Chapter Text
“So… exactly how is this going to work?”
Bradford would come to hate asking such a question. How he wished he could go back in time and shut his mouth to save himself from his current hell.
“ARGH!” He cried out in pain.
On his knees, it felt like there was a non-stop electrical current running through his body. Several needle pricks tickling his skin. And then his brain felt like it was on fire. So many buried memories coming to the surface. So many painful ones. But it had to be done.
“Don’t resist the process, John.” Geist said. “Opening your mind to him will make it much smoother.”
Bonding to this Ethereal called Asaru. He still couldn’t believe he agreed to it, but… he was the only viable host since the Ethereal’s separation from the Commander. It took Geist’s words and an accidental vision from Asaru that finally convinced him. The Commander was still alive. Jynn was still alive.
Deep within the Templar’s main base of operations, an inner sanctum reminiscent of the Gollop Chamber, Geist was facilitating the bonding between Asaru and Bradford. Standing to the side, a hand raised and manipulating the freely flowing psionics in the room, he was acting as a needed bridge and stabilizer because of Asaru being too weak to establish a proper bond. Damage he gained from his abrupt separation from Commander Reeves when she was captured. Ever since then, he had trouble bonding to new hosts and making a lasting relationship; draining said hosts to sustain his ever dying body. But there was something different about Bradford. Connections. Deep ones. Something inside of the reluctant man would make him a viable host until he could reconnect with the Commander.
It wasn’t going as smooth as it could have been, but there were several factors. Bradford still being extremely hesitant, not to mention skeptical, of Asaru being ‘benevolent’ and not wanting to be subject to psionics was one. And then Asaru’s damage was another. It was a careful balancing act to make sure his psionics he fed to Asaru would only empower him and not overload him and cause further damage.
Another cry of pain came from Bradford as finally fell to the floor. He curled into himself. Arms tightly wrapped around his sides as he tried to ignore the pain, but it was nearly impossible at this point. Why did I agree to this? Why did I agree to this?
“I’m sorry this is causing you a great amount of pain.” Asaru said, voice shaking. With the strings of their connection slowly building, he was feeling everything Bradford was feeling and felt terrible. “But there is a great amount of trauma…”
Trauma? If he could, Bradford would have laughed at the statement if he could. That barely scratched how damage he was.
Feeling another of of those bulbous tendrils touch the back of his head, Bradford closed his eyes, waiting for the next wave of pain to course through his body as he felt more memories coming forth.
“So once this war is over and we get the Earth back on her legs, what are you going to do, Reeves?”
Thankfully, this one was a more pleasant memory coming to the surface. He remembered it well. Back during the Old War. A rare moment for some of the senior staff to have a break and converse. One of the staff asked Jynn. She was more lax with the staff calling her by her last name when they were ‘off duty’.
“Do after the war?” She mumbled, rubbing his chin. “I’m not sure, really. Probably will be too occupied with whatever the cleanup will be like after the war is done.” She shook her head. “I have the feeling the Council will still want me running things and preparing for any future alien incursions, but hope I can get a break before stress takes its toll.”
“Stress takes its toll?”
“Think she means getting gray hair!” Someone joked.
“I’d take graying hair over dying from a heart attack caused by stress.” Jynn shook her head. “Though I would like to not to gray prematurely.”
“Well,” Bradford tried his best to stifle a chuckle, but a grin was slowly forming, “you could always get your brother to dye your hair for you.”
A few started laughing, knowing exactly what he was talking about.
She sputtered, nearly choking on her drink she was sipping on when he said that. “John!” There was a hint of red on her cheeks.
“What?” He smiled innocently.
“You know exactly what!” She said.
“I never said the color.”
“Oh man,” one staff member in the know cackled, “Charles would totally choose a worse color!”
“Okay, what’s this story that’s got y’all laughing and Reeves embarrassed?” Someone asked.
“Sounds like her brother dyed her hair something nasty.” Another chuckled.
“Gosh darn it.” Jynn dragged her hand down her face. She needed to react better to whenever that story came up. “John, you’re dead to me.”
“For the rest of the night.” He knew she wouldn’t stay made at him for too long.
Jynn grumbled a few more times before she finally recomposed herself and started to tell the story to the staff, rather reluctantly.
And the memory faded.
“Jynn…” Bradford quietly whimpered. Tears streaming down his face. Why did the world have to go to hell that day? So many people lost that day. Friends. Family. His best friend.
“I never told her my feelings.” And he regretted that. But there was never a time to. Far too intimidated by her father when they were teens and then during XCOM, they had their duties to worry about first.
“Hm, yes.” Asaru gently laid a hand on Bradford’s head. “That connection is still strong. Us calling out.”
“It’s how we finally found you.” Geist said. And a lucky find it was.
“Mhm.” He nodded. “When John and I… are better connected… we may be able to use that link to find Reeves.”
Connections. Connections. That damn nightmare was a connection all along. Bradford still having a hard time fully accepting that. A mind read ages ago by one of Geist’s people said the nightmare was some kind of calling, but he didn’t believe. Really, he just didn’t want to deal with continued probing and requested for the nightmare to be suppressed. And that lasted for only so long.
Truthfully, he didn’t want to accept that it was true. It made him feel horrible. Guilty really. He may have been ignoring his friend’s cries for help throughout the years.
“Find me.”
And said infernal dream was starting to surface.
“No! NO!”
His eyes flew open in a panic. Both in his mind and before his eyes was the damage, emancipated form of Commander Reeves. Shivering and staring at him with dead eyes.
“NO! NO! NO!”
Not this again. Not this.
He managed to push himself up and frantically away from her for a few feet before another wave of pain hit him again, bringing him back down to the ground. He curled on himself again, hiding his face from her though he couldn’t avoid the vision of her in his mind.
“Find me.”
“GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY!”
“So many painfully memories. Mixed feelings.” Asaru let out a said sigh. He floated over to Bradford and kneeled down. Placing his hand back on his trembling head. Tendrils reconnected and repositioned themselves on Bradford’s body, strengthening their connection once more. Bradford cried out in pain.
“Just open your mind to him.” Geist said once again as he went over to them. “Stop resisting.”
Bradford wanted to yell at Geist. Curse him out. But too many memories clouded his mind, along with the pain. He was going to wring the man’s neck once this once this was done.
“Find me.”
He didn’t know why, but he opened his eyes, peering through his fingers. She was still there. Closer than he would have liked. But Asaru was there too, looking at him. One of his hands extended to him. Open your mind to him. Fuck it.
He took Asaru’s hand, gripping it. It was a strange feeling how the Ethereal’s form sat on the border of corporeal and incorporeal, but there was something there. Faint and soft.
“Get this over with.” He said before closing his eyes again. He just had to trust Geist and Asaru.
“I’ll try to be gentle.” Asaru reassured him. “But I know you can endure.”
With him finally dropping his guard, over the course of a few minutes, Asaru finally started to meld with him. Part of his body sinking into Bradford’s body.
“Yes! Yes!” Geist grinned. He could feel Bradford’s resistance falling and the bond between the two truly forming. He was glad Bradford had finally stopped resisting. Now the two just had to deal with all those memories, as their minds would soon meld.
Bradford held back a cry a pain. It was less than before but still wracked his body. He continued to curl into himself as the process went on. This time, his mind went back to how all this started. Several hours ago he and a squad were meeting the Templars to investigate why ADVENT was heavily patrolling the area, stepping up their shakedowns to permitted settlements, and raiding any Haven they came across capturing civilian instead of killing them. And now this was happening.
How did everything lead to this?
“Find me.”
With a sharp gasp, eyes opening wide, Bradford woke up in a startle nearly falling off the stool he was sitting on. His eyes quickly looked around. Leo and Trish were both sitting by the fire. Trish knocked out, slumbering soundly on Leo’s shoulder and Leo was busy sharping his machete. Just across from him was Raven, medical supplies spread out on the desk, making sure everything was in order. And then he heard the faint chatter between Archer and Manson keeping tabs on the surrounding area and Warren whistling as he made his rounds. It was just the abandoned ADVENT outpost, the musty room; he and his squad were taking shelter at for the night from the cold winter. Waiting for their Templar contacts to reach out to them. He let out a heavy sigh as he sank back into his corner.
“Ugh… dammit.” He mumbled under his breath and rubbed his face. That nightmare again. Why the hell was it back? And it felt worse than before.
“You okay, boss?” Raven asked. She had heard the gasp. He only grumbled in response.
“Nightmare again?”
He wrinkled his nose. Hopping to his feet and grabbing his rifle, he headed to the door. “I’m going to go take my watch.” He didn’t want to talk about that.
“Boss, wait!” She reached out to him, but he ignored her as he left.
“Don’t even bother.” Leo spoke up. “What is like the third day in a row since we got here? He ain’t gonna talk about it.” He shook his head.
“Well, something needs to be done. Bags under his eyes are worse.” She shook her head. “Wonder how many hours of sleep his running on.”
“Suboptimal as usual.” He said “Hopefully his knickers aint’ too in a twist when the Templars finally get here.”
“Hopefully not.” She sighed. “Don’t like when he’s irritated before a meeting.”
Outside, the crisp winter air felt great against Bradford’s skin. A little pick me up to wake his brain. He let Warren know he could go in for a rest. The mountain man tried to argue, saying he still had two more hours, but a sharp glare made him quickly rethink. He did need some rest.
An update from Archer and Manson informed him on the recent ADVENT activities throughout the area. Currently, they were attacking a nearby haven. Which he noticed the all too obvious signs of several pillars of smoke rising into the night sky along with dropships darting back and forth. He shook his head. They couldn’t help them right now. The meeting came first, which would help them get to the bottom of this odd uptick in ADVENT cracking down in the region.
“Hopefully it’s just forceful relocation into the cities.” He liked to tell himself that, though he knew it probably wasn’t true.
“Hey! Hey!” Manson suddenly shouted. “Daedalus is picking up movement and psionics coming our way.”
“Get your bot to mark ‘em and I’ll tag ‘em.” Archer said.
Ears twitching, already picking up familiar pinging that accompanied psionic teleportation closing in, Bradford raised his rifle towards pinging, but soon lowered it.
“Stand down, it’s the Templars.” He started to head towards them just as the last two teleported in. It was about five of them.
“Sending a message first would have been lovely.” Manson grumbled. Already reprograming Daedalus to go back on patrol.
As he got closer, Bradford recognized the one in the middle. Their pale turquoise accented armor stood out from the rest of them. “Talim?” He asked. It had been awhile since he worked with her.
“It is I. Sorry for our delay.” She said, while taking her helmet off. White hair cut very short, powder white skin, and piercing blue eyes. It was Talim. “Had to route around some psionic patrols.”
“Yeah,” he gestured his thumb to one of the smoke pillars, “they’re busy.”
She nodded. ”That’s most likely related with what he was to share with you.”
“Let’s go inside.”
“First my people will set up a dead zone in case a patrol passes by here.” She then looked over her shoulder and gestured to them. Two of them nodded and went to work planting a few devices around the building and channeling their psionics into them.
With them doing that, she and the others followed him inside.
“We’ve mapped out ADVENT patrols in this region.” Bradford pointed to several maps they had laid out. First a map of North America, then one of the United States, specifically Montana, that was dotted with circles and lots of observation notes.
“Noticed they’ve been moving west. Movement starts all the way back from Ottawa.” He then pointed a map of Canada. “The Foxsnake Skirmisher clan clued us in on the odd behavior.”
“Yes, odd behavior.” She looked at the maps before turning to him. “ADVENT is following the trail of someone. A being really.”
“This person must be impo—“ He paused. “A being?” The way she said it made him feel like ADVENT wasn’t hunting down a human. “What are they, some high-ranking escapee Hybrid or a kidnapped alien?”
“An alien. Not kidnapped. This one is very free and unrelated from the Elders’ armies.” She explained. “Well, this being may be more related to the Elders themselves.”
“What?”
“Really, this all goes back to your Commander Reeves. If we find this being, they may help us find her faster.”
“Explain.” That immediately caught his attention.
“This being is connected to her. Correction, may still be connected to her.”
As he was listening to her, his mind started to tune her out. Tune the world out. Eyes squinting, he tried to listen, but couldn’t make out her words. Just an ever growing static was taking over his mind.
He let out a grumble, rubbing his temples. Maybe the lack of sleep was finally getting to him. The nightmares hadn’t been helping. Maybe a few caffeine pills would help? He knew Raven had some packed away.
“Where are you?” A faint whisper tickled his mind. His hairs stood on end. Immediately, he whipped his head in the direction he thought he heard it come from.
Just by the opening of the door, a ghostly form was taking shape. Blue wisps swirled into being. A tall, spindly thing with four arms, transparent skin and several tendrils flowing off of it.
“Where are you?” The faint whisper repeated, but more pained than before. It hunched over, hugging itself.
“What the hell?” Bradford said, not noticing he voiced his confusion out loud. Though something was still shutting off the outside world.
Raising itself back up, its gaze locked onto Bradford. It then reached out to him. A bolt shot out.
Eyes went wide, he felt something sharp pierce his mind.
“Find me. Quickly.”
“ARGH!” He cried out, dropping to the ground clutching his head.
“Boss!” Raven was over to him in a heartbeat.
“Bradford!” Warren hoped to his feet.
As they picked him up, slowly all the sounds were coming back to him. One of the Templars moved a chair over to him so he could sit down.
“Are you okay?” Raven asked. “And what the hell was that about?”
“I’m fine.” Eyes still closed and rubbing his temples, he waved her off.
“I’m doubting that.” Warren crossed his arms.
“I’m fine.” He soon glared at the both of them.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Talim asked. Eyes glowing purple and purple veins becoming more prominent on her face. “I sense an instability in your mind.”
“Tch.” Psionics. Should he tell of what he saw? No. Didn’t need to get sidetracked. “I’m fine, just lack of sleep is getting to me.”
“That’s more than a lack of sleep.” Raven rolled her eyes.
“And nightmares!” Leo butted in.
“Leo!” Bradford snarled. Sometimes he wished the man would keep his mouth shut.
“Nightmares?” Talim questioned. She went over to him. “Besides the instability…” She raised a hand, bringing it close to his face, but didn’t touch. “I can sense the work of another Templar on you mind… though it’s coming unbound.”
Coming unbound… well, that explained that nightmare coming back. He closed his eyes and let out a disgruntled sigh. He couldn’t believe what was about to say.
“If this gets us back on task quicker, go ahead.” He knew hew as going to regret it.
“I’ll be quick.” Talim raised her hands to the sides of his head. The next moment, her psionics flowed around him.
He winced as she dug into his mind.
“Wait.” Her eyes widened. A moment later, she cut her psionics off. “I need to go contact Geist now.” She started to put her helmet back on as she headed to the door. “I will be back.”
“What?” Great, something else. “Why?”
“We will explain once we’re back.”
“Great…” Now what did she see in his mind?
Chapter Text
It was roughly ten minutes later until there was the familiar teleportation ping nearby and a few minutes later Talim re-entered, but someone else was following her. A man clad in yellow armor.
“I think it’s time we finally met in person.” He started to take off his helmet.
“Wait…” Bradford recognized the voice and the armor. “Geist?”
“In the flesh.” He chuckled as he walked over to him, tucking his helmet under his arm. “Pleasure to finally see you face to face. Properly I should say.” Once he reached Bradford, he extended a hand to him.
Bradford raised a brow, eying the smiling man that came back with Talim. That signature yellow armor he had seen before during their comm chats, but never the man behind the mask. What’s so important that he finally came in person?
“So,” he got up and shook his hand, “exactly what did Talim find in my brain that made you finally come out in person?”
“A connection to that being. A very strong one.” Talim spoke.
“It was something Ezra picked up ages ago but from what Talim showed me, not quite this strong.” He added.
“Connection? Strong?” Nothing was making sense. He hadn’t exactly made any connections with any aliens as of late. Well, expect some pesky Sectoids, but that wasn’t something a few bullets to their brains wouldn’t solve.
“What you’ve been experiencing isn’t quite a nightmare nor a vision.” Geist began to explain. “Commander Reeves and this being have managed to call out to you. Connecting to you.”
“Exactly how?”
“I can only assume at some point you were once in an area close to either one of them when they reached out.”
“What?” Not something he needed to hear. How many times did they nearly find the Commander only to let her slip through their fingers?
“And now that being is close by once again.”
“Okay.” Bradford raised his hands as he shook his head. There was a lot to process, and nothing made sense. “Okay. What’s so important about this being again?”
“If we are able to find it, they could help us find your Commander Reeves.”
“Wh-what?” He didn’t believe him. “How? What can they do that we haven’t been doing for years?”
“Their connection runs deep. Very deep.” Geist chuckled. “But…” There was almost hesitation in his voice. He was looking at Bradford from head to toe. Almost like he was gauging him.
“What’s the catch?” There was usually one.
“It’s imperative we find them quickly. They’re also important for her survival.”
“What do you mean her survival?”
“It would be faster… if I showed you.” Setting his helmet down on the table, he fluttered his fingers; purple wisps sparked from it.
He eyed those hands. He wanted no more probing on his brain, but had a feeling Geist was being truthful with it being faster. A reluctant sigh slipped out. “Get it over with.”
“You may wish to sit back down for this.”
He grumbled, shaking his head, but sat back down. Hopefully, this would be quick.
With him sitting, Geist moved behind him and placed hands to the sides of Bradford’s head. A second later, he began to channel his psionics around him.
“Don’t resist.” He could pick that uneasy feeling inside of him.
“Easier said than done.”
“Now,” Geist took in a deep breath, “let me show you what I found at the Old HQ.”
“What do you meAN—“
Geist’s memories forced their way into his mind. A trek back to the fallen XCOM HQ to recover some equipment and data. Just who was this guy? How did he know the location? But as the memory continued, he saw Geist in Mission Control searching for something else. Using his psionics to bring something forth. Faint echoes of him and Commander Reeves. It was that day. That day all over again, but from a different perspective. And Geist was interested in one thing. Something leaving the Commander just as another quake cut off the Muton carrying her from everyone else. It looked like the being he had been seeing in his dreams and some minutes ago.
Then he heard Geist’s observations. It was an Ethereal. Possibly related to the Elders in some fashion. But this Ethereal had split from Commander Reeves for some reason, and something wasn’t right about the split. Something about damage to it and possibly the same was caused to the Commander.
As it ended, Bradford wrenched himself away from Geist. His body shuddered as the connection was abruptly cut, but he couldn’t take the probing anymore. Breathing heavily, he eyed the man as his mind processed the new perspective.
“What the hell… Who the hell are you?”
“That’s what I saw.” Geist let his psionics recede. “And you’ll find out soon enough.” He grinned.
Bradford didn’t exactly have a response. He didn’t like that grin. Something told him Geist knew more about XCOM than he let on. Just how much did he know? “We,” he took a deep breath, trying to steady himself, “we are talking later.”
“It’s unavoidable now.” Geist chuckled. “But you’re in for a surprise.”
Bradford just wanted to punch him.
“Now,” Geist clasped his hands, “I have a reading on where they are. They are close. I suggest we get moving now.”
“Um.” Bradford’s squad looked at him.
Bradford grumbled. He had little choice after what he just saw. What he was feeling. “Wrap this place up and get your gear, people. And someone inform Archer and Manson.” He told them. “Geist and his Templars will lead the way.”
He hoped he wasn’t making a mistake. But something in his mind, in his heart, told him Geist was right.
With Geist and his Templars at the helm, it didn’t take long for them to reach the approximate area he had pinned down the Ethereal. Teleportation made the trek so much quicker. Which was its own interesting experience for XCOM. Body and minds quickly passing through the Void, as the Templars dubbed it, as they headed to their destination. Not something Bradford would want to use frequently.
“Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park.” Leo had stopped to read partially destroyed sign. The wood and metal plaque was scorched, barely handing onto the battered rock it was connected to and tall grass was covering its base. Just another place decimated by the aliens years ago. Slowly being reclaimed by nature.
There was light snow fall as they finally reached part of their destination. Mountainous terrain, the vegetation was sparse. Though far off towards some hills were densely packed. As they trekked through, there were deep gouges in the earth running up and down the hills and remnants of broken trees. Looked like a UFO or two were shot down back in the day.
“We have to continue on foot. I don’t want to spook them.” Geist said.
“Think they’ll teleport if they sense you?” Bradford asked.
“In their current state, no. But they will try to run from us.”
“Hopefully, they’ll be friendly when we find them.”
“Heads up! Picking up signals and chatter. Some ADVENT dropships will be passing through soon.” Manson spoke up.
“I don’t like that.” Bradford wondered if they were on their way here.
“We need to make haste.” Geist gestured for them to follow. “Move.”
As the first set of dropships passed overhead, they were able to use the dense forest as cover.
“Looks like they’re passing through.” Warren stated
“That could easily change.” Talim said, keeping a sharp eye overhead.
“Let’s not get our hopes up.” Bradford still didn’t like how many were passing overhead. “Geist, how much further do we have to go?”
“Still a ways to go.” Geist answered. “There should be enough trees to cover us until we reach the cave entrance.”
“Cave entrance?” Raven questioned.
“They’re underground.”
“Oh, joy…” Sounded like someone didn’t like caves.
They continued to move through the trees, keeping a careful eye on the dropships overhead. Just the ever-growing unease a thermoscan would spot them, made them double their haste. A growing pillar of smoke reaching the sky didn’t help. Before they knew it, they were at the entrance of the cave.
“We’ve got lights.” Bradford noticed Geist hesitate with activating his psionics. He flipped the flashlight mounted on his gun and took point. “Just tell me where to go.”
Geist nodded. “We’ll be headed down.”
“Alright.” He nodded and headed in. Catching a whiff of the must-ridden dampness made him shake his head. “Watch you step, floor may be slippery.”
The rest of Bradford’s squad flipped on their lights and helped lead the other Templars in.
The cave was pitch black and damp. Only their flashlights illuminating the eroded limestone wall and many stalactites and stalagmites. A few patches of ice here and there in the beginning, but as they headed deeper, there were more wet spots. So far, the path ahead was clear. As they moved, they noticed cut up wires running up and down the wall and bolts in the ground. Looked like someone had come along and harvested the lights that were once there. But as they headed deeper, a few of those lights were on.
“Someone’s definitely down here.” Manson said, pausing for a moment to look at his datapad. “Daedalus is picking up a few life signs just below.”
“How many?” Bradford asked.
“About ten or fifteen. Got a few overlaps.”
“Eyes sharp, stay quiet, and lights off.” Bradford ordered everyone.
As they reached the first set of lights, he raised his hand. Everyone. He then raised a finger to lips and made a “shh” gesture with his lips.
“Somebody’s ahead.”
He could hear someone speaking. People talking. And one had that flanging voice. Had to be an ADVENT Hybrid. The others sounded relatively human.
“I can eavesdrop.” Manson whispered. With a few taps on his data pad, he had his Gremlin stay close to the ceiling of the cave, weaving through the stalactites. Once close, and found adequate cover, Daedalus started listening in. Sharing what it heard with the rest of the squad.
“We should be good in here for about a day or so. The rocks and temperature will throw scanners from the dropships off. We are deep enough.” The hybrid spoke. Sounded female. But there was an odd clicking though followed her speech. Insect like. “There should be an opening for us to move during the night again.”
“Geez.” A female voice nervously laughed. Sounded human. “They’ve been relentless since the slip up a few months ago.”
“From what he and the others have told us, the Elders won’t stop until they have him.” She snorted. Several aggressive clicks followed. “Turn him into another one of their Kracsads.”
“Speaking of him.” A low, scratchy male voice interjected. Sounded human too. “Seems like he needs to swap. Well, been needed to swap for the past few days”
“Really? Already?” The human female asked. “Burning through hosts faster? That’s not good.”
“Yes.” The hybrid sighed. “I’ve noticed… a few others have too.”
“Geez… Should we try the Zudjari next?” She asked. “Or the Kra’Seous? The little elerium remedies she’s been fixing seem to be helping him and she’s got a lot of that stuff in her system.”
“He and the Zudjari are hesitant to form a union, though the bond may last longer than most in the group.” The hybrid explained. “And for the Kra’Seous—“
“Too risky, too risky.” The male interrupted. “She’s still mostly a Kra'tulcim, so very incompatible with his kind. Extra psionic resistant. Feedback would eventually kill them both.” They sighed. “Maybe if she was full Os’seous... but even that part of her species has limited bonding time with one of them.”
“Right… Forgot.”
“Though she should keep up the elerium treatments.” The hybrid nodded to that. “I know a few outposts we may be able to hit to get some fresh elerium for her to consume and feed to him. I, Va’pör, and Chiss could do the raids with minimum disturbances.”
“The quieter the better.”
The conversation continued on to nearby outposts that would be best to hit and then where they would be moving to. Still heading to the west coast for now. Manson recalled his Gremlin.
“Ah, they are here.” Geist said. He was smiling under that helmet. “Now to make contact.”
“How do you plan on doing that?.” Bradford questioned. His mind was calculating ways for them to contact these people without provoking a fight. Their chances were slim.
“Calmly.” With that, Geist took point again, moving past Bradford.
Bradford shook his head. If this man gets us killed. He gestured for the others to follow.
Just as they were reaching the bottom of the stairs and could see some people in the adjacent cavern…
“Whoa!”
Just as they were about to clear the last step, the damp floor caused one Templar to slip. They tried their best to not shout. Luckily, someone caught them before they hit the ground.
“What the hell was that?” But the hybrid heard.
“Let me check.” The male voice said.
Crap.
Before they had a chance to react, the person rounded the corner. The man was thin. An oddly thin looking human. A dark tan, ruddy skin with messy dark hair pinned to their thin face. Clothes were ADVENT. A slick black and white suit with red trim, but tattered and torn. Looks like they had been on the run for a while. And for some reason, they had sunglasses on.
“Huh.” He seemed barely fazed by what he saw.
Though his lack of reaction didn’t stop Bradford’s squad from pointing their weapons at him. The Templars had their hands hovering over their autopistols.
“Fuckin’ snake!” Especially Leo. Already he was jumpier than usual.
“Warlord!” Bradford raised his hand. He knew exactly what he meant by his tone, but wasn’t so sure from a quick glance.
“That’s a fuckin’ snake!” He stated again. “Those damn clothes! Their neck!”
Still, the man was calm as ever. Processing the scene, one could say. These people didn’t look ADVENT, though they were heavily armored. He didn’t seem disturbed by all the guns pointed at him.
With the man still not reacting to them, Bradford took a good look at him. His form reminded him of those Thin Men from back in the day. Annoying things. There had been reports some had been repurposed after the war. Upgraded to look ever more human to continue infiltrating havens and resistance cells. And then a few acted as ambassadors. And looking at his neck — Adam’s apple twitching — there was some definite discoloration like that Speaker. Scales. Lots of reports said that long tongue liar was an upgraded Thin Men.
“No one do anything stupid.” Bradford said through his teeth, looking at his people. Last thing he wanted was a venom cloud heading their way.
“Weapons down.” He gestured to his squad.
“But—“
“Weapons down. Now.” He stressed. Leo mumbled under his breath, saying ‘he better be right’. He then looked back at the man. “We’re friendlies. Enemies of ADVENT.”
“Zuke! Respond!” The hybrid called out. Heavy footfalls echoed in the cavern.
“I’m fine, Izavrer. We have company… though not ADVENT.” He said calmly. “Enemies of ADVENT they say.”
“Company?” A few seconds later, she appeared from the corner, armed and two other hybrids with her. Standard looking Troopers.
“Friendlies.” He said, gesturing for them not to raise their weapons.
This hybrid, she still wearing the red and golden yellow armor of General. But they had defaced every piece that had the symbol of ADVENT on it. She also looked quite different from the usual hybrid. Helmet off, there was purple discoloration on her face. A gray-ish purple chitinous plating formed her head crest and also grew on neck. And her face, near her mouth. Mandibles. Bright orange and white mandibles like those upgraded Chryssalids extended from the sides of her face and below her chin. Explained the clicking.
Her orange eyes locked onto them, scanning them. Mandibles clicking aggressively. Who were these people? Then she spotted something.
“XCOM? Templars?” She recognized the insignias on both. She gestured for her men to stand down. “What are the chances we run into your kind here?”
“Well we—“ Before Bradford knew it, Geist was walking over to them.
“We were actually looking for you all.” Geist interrupted. “Specifically, one of you. The Ascended One. That Silent Guide. The Ethereal.”
Her eyes widened, fingers tightening on her rifle. “How do you—“
He tapped the side of his head and then gestured with his shoulder to Bradford. He didn’t like that. “He’s been calling out.”
Izavrer narrowed her eyes at them. Was he telling the truth? It could be a trap. Mind controlled puppets disguised as ones of the resistance to make them lower their guard as they needed friends. And they really needed friends. She glanced over to Zuke.
“Not picking up the subtle mannerisms of the brainwashed.” He rubbed his throat, clearing it. “Your call.”
“Hm.” She looked back over at them. Risk it? She closed her eyes and snorted. “Were you followed?”
“No, but there’s a heavy ADVENT presence in the area.” Bradford said.
“Lots of dropships moving about.” Manson added. “And still going.”
Her mandibles snapped a few times. Lovely. “Follow.” She gestured for them to follow her as she headed back into the adjacent cavern.
Manson’s scans were off by about five heads. There were about 20 of them hiding out in the caves. It was a mix of humans, ADVENT, and then some aliens. None were the usual ones the resistance faced. The “Inner City” aliens is what some dubbed them. Brought over from other worlds, the Elders conquered to do work ambassadors and keep humanity pacified with future promises of further integration into the galactic empire. More lies. Though even a few didn’t look like those aliens. Perhaps they were workers. Deemed fit only for slave labor.
“You two.” Izavrer stopped just before the opening of another cavern. She then pointed at Geist and Bradford. “Continue to follow, the others stay.”
“Understandable.” Geist nodded. He looked over his shoulder. “Wait here.”
Bradford was more reluctant, but did the same. “Behave.” A warning was aimed at Leo. Leo grumbled, rolling his eyes in response.
With that, she lead them in.
Chapter Text
“Here.”
Izaverer paused a few feet from the three occupying the small cavern. A strange looking alien and two humans.
“Va’aum, Sid, and Hayden… we have interesting company.” She told them.
“Busy here.” Sid replied gruffly.
“Hm?” Va’aum, the alien turned to look to see what it was.
The alien was definitely something new the Bradford’s eyes which made Bradford pause in his tracks. Their exposed skin was an ashen gray and strange white, with a silver metallic shimmer, bone-like carapace covered their body from head to toe. Then were was an odd shimmer in the surrounding air. Like a heat haze. His nose twitched. There was a sharp metallic smell in the air. He felt like he knew what it was, but couldn’t put his finger on it. Then he noticed what they were munching on. Was that elerium? Would explain the smell.
“Hm…” He mumbled under his breath. Hopefully not a new alien XCOM had to worry about in the future. Looked like that carapace could deflect their firepower. Walking armor. They really needed some upgrades.
He noticed Geist wasn’t too perturbed by the alien, passing by them and heading over to the two humans. The alien barely paid attention to him, slightly eying him as he walked by. Looked like they were more interested in the elerium they were munching on.
He then looked over to the human that looked to be treating the one sitting across from the alien. Had to be Sid. He looked to be a doctor with their tattered lab coat and medical kit sitting on the floor. And the person they were treating, and she looked… beyond pale. Shaking. Sweat pouring down her head and hunched over; tightly holding her sides. Barely acknowledging the doctor treating her.
Geist kneeled down once he reached them. He looked at her from head to toe. He waved his hand in front of her face. No response. What was he trying to do?
“Don’t touch them.” Sid said. Finally, he noticed their company and raised a brow at the armored man.
“I know what I’m doing.” Geist replied. He raised his hand, creating a psionic orb. “Seems like we made it just in time. This should help.”
He let the orb go. It floated in the air for a few seconds before breaking apart into wisps and flowing into Hayden. A second later, she gasped sharply. Back arching back and head jerking. Life entered her eyes and color returned to her skin as the energy coursed through her.
“Hey!” Sid jumped back, not expecting that.
“What are you doing!?” Izavrer didn’t like that. As she was about to rush over, a raised hand from Hayden made her stop.
“Wait…” Hayden spoke. Though her voice sounded strange. Like two people were speaking at the same time. Female and male. “That… that helped.”
“I knew what I was doing.” Geist repeated. He got back up and took a step away from them. He removed his helmet.
Hayden took in several deep breaths, body slowly relaxing. Eyes, glowing blue eyes, fell onto Geist. Studying him carefully. His features. That psionic signature. Something about it was familiar.
“I… I know you.” She said. Geist smiled. “Yes, I know you. Geist… a promising XCOM psionic operative.”
“What!?” Bradford tried his best not to exclaim, but it slipped out. He finally came over. He looked at Geist, studying his face. Nothing rung a bell in his mind… Though some of his memories of the old days were shot. He had alcohol to blame for that besides the trauma. And he could use a drink with how everything was going on.
“Explanations will come soon.” Geist said to him. He was going to enjoy his reaction later.
“Catch Hayden, please.” As she said that, her eyes glassed over before her body went suddenly limp.
“Geez, warn me faster!” Sid could barely catch her in time.
But as her body fell, something rose from it. A being rose from her. Blue. Translucent. And alien. Floating before them was that being had been plaguing Bradford’s mind. An Ethereal. He recalled Geist called it that.
The Ethereal looked weak. Thinner than what Bradford saw in his nightmares. And its blue glow was dull as it barely floated above the ground.
“What the hell?” Bradford was already backing away. Every fiber of his being did not like it. Reminded him too much of the Elders.
The Ethereal floated closer to Geist. Those tendrils cautiously moving around his body. Barely touching his skin.
“Yes, you are him.” He titled his head. “Time has changed you.”
“It has. For better and worse.” Geist chuckled. “Glad I lived so I could finally meet you. Though still wish to have met you back then.”
“You were a perceptive one.”
“And you…” The Ethereal turned its attention to Bradford. Picking up something from him. Bradford didn’t like that.
“He won’t harm you.” Geist said, trying to reassure the skeptical man. Bradford didn’t believe him. Before he knew it, his back was to the wall, and that Ethereal was close. Fast thing.
“Ah…” Bradford hissed, feeling something tug on his mind. The Ethereal was doing the same he did with Geist, but kept the tendrils back a few inches, sensing Bradford’s distress.
“Bradford?” He uttered, surprised. “John Bradford. Central Communication Officer of XCOM…” There was a hint of sadness in his voice. “You found me.” But a hint of joy came back.
“Who the he—“ Bradford bit his tongue. Best to be polite. “Who are you?”
He finally pulled away, drifting back over to Geist, giving Bradford much needed breathing room. “My name is Asaru.”
“Okay…” Bradford cleared his throat. “Asaru…. You’ve been the one plaguing my mind… giving me nightmares.” He hated them so much. And there was a hint of anger rising in his voice. “Why?”
Asaru’s tendrils tensed for a moment before falling low.
“Nightmares? I-I… I’m sorry about that.” He apologized. He never knew his calls caused that. “You were one of the few I still had a connection to.”
“Why me?” Bradford wanted an answer for that. He went over to him, but kept his distance.
“You were close to Reeves. And by extension me.” He explained. “Though Reeves was my main host, I established several small connections with many of the XCOM personal to help guide and keep a tab on how things went. Even more so when the… Elders… began to release the modified Sectoids and were actively trying to capture our psionic operatives.”
Bradford didn’t know what to say. New information and nothing made sense. He felt like he would have distinctively remembered having an alien on their side back during the war. Unless… unless he was hidden for some reason. He did call Commander Reeves his host. Main host.
“But you, you and Reeves had a close bond. That deep friendship.” He softly laughed. “My slight connection to you allowed you two to be more “in-sync” with your duties.”
“Huh…” Still wasn’t sure he could believe him.
“Jynn…” Bradford closed his eyes, just uttering her name hurt. “Where is she?” He had to ask with all the talk about connections.
“I–I don’t know.” Asaru looked away. He hugged himself, body shuddering. “I never risked trying to find her or else They would find me. I just know she gets moved every so often…”
“Which is wise you haven’t.” Geist said. “We are looking for her. Hopefully, you two will be re-bonded soon.”
“Hopefully, soon.” Asaru nodded at that.
“What’s so important about this bond?” Bradford asked.
“We–“
“Hey! Bradford!” Manson called out. He sounded panicked. He came rushing into the room, nearly slipping in a puddle. “We’ve got a problem!”
“What is it?” Bradford questioned. He had to pull his face back with the man shoving his data pad in his face.
“Picking up some dropships hovering nearby. A few have touched down. Can’t tell if they’ve got troops on the ground.”
“Dammit.” Bradford cursed. Maybe they were noticed.
Izavrer cursed under her breath. Mandibles clicking. “They must have picked up your trail.” She pointed at Bradford and Geist accusingly.
“Gather everyone in the central cavern.” Geist said, putting his helmet back on. Calm as ever. “My people and I can get us out of here and to somewhere they can’t trace.”
“Do as he says.” Bradford said. He had a feeling of what Geist was going to do. Manson quickly left. He looked at Geist.“Mass teleport?”
“Yes.” He nodded.
“Izavrer can you give me a hand?” Sid asked. He was gathering the medical supplies and Hayden was still unconscious.
“I got it.” Chowing down on her last bit of elerium, Va’aum got up and headed over to help.
“I-I need a new host.” Asaru hesitantly said. He looked back at Hayden. Still unconscious, as Sid treated her. He couldn’t go back to her. She was done.
“For now, attach to me.” Geist extended his hand to the Ethereal. “Don’t feel afraid to feed.”
Asaru reached out, but hesitated. Should he? He was unsure. But they didn’t have time for any other option. He grabbed Geist’s hand, drawing from him and into him. Geist let out a grunt as his body tensed. As they merged, he nearly dropped to his knees, but as soon as the last bit of Asaru merged with him he was able to recover.
“That’s… concerning…” He muttered. Something to worry about when they were out of there.
With that done, they started moving back into the main cavern. Thankfully, everyone was there and gathered in a circle. Though understandably frightened.
“Geist? Location?” Talim asked. Looked like Manson offhanded mentioned that Geist knew what to do for this and his Templars were already at work. Psionics flowing freely and encircling the group.
“Home.”
He gestured for Bradford and others to get in before he took his position. He let his psionics join theirs.
“And Va’aum.” Geist said to her as he worked. He noticed her pained expression from the growing psionics. “You may not like the teleport so much and the location we’ll end up in.”
“As long as there’s a dead zone away from the psionics, I should be fine.”
“I’ll make sure there’s a place to fully accommodate you.”
A few moments later, the psionics fully enveloped them all. And with a deafening bing and flash, they were gone.
—————————————
The next moment, they appeared in a new location. The Templars home base. At first, it almost seemed like they hadn’t left the cavern seeing the rocky walls until they noticed there was concrete under their feet. A quick look around revealed more structure to the place. They were in the center of a spacious room, several concrete pillars reaching into the cave ceiling, and a few of the walls were covered with panels. Cracked panels in the process of being torn off and replaced. There were a few vehicles around. Repurposed military vehicles form the looks of it. Humvees and MTVRs were the more notable.
And there were others there around them, moving about. More Templars. Some in full gear and others in more relaxed attire. And then there were… civilians from the looks of it. Moving equipment and goods around and loading some into the vehicles. The room almost looked like a combination of a storage and transportation bay.
“Hm.” Central looked around. There was something familiar about this place. “Feels like—“
“Ah…”
A pained hiss caught his attention. He looked for the source. It was Geist. The man was gripping his side as he fell to his knees.
“Geist!” Talim was already next to him, helping him up.
“I’m okay…” He reassured her, but took her hand. “Just a little winded.”
“Argh…” Another voice hissed, followed by a low groan. Who was it this time?
It was Va’aum dropping to her knees as she lost grip on Hayden, causing the unconscious woman to tumble to the floor.
“Get back!” Sid told the others. He quickly dragged Hayden away from her as a loud hissing, like high pressured air escaping a pierced can, could be heard. The subtle distortions in the surrounding air grew more visible as the hissing grew.
“Get her to one of the dead zones! NOW!” Geist yelled. A pair of Templars quickly nodded, picking Va’aum up and taking her away.
Once back on his feet, Geist gave off a few more orders.
“And Talim, please get our guests settled for the night.” He told her as he removed his helmet. He looked pale. He then looked at Bradford. “John, follow me.”
Bradford barely had a chance to say anything before Geist started walking off. With the haste in his steps, besides how he looked, he figured the man wanted to continue the conversation from earlier in private. He shook his head. He needed a drink.
“I’ll be back. Play by their rules. And Manson, get in contact with the Avenger and Firebrand. Tell Lily she can chew my ear off all she wants when we get back.” Bradford said to his squad before following after Geist. He knew Shen would be pissed if they had to move the Avenger again so soon. She and the engineers were still trying to work out the kinks in the ship’s power source. Something was damaged or missing that would keep the thing permanently in the air, so they didn’t have to make so many stops to let things dissipate and recharge.
—————————————
The two walked in silence. Geist doing his best to hold back pained grunts. Bradford figured it must have been the Ethereal that bonded to him causing the pain. Ethereal. He shook his head. Was going to be fun talking to it again. What did it know about Commander Reeves? What was so special about their bond? He sighed. He didn’t want to think about that right now. His mind was still processing everything.
To take his mind off of that, he studied the halls. They were somewhere underground. Just something about if felt so familiar to him.
“Reminds you of home? Doesn’t it?” Geist said, letting out a pained chuckle.
Bradford glanced at him, raising a brow. “What do you mean?”
“The old headquarters. Grand underground base.”
“You’re talking about the main XCOM HQ?” Bradford still wondered how he knew about that.
He nodded.
“Hm…” Bradford mumbled. “How do you know about that?”
“Still don’t recognize me?”
“Is that some kind of joke?”
He chuckled. “Well, I do look different.”
Bradford narrowed his eyes. He studied him. Nothing about his face or mannerisms rang a bell. Maybe Volk was right. Maybe the Templars had several screws loose.
“Here we are.”
They stopped before a metal door. A quick wave of his hand and several lines and symbols lit up purple. A second later, there were several clicks before the doors slide open. As the doors slide open, the sounds of flowing water could be heard. And Bradford soon saw why.
Beyond the door, there was a large pool of water and waterfall in the very back, cascading down the cave wall and into the waters below. Really, the pool looked as if it started very close to the door and extended far and out. There was a walkway cutting through the middle of pool leading to a circular platform in the center. A few more walkways branched off from the main path leading to more platforms.
“Follow.” Geist entered.
As Bradford followed, he shuddered, feeling an unpleasant tingle in his head. Psionics. There were several orbs and streams of energy freely flowing.
“Reminds of the Gollop Chamber.” Bradford mumbled. He remembered the room constructed to house that alien device.
A grunt from Geist caught his attention. Asaru was emerging from him. He nearly fell to his knees.
“Apologies.” The Ethereal said once fully free. He stuck close.
“No, no, no… it’s fine.” Geist took a moment to recollect himself. “I sense… I sense a great amount of damage to your being.”
“…Yes. I’m… I’m dying.” Asaru hesitantly answered.
“Your separation from Commander Reeves is the cause?”
He nodded. “I can barely sustain myself without a host now. And with a host… I begin to drain them like a parasite.”
Separation from the Commander… That again. What was it about? What was so important?
“Okay,” Bradford spoke up, “what are you two talking about?” He felt like he was out of the loop. “And what does this have to do with Jynn?”
“Reeves…” Asaru sighed, looking away. “Commander Reeves was my host. She and I were bonded. It is something my kind does. Beings of influence. Guiding life.” He began to explain. “And Reeves and I had a deep bond. She was a “perfect host” if I may use the term.”
“Perfect host?”
“I’ve had several over the ages. Occasionally, I would come across a host were we have a deeper connection than usual.”
“So… why were you bonded her?” He just felt like he would have remembered something about that from back in the day.
“She was selected to become the commander of XCOM. I was to be her silent guide for the whole affair.”
“A silent guide?”
“I prefer to be more in the background. Only a few know of my existence and we wanted to keep it that way.” And keeping him hidden was quite the task. “I subtilely guide my host’s thoughts and actions instead of using direct force. Let them be themselves, though we are one.”
“Only a few know you… Why?”
“I met another like me once. Shamash… this isn’t the first time our world has been invaded. Outsiders. Zudjari. XCOM has been around for a long time.” As he talked, he projected his thoughts to them. An image of another just like him, floating in a green tinted tank. But this being had an orange coloring.
“She was once bonded to a brilliant Zudjari scientist and helped usher his species into a golden age.” He then showed them this Zudjari in some sort of device. Partially emerging from a black, undulating portal as blue energy arched across its surface. It looked humanoid looking alien with a slanted head, grey to green skin, piercing red eyes, and a long slit running down the middle of its face revealing mouth that opened vertically.
“Until he, Origin, turned on her, severing their bond, and imprisoned her for his own gain… Mosaic.” He expanded upon the image, showing the full device Origin resided in. And just above it was some sort of containment unit. Inside, floating limply, was Shamash. The devices siphoning her power. “Soon, doing the same to the rest of his species he once diligently served, and then so many other species they came across in their conquest. He turned his kind into ravenous locusts.”
“Hm…” Bradford rubbed his chin. This isn’t the first time our world has been invaded. That caught his attention. He faintly recalled some files he read back when he was inducted into XCOM. But so much of it was redacted. Black line after black line. If you do good work, you’ll learn more. He faintly recalled one of XCOM’s backers telling him that. Now he wondered, if they knew of this first invasion, would it have prepared them for the second?
“We didn’t want the same thing happening to me. There were already a few interested in building Mosaic of their own to ‘peacefully’ apply a global mind control to have humanity become more peaceful.” The image changed again, this time to a human male. “Director Faulke… More ‘responsibly’.” He scoffed. How could he suggest such a thing? “I agreed on my then host, William Carter, on comparing him to Stalin.”
“Director Faulke?” Bradford mumbled. He wasn’t sure why, but he recognized the face. Probably appeared in some old files he read.
“I rejected that insane idea. Left the Earth for some time after we put a stop to the invasion to figure out what my purpose in life should be.”
“But you’re still here. Why”
“Earth is my home.” And it anguished him to see it suffer. “And I wished to help it. Still do. Trying my best to avoid the mistakes Shamash did with Origin.”
Bradford shook his head. What an interesting alien. At least he had some good morals. To think the world would be like it is now so many years ago if humanity recreated this Mosaic. He wondered how much infighting happened when the ill intentions got out.
“So what caused you and Reeves to separate?” He asked next. It was time to get back to that subject.
“She was the cause.” Asaru sighed, shoulders falling. He didn’t quite expect to be so violently expelled from her body. Part of him wished he could have stopped it. “She had been growing more aware of my presence as that war raged on. Her mind naturally overcoming the memory blocks.”
“More aware? She didn’t know of your existence?”
“Again, I prefer to be a silent guide. My hosts unaware of my existence unless necessary.” He reminded him. “We agreed it on beforehand. I would lock away her memories of us bonding and some of the full history of the Zudjari invasion… I just didn’t expect for her to be the ‘perfect host’. The deep bond slowly undid my locks.”
“So… did you redo them?”
“No, I didn’t have the time with how the war was going.”
It was just around the time a new generation of enhanced aliens were being fielded and the Elders were slowly taking off the kid gloves. And he felt it would have been best if he didn’t reseal the memories. She needed another perspective, his perspective with how the tides were shifting again.
“And then that Elder we captured had contacted her and found out about me.”
So careless with the imprisonment, thinking their current psionic dampers were enough to block It. They needed more and should have doubled checked to make sure It could have never reached out.
“That thing contacted her…?” Bradford mumbled as his mind went back to that time. He remembered Jynn becoming rather irritated sometime after that Elder’s capture. Shorter than usual and taking none of the Council’s complaints. Her cursing them out a few times was very refreshing, despite the very serious possibility of it backfiring on her and possibly kneecapping XCOM’s financial support. “Is that why she was so frazzled up until They attacked the base?”
Asaru nodded. “Besides trying to sway her to Their side, They kept sending her visions, terrible visions of the past, present, and future. What would happen to humanity if they continued the ‘pointless’ fight.” He shook his head. As if They weren’t dissecting humans like animals already. “And more subtle threats if it died from the interrogation.” Bradford frowned. That explained so much.
“Why did she cause the separation?” Geist interjected. He wanted them to get back on the subject.
“Right…” Asaru sighed. Both sets of arms tightly hugging himself. “I believe she knew how terrible it would be for me to fall into the Elders hands as she started to remember Origin and Mosaic.” And They already had something like that up and running on Earth. “If they burned out the unfortunate human to boost Their psionic signal to overrun the bases, the world wouldn’t stand a chance with me under their thumb.”
“Human to boost Their psionic signal?” Bradford asked. Surprised to hear the Elders needed a human to do such a thing. Weren’t They powerful enough?
“Annette Durand.” Geist said.
“Yes, her.” Asaru nodded. “Poor woman and so many others the Elders have ruthlessly experimented on.”
“Some of my people stumbled across a facility she was held in once. Still picking at her. She’s currently ‘brain dead’. Though her psionics are still active, which intrigues me.” He wished they could had whisked her away, but they didn’t have the manpower. One day, they would find her again. He felt as she was in a deep coma.
“So,” Bradford cleared his throat, “since your separation from Jynn… you’ve been dying?” He just wanted to make sure he heard that part correctly.
“Y-yes…” Asaru hesitated to answer. “Our separation was abrupt and violent. Like a cable under great tension suddenly snapping.”
“And because of that, you’re constantly switching hosts? Correct?”
He nodded. “It’s what I have to do to survive now.”
“Will rebonding with Jynn fix this?”
“I-I don’t… I don’t know.” He was deeply unsure of that. “I feel as she too was damaged from the separation.”
“I believe it should.” Geist, on the other hand, was confident it would. “Though, you two most likely wouldn’t be separating again for a very long time until both of you have healed... and nothing unforeseen happens.”
“I wish I shared your optimism.” Asaru still had his doubts.
“Hm…” Bradford mumbled. A lot to think about. A lot to mull over… a glass of scotch. It all made his head hurt.
“So, I guess Geist will be your new host until then, huh?” He looked over to the Templar.
“I’m—“
“No.” Geist shook his head. “Because of his damage, we are not compatible.”
“He can sustain me, but I take too much from him.” Asaru explained further.
“Huh…” Bradford mumbled. Looked like he would still be jumping from host to host. “I guess Geist can help you find a suitable host or hosts as we continue searching for Reeves.”
“I already have one in mind.” Geist smiled. More like a cheshire grin was growing on that face as he gestured from Asaru to him.
“What?” Not quite catching what he meant
“You will be his new host.” Geist pointed at him.
“What!?” Bradford exclaimed this time. Asaru was also surprised.
“I’m not sure about that, Geist.” Even Asaru couldn’t believe what the man suggested.
“No, no, no.”
Bradford shook his head and waved his hands wildly. This man had to be mad. There was no way in hell he was bonding with the alien. Especially after seeing how drained Hayden was and how he affected Geist. The man was just getting the color back in his face since their separation.
“No. Not happening.”
“Oh, I think you’re the perfect fit.” Geist chuckled. “You two already have a connection that was established long ago.”
“No.” He repeated and this time with force. “If he put you on your knees nearly twice, what the hell will he do to me?”
“I believe that connection will provide the stability Asaru’s body seeks.” Geist was unmoved. He took a step towards him and tapped his head. That caused Bradford to take a step back and swat his hand away. “There will be some discomfort for sometime, but you two will get used to each other.”
“I said no.” He glared harshly.
“Hm…” Asaru mumbled.
Asaru floated closer to the two, more specifically Bradford. A few tendrils reached out, but kept some distance. The man grimaced, feeling his body and mind being tugged at.
“You may be right, Geist.” But he still has his doubts.
“See?” The man chuckled, grinning as he looked at Bradford. Bradford wanted to slap that smug grin off his face.
“And…”
“And?”
“And I sense another connection… yes…” Asaru nodded. “This one belongs to Reeves. It’s faint. She’s still calling.”
“What?” Bradford quietly gasped.
“If I may?”
A few more tendrils floated closer to Bradford’s head. The man closed his eyes. Why not? Another mind probe wouldn’t hurt… he hoped.
“Be quick.”
With permission granted, the tendrils touched his head. He held back a grunt as he felt the tug become a powerful pull on his mind.
“Ah.” And it kept growing.
His vision shifted and blurred as it kept growing. Then his vision went black. But he heard something. Screaming.
And then he finally saw her.
“No…”
Her. God, she looked horrible. Just like in his nightmares, she looked like a emaciated corpse. But somehow even worse. Barely resembling the woman who led XCOM. And she was the source of that screaming. Just screaming as she thrashed about in some sort of capsule or tank filled with dark liquid. Thrashing so greatly, an unrestrained knee stuck the glass and cracked it. Several scientists flocked towards the capsule and worked to sedate her.
And standing to the side, watching everything unfold, was some man. Dressed in a fine suit. Too fine to be one of the workers there. Something about them just didn’t look right. His eyes. His eyes were completely black, maybe a speck of light shown here and there. And another thing disturbed him. Hovering just to the side of the man was the ghastly projection of an Elder. Its helmet looked so different from all the others he had seen. Its helmet looked like a wide brimmed veiled hat. Veils trailing all the way to the ground. Something else stuck out to Bradford. Both seemed concerned.
Then it ended.
Bradford jerked back and away from Asaru. His vision came back, but was still blurred. He rubbed his face. It felt wet.
“What the hell…” He looked at Asaru. He just couldn’t believe what he saw. “What the hell are They doing to her?”
“Experimentations…” Asaru sighed.
“Traced back the connection?” Geist asked.
“Yes. She’s still alive, but… very damaged.” Asaru showed Geist what he saw.
Geist rubbed his chin, studying it. He noticed several things. Several things that troubled him. “At least she’s alive.”
Bradford continued to rub his face, trying to get the tears to stop flowing. But they wouldn’t.
What the hell were They doing to her? Why were They experimenting on her? For what purpose? What was the end goal?
So many thoughts raced through his mind. He barely heard Geist and Asaru discussing what they saw and continuing their talk about him being Asaru’s next host. Geist slowly convincing the Ethereal he was viable. And Asaru’s doubts were slipping away after tapping into that connection to the Commander.
He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath to calm himself. Felt impossible. But maybe they should do it. See if the bond was viable. If it wasn’t, Geist would just have to find the Ethereal a new host.
A reluctant sigh left his lips. He couldn’t believe he was considering the very thought. But after seeing how the state she was in, the fact she was still alive, maybe Geist was right. Maybe he would work out as a host.
“So…”
A throaty grumble came from him as he went over to the two. Catching their attention.
“So…”
He was still mulling over the decision. He looked Asaru from head to too. A benevolent Ethereal. Part of him still questioned that. But he had to admit, he sensed no ill will from him when he touched his mind again. And this thing was dying and needed a host. What to do?
He closed his eyes again. A moment to rub his face and sigh again. Why? Why?
“So… exactly how is this going to work?”
Geist grinned.
He hoped he wouldn’t regret this.
Chapter Text
Back to the present. Back to reality. Reality. Such a painful thing. Like the agony coursing through his body. Coursing through my body… He noticed something. The agony… the agony was less. Slowly melting away.
“You two are nearly there.” Geist’s voice rang every so faintly in his ears.
So that was why.
Bradford was still on the ground, curled into himself. Unaware of how much time had passed since the whole thing began. It felt like ages.
“The bond is nearly complete.”
Was it truly? Didn’t feel like it to Bradford. His mind was still swimming with memories. His own and Asaru’s. This alien had so many hosts through the ages. Exploring the Earth. Finding XCOM once more and making them his permanent home. So many different perspectives to view, absorb, and learn from.
“Nngh.”
Still some pain lingered as the finally connections were being made. But as the agony continued to fade, he felt something replace it. Peace. He hadn’t felt that in a long time. And then something else… Hope. And it was burning passionately deep within.
“Find me.”
No. No. No.
He closed his eyes tighter. She was still there. Dare he look? He needed to face it. Conquer this damn vision of a nightmare.
“Face it. Face her.”
Asaru’s voice rang in his head. It felt… strange. Much more pleasant than a Sectoid channeling its twisted thoughts to try and break him. But still strange. Something to get used.
But with the Ethereal’s words, he felt that hope swell inside of him. He opened his eyes, moving his hands away from his face. She was still. About a foot or two away from him.
He let out a deep sigh. He had to face her. No more running away from her. No more trying to block her out.
Body trembling, he forced himself to his feet. The world spun for a moment. It felt like his stomach was at the back of his throat. A hard swallow, a moment to catch his breath, he managed to keep his balance. He eyed her. So far, no reaction. She was still shaking like a leaf. Another sigh slipped from his lips before he moved towards her.
He stood in front of her. So close now. The closest he’s ever been since the nightmares plagued his mind. Still no reaction from her. Those eyes looked so dead. Afraid and pained. He just studied her body. Broken, naked body. Just like what he saw when Asaru searched out that connection. A shell of her former self. Strange diamond-like marks littered her body. And a stranger one on her neck. Starting from the chin down, her neck was black. It transitioned back to her natural skin tone as it reached her collarbone. Patterned like trickling rain.
He closed his eyes. A few tears streamed down. What are They doing to you?
Try not to dwell on that now. Just face her.
He opened his eyes again.
“I promise…”
He raised his hands to touch her, but paused. Could he really touch her? It’s all in his mind… right? But it wouldn’t hurt to try with everything going on tonight. So much had happened.
He brought a hand to her face. Just a test to lightly brush her cheek and… A sharp gasp left his lips. He could feel her. Trembling and cold. Ice cold. Then something else happened. She moved ever so slightly. Head tilting towards the hand. Can she feel him? See him? Hear him?
Another test. He brought both hands to her face and began to gently caress it. It took a moment, but she pressed her head into one of his hands.
“J-J-Jynn…” He started choking up.
God, she could feel him. Maybe even see and hear him.
“I-I promise…” He was still choking up. He just couldn’t believe it. As he was still caressing her head, he noticed she was shaking less. And those eyes of hers were looking calmer; slowly closing. “I promise I will find you.”
He dropped his hands from her face and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her into a hug. She needed it. He needed it.
“We will find you.” This time, Asaru spoke with him. Such a strange feeling.
Her shaking grew even less.
“I will find you.” Just his voice again as he held her tight. He didn’t want to let go. But he pulled back slightly. Studying her face again. Calmer. Looking less pained.
“I-I-I…” He can barely say it. Barely spit out those words. This could be his only chance to tell her.
“I love you.”
He didn’t know what came over him, but he just kissed her on her forehead.
A sigh come out. A sigh from her. He felt her slump into his arms, fully going limp. She was no longer shaking and her breathing was calmer.
He carefully shifted her in his arms to get a look at her face. Calm. Eyes fully closed. Like she was entering a peaceful sleep. Whatever was tormenting her was gone.
“Good.” He smiled.
But he noticed something. He was starting to feel her less. The blue glow to her ghostly visage was dimming. Like she was fading away.
No. No. No. It was too soon. He wanted to hold her longer.
“I-I promise…” He quietly whispered, holding her tight and fighting back tears. “I’ll find you… we’ll find you.”
But no matter how tightly he held her, she continued to fade. Blue wisps wicking away like ashes blow away by the wind. A few moments later, the last bit of her disappeared, leaving him with empty arms.
Just why?
“Why?”
He mumbled under his breath, shaking his head. She was gone too soon.
“Why?”
There were so many thoughts running through his mind. So many questions. He wondered if he would ever get answers for them.
“WHY?”
He let out an anguish wail, crying to the heavens as he dropped to his knees, slumping to the floor, and just wept.
And wept for a long time.
Awhile later, he felt something on his back. Felt like a hand. He peaked over his shoulder. It was Geist. Offering his order hand to help him back up. He took it.
“It’s never easy facing one’s demons.” Geist somberly said.
“Mhm.” He could only muster a throaty grumble.
Geist stepped away, giving the soldier a moment to clean up his face and compose himself.
“So, how do you feel… bond wise?”
Bradford looked at him like he grew two heads. How does one answer that? How to describe it? He looked down at his hands. His vision shift for a few seconds, peering into another world. No. Someone else’s eyes. Asaru’s. He could faintly see the Ethereal’s arms within his, the other set just below, and a few tendrils floating around him.
“Different… but at the same time… the same…” Bradford answered the best he could at the moment. Which was barely scratching the surface. But nothing felt amiss. Maybe he was a little sore all over, but nothing felt wrong. “Strange is the best way to describe it.”
“You will get used to it in due time as the bond between both of your continues to grow.” Geist gave him a few reassuring pats on the back. He flinched with each one.
“I hope you’re right.” Still, a small part of him wondered if this was a good idea. He couldn’t imagine how he was going to explain it to the rest of his crew. Heads were going to turn.
“You’ll feel a little pull when I separate.”
Asaru’s voice rang in his mind. Still something to get used to.
A moment later, Bradford’s body shuddered as he felt the pull. The next moment, Asaru emerged from his body. He looked to be glowing brighter.
“Gah!” He gasped. His whole body shuddered. Such an odd feeling.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine… gotta get used to it.”
Geist looked at Asaru, noticing his brighter glow and straightened posture. He smiled. Perfect. That was something promising.
“I suggest you both take it easy for some time.” Geist said. Especially after what just happened. “Let your bodies adjust to each other.”
“That would be wise.” Asaru agreed. He was feeling a little drained after the bonding.
“You don’t have to tell me that twice.” Bradford nodded, fighting back a yawn. He felt like he could use some rest. Tiredness was slowly catching up to him.
“Though if anything happens, such as the draining, immediately contact me.”
“I’ll —“ It wasn’t just him anymore. He looked at Asaru. “We’ll… we’ll keep that in mind.” He hoped that would never happen.
“But!” Geist raised a finger.
“What now?”
“I wish to train you.” Geist gleamed. He opened his hand and formed a few orbs. Twirling them between his fingers. “Help you learn how to handle the new found psionic power flowing through you and make sure you do not harm yourself or Asaru. Especially since you’re not a natural psionic.”
Bradford eyed those orbs. Psionics. He was still wary of them, but things were different now. He could feel it. To think he would be able to do that now, all because he bonded with this Ethereal. Maybe he would finally get some well-deserved payback on those annoying Sectoids. He chuckled. Can’t wait.
“That would also be a wise.” Asaru nodded. Precautious needed to be taken. “I rarely channeled my power through my recent set of hosts as it shortened the length we could stay bonded.” Last thing he wanted to do was ruin the bond between him and Bradford. Bond… oh right! He remembered something else.
“I’ll also try to keep the memories from my pasts from coming into your mind.” He moved closer to him. “Some of it will occur naturally, but I’ll keep most at bay until you’re ready to view them. Especially hers.” Bradford simply nodded, holding back a sigh at the mention of her.
Bradford then turned his attention back to Geist. “We’ll have to figure out when to plan this training.”
Part of him wondered how bad it would get. Since the bonding, he was recalling faint memories of the old days; him reviewing reports on how their psionic operatives’ training was going. Was always an interesting read with the hell their top psions would put the newcomers through. And something about Geist was becoming more familiar to him with each passing second.
“Like you, I’m running my own faction and trying to pull the world’s resistance cells together.” And that was its own daunting task, as it was like pulling teeth trying to interact with some factions and cells.
“We’ll work things out. In fact, I can loan one of my people to help.” Geist didn’t mind waiting. They had some time. “Navla. She’s one of my brightest. And will help you prepare for what lies ahead.”
What lies ahead? Bradford didn’t like the sound of that. Always cryptic nonsense from the Templars. Like there was something more than just the Elders, their Chosen, and ADVENT they had to worry about. Not something he wanted to think about. The Elders and their pawns were enough right now.
“Now,” Giest patted Bradford on the back a few times, “let’s get you need some much needed rest.”
Bradford stiffened with each pat. He was half tempted to smack him, but did nothing. He was far too tired to care at this point.
“Riiiiight.” A yawn finally snuck through. “Before my crew and I eventually leave here in a few days… you have to tell me how you survived the Old Base’s fall.”
“Ah!” Geist’s eyes lit up. “Starting to remember me?”
“Somewhat.” His memories were still foggy, but were slowly becoming clear. “Have him to thank.” He gestured over to Asaru.
Geist softly chuckled. It was a start.
“Well.” Placing an arm around his shoulder, Geist started to lead them towards the door. “Do you remember the operative that only started answering by their callsign?”
“That was you… and…” He paused as he searched his newly forming memories. “And someone else. But you were the first one.”
Geist let out a deep laugh. “Yes, I was the first and then Erika Rothschild. Sunder.” He shook his head. “What she liked to call herself after breaking the wills of a pack of Mutons during an abduction.”
“Sounds… familiar.” Bradford faintly remembered they had a few psions they had to keep a close eye on. Something about the newfound power went to their heads quickly.
“But back to me,” he ushered him to move, “I’ll tell you how I survived. Have my psionics to thank as they forced me into a coma when I sustained a life-threatening injury.”
He began his tale as he led Bradford and Asaru out of the chamber and to the guest quarters. By the end of it, Bradford had a lot answered, but had more questions. Exactly how long was Geist going to leave him in the dark about who he was and how much he knew about XCOM? He only got a chuckle and a grin as an answer which irritated him.
Introducing Asaru to the rest of his crew a day later went mostly fine. The two had agreed to do so since Bradford had a strong feeling they would ask questions about what happened back in the cave and then where did Geist drag him off to. And there were plenty of those questions and more. Especially details on how this ‘bond’ between him and Asaru worked. How deep did it go? Thankfully, Leo didn’t make any inappropriate jokes.
Now the real challenge would be telling the rest back on the Avenger. Should everyone know? He already knew who on the senior staff would be the first to know. Dr. Marin would probably be thrilled and want to pick at their brains. Maybe he would let Volk and Betos know. Hm.
“Just have to figure out who the others should be.”
Couldn’t let everyone know for Asaru’s safety. Last thing they needed was a leak. Needed to keep their new friend hidden as long as possible. The less the Elders knew, the better. Especially so they could find the Commander.
Reeves. Jynn. Please hang on. Stay strong.
Thinking about her hurt. He wondered if that nightmare would come back after confronting it. It was a connection to her. Her calling out to him. Asaura did say we could tap into that link and search for her. So it probably wouldn’t be the last time that nightmare would plague his mind. He wasn’t looking forward to it again. Seeing her like that tore up his heart. What were They doing to her? How the hell was she alive like that? Hopefully, they would find her soon.
“I’ll find you. We’ll find you.”