"I know we've never met before, but I'd like to thank you.", you offered Baird a hand while he worked his way around you in the control center of the base. "Marcus told me your boy was my saving grace."

For a moment, the old, bald headed man eyed the hand before giving it a halfhearted shake.

"Jack is quite useful.", he shrugged and continued to pack things away.

"Hm.", you hummed and turned back to the screen from which you could check all the security cameras around the area.

JD and the ground were crossing a field of sand and stones. Despite the buildings being far apart and separated by large distances, it was quite easy to follow their every step.

A hissing sound filled your ears as the headset turned on.

"Don't try making friends with him.", JD chuckled. "He can be a bit rough around the edges."

You smirked.

"So am I.", you joked.

He laughed.

"No. You're just difficult."

"Thanks, lover boy. I truly couldn't imagine a better boyfriend than you. You're so... good at making me feel appreciated."

He did not respond, but you could her it in his breathing that he was trying to hold back a laughter.

"You know I love you.", he finally said.

You hummed.

"I love you too..."

"Huh."

"What?"

"Nothing. Just... it's nice to finally hear it. I've dreamed about it many nights. But in reality it sounds better. So much like you."

Blushing, you tore your eyes off the screen.

"Don't get cheesy!", you mumbled and turned your attending to the statistics on another screen instead. "Anyways... uh, the satellite should be ahead. Don't touch anything, just listen to my instructions. We need to make sure it's still good to go after all those years."

"So, how do we do that, exactly?", Del's voice appeared out of nowhere. "I hope you're good at explaining because neither of us has any kind of mechanical skills whatsoever. I mean... I'd say I'm good with my hands. But not in such a big scale."

You couldn't help but shake your head and smirk as he said it. He reminded you a lot of the old JD, just a lot more to handle and a lot less lovable in your opinion.

The new JD wasn't bad either. He looked different, but the beard that Marcus genes were responsible for made him appear a lot more like a man than the face his mother had given him. He looked like a full man. A man that you wanted to climb again, you shamefully had to admit.

Clearing your throat, you wiped a strand of (H/C) out of your burning hot face.

But you didn't have enough time to get caught up in your sinful thoughts.

All of a sudden, a shadow appeared in the corner of your eyes. Struck by surprise, you tore your head around. Your hand grabbed the first thing that was near, a knife that JD had left for you and raised it.

But as your eyes recognised a familiar face, a human face, you froze.

A little surprised but not impressed, the old Paduk looked down on you. The burned side of his body moved as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you alright?", he asked in his thick accent, but didn't sound interested.

Sighing in relief, you lowered the knife, but couldn't help and feel a shiver crawling down your spine.

"Sorry.", you mumbled and bit your lips to force down the feeling of panic. "Memories."

"Hm.", he nodded and grabbed another headset.

"There's a space station.", Kait suddenly informed. "Or something like it."

You frowned, glanced over at the old man and back at the screen.

"You should check it out.", you suggested.

Next to you, he hummed.

It seemed like he was about as talkative as Marcus. But on the other hand, Marcus was a lot more talkative if he was angered or if you payed him a visit. This guy, however, didn't even seem to be interested in a good, heated argument. In fact, he didn't seem to be interested in anything.

Or he was just had at showing emotions at all.

The headset clicked.

"Hey, uh...", JD's voice echoed inside your ears. "If we found a terminal to access, what exactly are we supposed to do?"

Chuckling, you leaned forward to check their location through the security cameras.

"Good job.", you teased him. "Now, we'll start with an easy task. The power is probably out, so you need to find a switch."

"Two, to be exact.", Paduk corrected and checked the cameras for himself.

"Where to find them?", Fahz asked.

"No idea."

"Great.", JD mumbled.

You smiled.

"I'm sure you'll be able to find a switch. You're a big boy.", you said and check your notes one more time to reassure yourself.

For a moment, everything went silent. The sound of something heavy, mechanical that was moving could be heard. Then everything went back to silent again.

"Great, got it.", JD informed. "Two satellites secured."

Surprised, your eyebrows rose.

"Two?", you asked.

"Yeah. Why so surprised?"

"Well... I- my research only considered the weight of one but...", you looked at Paduk. "If nobody objects, we'll go with two. Better safe than sorry."

Agreeing, Paduk nodded.

"Okay...", Del mumbled. "Now what?"

You checked the cameras again.

"Return to the hanger.", you said and picked out the quickest route back to send it to JD. "We need to signal to be as clear as possible, so the main terminal would be ideal. Can you go there?"

"I'm sure we can.", JD said. "The way is blocked, but we'll figure it out."

"Don't take unnecessary risks. Stay hidden and only fight if necessary. If anything gets damaged, we won't be able to make it."

"Ha, yeah... is this a bad time to tell you the Swarm is here?"

You sucked in a sharp breath. Your hands clenched into fists.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!", you asked in a hoarse voice.

"Uh... I don't want to spread unnecessary chaos."

"JD!"

"Okay, fine. It's here and I'm not kidding. I'll be right back."

"JD! James!"