"Are you fucking kidding me?", you asked, rolling your eyes and shifting in the chair that JD had put you in.

Your awakening, or rebirth, how he liked to joke about it, was a good few weeks back now, but your body still refused to return to its old state. The upper part was better than the lower. Your legs did carry you, but only for short amounts of times before feeling like they were made of broken bones and jelly.

The wound that the monster, a Locust, had given you was slowly turning into a huge scar. But just like JD's arm, this thing gave you a hard time. It was burning, sometimes you imagined feeling claws being stuck inside your flesh and moving.

With a soft expression, JD placed a hand on your shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

You grabbed it to lock fingers with him.

With a grim expression on his face, Marcus shrugged.

"She seems to be determined.", he said.

JD shook his head. He looked about as thrilled as you.
With your arms crossed in front of your chest, you raised an eyebrow.

"And you two think that's a good idea?", you asked, sarcastically.

JD and Marcus exchanged a glance.

"She has a point.", JD said.

"Well, a lot of things do have a point, but we don't do them because they are stupid when we look at it in a bigger picture."

"But the Hammer of Dawn is our strongest weapon."

"And she is a Locust Queen, if I got that correctly."

Marcus hummed.

"Her mother is, was, the child of the former Queen Myrrah. And Kait shares her connection with the Swarm.", he explained. "But that isn't important right now. What is important is that they are evolving and we need weapons against that."

You rolled your eyes.

"Fine, point taken.", with a swift movement, you rolled the chair back to the computer. "So we would need a new satellite. Great. Nothing special. But what about the target areas? We need to make sure something like JD doesn't happen again."

With an amused grin on his bearded face, JD raised an eyebrow and gave you a gentle bump to the shoulder.

"Something like me?", he asked in a playfully offended voice. "What's wrong with me?"

You chuckled.

"A lot."

"Agreed.", Marcus hummed.

"Dad!"

"Anyways...", you pushed JD to the side, wanting to get up. "I know where we have to go for a satellite. Jinn won't like it, but fuck her."

But as your feet touched the floor, putting the slightest weight on them, your legs suddenly gave up. You stumbled and almost crashed to the ground.

Quickly, JD caught you.

As his arms wrapped around your torso, a sharp pain chased through your body.

"Fuck!", you hissed and flinched.

With a worried look in his eyes, JD placed you back in the chair.

"You need to rest.", he insisted again. "You're still in rough condition."

Pulling a face, you took a deep breath in and pressed a hand to your side.

"Don't.", you warned him. "I need to be of help."

With a sigh, he let his head hand low. His hand grabbed yours.

"You are.", he insisted. "But not in the field."

"But I need to do something."

"You need to rest.", Marcus said. "James is right. You're in rough shape to put it nicely. Besides, you've always been more brain than muscles. Just tell us your plan and we'll do the dirty work."

"Thanks for being on my side for once, dad.", JD smiled and turned back to you to press a kiss to the back of your hand. "Please don't overstep your limits. I can't do this again."

A wave of sadness washed over you. You knew that the past months had been terrible for him, but it was hard to sit back and be nothing but an advisor. Sure, you were a scientist, but you wanted to do something that would he of use to the greater good.

Suddenly, something came to mind.

"JD?", you asked.

"Hm?"

"My research papers. Did you save some?"

He frowned.

"A lot got damaged when you were attacked I suppose."

You shifted in your seat.

"There was a box. It wasn't labelled, but I put a sticker on it."

For a moment, he thought.

"Like... this weird thing that made it look like something dangerous is inside?"

"Yes! Exactly."

JD threw a glance up to Marcus.

He shrugged.

"I think Jinn gave everything to Baird.", he said with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course she did.", you huffed. "Let's get it back."

Without warning, JD let his hands slide underneath your legs and picked you up.

Struck by surprise, you clawed your fingers into his armour. For some reason being carried by him felt different than before. Maybe it was just your imagination, but despite his damaged arm you felt like he was stronger now.

As you looked at him, a warm wave chased through your face. You blushed.

He chuckled.

It was still the same, nice sound that made your heart beat faster. Despite all the months away from each other, he still had such a strong effect on you. Ashamed, you turned your head away. But as he pressed a kiss to your cheek, you had to look back.

"I'm glad you're back.", he whispered. "I wouldn't have made it without you. Just know that you're being of help to me. Your boyfriend."

As the word boyfriend left his lips, he couldn't help but smile broadly.

You blushed even harder.

"JD...", you huffed but had to grin as well. "I... I didn't tell you, but I love you. And I'm sorry."

Without stopping to smile, he shook his head.

"It's fine. I'm just glad you're back. That's all that matters. Now, let's get you to Baird's office, huh?"

Confused, you frowned and raised an eyebrow.

"Who?", you asked.

Marcus huffed.

"Right, you didn't meet him yet, did you?", he asked. "He's an old friend of mine. Helped out a lot but he's more of a mechanic. You should lend him a hand. If the papers you want are anywhere, then at his office. Let's go."