’t waste it.” Tredd shoved a bite into his mouth and chewed pointedly.
Pelna put away the excellent food in no time, and took their empty plates into the kitchen.
“Sorry I’ve been busy all day, but dinner was delicious.” Pelna gave Lydia a sheepish look.
“Thank your friend. We’ve got meat to last us a while now. He’s a good egg.” Lydia smiled as she took the plates from him.
“He has his moments.” Pelna laughed and went back to his room.
Tredd looked up and Pelna smirked at him. “Looks like you got Lydia and Vic charmed.”
Tredd smirked back. “People like me.”
Pelna laughed. “Sure they do.”
“Do you think that intel will help?” Tredd asked as Pelna sat down next to him.
“I think so. Monica said she’d reroute our people around the fleet’s route, so hopefully we can avoid any confrontation.”
Tredd stared into the distance. “Have you heard from any of the others?”
Pelna stilled. “A few of the glaive have joined to help the guard, but not many. None of the officers, as far as I can tell.”
Pelna let the silence drag out for a moment, before asking, “Did you run into anyone while you were hanging around?”
Tredd shook his head, still staring at nothing.
Pelna bumped shoulders with him. “Well, I found you. And I’m letting you bum on my floor.”
Tredd barked a laugh. “Fair enough.”
Tredd turned to Pelna. “Now, let me look at the piece of shit guard comm you’ve been working with.”
“It works fine, thank you.” Pelna glared at Tredd.
“Those things are wonky as all hell, and you know it. You think I can’t fix it?” Tredd stared back, challenge in his eyes.
Pelna remembered all the times he’d had to prevent Tredd from ‘improving’ their comms, but the worst part was the one time he’d gotten his hands on them, he had made them better.
Pelna crossed his arms. “Fine, but if you break it, you’re getting me a new one.”
“Fair.” Tredd nodded and scrambled over to Pelna’s comm setup.
Pelna felt a tingle of apprehension at the glee on Tredd’s face as he started to tinker with Pelna’s comms, but it was the most like himself he’d seen Tredd, so he didn’t say anything. He reviewed his lists on positions of their various units while Tredd worked, trying not to worry. Eventually, it got late enough he crashed in bed, Tredd still muttering to himself over the tech.
When he woke up, Tredd was looking at him, pleased.
“Better than new!” Tredd gestured at the comm set up.
Pelna blinked. Somehow Tredd had managed to make it look like the comm station Pelna used in the field, not the jury-rigged mess he’d been using before.
Tredd looked smugly pleased with himself, and Pelna couldn’t deny that he’d earned it.
“That’s truly impressive,” Pelna said, still a little shocked.
“It is, isn’t it?” Tredd leaned forward, smirk wide.
Pelna laughed. “Yes, you did good. Thank you.”
“Now, let’s go see what’s for breakfast.” Tredd grabbed Pelna’s hand and hauled him up and out to the dining room.
Pelna let him, bemused. Over breakfast, Vic asked if Tredd was willing to help with another hunt, and Tredd volunteered Pelna, too.
“You need to get out and work out some of your stress, not hunch over comms all day,” Tredd told Pelna when he glared at him.
Pelna gave in and he couldn’t deny it felt good to get outside, and when the sabertusks showed up, it was good to fight, too. He had needed the exercise, and he and Tredd still knew each other’s fighting styles. It helped, not that Tredd needed the extra reinforcement.
But he was still glad to get back to his comms, and check on their units. Even more, now that Tredd had improved the set up. He could feel the smugness radiating from Tredd, even across the room. Pelna ignored it, and focused on helping one of their units avoid an Imperial patrol. It was all going great until one of the units reported a skirmish with some MTs, and losing one of their members. Pelna hated it every time it happened, and Tredd lost some of his smugness at the news.
Pelna was quiet as they laid down, and he listened to Tredd’s breathing as they both tried to sleep. It was strangely calming, not something he usually associated with Tredd. But it had been nice to have Tredd here, to know someone from before was alive and in one piece. Even if he was an asshole sometimes.
Pelna didn’t realize he’d fallen asleep until he was woken up by sounds of struggle. He sat up, dagger in hand, before realizing it was Tredd. Tredd was thrashing in his blankets, making sounds of distress.
“Tredd, wake up!” Pelna reached down and shook Tredd by the shoulder.
Tredd’s eyes flew open, but they looked right through him. Tredd made another noise suspiciously like a whimper and tried to pull away. Pelna shook him again, and called his name. This time Tredd actually looked at him, with eyes bright with tears.
Fuck it. Pelna hauled Tredd into a hug and pulled him onto the bed with him. He held Tredd, murmuring reassurances, but it took a moment for Tredd to recognize him. Then Tredd’s fists were clutched in the back of his shirt, and Tredd’s breath was rough against his shoulder. Pelna just squeezed tighter, waiting for Tredd’s breathing to even out. They all had nightmares, but this was the first time he’d witnessed one of Tredd’s.
“It’s alright, you’re safe here, I’ve got you.” Pelna kept up the reassurances as Tredd’s breathing continued to hitch. It took a few minutes for Tredd to get it under control, and even then, he didn’t move.
Pelna tugged until they were both laying on the bed, ignoring the wetness on his shoulder.
Eventually, Tredd pulled back, avoiding Pelna’s eyes.
“Don’t apologize, we’ve all been there.” Pelna squeezed Tredd one more time, before releasing him.
“Fine, I won’t.” Tredd made to get up, but Pelna grabbed his arm.
“There’s room. You need the sleep. Stay.”
Tredd hesitated a moment before laying back down. Pelna didn’t hug him again, but shifted over to give him more room. No one should have be alone after a nightmare like that.
They laid there in the quiet for a while, not speaking. Pelna could tell Tredd wasn’t sleeping, but he didn’t blame him.
“Axis and Sonitus are dead. Because of me.” Tredd’s voice was so quiet, Pelna almost didn’t hear it.
“I’m sorry, I know you were close.” Pelna turned to look at Tredd. “But they made their choices, it wasn’t your fault.”
Tredd shook his head. “They wouldn’t have been involved without me.”
“They were adults, capable of making their own decisions. You didn’t make them do anything. Unless you’re claiming to be one of the Astrals.”
Tredd barked a laugh. “Far from it.”
“Then you can’t hold yourself responsible for other people’s fate. They knew the risks when they joined the glaive.” Pelna scooted over so his arm was pressed against Tredd. He’d given similar talks to Nyx and Libertus, but he’d never expected to be giving it to Tredd. The world really had changed.
Tredd didn’t say anything, but he leaned into Pelna’s touch. They stayed like that until Pelna fell asleep. When he woke up, Tredd was gone. He went in search of breakfast, and Lydia told him Tredd had left for an early morning hunt. As Pelna ate, he wondered if Tredd had left for good, if last night had been too much. He found himself hoping not.
So he was pleasantly surprised when Tredd came back a few hours later. He handed a bag to Pelna, not making eye contact.
“As thanks for last night.”
Pelna opened the bag to find a dozen fresh picked sweet peppers. He looked at Tredd, eyebrows raised in inquiry.
Tredd still wouldn’t look at him. “I know you liked these. You used them a lot last mission we were on.”
“I’m surprised you remembered. Thanks.” It was true, he did enjoy cooking with these. Maybe Lydia would let him try his hand at dinner tonight.
She did, and Pelna enjoyed eating something more reminiscent of home. The others seemed to enjoy it, too, even Tredd. He made a point of thanking Tredd for finding them, but he just disappeared outside. Pelna shook his head, and went back to running the comms. Tredd came into the room just as Pelna was going to look for him, and sat back on the floor.
It was Pelna’s turn to look away as he patted the bed. “There’s room. The floor can’t be comfortable.”
Tredd stared at him.
Pelna huffed. “Don’t make it weird, just get up here.”
Tredd shook his head, but got up and climbed into bed. Pelna hoped the contact would help them both sleep better. The next few days they fell into a routine, where Tredd would help Pelna with his comm work, and then periodically drag him out to a hunt. Tredd had a few more nightmares, but Pelna was able to wake him up before they got too bad. Pelna even cooked again. It was surprisingly domestic, and Pelna was almost concerned about how easily they had slipped into each other’s orbit.
Tredd kept bringing him things, vegetables he’d picked or meat from a hunt. He’d even found an old phone somewhere, and repaired it. He’d given it to Pelna, saying it might come in useful someday. Pelna wasn’t sure what to do with this Tredd, who was quiet and wouldn’t look at him, but kept doing things for him. At least, when they worked on comms together, he was his old sarcastic self. Pelna found himself laughing more than he meant to at some of Tredd’s observations about the guard. He was enjoying Tredd’s company, to his own surprise.
One day, Lydia asked him to head back to the outpost. Even with Pelna and Tredd supplementing their food with hunts, they still needed supplies. Tredd volunteered to go, so they both headed off with a list of things to get.
The outpost was as busy as it had been last time, but Pelna was less nervous now. He turned to Tredd to discuss how to break up the list to find Tredd closer than he expected, staring at him.
“You okay?” Pelna asked.
Tredd’s eyes flicked to something behind Pelna, before focusing back on his face. Tredd opened his mouth, then closed it. He scowled at Pelna, then before Pelna realized what he was planning, he grabbed Pelna’s face, leaned in, and kissed him.
Pelna froze, mind blank. He hadn’t expected this. But then he remembered the things Tredd had done for him, and things made more sense. He felt Tredd start to pull away, but he grabbed Tredd’s arms before he could leave. He closed his eyes, and leaned into the kiss, concentrating on the feel on Tredd’s lips pressed against his.
Tredd pulled away and looked at Pelna with an unreadable expression. Before Pelna could say anything, there was a commotion behind him. Tredd stepped away, and Pelna turned to see what was going on.
Libertus was there, yelling his name. Just as Pelna recognized him, Libertus swept him up in a hug.
“Pelna! You’re alive! Nyx told me you died! Fuck, it’s good to see you.” Libertus had lifted Pelna right off the ground.
“Good to see you, too, big guy, but can you put me down now? I gotta breathe.” Pelna patted Libertus on the back.
“Yeah, yeah. Sorry.” Libertus put him down, but didn’t let go. “Where’ve you been?”
Pelna laughed. “I could ask you the same thing. I’ve been here, helping organize things.”
Libertus narrowed his eyes. “You’re Garuda station, aren’t you? Nyx said it sounded like your work, but I didn’t believe it. Man, he’s going to be so smug about that.”
Pelna laughed. “Guilty as charged. So Nyx is alright? I expected to hear more from him.”
A dark look crossed Libertus' face. “The idiot nearly got himself killed. He only woke up a few days ago.”
“Woke up?” Pelna couldn’t keep the confusion from his voice.
“He was in a coma.” Libertus shook his head. “It’s a long story. Come back to Hammerhead with me, and he’ll tell you all about it.”
Pelna stepped back a bit. “As much as I’d like to, I have work here.”
Libertus huffed. “You’re why I’m here. Monica sent me to bring you to Hammerhead. That’s where we’re all congregating. She didn’t know it was you, or at least she didn’t tell me it was you, but it’s you.”
Pelna tilted his head as he parsed that.
“I’m under orders to bring the person running Garuda station to HQ,” Libertus clarified.
Pelna smiled. “Well, I guess we’re going to Hammerhead, then.”
Libertus clapped Pelna on the shoulder and tried to pull him away, but Pelna slipped out of his grip. He looked for Tredd, who had started to slip away.
Pelna reached out and grabbed Tredd’s arm. “Hey, you coming?”
“Furia, what are you doing here?” Libertus frowned.
“Tredd saved my life, and he’s been helping me run Garuda station. If you want the person responsible, you want both of us.” Pelna tightened his grip on Tredd, so he couldn’t slip away.
Libertus frowned at Tredd, before sighing. “Just try not to antagonize Nyx, he’s still recovering. Please.”
“I make no promises,” Tredd said, but he stopped trying to move away.
“Let us get these supplies to the hunters we were staying with, and we’ll be on our way.” Pelna held up the list.
Libertus took it and walked into the store.
“Are you sure you want me along?” Tredd whispered as soon as Libertus was out of earshot.
“Yes.” Pelna nodded, and reached down to squeeze Tredd’s hand. Now that he knew to look for it, he could see the pink dusting Tredd’s cheeks. “You’re coming with me.”
“Fine.” Tredd looked away, but didn’t let go of Pelna’s hand.