A shockwave made the ground shake.

Worried, you tapped your foot on the ground while biting your lips until the taste of blood and iron spread on them. In your fear, you wanted to jump up and take a look outside for yourself.

But Baird pushed you pack into the chair.

"Don't be ridiculous, kid!", he said and squeezed your shoulder to make clear that there was no escape. "You're not a Gear."

"I need to check on him!", you slapped his hand away. "What if he's dead?"

As you said it out loud, a cold shiver crawled down your spine. Quickly, you squeezed your eyes shut and shook the thought of. Only thinking this way was a crime in itself.

To calm your nerves, you had to take a deep breath in.

"What can I do?", you asked and locked eyes with Baird. "Tell me. Anything. There must be something I can do."

With his lips pressed into a thin line, Baird glanced at the hologram.

"A few beacons are still up.", he said.

"So we can still use the Hammer?"

"Yes. But only over a limited area."

"Could we help them get back to safety?"

He eyed the map.

"You can give it a try.", Baird shrugged. "But don't expect too much."

A sigh made your chest tremble.

"I'll try.", you mumbled and turned back to the monitor to start aiming for the areas that were still in reach.

With shaking hands, you drew a line onto the map, programming the Hammer of Dawn to pave the way, in case JD and the group needed assistance with retreating behind the safe city walls.

"Come on, JD...", you mumbled to yourself and eyed the monitor while biting your nails. "You have to make it... Don't leave me."

Baird listened from the other side of the room. A strange expression was on his face, not entirely hopeless, neither confident that something positive could come out of the situation.

Everything was about to collapse, especially now that half of the beacons were down. Things looked bad, you couldn't deny that. But what made you nervous the most was the fact that JD was out there and you were in the lab, safe and sound.

Or at least safer than he was at the moment.

"What about Marcus?", you asked in a worried tone.

Baird looked up. He was working on some things himself, probably trying to stabilise the connections that were still working. You would have done the same.

"Out there somewhere.", he pointed at the map.

"Is his signal strong enough to locate?"

"Give it a try."

Humming, you scanned the area for Marcus' communicator. You didn't need to talk to him. It was enough to know where he was and then you could send a copy of the coordinates to JD. It would be better to reunite the two, not just to strengthen the forces but also because you knew Marcus was good in saving his son's ass.

Quickly, you picked the numbers up and send them over to JD. With tense shoulders you watched the two dots that showed their last location.

Silently you prayed that they would move, but even while others did, they remained unmoved.

"Shit!", you cursed and tried reconnecting with his communicator. "Fucking shit!"

But no matter how many times you tried, the signal refused to reconnect.

Frustrated, you hit the table, so hard that it chased a shark pain through your wrist.

"Easy, kid...", Baird grabbed you by the shoulders. "There's no use in overreacting. He'll come back."

Taking a deep breath in, you swallowed a whimper.

"But what if he doesn't?"

"He always did. He's a lucky bastard."

"Bastards run out of luck too..."

He groaned, rolling his eyes.

"That's how we keep the spirit up...", he mumbled and gave you a bump to the shoulder.

A sharp pain chased through your side. Sucking a breath in, you pressed a hand to the wound.

"I have to help...", you mumbled.

"Then keep the Hammer in use as long as possible. Don't let the power go to waste."

But before he could scold you any more for thinking so grim, his attention turned to the hologram.

You followed his gaze. With eyes widened in surprise, you gasped and immediately reached out to connect with one of the signals.

"Can you get a connection?", Baird asked and jumped in to get a signal himself. "Gears, I need everyone back at the wall. Our beacons are down and the Swarm's pushing through."

Feeling like you were on fire, you jumped up and rushed to the door.

"What the hell, kid?!", Baird shouted after you but couldn't stop the fire that was burning inside.

Breathing heavily, you dragged yourself across the halls. The feeling of flesh tearing open crawled across your skin. But in that moment nothing mattered anymore.

Gasping, you pushed through the door.

The world outside was raging. Fire burned and the smell of rotten flesh was in the air. The city looked like a battlefield. Remains of the Swarm filled the streets. Red things grew all over walls and ruins.

"JD!", you screamed into the open, tears burning in your eyes. "JD! Come back to me! Don't leave me alone!"

The sound of a raven chasing across the sky filled your ears. Your eyes jumped up, the world was covered in a vail of tears.

A gush of warm wind stroked over your face as the raven flew lower and landed.

The doors opened with a hiss.

A scream of relief escaped your lips as JD's face appeared. Blinded by your own emotions, you rushed forward and wrapped your arms around his neck.

Immediately, he dropped his gun and hugged you so tight that all the air was pressed out of your lungs. He was shaking all over and his breath shivered. A whimper left his lips.

The hair of his beard stroked your cheeks.

"I love you...", you whispered and kissed him.

He didn't respond. He just leaned into the kiss while fighting back a weak breath.

"No matter what happens...", he breathed against your lips. "No matter what will happen, I'll be always by your side. Always. Because I love you. And we will live through this war together. No matter what."

"Is that a promise?"

"It's an oath. And if this is over... I'll be yours forever. I will never let anything happen to you again. I promise I won't be a jerk again."

You smiled while tears adored your cheeks.

"What a soothing promise for a grim future..."