Chapter 28

(Captain 'Zero', 06:28 EST, 06/24/2035, Location: Central America)

"Kassara, stay high ground until we push up to the next alley," The Commander ordered, after issuing out the rest of the commands to the team. With Goblin and Crater at the front, we moved across the grass, leaving the bodies of the Advent troops we slew laying where they fell.

"Target in sight," Goblin informed, as he pushed up into the alley, able to get sight into the main street on the other side. "Those look like the prisoner trucks alright."

"Good job. They'll be expecting us, take up defensive positions. Zero, take position by the wall and go on overwatch." I heard the response. I did as I was ordered, rushing to the entrance of the alleyway we were heading down, and taking position around the corner of the wall. I propped my sniper rifle upon my knee as I crouched, steadying my scope as I aimed down the alley, waiting for any movement in my line of sight.

"Kassara, push up and take position on the rooftops above our position. Goblin and Crater, push up to the next car. Be prepared for an engagement."

As instructed, our two front-liners pushed out of the alley into the street, no mention of any enemies from either of them. With the go-ahead, the two Mutons, Twitch, Mox, and I also followed behind them, footsteps splashing in the puddles of the alley, soaking our already wet uniforms with the dirty water. The rain was still coming down somewhat hard, the sound of it striking the buildings, the windows, the parked cars, and the floor providing a general white noise alongside the percussion of our boots.

"Well, there's the target. Where're the guards?" Twitch muttered, looking on ahead to the parked convoy of vehicles outside a small biodiesel pumping station about 75 feet further up the road from us, two armored cars and an armored black van in the middle parked up outside the station.

"They'll be around." The more intelligible Muton answered matter-of-factly. His shrunken green eyes peered down the streets, looking for any movement, the same as the rest of us. "We were not quiet on our approach."

"The Elders would not leave their prey unguarded. We must stay focused." Mox added, echoing all of our sentiment. It felt like walking straight up would be walking into a trap.

"Crater, push up with one of the Mutons, see if we can get a bit closer and scope it out. We don't want to take too long or we won't be able to get extraction here in time." Bradford relayed to the group. The rest of us waited as Crater went around two cars, ducking behind a more flat-looking red vehicle, providing him only a bit of cover. He was getting closer to the van, but with still no sign of any defenses. Twitch was ordered to follow with the second Muton and Mox, everyone moving as quietly as we could through the rain, our weapons ready for any movement.

"Kassara, move up the buildings along the street, what can you see?" Bradford asked. There was no response for a short while as we waited for more information from her. After a few seconds, we still heard nothing, no confirmation the order had even been received, and certainly no response from her.

"Kassara?" Bradford asked in the comms. I could hear his frustration at her already in his voice. Still nothing from her in the comms. "What should we do, Commander?" He asked. Everyone was just waiting in the street, still scanning ahead of us for any Troopers, any movement near the van.

"We can't afford to turn back around and use all of our resources to find her now, otherwise the Sectoids will be taken away. They already know we are here, so we need to act before the city is on full alarm." Bradford continued as there was still no response from the Commander. He was, of course, suggesting we press forward with the current plan, and forget Kassara, which did make sense; we couldn't afford to turn back now.

"Zero, Goblin, head back into the quad, see what you can find. If she's still there, anyway. The rest of us will push on ahead and take the fight. Tell us what you find." The Commander ordered, the immediate protest from Bradford filled the comms, before his voice was cut off completely, probably being muted by the Commander. I could see Goblin cursing under his breath, the translucent smoke of his breath condensing in the air gave that away to me, as the rain canceled out any noise he made. I headed back down towards the alley, Goblin catching up beside me as we reached the quad we had been in just before. I heard an eruption of gunfire in the distance, breaking the constant pattering of the rain on the floor around us, and immediately my heart jumped in my chest, the fear of what might have happened to Kassara overwhelming me briefly as I scanned around for the source. It was too far off to be within the actual quad, it may have been behind the position we were in. I could hear the radio chatter as the Commander moved everyone else into the right positions, as they announced their first targets.

"Let's check her position," Goblin announced, upon seeing my hesitation. I nodded, leading the way across the grass, scanning every floor and every window around us. We made a lot of noise, I wouldn't be surprised if other troops were starting to convene in this area, we didn't have long to make any checks. Gunfire sounded behind us, turning both of our heads towards the sound. That must be the rest of X-Com starting the fight we were now not helping in. I hope they were gonna manage okay without us, hopefully they can free the Sectoids without taking any hits, or worse, any losses.

"That should give us some cover. Come on, let's double-time it," Goblin suggested, dashing towards the tall grey building Kassara was previously perched on overlooking the rest of the quad. As we got closer, I could see her hood at the top of the railings, the black chevron partially concealed by the armor, but still visible. I touched my earpiece to cancel the sound of the comms of my Commander, so I could shout myself without it breaking the ears of everyone else on the call.

"Kassara!" I called out to her, certainly loud enough that she should have been able to hear it past the rain at least. But she didn't look around to us, she instead looked straight ahead to where she was facing, backing up further until she almost looked like she was going to fall off, the back of her tail tight against the wall lining the edge of the roof.

"I'm gonna go get her. Wait here." Goblin instructed, holstering his gun to his back, and grabbing onto the drainpipe, hoisting himself up it with little grace, but at least he was going quickly. I was kind of concerned that he might break the drainpipe going up it, but considering they were made of metal alloys, they should be structurally sound enough.

I took a few steps backward, trying my best to see what was catching her attention, but there was no hope of me being able to see from down here. I hefted another breath into my lungs, cupping my hands to my mouth, and called out again.

"Kassara!" I yelled, straining my throat as I called out. There was no way she didn't hear that. Goblin was about halfway up the building already, so he would at least be able to get her. But she still didn't turn her head to me, though I did see her wince from the sound, her head moving slightly, as if trying to dodge a ball thrown past her head. Instead, she held her gun up in front of her face, turning her head away, shielding from something. It was only until I saw the impact of something upon her weapon that I realize she had just been shot at, she was shielding herself from an attacker. almost immediately after whatever she managed to block with her weapon had struck, I saw her throw her weapon away from her, followed immediately after by a bright green explosion that seemed to light up the sky around the building, the light reflecting off of the nearby buildings, the sound deafening above the sound of the rain pattering around me. I watched as Goblin faltered with his footing, clinging onto the pipe and redoubling his efforts to reach the top. I could see nothing of Kassara, though a billowing plume of smoke rose into the air above the building from the explosion, marking where she had last been. I turned my radio back on, the chatter erupting back into my ear. I could hear Bradford asking what the noise was, whilst the Commander continued to issue orders.

"Kassara is being attacked. Something has exploded on the building she was on, back-up required." I stated firmly into the earpiece, rushing to the pipe myself, climbing up to try and reach the top behind Goblin. I could hear as the Commander reported the Sectoids as being rescued, and for the squad to make a retreat back towards us. Easier said than done, I suppose, I could hear everyone calling out that they were taking fire from the Troopers they were fighting.

Goblin reached the lip of the building, smoothly drawing the shotgun from his back as he disappeared over the top of the building. I kept my pace up, one hand grasping onto the pipe after the other, hoisting myself up the pipe with ease. About 3 stories high, I heard the charged shot of Goblin's shotgun, followed by a loud hiss of pain. At the sound of the gunfire, I pushed further to the top, almost there myself, hoping to the Elders that it wasn't what my mind had assumed. I wasn't prepared for the sight I saw once my head poked over the lip of the roof. The grandiose figure of the Viper King, shining a brilliant bright blue, his scales reflecting the light in the rain falling onto him. He held his caster out towards Goblin, a bolt loosing from the end, narrowly dodged by Goblin as he dived to the side to evade the attack. In the corner of the roof, her body slumped against the railing on the edges, was the unconscious form of Kassara. My heart ached with worry for her, wanting nothing more than to go over and see if she was okay, but my training took over my reaction. Goblin fired another shot of his weapon at the King, the snake writhing in pain as the scatter of the weapon glanced off of his scales and armor.

"The Viper King is here, he's attacked Kassara," I called into the comms, and clambered to my feet, thinking once about reaching for my Sniper rifle, but opting for the pistol at my side, it was much quicker to draw and I was more confident with it at this range. The Viper King wasn't waiting for me though, he advanced quickly towards Goblin, his weapon by his side, his form almost fluid in its movement, gliding with an insane speed towards my squadmate. Goblin drew his sword without hesitating, slashing at the face of the Viper King as he reached him. The King shielded his face with a hand, taking the blow with little more than a wince, taking advantage of Goblin's recovery to strike. He coiled Goblin's form up quickly, his tail wrapping several times around Goblin's chest, his stomach, and his legs, binding him securely within his body. I raised my pistol to the King, and I was met with a fresh bolt loaded into his caster pointing straight back at me.

"My fight is not with you, human. I must have my kin…." He snarled at me, claws itching at the trigger of his weapon. I didn't dignify his appeal with a response, other than with my own weapon. I fired two shots in quick succession, one striking the hand holding the weapon out at me, and the other his midsection just underneath his armor, the strike forcing him to unbind Goblin. I could hear the comms in the background alight with the voices of my comrades, but they were background noise, all of my attention lay on the regal opponent in front of me.

"Fucking wriggling bastards." Goblin sputtered, grabbing his sword as soon as he was free and following up my strike with his own, cutting into the King's scaled hide, screeches accompanying his blow.
"Stay out of my way!" The King roared, blue erupting from his mouth. I couldn't believe what happened in front of my eyes, as the mist enveloped Goblin, freezing him inside a solid block of ice; flash-frozen by the serpent's breath, his stance captured perfectly midswing, ready to strike yet again. I fired another pistol shot at him as he brought his weapon up to Goblin's helpless form, interrupting him lining up his free shot on the immobile target. He turned, anger flashing in his cool blue eyes, his weapon instead turned on me. I felt the bolt through my leg before I saw it loose from his weapon, the piercing pain overriding all of my other senses and causing me to fall to the ground clutching my thigh, too scared to touch the metal rod poking out of it. I brought my pistol up in defiance, shooting him once more as he tried to reload his weapon, I'm sure ready to end either my life, or Goblin's. He fumbled from my shot, not enough to do much more than slightly delay the inevitable. He advanced upon me, bolt in weapon, steadily traced the point in between my eyes.

"You shall pay for your... insolence, human. Both of you shall." He hissed, the low frequency of his voice reverberating in my chest, rattling me throughout as I stared at him, not even able to plead for my life. However, above the rain, above his voice speaking to me, I heard a small clink to my right, and just as he finished his executioner's sentence, I saw Mox land majestically on the roof with a roll, looking like he had just jumped up the entire height of the building, though I know it was just his zip wire. As he finished his roll, his weapon already drawn, a series of flashes emitted from the muzzle, emptying half of his magazine into the giant Viper, anguishes hissing released in response.

"This isn't over…X-Com…" He snarled, a brilliant purple light exploding behind him, like he brought a new galaxy into existence at his command. He retreated through it with no further hesitation, disappearing the moment he touched the purple ripples, the sudden rift disappearing with him. The ice around Goblin started flaking into small shards, tinkering to the floor as Goblin wriggled himself free, cracking more of the ice as he did so, cursing at the Viper King as he did so.

"Rooftop secure," Mox announced into his helmet. "The amalgamate has retreated, all soldiers recovered."

"Good job, Mox. Status report, squad." Bradford ordered.

"Zero and I have taken injuries. Kassara is unconscious." Goblin answered for me, holding his sword with one hand and clutching his side with his other. I couldn't see any injury myself, but the way Goblin walked signified he was in pain.

"Twitch, send the healing drone up, use revival protocol and heal her. Crater, set up the extraction zone in the quad, we defend here until extraction. Zero, set up on the building, cover for the squad." The Commander ordered. Like a well-oiled machine, we all moved as he gave further orders, organizing the squad into a strong defensive hold. I kneeled beside Kassara's unmoving form, my rifle resting on the barrier, overlooking the squad below us. Twitch was sending up the drone, the Sectoids all standing near the back in good cover, whilst the soldiers all picked what cover they could; statues, benches, and the detection tower all being used by the various soldiers and the two Mutons. A quick headcount at least told us we hadn't lost anyone, though they all looked a little worse for wear.

I rested a hand on Kassara's body, resting on her smooth scaled exterior underneath her armor, wishing inside that I could do anything to help her, but at least knowing that help was arriving. She looked oddly peaceful with her eyes shut closed, no sign of pain on her face, though I could see damage to some of the scales on her, and on her armor plasma burns stained the metal. I looked over the quad once more, and I saw a blue square being marked out by flares beneath me, as Twitch's Gremlin hovered up to the top, gliding over Kassara's body, and releasing a brief electrical shock. I saw her body twitch in response, convulsing with the current running through her. The fine mist of the medigel was then dispensed over her as her crimson eyes fluttered back open, her slit pupils widening and contracting as she tried to gain her bearings. She tried to move, her mouth opening with silent pain, as if waking up from a sleep centuries long. I gave her a brief look, trying to convey my worry, trying to convey my reassurance and relief in just the glance, whilst looking over the quad, watching for any movement.

She rubbed her eyes, peering herself over the side of the building. She had no weapon to fight with, so she was pretty useless at the moment. "Zero…what happened?" She managed, her voice soft, not much louder than the rain splashing into the puddles on the roof.

"You're ok, that's all that matters. Focus on the mission." Goblin commanded, leaving us alone on the roof as he lowered himself over the edge of the building, climbing back down the drainpipe to the floor.

"He's right," I agreed, looking forward, along with everyone else, everyone's eyes scanning for any movement. I felt so tense, all of my muscles were locking up, except my leg. My leg was just numb, with a bolt stuck out of it. It seemed to not be impairing me for now, but I could tell that the pain would overtake as soon as we were finished with the mission, as soon as all of the fight and fear within me from trying to save Kassara had drained. "I'll tell you when we're back on the Avenger. I'm glad you are safe."

"Of course..." She winced, pushing herself off of the floor. From the corner of my eye, I could see her inspecting herself for the damage, looking at the burns on her armor, the damaged scales, bending herself at angles impossible for a human to check herself. "Where's my weapon?" She asked, stopping her routine to scan the rooftop. If anything remained of it from that explosion, it certainly wasn't here on the rooftop with us.

"It's gone. Keep your head down, and be ready to make a run for the Skyranger. We're picking up from down there." I gestured down to the quad, bringing my head up from my rifle briefly. The distraction was a short one, but I was brought back to attention as Bradford updated the squad on what was happening.

"Squad we've got movement to your front, it looks like Advent is trying to push in before we can get out. Don't let them overrun us." Bradford briefed. I steadied my weapon, lowering my eye to the weapon, peering down the scope at the one corridor they could enter from that direction; the alley we had just retreated through. They were walking through a choke point, there was no way they would make it through unless they threw enough bodies at us to do so. I watched as soldiers with better angles than I had on the alley fired into the mass of black-armored Troopers as they tried to push through. A few fell in my sights before I could line up a shot, the entire quad lit up by the sounds of the magnetic weaponry securing kill after kill as they still tried to push through.

"I'm out of ammo, reloading!" Crater called, ducking back behind his bench, the suppressing fire he was putting down the alley stopped, and allowing them a small space to make the push they wanted. Advent troops started to sally into the quad, three Stun Lancers rushing out to take their positions. They barely managed 5 steps before two of them were downed by the reactive fire of the rest of the squad. I tracked my rifle in front of the third Lancer, pulling my trigger as soon as I was certain that I was leading correctly. The Lancer comically fell under the center-mass impact of my shot, his inertia making him skid along the grass he crossed, aided by its muddiness.

"We've got more coming! Start retreating backward!" Bradford called, more Troopers trying to push through as he shouted at us. "How long until vac gets here?"

"You've got another minute, we're coming in fast." The pilot responded immediately.

"You heard her, squad, one minute. Make sure those Troopers don't get close." The Commander ordered, before continuing to order specific positions to everyone, retreating further and further back tot eh small blue square below me.

"Zero," Kassara muttered faintly, her hand resting on my arm to get my attention. "Let me take your rifle, please?" She asked.

I looked over the quad, watching the Troopers move up into the quad, and starting to lay fire on our team. I heard the Commander order me to take a shot on one that was at a slight angle to me, I just had to wait for the right moment. The Troopers peaked around to fire at one of the Mutons, and I took my shot, quick enough that he didn't have the time to pull his trigger. I wanted to say no, it made no sense to me why she asked. It was my rifle, it wasn't attuned to her eye, and I was the better shot, I had the best position here. But as I saw two Captains pushing through the buildings to our left, starting to set up flanks, I knew that this wasn't a matter of who was the better shot, or any petty arguments I could come up with my head. This was a matter of having the extra firepower available. I reloaded the weapons swiftly, filling the new magazine of magnetic rounds into the rifle before handing it to Kassara. She looked a little dazed, but I could see her reaffirmance, a small nod telling me she knew what she was doing. I trusted her.

"I've only got my pistol now, Kassara will shoot from the rooftop." I filled in the Commander quickly, who kept barking out orders either side of my sentence. I watched as Kassara hesitantly reached out her wrist, and pressed the button on it, the wire shooting out and latching onto the neighboring building, before she lurched away to the other rooftop, barely managing to land on the side. She looked worse for wear, groggy, at the very least, but she seemed determined. I ran to the drainpipe and hoisted myself over the barrier, and allowed myself to slide down the pipe, using the resistance to slow me down before I touched the ground. I moved up past the Sectoids cowering weaponless in our backlinks, up parallel to Twitch, pulling my pistol out of its holster, and ducking behind one of the pots that held a small tree. The pots were made of the weird metallic alloy, so it should provide enough cover from the Troopers' fire for now. I listened to the familiar sound of my rifle firing overhead, accompanied by the shattering of a window, as Kassara fired her first round at the flanking hostiles.

"Zero, finish the Captain in that building off!" I heard the call. It seemed Kassara managed to hit her target after all. I watched as the Captain lurched into cover, trying his best to get behind the wall beside the door. I didn't give him the chance. A solid round felled my target, already weakened, now incapacitated on the floor. The sound of gunfire was all around me, the magnetic charged rounds from both sides echoing off walls, reverberating from all angles. We were fighting a losing battle, more bodies were finding a foothold, there were simply too many of them. We could only do so much. I could hear more shots from the rooftop behind me, Kassara finding more targets with my weapon, Crater's cannon rattled away as it suppressed troops in the cover. Goblin constantly moved between the gunfire, miraculously dodging any shot made at him as he moved to find flanks on the approaching troops, keeping them at bay.

"Skyranger is coming into view. Close in people, we need a clean extraction. Get the Sectoids in first, they are a priority." Bradford ordered us, though it was difficult to concentrate with everything happening around us, it was chaotic. Above us the Skyranger silently swept in behind us, casting a shadow briefly over the battlefield that used to be the center of the small shopping square, now reduced to rubble, a scene of death.

"Start loading up, I can't take much fire!" Firebrand called out to us, dropping into the quad, the Advent troops directing a lot of their fire tot he hull of the ship. "Quickly!"

The Sectoids jumped in first, all unscathed. I darted back from my cover, as Kassara jumped from the rooftop to land onto the floor beside me, using her tail almost as a spring, catching and cushioning herself easily. We both darted into the back of the Skyranger, watching as the remainder of the Troops made their way under fire back into the Skyranger. Twitch got clipped by a round on his way in, as did Crater, though his extra armor seemed to take the brunt of the damage. With everyone in except Goblin and the two Mutons, Firebrand relayed back to us that we had to take off now; there wasn't any more time to hang around.

Goblin pushed in front of the two Mutons, shooting the last of his rounds at the approaching Lancers, forcing them to take cover. His arm signaled for the Mutons to leave as he reloaded his weapon swiftly, focused on the battle before him. They both lumbered over, with surprising speed for their size, Goblin moving back behind them, still firing his weapon to try and limit the number of Troopers that could fire back at him. But one man could only manage so much. As one of the Mutons moved around the side of Skyranger, a full burst of a rifle hit his silvered armor, and piercing through his exterior. He fell face-first into the mud, most of his body out of the line of sight of his attackers, so close to escaping. The other Muton kneeled beside his friend, but Goblin pushed him up onto his feet and into the Skyranger. I wasn't the best at telling the emotions of the alien creatures of this world, but it didn't take an expert to see his pain and anger mixed into his features.

The Skyranger shuddered quickly upwards as soon as Goblin was on, leaving the downed Muton on the floor behind us, a soul lost to the cause. The other Muton onboard the ship pounded a fist into the wall above his empty seat, his yellow eyes glaring straight at Kassara. I felt her claws scrape slightly against my palm as she sat beside me, her fingers slowly interlocking with mine, squeezing my hand gently. Her own secret way of saying thanks, unnoticeable by the others on the Skyranger. At least I hope it went unnoticed. Goblin, put his hand on the Muton's armor, pushing him down into his seat, and stood between him and Kassara, breaking their line of sight.

"Don't start." He ordered quietly to the Muton, shooting back the daggers with his own glare, it was as if the two were sizing each other up. The Muton averted his gaze, looking down at the floor, and Goblin, in turn, left the Alien alone.

"Squad successfully exfiltrated. Heading back to base." Firebrand reported, the ship lurching to its side as we left the city. "We haven't got any ships following us either, thankfully."

"Good work squad. All VIPs recovered, Athissa will be happy with this result." Bradford congratulated. He sounded significantly relieved, and I wasn't surprised. That was a difficult and stressful mission.

"Pff, Athissa won't be happy, she lost one of her own." Twitch muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear. The Muton huffed through the mask he wore on his face, maybe in his agreement, maybe as derision.

"Athissa knew the potential cost of the mission. It's all calculated risk. I'm sure there will be tears shed for the fallen, but I don't think it was outside of her expectations." Mox chipped in. "She is strong. She will understand."

Nobody decided to argue. We were all tired. Everyone was sporting some wound or another. Goblin looked shattered, Twitch looked weary, Crater definitely seemed worse for wear. His armor was barely functional, it was a testament to the amount of fire he drew. And well, for me, I still had a bolt sticking halfway out of my leg, and only now was I just beginning to feel more than a dull ache. Kassara's hand left mine briefly as she spotted the thorn in my side, metaphorically speaking. Her hand rested upon my thigh as she inspected the bolt, pain shooting up my leg as her hand went near to the entry wound. She eased off upon seeing my pain, lowering her head onto my shoulder, wordless, but conveying more than was needed.

"It wasn't my fault, I'm sorry..." She whispered, hissing her 's's as she apologized. "I did what I could..."

"It's okay. I'm glad you're okay." I softly whispered back to her. But they fell on deaf ears. Her eyes were no longer awake, her head's weight leaning on my shoulder. I gave her a little shake to check my suspicions, and indeed, she was no longer awake. "Get some good rest, Kass." I whispered once more to here, knowing it wasn't going to be heard. "I love you."

It sounded right. The words were easy to say, and it felt like they carried all the extra weight I had been burdened with off of me. I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked forward, trying my best not to make anything obvious to the other soldiers, but inside, everything was falling into place. It made sense now, and I can't believe it took me this much to see that myself.

(Captain 'Kassara', 16:04 EST, 06/24/2035, Location: Central America)

I opened my eyes not to the darkness of the Skyranger, but to the brilliant white light of the familiar room belonging to the good doctor aboard the Avenger. I started awake at the change in scenery, and immediately felt every muscle in my body pull me back down into the bed, an indescribably internal pain unlike any I've had before.

"Kass, you're awake!" I heard Zero's voice off to my right, his relieved voice flooding me with comfort, relaxing me from my quick panic. I only remember closing my eyes briefly, it felt almost like I'd blinked and teleporter from the Skyranger to the infirmary. I could feel my memories slowly recovering, slowly seeping back to me. Seeing the King murder the Advent Troopers with such grace, before turning to me. The explosion, how brilliant and bright it was, before waking up to the features of my one and only, to Zero's worried face. To him offering me his rifle to me with eyes burning fierce with determination, as stoic as the King himself, holding himself with such vigor, even with a significant injury, he didn't seem to pay any heed to it.

And even now, his tired but kind face offered me solace from the onsetting panic, as it slowly came into focus from the bright lights blinding me. Brick and Firehawk were sat at a small makeshift table with a pack of playing cards, and Zero was stood by the side of my bed, one hand on the railing and another resting on top of my arm, warm to the touch.

"Nice to see you up. I'm glad you woke up when you did, I was just about to beat these two and call it a day." He smiled, squeezing my arm gently with his hand. I couldn't move to reciprocate his touch, I could barely even move my mouth, I felt so stiff.

"As if you were gonna win, ya tart, the aim of hearts is to get the least points, not the most!" Brick teased behind him, her accent making it unmistakeable who was talking.

"Oh, is that not how it works? Ah, well." He turned around to grin back at them, Echo with her arms crossed and a smirk barely playing on her face. Zero turned back to me, his hand reaching out and cupping my cheek. I leaned into his comforting touch, letting the feeling of his hand upon my scales take over briefly, giving up on any feeble attempt to speak back to him.

"I'm glad you're safe." He muttered, a soft smile on his lips, creasing slightly at the corners of his mouth. "The Doctor has you on a bunch of drugs, she said that you'd be pretty out of it. I just..." He paused, looking back towards Brick and Firehawk briefly. He leaned in close to me, his breath warm on my neck as he spoke quietly for only me to hear.

"I don't know what I'd do if you didn't make it. I was so worried when I first saw you, and I had to fight the Viper King. I thought I'd lost you." He sighed, closing his moistened eyes and averting his gaze from me. "I had so many regrets in that moment. So many things I should have said and so many things I did that I wanted to change. And I want to start now."

He paused, moving his hand down to hold mine, pulling it close to his chest and clasping my hand between his.

"I love you, Kassara." He professed, his dark eyes holding mine in the ensuing silence. I wanted to leap up from the bed and hug him and profess the same back to him. I no longer had to hide my own emotions from myself or from him. But in my state, I could barely manage to move my mouth, let alone any part of my body. I could feel water welling in my eyes at his statement, barely holding it back at the overwhelming sentiment I couldn't express at all to him, and it killed me. But his sweet smile said all that needed to be said. He knew. Zero lowered my hand back onto my chest, and ran his hand along the outside of my hood, sending the familiar warm sensation running along my spine like an electric shock.

"Leave her alone, will you?" The Doctor called out to Zero, moving over from the other side of the room, tending to somebody else in another bed. "She needs her rest. I've already seen to your leg, why don't you go do something else, we need the space in here?"

It sounded more like an order than a request, and Zero definitely took it as such. He moved haphazardly back over to Brick and Firehawk, as they started to pack up their cards.

"I'll talk to you later, Kass. Come find me whenever." He said, saying his goodbyes with a wave of his hand. There were a lot of bandages covering his thigh, where I remember seeing the metal sticking out of it. It clearly affected how he was faring; he was hobbling as he left the room, supported slightly by Brick, but he seemed to be doing well otherwise. I wish I could say the same for myself.

I looked over the other beds in the infirmary, spotting the two occupied beds on the other side of the room. Twitch, and Goblin. Goblin caught my eyes as I had looked over to them, making me avert my gaze immediately. He said nothing of it, as the Doctor came up to check up on me. She looked over my vitals and heart rate, constantly comparing to her notes, probably the same ones from Tygan that she used before.

"How are you feeling, Viper?" She asked, in her fluttery accent. "Your heartbeat is raised, though I'm not sure how much of that would be due to the painkillers you are currently on."

"I hurt pretty much everywhere. It hurts to move." I answered dutifully back, hiding the surfacing smile of knowing other reasons for my increased heartbeat.

"Then don't move." She said, in a serious tone, but the smirk on her face betrayed the joke to me. It was infectious, I couldn't not smile back. "Hopefully you'll be able to move a bit more freely tomorrow. You're one lucky girl to survive such an explosion. The damage seems to be mostly internal, though you pretty much scuttled the armor you were wearing."

"Then I must thank Shen," I responded back to her, trying to move my back in any way that wasn't painful to no avail. "How long will it take to recover?"

"Je ne sais pas...Too long for me to say. A few years at best." She sighed, looking over her notes in a serious fashion. My mouth dropped at her words, not believing what I had just heard. I can't be out of action for that long, surely?

"Oh, your face! You must know I am joking, no?" She laughed, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You'll be fine. A couple of weeks. Just do the exercise prescribed to you and you shall be right as rain in no time."

"Right as rain?"

"In perfect health." She clarified, taking the pen to a clipboard she picked up from the desk at the end of the bed. "Fit to fight." She looked up to meet my eyes with hers, a flitting smile bringing one again out of me. I'm glad she had a sense of humor, I suppose one would have to in order to work in a place like this. And I'm also glad, doubly so, that I wouldn't spend that long out of the fight. Now wasn't the time to stop.

"In that case, I will leave you to rest. I'll check up on you in a short time, but for now, I must consult Tygan to make sure there's anything I can glean from him to help with muscle injuries in you snakes. Adieu!" She turned on her heel and headed back towards her office, shutting the door firmly behind her.

"So, Viper King huh?" Goblin broke the small silence after the Doctor had left. I couldn't help but roll my eyes, it would be just like him to start shit now. "What did he say?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well...I'm just saying, but there was a good minute before we got back to you, probably longer. And you didn't shoot your gun right?" He pestered, continuing to press me. I could feel my fangs itching at his line of questioning, I could imagine him spiraling off into accusing me of not shooting the Viper King because I didn't support X-Com. "He was talking to you, was he not."

"He was," I admitted. "He wanted me to join him."

"And what did you say?" He inquired, sitting up in his bed. He was wearing no shirt, his bulky build only concealed by the bandages wrapped around his torso. Truly, the human equivalent of a Muton, it surprised me how heavy-set he looked.

"I said no. He didn't really like the answer-"

"Hence why he shot you." He nodded, brushing his forefinger and thumb against his stubble. "What luck you had not to be impaled by his bolt. He was pretty damn fast, I've never seen something move so quickly." He remarked, his voice gruff. "Look...I'm...I'm sorry for accusing you of not fighting for X-Com. Alright? You've proved yourself. I'm sure you had all the time in the world to leave with him, and you didn't." He avoided looking at me, looking down at his own bed instead. I shouldn't have cared for his opinion as much as I did, but it caused a wave of relief to pass through me upon getting his approval.

"You mean it?" I asked incredulously, unbelieving of the flip in his belief about me. Why, it was only until recently that he was talking about how I would run the first chance I got.

"Yeah. Just leave it though, alright?"

"Sure." I agreed, wishing to just bury the awkward conversation. The air in the room was uneasy for the sake of the interaction, but it was also relieving to hear that Goblin finally gave me his stamp of approval, per se. Maybe I'd finally see more warmth from some of the more anti-Alien members of X-Com. Then X-Com would truly stand unified against the Elders. Maybe now they'd take me as one of their own, fully, and not just think of me forever as a traitor, a turncoat, and to be untrusted. Maybe. Maybe not.

(Captain 'Zero', 11:35 EST, 06/26/2035, Location: Unknown)

The past couple of days had been quiet, as the Avenger continued scanning for any resources scattered to the lost cities and forests, to abandoned roads and structures that could help us in our fight. It was scavenging at best, it rarely got us anything of value. But occasionally there would be a diamond in the rough, a stray scientist working from an outpost undetected by Advent, a cache of weaponry left behind from an old fight unvisited by looters. We also dropped back in South Africa, to return the lone Muton and the three Sectoids. And Athissa was true to her word, giving us plenty of food supplies to last us a few weeks, though we didn't stay any longer than we needed. So, for now, we were just back to more scans, whilst we waited for other opportunities. For us, it meant staying on board the ship and keeping up our conditions to be ready to head out against Advent. Or that's what it would usually mean. With my injuries, I wasn't able to do much except sit around. Same with Goblin. The Viper King had broken one of his ribs when he was coiled, the amount of power required to do that must have been immense. And well, Kassara wasn't doing too hot either. But at least she was faring much better than she had previously.

She spent yesterday afternoon trying to force herself to move, but she looked like a pensioner with arthritis, it looked pained and forced, yet the Doctor insisted on her doing it. Today, she was discharged, well before fully healing of course, but she's been treated and given a small exercise plan to help her recover faster, so she wasn't required to sit in the hospital bed and take up space anymore.

"Hey come over here and spot me, just in case?" She asked, sat down on the edge of one of the bench press sets. I had offered to join her down in the gym whilst she did her new routine, though I couldn't do much myself, I was more t than happy to spend the time with her. Brick had joined us for a small bit, but she had already headed off to get her early lunch, leaving just us two. And not to sound mean, but I was thankful that it was the case. Since telling Kassara how I truly felt about her, we've only come closer. I couldn't stop thinking about her, both when she was here and when she wasn't. It was like we finally climbed the last step on a staircase, and now we had reached that new level. We were already close, but now, it was a bond I couldn't describe. She mattered more to me than ever.

"You aren't supposed to be doing bench presses, are you?" I asked, smirking at her. She flicked her tongue at me, mimicking the 'stick your tongue out' gesture as best she could. It was only a small weight, I knew she could manage a lot more. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt. I stood over the top of her, looking down at her amber scales, shimmering under the harsh light of the gym. She was more beautiful every time I saw her. I double-checked the weight she had put on. 110lb, in total, bar included. I'm sure she could manage.

I waited patiently as she continued her set, doing reps of 10. With the low weight, she didn't even need me, though she struggled towards the end, the fatigue of the repeated movement kicking in pretty heavily. She set the bar back up on the stand above her, her scales a slightly deeper shade due to the exertion, with a scowl on her face.

"I can't believe it hurts too much to do even that. I feel so weak." She complained, standing back up and crossing her arms. I walked around the apparatus, peeling her arms off of her and placing them on my hips, before placing my hands on her waist as well, pulling her in. Her arms fell from my waist and curled around my back, pulling me in closer with a tight squeeze.

"You aren't weak, you're injured. Allow yourself time to heal." I reassured, hearing her exhale through her nose, not wanting to argue with me, though I wouldn't know whether that was out of not wanting to argue or accepting my point. "What's left on your routine anyway?"

"Core. Sit-ups, apparently." She mused, peeling away from me to glance at the little sheet telling her what to do. "I haven't got legs, how in the Elder's name am I supposed to do that?" She laughed, casting the sheet aside.

"Lie on the floor then," I instructed. She glanced at me with a look that said 'are we really doing this?', but she did as she was told. She lay down on her back, tail outstretched, taking up a large portion of the mat on the floor, extending all the way across it. It was really easy to forget just how big a Viper really is, she was pretty much double my height in length.

"Well? What now?" She asked, waiting for me to move. I acted confidant, trying to put on the brave face, despite feeling the embarrassment inside me, as I straddled across her tail, just below her core, effectively where the lap would be on the human body, but on hers, though it was difficult to tell.

"Uh, Zero?" She flustered, her hands pushing on my knees as if to try and get me off. Her face darted around, there wasn't anyone else in the room, and she relaxed, allowing my weight to rest on her body. "What are you doing?" She faltered, hissing her words in a whisper.

"What do you think? I'm helping you do sit-ups!" I exclaimed playfully, shooting her a wink as I responded. Seeing her under me, hesitating and being flustered with my actions, it made a heat travel through my body and well within, I can't lie. My mind instantly began to wander, though I tried to tether it, more for Kassara's sake than my own.

"Right, of course. I suppose it does actually work." She said dryly, rolling her eyes at me. She put her hands behind her head, and slowly moved her entire body up until her face was in front of mine, pushing her lips against mine at the peak of her arc, stealing my plan off of me. She lowered herself back down, giggling as she did so, pushing herself back up again, and once more giving me a small kiss at the top, a grin splitting wide across her face as she went back down. I laughed along with her, enjoying how adorable she looked with such happiness on her face, one I didn't get to see often from her. She tried raising herself again, but between her laughing and her sore muscles, she collapsed back down to the mat with a small thud, her arms holding her sides as giggled.

"Ow ow ow, ahhh, why must I be tortured in such a heartless manner!" She cried dramatically, in a true show of theatrics. I lowered myself onto her, pushing my arms underneath her back, and placing my head in the crook of her neck. She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed, pulling me against her. She was so warm from working out, yet of course, didn't sweat as she was a Viper. I could stay there forever with my own personal toaster, it felt amazing, just being against her.

"Hey, if you want to cuddle we shouldn't do it in the middle of the gym," Her soft voice sounded in my ear, her mouth almost closed enough to touch it, I could feel her breath on the side of my face. "How about we go to mine?"

I lifted myself off of her, still straddling her hips, looking down on her from above. I knew I would love nothing more at the moment, nothing more than to have her in my arms, to share her warmth with me. I stood up, watching her elegantly coil in on herself to 'stand' back up, making a check towards the doors of the gym to make sure no one had indeed witnessed us, before grabbing my hand and pulling me with her, interlocking her claws between my fingers, and leading me back to her room.

We moved quickly through the corridors until we reached her room. She opened the door, checking inside quickly before gesturing for me to enter; the coast was clear. I didn't wait for us to move to the bed, I simply moved towards her and embraced her once more in my arms, pressing my lips to the smooth scales on her neck, and wrapping both of my arms around her, spreading out across her back as I pulled her in. I heard a faint moan come from her as I kissed her neck, her own arms draping around my midsection loosely, her tail coiling around one of my legs, giving herself to me.

I ran my hands down her sides, following the curve of her chest down to her waist, then over her hips, taking in her body with my touches, moving my lips to her sensitive hood, feeling it quiver ever so slightly under my small kisses. This is what I would have been missing out on, I didn't plan on being slow, I didn't want to play it safe only for something else to happen that would only work to separate us. I wanted her dreadfully, I just can't believe it took me the realization that I didn't have all the time I wanted to wait, that something could happen to either of us. It all just made me want her more.

"Ah...Zero..." She purred, releasing soft hisses into my ear, it only pushed me on further. My hands fell below her hips, reaching the hem of her undershirt, and I slipped them underneath, moving back up her smooth scales, even warmer under the shirt than she was everywhere else, it was enrapturing. My hands traveled back up her front, pushing the shirt up as they moved. Her tail tightened around me and she pulled away slightly, looking me dead in the eyes, her wine-colored gaze setting lustfully on my face. Her hands left my back, and crossed in between us, grabbing the hem at either side of her shirt, and removing it in one fluid motion over her hood, discarding it carelessly to one side, leaning back slightly to show off her body to me, the light above shining perfectly on her sleek musculature. I felt like drooling, over a Viper! I could hardly believe it myself, but she was so gorgeous, so magical, and here she was in my arms. I could only watch and admire her, wanting to touch every sacred part of her body now it was revealed, but unsure of where to start.

"You next..." She coyly smiled, her hands reaching down, her thumbs slipping into the waistband of my underwear, signifying her intent. I followed her lead, and grabbed my shirt by the back of the collar, pulling it over my head and throwing it to the side, as she pulled down with her thumbs, doing it slowly enough that it was torturing even me with the reveal. The tip of her tail grazed upon my bare back, tracing a solid line down my spine with a graceful touch, sending a blissful feeling down my back with it. The tail tip hooked itself around my underwear, helping her pull it down, showing my body, all of it, off to her as well.

"So, that's what they look like..." She pondered, glancing down at my erect member between us, as her hands wrapped back against my waist, pulling me in closer, my chest against hers. She was still so warm, and I could feel it all over my body, inside it as well, as we embraced once again. Her scaled body provided little friction to mine, and the sensation of our skin moving against each other was something indescribably pleasurable, it was more than I had ever experienced with another person before.

"I love you so much, Zero..." She announced in a quiet, breathy voice, as her hands searched my back moving slowly up and down my shoulder blades, then down to the small of my back then back up again. "How about that cuddle now?"

With my nod in return to her question, she pressed her lips back against mine, her tongue flicking and grazing against my lips as I returned the sentiment, an entirely odd sensation, but not one that I would have anything bad to say about.

"I love you too, Kass." I smiled warmly at her as we broke from the kiss, staring longingly at each other for another few seconds, lost in each other with nothing else in the way. She coaxed me to move to her bed first, and I obliged, lying down on the bed, watching as she took her turn on top of me, her coils snaking over and under my legs, balancing herself so that she held herself with her hips just below mine, my dick touching her scales ever so slightly, and I think this amused her more than anything else. She had such a beautiful form, I wanted to run my hands along her scales more, but as it stood, I couldn't reach for anything other than her hips, so that is where they rested.

On the other hand, she had free reign over my body. Her clawed fingers delicately moved up my torso, running along the faint outline of abs that I had, up towards my chest and towards my shoulders, cupping my cheeks with her hands as she leaned down, pressing onto me further, lowering her head down for another kiss. So tender and yet so intense at the same time, in its own Alien way. The kisses weren't the same as I was used to, feeling-wise, but they still made my heart beat just that little bit faster. Her hands raked back down my body gently, her claws barely skimming across the surface. It sent lightning shocks of pleasure down me, and I couldn't help but let a low moan escape myself. She moved down my body slightly, moving her torso to the side so her head lay almost next to mine, my arm fitting snuggly underneath her hood and my hand on her back, pulling her into the side of me tight once more. I savored having her entire body against mine, it felt like it had been a long time coming, and maybe it had, but I had it now, and I didn't want to let go.

"This feels...you feel amazing," Kassara started dreamily, correcting herself midway. "I feel so...so..."

"Close?" I searched for a word to complete her sentence.

"Yes...close. I feel so close to you. I don't feel I could be much closer if I want to." She agreed, a soft smile spreading on her face. I could look at every small detail in every scale, even the smaller one that lined her eyes and mouth, the small deviations in color that made her look like she glistened under the daylight. How her eyes weren't just that one solid deep color, but instead a complex arrangement of different reds layering with each other to create her pearlescent eyes. Her hand stroked my hair, moving down my cheek then back down my body, down to my hips, as her tail my micro-adjustments so that my legs were comfier, despite the slightly odd position they were in due to her tail going under and over them in various place.

"You're beautiful. Really. Inside and out, Kassara." I complimented, still somewhat lost in her eyes, letting her warmth and my own tiredness take me over.

"As are you, Zero. In your own, weird, human way." She teased, leaving her hand resting on my collarbone, her arm draped across me. I felt like the moment could last a thousand seconds, I felt intensely close to her. And I didn't want it any other way.

AN: Hey all, thank you waiting for the release! I appreciate it's been quite a while, everything has all been up in the air and just been slow, but here it is, the next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it. As I have said before, I have no plans of stopping the story, and I will at least give warning if this changes, but I will still expect updates to be slow, as I need to focus on my life more than my hobbies at the moment :)

A special thanks to my Patrons for supporting me! (Seriously, thank you all, it means so much that you are all supporting me, it helps me a lot!)
Roxirin,
Reedledeedledee,
Viva I Carabinieri,
Misterwho,
Zach Hansen,
Madah,
Zachary,
HighlanderWolf,
Facenor,
Burnau
Dayanara Serges,
Alfa,
Bard,
Larentoun,
James,
Theapico,
And Anonymoose.

Join my discord for updates on A Captive Viper and to get involved in the community! (remove asterisks and spaces):

www*.discord*.gg / xvfS9AU

Help support me by becoming a patron! (remove asterisks and brackets):
www*.Pat()reon*.com(/)nikolaides