“Aurora calm down!” Logan said as a plastic cup flew past his head, going past the threshold behind him out into the hallway, and clattering to the floor.
“Don’t tell me to calm down you stupid asshole!” She shouted back, hobbling around the table to grab a half-empty soda can before chucking it at him, spraying the walls and floor with its sugary brown liquid, “You throw a bitch fit cause he kept a secret, and kicked him off the team. And I’m supposed to be fucking grateful?!”
“I didn’t say you’d be grateful!” He shouted back, “I just-”
“All that work!” She bellowed, “All those long nights spent worried and hoping he’d survive what happened! All of that, just for you to throw him away like he was fucking garbage!”
“I was doing it to protect you!” He snapped back.
She scoffed, laughing mockingly, a look of indignant fury on her face. She winced as she made her way over to him, raising a hand as if to slap him. She only managed to get her arm around shoulder level however, when a lance of fiery pain pierced her side causing her to yelp in aching frustration.
Logan frowned, reaching out a hand, “Kiddo… Listen to me-”
“No.” She said firmly, raising her hand up to forestall him. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily, her shoulder growing heavy as if the weight of Cameron’s absence was bearing down on her.
“You didn’t do this to protect me,” She said, “You did this because you were upset he kept something from you.”
“He kept something dangerous from all of us,” He argued back, “Who knows what harm that… thing in his head could cause for us in a fight? I can’t take that risk.”
“That thing has a name you know.” Cameron’s voice cut through the tension in the room, causing both of them to turn. Both Logan and Aurora’s faces flashed with shock, but they diverted afterwards, with happiness and excitement making their way towards Aurora’s, while a silent anger flashed over Logan’s.
“Cameron!” Aurora exclaimed, a smile erasing the scowl she’d been wearing as she started to make her way over.
“Hold on now,” Cameron said, flashing a smile of his own, before quickly walking over to her, wrapping her in a hug.
“How ya feeling?” He asked.
She shrugged, looking up at him with a friendly grin, “I’ll be alright. How are you though? Needless to say…” She said, cutting a glare over at Logan before returning her gaze to him, “I’ve just been filled in.”
Cameron’s smile faltered slightly, but he managed to keep the semblance of one, albeit one that didn’t really reach his eyes.
“I’m alright. Found a quick job that I just finished up last night.”
“Job?” Logan scoffed, “It’s barely been a week. And the Headsman is still on the Fenris, what could you possibly have been doing.
Cameron turned, raising an eyebrow, “Is that any business of yours?”
“Guess not,” He grunted, leaning against the wall, and crossing his arms as he and Cameron stared at each other in awkward silence.
“Look,” Cameron said after a moment, “I’m not here to argue. I just wanted to check up on Aurora… and see if we can work something out… regarding employment.”
“What do you mean?” Logan said, raising an eyebrow, “There’s bound to be plenty of opportunities for an Alpha Primus. People always need more meat for the grinder.”
“I’m not an Alpha Primus anymore,” Cameron said, a feeling of satisfaction welling up inside of him, “I hit Beta Sirius last night.”
“WHAT?!” Logan and Aurora said together, followed by a choking fit starting to overtake the former.
Cameron walked over, slapping his old mentors back in an effort to help him out. There were probably a few smacks that were a little harder than they needed to be, but Cameron wasn’t exactly sorry if the blows hurt the man.
“Did you say Beta Sirius?” Aurora asked, eyes wide in disbelief.
“Yeah.” Cameron said.
“Beta?” She clarified, “B.E.T.A. Beta?”
“That’s how you spell it last time I checked.”
“H-How?!” Logan finally croaked out after a moment, looking up at Cameron, trying to search his face for the answer.
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Cameron sighed and opened his mouth to respond, but Logan interrupted forestalling him, “Lemme guess. You can’t, or won’t, tell us?”
“Can’t tell you.” Cameron said, frowning.
Logan nodded, raising his eyebrows as if to say ‘called it’, “And you still have the balls to walk in here and ask for a job?”
Cameron groaned, running a hand down his face, “Logan, I don’t know what you want from me. You and I both know that you’ve kept things from me, quote, for my own good,” He said, using his fingers to make air quotes, “And I’m not allowed to do the same? Make that make sense to me.”
“Make the fact that you kept Aeia being inside your brain a secret from us.” Logan said.
“Because she asked me to.” Cameron said, a weary finality in his tone, “And if any of you were in her place, I would have done the same thing.”
“That little secret nearly got Aurora killed.” Logan said, opening his mouth to continue, before Aurora shouted over both of them.
“Oh fuuuuuuck off.” She said, as Cameron watched Logan’s face turn a shade paler than he’d been before. He felt the mechanic limp her way to stand next to him, pointing a finger at her employer.
“Don’t you DARE use me in this shitty excuse for an argument,” She growled.
“Aurora listen-”
“No, you listen,” She snapped, “I’m a grown ass woman from a war torn world. I was making bombs with my dad, while you were still banging Silver Sirens at the local star port.”
“Silver Sirens?” Cameron asked aloud.
‘A slang term to refer to certain women who exclusively pursue relationships with A.R.M.S. pilots.’ Aeia explained.
‘Lovely,’ He thought back, before returning his attention back to Aurora verbally ripping into Logan.
“I knew there were risks going into this line of work, Logan. And I still did it.” She said, “And you know why? Because you needed help. You needed a mechanic to keep your Crusader running in peak form, and someone to fill the empty space on that ship. In all the years we’ve worked together, there were many occasions I could have left to pursue a different posting or a cushier position. And yet I stayed. Because you needed me. You took Cam from Ketris, not to help him, but because you needed a partner in the field. Well, now he needs you.”
Logan shook his head, “He needs us. Not just me.”
She scoffed, “I’m already down to help him, Logan. As far as I’m concerned he has been and will always be part of this family, whether you like it or not.”
Cameron watched as Logan swallowed, trying to find the right words, “I-”
“Could I have been killed in that chamber?” She asked, not giving him the opportunity to respond, “Probably. Could I also be killed anytime we’re on a mission and I’m by myself in orbit? Yes! And I’m okay with that. But what I’m not okay with, is you using me like a fucking bargaining chip. So don’t fucking treat me like a child, don’t fucking coddle me. Cause all that’s gonna come from that, is you finding yourself in a very… very empty ship.”
Silence took over the room as she finished her rant, and the trio took turns looking at each other. Cameron hoped to have something to say, some witty comeback, or joke to take the tension out of the room. But for what felt like the first in his life, he was at a loss for words. Then, Logan met his gaze, and he let out a weary sigh.
“I guess…” He said, scratching his chin, “That I could have handled that situation a little better.”
“I’ll say,” Cameron said, smirking as Logan stared daggers at him.
“So,” Logan said, shifting slightly against the wall, “Beta-Sirius huh?”
Cameron nodded, “Yeah… With half a million silver in my pocket.”
Logan blinked, then opened his mouth to speak, before closing it again. This process repeated several times, before he finally responded, “Do I… Do I even want to know what you've been doing?”
Cameron shrugged, “If I told you I was stripping, would you believe me?”
For the first time since the start of the conversation, a chuckle formed in Logan’s throat as a smile started to stretch it’s way across his face. He shook his head, and Cameron couldn’t help but smile back, looking over to Aurora who greeted him with a wink and grin of her own.
“Can you at least tell me if you plan on telling us?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Eventually,” Cameron said, nodding, “Of course.”
Logan sighed again, turning his gaze towards Aurora, “And I suppose that if I don’t go through with this you’re gonna cut me, eh?”
“Worse,” Aurora said with a smirk, “I’ll quit.”
“That is worse,” Cameron said.
Logan chewed at his lip, contemplating silently for a while.
“We’ll have to get a contract together then I guess. And get your Headsman refitted for Beta-Class.”
“That we will,” Cameron said with a nod, “I have a few ideas for that. The contract on the other hand, will need some alterations to it.”
“What do you mean?” Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Why have an employer/employee relationship, when it could be a partnership?” Cameron asked, “Maybe I wanna do a little investing.”
“You’re not gonna have much investing to do after we upgrade your unit,” Logan said with a shrug, “But I suppose the rec room could use a new coffee table.
“Oh I’ll still have another half a mil left. I'm only using the first half-mil for the Headsman.”
“I…” Logan said, straining to speak, “You got paid a million silver?”
“Now I kinda wanna see him strip,” Aurora said.
“Oh you have no idea, the strange I’ll do for some change,” Cameron said, as the two of them shared a laugh.
“So…” Logan said, shaking his head in disbelief as if he was still trying to wrap his head around the situation, “What do you wanna invest in?”
Cameron smirked, “What do you know about the process of making a GAC?”
