A/N: Hey, we've now made it all the way to Chapter 20, I'd say that calls for some level of celebration, right? As a few of you might have noticed, I changed Friendship to Romance. What it implies is hopefully obvious. If not, I haven't been doing a very good job.

For now I'm done making Chapters as they are presented in the game. If I keep going down that line, we won't reach Last Light for at least ten more Chapters. Now obviously I'm going to make the beginning of that section start one year after the events of the first game. But I'm also going to be making quite a few changes of my own.

But yeah, the most important thing is we're getting some Romance between Artyom and Velvet. And don't worry, I won't rush any of it just so we can get to some sweet intimate scenes. This Story is still rated T anyway.

Recovery:

Blood, it was just about everywhere. No, it was everywhere. On their clothing, all over the floors and walls, and it was even being coughed up by Artyom. The bullet that just barely missed his heart had still taken more out of the young Russian than his Companions would have hoped for.

He was currently in the middle of receiving medical attention from one of the Soldiers who not to long ago were thought to be Reds by Velvet and Ruby. As it would turn out they were actually associates of Miller and were on their way back to Polis Station.

It was only when they heard the gunshots and crying of Velvet that they decided to take some time to investigate. If they would have been only a few minutes later, Artyom would almost certainly already be dead.

One of the Soldiers in particular, who went by the name Ulman, was in the middle of putting pressure on Artyom's wounds. At the same time he was giving out instructions to the other men. He also did his best to comfort the young girls.

Violently grabbing and shaking one of the Soldiers right next to him, Ulman started to shout orders at him. ''Just get him some more water will you? And Pavel, where are you with the morphine and those bandages? Hurry your ass up.''

Shifting his head over to the Faunus next to him he assured her that Artyom would pull through. ''He's going to be alright, okay? He has to be. If Hunter gave him his tags that means Miller must see him as soon as possible.''

Ruby took Velvet by both of her hands. ''See, he's going to be just fine. Just one bullet isn't enough to bring him down.'' She said, comforting Velvet to the best of her ability. ''You shouldn't even be looking at this. Come on, let's go wait over by the cart.''

She attempted to guide her friend away but her grasp on her hands was lost. Velvet had no plans to leave Artyom's side. From how he handled the Nazi that headbutted her, she knew that he would wait for her as well.

Carefully placing her hands around his head, she slowly pulled off his helmet. When he had been shot by the Red officer, Artyom had also taken a bad fall to his head. How bad that fall really was only became more clear when Velvet noticed that he was bleeding from his head.

Luckily Pavel returned just in time with the needed required supplies. The first thing Ulman did was wrap some of the bandages around Artyom's now obvious head wound. Next he injected a good amount of the morphine into one of his arms.

The last thing was for him to remove the shrapnel logged inside of his chest. Ulman didn't hesitate when he shoved a pair of pliers deep inside of Artyom's chest. The act almost made Ruby and Velvet throw up.

It took a few minutes of digging around, and by the end Artyom had lost more than a lot of blood. But the Soldiers of the Order had managed to stabilize him the best they possibly could. After wiping the sweat off of his forehead, Ulman congratulated his friends as well as himself.

''A job well done if I do say so myself.'' He said, getting a few frowns from Pavel and the other Soldiers. ''Don't be like that. Our friends here is definitely in dire need of one heck of a tetanus shot. Probably shouldn't have used pliers that haven't even been washed since before the war.''

Just then Artyom began to groan slightly but it quickly turned into him crying out in agonizing pain. Ulman attempted to hold him down by himself but was beginning to become overwhelmed by the young man's surprising strength.

Sharing eye contact with Velvet notified her that he was still in need of assistance. She helped him by holding down Artyom by both of his shoulders. Her added strength proved to be enough in order to pacify and calm him down.

After a few more minutes of intense heavy breathing from him, the Stalker finally managed to fully awake. Seeing his eyes now open, Ulman and Velvet both released their tight hold of him. Slowly with the aid of the two he began to properly sit up.

He was still in a lot of pain, a hell of a lot of pain. It was far worse than when he was struck in the back of the head by one of the Nazis near the Frontline. When Artyom had been receiving medical aid he blacked in and out of consciousness. So he did manage to get the name of one his saviors.

One more quick breath and he attempted to speak with the Spartan about his mission he had been given by Hunter. ''Ulman, right?'' He said, gritting his teeth as he did since it hurt for him to even speak. ''Get me to Polis now. I have to speak to Miller. It's about the-''

But Velvet stopped him from speaking by wrapping her arms around him and giving him a passionate kiss on the cheek. Needless to say it was very surprising to Artyom, and even managed to make him lightly blush. Usually it was the other way around.

There were still quite a lot of tears running down Velvet's face. Some of them were from a few minutes ago, but most of them were new. She began to sob and express how sorry she was that he had been shot in the first place.

''It was my fault wasn't it?'' She asked, putting Artyom in a bit of a confused state. ''I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. If I hadn't stopped us we wouldn't have run into all of those Reds. This isn't the first time you've almost died because of me. You almost got gun downed at the Armory, the same almost happened at the Frontline because I yelled like a complete idiot. It would've been better if you had left me at your Station.''

That marked the end of Velvet's rant on herself. However it wasn't the end of her excessive amount of crying. Artyom used his clothing to wipe away all of the tears. He smiled at who he also considered to be his absolute best friend.

Now having the greater portion of his strength back, Artyom manged to come to a complete stand and helped Velvet do the same. In no way did he agree with the final part of her rant. And he was able to find the right words to tell her why.

''I brought you along for a reason, Velvet.'' He said, making the Faunus's eyes widen. ''I brought you along because of that look of care in your eyes. You looked like someone who would always try their best to do the right thing. Those kind of people are very rare to find in the Metro. As for the times you nearly got me killed, forget about it. Honestly it is way more exciting to be shot at than it is to just pass through security normally. And besides, I couldn't just let that asshole bully my favorite girl with rabbit ears.''

Velvet was given a few seconds to process what Artyom had just said. When she was done processing the information she brought him in for yet another hug. This one lasting even longer than the previous. It was a nice and happy little moment. Unfortunately Ruby had to speak up and make it awkward.

''Alright, now you two just have to kiss again.'' She said, making one of her two Companions frown at her. ''But this time make sure you do it on the lips.'' Velvet began to scold her for making the joke, however Artyom was a little more agreeable with the idea.

After gently caressing her face he slowly brought her in for a kiss. Everyone, including all of the present Spartans, were a little shocked by what they were seeing. Obviously none of them were quite as shocked as the person being kissed was.

But despite this Velvet made no attempt to pull or push away from Artyom. In fact she even began to tighten her grip around the other Stalker. Deciding that children shouldn't be witnessed to this, Ulman used his left hand to cover Ruby's eyes.