Chapter 41:
Their Sacrifice
With the fighting over and the medics doing their work, the Aegis descended on the machine shop and the scrap-yard adjacent to it with gusto, scouring the place for every piece of illegal technology present.
Miranda was helping, though she was doing so against the wishes of her bond-mates.
Sitting on an overturned barrel and directing them in their work, she paused when she caught sight of the lonely looking Lapine: the poor bunny’s arms were hugging herself as she looked to and fro, clearly lost as to what she should be doing in the midst of all of the activity, her ears wilted against her head.
“Hey, uh- shit. Jan!” She turned her head to her bond-mate; “Has anyone seen to her yet?”
The Wolfen looked to the sad bunny and shook her head, uncertain.
“I don’t know, she was kind of awesome wasn’t she?”
“She was.” Kala agreed as she cast aside the sheet of metal she had been examining.
“Hey Rebecca!” Miranda called, making her flinch before she cautiously came over.
The bunny looked nervous, as if expecting a reprimand, so the gruff woman softened her normal demeanor more than a little.
“I wanted to make sure you were alright, when we found your- when we went by your place and you weren’t there, we were worried.”
“I’m okay.” She said, one arm holding her opposite bicep.
One of the medics had bandaged her head and given her a shot of something that made the tips of her ears tingle.
Hoping to draw out a bit more of a reply than that, Miranda continued.
“You helped save a lot of lives by doing what you did, I hope you realize that.”
The lone monster blinked, holding herself tighter, clearly her emotional injuries were much deeper than her physical ones.
“I don’t, I mean, I didn’t... do anything!”
The seasoned Aegis operative’s eyes narrowed at the admission.
“The hell you didn’t! Everything we knew was from what you told us! If we had to do this shit blind it would have been a bloodbath, and that was even if we did it at all! I wouldn’t doubt you get a civic citation or something out of this. Point of fact I’ll be arguing for just that!”
But the poor girl wasn’t convinced, shaking her head as a hopeless tear trailed down her cheek.
“I was wrong, I was wrong to think I could join the Aegis, to do what you people do. Carol was right: I’m just a dumb bunny.”
With a grimace of pain, Miranda stood, hand held to her side.
“Carol was a cunt!” She barked, again causing the rabbit to flinch; “Carol didn’t know the first thing about sacrifice, or loyalty, or putting your ass on the line for your friends. Carol was one of the worst things to ever happen to anyone, so her words are crap. Mine aren’t. You want to join the Aegis? I’ll swear you in myself! You got the stuff, no question.”
She sighed as she eased off of the wide-eyed Lapine.
“Look, you’ve been through some shit- no, that’s not right: that bitch put you through some shit. It’s going to take you some time to process it all. You have someplace to stay tonight? Family? Maybe some friends in the city?”
Rebecca almost nodded out of reflex, but then she remembered poor Sandra, and the state of her home…
Reading the reticence in her posture, not to mention the source of it, Miranda nodded.
“Okay, you’re spending the night with us.”
“What? No! I couldn’t impose, I- EEEK!”
The Lapine’s protests were cut off when Jezebel hopped onto her back, her little green legs wrapping around her waist and her hands immediately going to work on her shoulders.
“Yeah! You’re a hero! You can even have sex with our mistress if you want!”
“Jez!” Miranda protested, her cheeks going slightly pink.
“What? You’re good at it! And she needs it. Just feel how tense her shoulders are!”
“You’re making them tense!” Rebecca exclaimed, her voice high.
The irrepressible frog’s head pulled back on her neck as she pressed her fingers to her lips, a lady caught off guard.
“Oooh, you want to have sex with me?! So brazen!”
A moment later Kala pulled the Gripau from the not-brazen rabbit’s back, meanwhile Jan stood before her and looked her up and down.
“Wh-what?”
A smile slowly spread across the Wolfen’s face.
“What are your opinions regarding mud-wrestling?”
“I-I’ve never been.”
“That’s enough! All of you!” Miranda snapped
“But I-” Jez began.
“Her cute little tail...” Jan whined at the same time.
“Give the girl some space! I meant she can spend the night with the Aegis!” She turned from her disappointed bond-mates and gave Rebecca an apologetic look; “I’ll need to debrief you anyways, and I thought that maybe you’d feel more comfortable around some friendly monster girls who at least know something about what you’ve been through.”
A bit less flustered now that the Gripau and the Wolfen had backed off, or been made to back off, Rebecca took a few seconds to think about her alternatives before nodding.
The memory of Carol’s eyes glaring at her, so lifeless and cold even before she was actually dead, was one that she would not soon forget, and the thought of facing the memory by herself terrified her.
Recognizing the haunted look on her face, Kala stepped forwards.
“Come little warrior.” The Amazon offered, her muscular arm going over Rebecca’s shoulders; “I will take you away from here. Fear not, for no harm shall befall you in my company.”
It was such a high-handed pronouncement that a faint smile of amusement almost found Rebecca’s lips, though when she felt the corded muscles of the warrior woman’s arm she also couldn’t help but believe her promise.
Leaning sideways into the reassuring embrace, a lump found her throat as she mumbled her gratitude for the Amazon’s sincere offer of protection.
She so very badly needed to be held.
Miranda’s eyes followed the bunny as her bond-mate led her away, a bemused look on her face.
Privately she had to admit, the self-effacing Lapine had impressed the hell out of her every step of the way with her courage.
And she also had to admit that Jan was right about her tail.
“She does have an amazing ass.” She muttered.
The Wolfen surprised her with a quick lick to her cheek from behind, her head resting on her shoulder as she embraced her wounded bond-mate.
“I know right. I don’t know if it’s her ass, her tits, or her balls. But I’m digging her hard!”
Miranda sighed as she leaned back into Jan’s arms and flicked her in the nose with one finger.
“Down girl.”
A moment later Jan released her, though not because of the nose flick, but rather when she felt Miranda wince from the pain in her side.
“You need to get someone to look at that properly.” She whined.
“I’ll live. The medics have worse injuries to deal with. No Dryads in Algrade, too much tech, interferes with their nature mojo.”
Another whine started low in Jan’s throat as she once again sensed her mistress’s pain through their bond.
Before the inevitable argument could start, a rush of air surrounded them as Volka landed at their side, stirring up dust before her wings settled at her back.
“Oldeera’s Hornets have ensured that none have escaped our perimeter.” She reported, then looked to the blood on Miranda’s side; “And now we must see to your injuries, Aegis Holt.”
“I’m fine really-”
“You are not.” The Valkyrie overrode her objections; “Erica told me of your wound, but she said you believed it wasn’t serious. Seeing you for myself I can tell you’ve lost a concerning amount of blood. We need to get you off of your feet.”
Despite Miranda’s protests the Valkyrie, with the help of Jan and Jez, all but carried her out of the scrap-yard and into the warehouse they had set up for triage, there they helped her get settled onto a cot.
With Jan holding Mirada’s arm over her head to keep it clear, the Valkyrie set to work.
“This is ridiculous.” She muttered as Volka took up some scissors from a first aid kit and cut through her bloody uniform to expose the wound on her side; “Do you even know what you’re doing?”
With deft fingers the Valkyrie cleaned the wound and carefully examined the severity of it.
“You mean do I have any experience with battlefield injuries?” The veteran angel spoke drily as she quirked one eyebrow; “I might have seen one or two.”
Miranda squirmed on the cot for a moment, a slight flush in her cheeks.
“Right. Stupid question I suppose. You’re bonded to a kid, so it’s easy to forget that you’re probably the most qualified person here for this kind of shit.”
Volka clicked her tongue and nodded in satisfaction at the state of Miranda injury.
“Worry not, I do not offend so easily. And you were right, you will live. The wound was merely a graze. Ugly, but no internal damage.”
While Miranda hissed in pain she cleared away more oozing blood before applying a tight bandage, with Jan helping her bond-mate to sit up so she could wrap it all the way around her naked waist.
“Good to know, I still have work to-”
Once more Volka cut her off.
“Any tasks you think you must perform are already being seen to. I have spoken with Benjamin and find him, and his elfin bond-mates, to be more than capable to take command of this endeavour. Your only job now is to recover. The injury itself may be relatively minor but as I said before, you have lost a fair amount of blood.”
Sitting cross legged on the cot with her, the tiny Jezebel nodded her head vigorously.
“Yeah! What she said!”
Miranda let out a dissatisfied noise from her throat, then turned her head down and to one side as a question she had been dreading bubbled to the surface of her mind.
“How many did we lose?” She asked quietly.
She could hear the urgent voices of the medics around them, but she couldn’t bring herself to look.
The Valkyrie was silent as she finished the final knot in the bandage, only opening her mouth to speak once Jan had helped Miranda into a fresh shirt.
“Five. And one more who is not likely to survive past the hour.”
Miranda drew in a shuddering breath as her eyes closed in a bid to keep her stinging tears from falling.
“Six, then.”
Before her, the ancient angel stood to her full height, her own eyes distant.
“A terrible price, but one that had to be paid to stop this woman’s machinations. I did not know them personally, but I am sure the fallen would agree.”
With her ears flat to her head, Jan let out another whine as she carefully hugged her mistress from her uninjured side.
Volka extended her hand down and stroked the Wolfen’s ears.
“We will remember their sacrifice. That is all we can do for them now. I must return to my husband. Despite his past misadventures and his recent training, he is not overly accustomed to this life.”
“Of course.” Miranda spoke gruffly as she looked up into the radiant being’s eyes; “Make sure the kid keeps it together eh?”
Volka smiled a sad smile.
“I shall.”
Not far away, Nameless was dealing with his own crisis.
As his angelic bond-mate had predicted, the other wounded operative had succumbed to her injuries and he was now holding her bereft bond-mate in his arms as he did everything he could to blunt the overwhelming pain of her loss.
Standing around him in a loose circle were several of the dead woman’s comrades, as well as Ophelia and the other medics that could not save her.
Where before the Aegis members looked on him with skepticism, now they watched with nothing but respect: without his powerful bond-mates many more would have died, and seeing him now using his own power to help the poor girl was enough for him to earn their admiration.
Though her love was dead, the grief-stricken monster was in no danger of turning into a Tenebrae, but she was a flickering candle compared to the radiant star she once was.
Part of her soul died with her bond-mate, and now she would have to learn to live without it.
The greatest fear of any bonded monster.
He was still in her mind when Volka caught up to him, joining him in comforting the poor creature.
Working together with his angel, the young Empath soon had her in a state where her friends and colleagues could take care of her through her grief.
Which was just as well, as Nameless needed to take care of himself; he was physically and emotionally drained from the day’s activities and from dealing with the wrecked monster girl.
As Volka feared, he was coming apart at the seams just a little bit.
“Husband?”
She phrased the single word as a question as she reached out to his bruised cheek.
He pressed two fingers from each hand into his eyes, he and Volka were sitting on another cot, the others at a respectful distance.
“I’m okay.”
Despite his words, his voice sounded miserable.
“That’s a relief.” She remarked drily as she folded one wing around him.
He looked up, staring straight ahead with red-rimmed eyes.
“I have to be.” He wiped at his nose with the back of one hand as he sought to focus; “Where are the others?”
She tilted her head down and sideways to examine his haunted features.
He had dealt with the grief of monster girls before, but never when it was so fresh, and never through the loss of a bond-mate. The guilt and rage of the Tenebrae he had encountered was almost trivial compared to the inescapable sorrow brought about by losing the center of one’s world.
“They are still helping with the search of the machine shop.” She answered after a few moments; “They are working under Grant’s supervision. He will keep them out of trouble.”
She nudged against him, her arm going over his shoulder as her wing folded itself tighter around him.
“You did well today, every step of the way. We are all proud of you. Your parents would be proud of you.”
He felt as if she was trying to make him cry, and indeed she was attempting to draw out his emotions.
Better he process them now, with her, then let them build up inside.
And so, at her coaxing, he asked a question that he had been struggling with for some time.
“Why does it never feel like I’m doing enough?”
She absorbed his words, and felt the emotions behind them through their bond, but didn’t say anything for a long time, merely held him tighter.
Eventually she turned and kissed the side of his head, then pressed her lips to his ear.
“Because you are a fucking moron.”
With her tongue she pulled his lobe between her teeth and pressed them together slightly, not enough to cause pain, but enough to remind him that she had little patience for self-pity.
He tensed up at the reminder that there were others who had far more to worry about, but didn’t shy away from her.
After a moment she released his tender flesh from between her teeth and let out a heavy sigh.
“My love, my husband... my heart. You are but a single man, however gifted. We each of us have our roles to play... and our limitations. I, for example, cannot rub my belly and pat my head at the same time, but that is my burden to bear.” Despite the silliness of her words, her tone was serious; “Today you did everything that you could be reasonably asked to do, plus some more besides. Now stop moping. If you really feel you need to do more, then let us go and do more! We can join up with the others and help with the search of the machine shop.”
He drew in a deep breath to steady himself, then nodded.
“Alright, let’s go do more.”