The air in the Hawk Walker's control room crackled with tension as Rod sat rigidly. His shoulders slumped and beads of sweat trickled down his temples. It seemed like his eyes averted something.
Across from him stood an impeccably still Alf. Both were locked in a video call with Alex Anderson, her image projected onto a mana-screen in front of them.
She sat in her own office back at the capital, under an avalanche of papers. Her shoulders were rigid and her blue eyes narrowed. She knew the truth… Lofo, her son, had snuck onto the Walker.
"You two are… IDIOTS! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?!" Alex's furious British voice roared from the speakers.
It was a rage neither Rod nor Alf had ever witnessed from her.
"I've been receiving non-stop calls from Lofo's school and his fan club all afternoon, night, and morning, asking where he was and if he was okay!"
The Gun Hero gulped and braced himself to speak, only for Alf to cut him off.
"We understand your emotional distress, Miss Alex. I do have something to declare."
His calm voice momentarily captured her attention and offered a stark contrast to her fury. A flicker of surprise crossed Rod's face.
"It is true that Rod and I both knew your son was with us… Though…" the machine paused, allowing the hero's expression to twist in shock.
He couldn't believe Alf was actually going to stand up for him…
"…It is all Rod's fault."
"WHAT?!" A scream of betrayal ripped from the Hero, "You're the one who said you let him board the Walker!"
"Can you prove that?"
Before their argument could escalate, Alex let out a sigh.
"It doesn't matter! Let's get back to the situation at hand. I suppose the mission was successful?" she asked, leaning her head against her palm.
"Of course. The smug tin can always covers his own circuits first," Rod murmured under his breath.
"There is good news and bad news," the machine stated and raised a metallic finger, "Which one would you prefer first?"
"Alf, I've been up all night reading and doing paperwork… At this point, just tell me both at once so I can shoot myself," she grumbled.
"Good news first then. I have been able to isolate a few residue remains of the brain parasite and analyzed it. I will send a full report in less than an hour. It is clear that our previous intelligence about the type of parasite was correct."
"And the bad news?"
"The brain parasite itself was not found. I hypothesize that Rod destroyed its main body, thus leaving only traces of it. And… in the fight… Mountain Frostall was partially destroyed."
"WHAT?!" Alex shrieked, her eyes snapping open, "YOU MEAN ONE OF OUR MOST IMPORTANT TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IS GONE?!"
"Only partially," Alf offered calmly, "No civilians were hurt or killed."
The woman sighed again.
"Well, that's gonna be even more paperwork and media control… At least no deaths… good work."
Rod relaxed after she said that… He really didn't wanna see his ex-boss mad. She may seem calm and collected, but back when they worked together, he saw glimpses of a scary temper.
After a few seconds, the Gun Hero forced himself to look at her image on the screen and crossed his arms.
"Okay, I've done what you told me, now I need you to tell me you also have good news."
The tension in the room mounted with those simple words.
"You told me you only trusted me with this, right?" Alex asked with a more serious tone.
"Yes."
"Right now I'm analyzing Elena's head to see if the magic used to heal and preserve her form could lead us somewhere. I also dug her body up from the graveyard. It was true that someone took her head. Security cameras were jammed while it happened, which was about 3 months ago. Someone really has it out for you… Unfortunately though, at this very moment I have nothing substantial to report. I need more time."
The frightening details cut through Rod's peace. The mere mention of Elena's headless body was a new horror that threatened to brand itself on his mind. Fortunately, he was accustomed to such.
The man sighed and scratched his head.
"I'm not done." Alex resumed, "Results will be finished in a couple of hours. When I have them, I'll head towards Naya City to have a meeting, just the three of us. There, we can discuss more and analyze the results. AND I'll pick up Lofo."
Her words were logical, which caused Alf to give Rod a nod of approval. In Naya, they could all relax, and he could begin repairs to the Walker.
"Okay," the Hero finally responded, "Just… just bring me some good news."
"I promise I will. You two just head towards Naya and explore. Heck, even let Lofo and Catra go on a date or something," Alex said with a mischievous giggle.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT."
"We will head towards Naya immediately," Alf cut through the Hero's outrage, "Have a safe trip, Miss Alex."
"Alright, you too. I'll see you tomorrow."
Her image vanished from the monitor and the two of them remained silent for a few seconds. Then, Rod focused on the empty screen.
"You know, you are such a backstabbing jerk." the Hero said with a genuine smile.
"Perhaps. Intelligence makes up for some things."
In the lobby of the Walker, a wave of faces greeted them. Exhausted engineers returned from escorting civilians and were putting away their winter suits. They took part in a sudden burst of applause that greeted Rod and Alf when they entered; after all, they had saved an entire town.
"WHAT ARE YOU ALL CLAPPING FOR?! I'm the one that had to walk 4 miles with failing legs!" the old engineer, Borok, tried to steal the limelight.
"Gramps, he's the Gun Hero! And he defeated a HUGE Ice Giant! You saw it on the monitors, didn't you?" his grandson, Onin, explained.
"You should have seen me when I was his age! I fought against many adversaries in the warehouse, one of them being the tax collector…"
As Rod and Alf settled at a table, Oliver got up from his chair and walked towards them.
"That was a hell of a battle! Seriously, incredible!" he said with awe and sat beside them.
"Thank you," Rod sighed, "I'm a little rusty though."
"You mean REALLY rusty," Alf interjected.
"Yeah, rub it in, why don't you."
Oliver smiled. Listening to them felt like hearing a family argument.
"If this is you being rusty, I can't imagine how you were at your prime."
Their conversation was about to deepen when Catra and Lofo emerged from a sliding glass door and walked to the sleeping quarters. Passing by, Rod's gaze met Catra's.
"Catra!" he called out.
She definitely heard him, even if she didn't want to admit it. The cheetah girl merely turned her head for a mere second and showed a mixture of confusion and cold detachment.
"We'll talk later," was all she said.
Lofo looked at the hero and gave him a reassuring thumbs-up before disappearing.
He did his best to save everyone, and yet, he was being punished for it. For some reason he thought it would be just like the old days. He should've known that with Catra in the picture… it would never be.
Oliver and Alf watched without a word. And afterwards, the machine stood up.
"I am going to start moving the Walker. The trip to Naya will take a couple of hours with the damages done," he announced to the lobby.
His words made a hopeful murmur spread through the engineers, followed by excited chatter about seeing their families.
"You better get us back to work on the SkyEye fast! That's my baby!" Borok roared proudly.
"Wait, calm down! You're gonna hurt yourself screaming so loudly!" his grandson pleaded.
The only thing Alf did was scoff at the old man's antics and move to the control room, leaving Rod and Oliver alone.
"You did good work," the doctor said while taking a bite of his sandwich.
"Thanks. To be honest, I don't really feel great about it."
"Well, you did save people today. That's a big win. Be proud of it."
Rod's eyes drifted to his right hand—the hand he held Elena's gun with, the hand that had killed the Ice Giant. He stared at it until turning to the window of the cafeteria and seeing how the Hawk Walker began its descent through the mountain path.
For some people it would've been subtle. Not for Oliver. He noticed the shift in Rod's expression.
"You've killed people before, right?" he asked and subtly leaned in.
Rod didn't respond. He simply met the doctor's eyes.
"What's the difference between this killing and the rest? You did it for your country, right?"
Clarity pierced through Rod's thoughts. He knew what was different. Catra saw him kill somebody, and she was upset.
"It's her, isn't it?" Oliver's voice was a soft, cutting stab, "Your daughter? She doesn't know about your past, does she?"
"I've never told her about it."
"I see… so she only thinks you've done what the media says you've done… A white lie."
The Hero glared at him.
"I never lied to her."
"You never told her about it either. What are you going to do when she finds out?"
"That's not going to happen," Rod responded in slight annoyance.
Hearing his words, Oliver simply leaned back on his chair.
"Look, Rod… I admire you, and because of that, I'll be completely sincere. Lies always end up being revealed one way or another. In my personal and professional opinion, you should tell her everything before she finds out on her own. That way, you might be able to make up for hiding it all this time. If you let things be, you might hurt your relationship to the point where it's impossible to recover."
The Hero slowly looked away from Oliver's unnerving intensity.
"She's lived a happy life, hasn't she? What if I tell her everything, every single dark truth, and our relationship gets destroyed? I mean, I have lied about many things… especially…" he thought, drifting to Elena…
Silence.
"I'm… I'm gonna get some air," Rod quickly stood up, "And Oliver… I appreciate you trying to give advice, but next time don't do it unless I ask for it, okay?"
His words were laced with a threat that no one else could hear. It made the doctor remain silent.
"Sounds good. My bad."
As the gun hero retreated, Oliver felt a bitter anger surge within him. The man he'd hated for so long was right in front of him… and every fiber of his being screamed to lunge, to unleash his pent-up rage…Yet, he had to stay calm. Everything needed to go as planned.
His phone began ringing when he brought that anger under control. Oliver quickly took it out and answered, acting like it was just another work call.
"I know. All according to plan."