Ellen and Tay Ship Out

**New Halcyon Space Station, Upper Earth Orbit. February 12th, 2345, 11:32 AM**

The transition is longer, this time. Meandering, dazzling. They feel the impact before their eyes or ears catch up - something crunches, vibrations rumbling through their bodies. Something soft hits them, halts their momentum.

The world rings as their eyes adjust to a hallway. Polished dark metal panels, floor panels lit from within - one end of the hallway a large, glass panel where the corridor splits into two.

Earth looming in view behind it.

Tay shakes herself to her senses and looks around. The bike looks damaged, but not as much as it should have been; it is stuck halfway into some sort of stasis field, front tyre an inch away from the wall. She reaches forward and touches it. It gives way, slightly, before slowly filling back in, like a dent left in wet sand.

There’s a movement below her, like a catching of breath. *Fuck, Ellen!* She panics for a moment, before she sees her girlfriend’s eyelashes flutter and open.

“Attention. Unauthorized matter transference in corridor 37-C. Security team dispatched.” The floor panels start flashing red with the announcement.

Footsteps ring from around the corner.

“What happened?” Ellen slowly pushes herself to her feet, but everything hurts; her ears are ringing and she squints at the too-bright lights surrounding them, looking for the train that must’ve just hit them. “Tay? Where are w-” She finally notices the view of Earth at the end of the hallway and her jaw drops.

"*What the fuck.*"

“Yeah we’re kind of in space but -”

“*There they are!*”

“*Fuck*. Let’s get outta here.” Tay grabs onto Ellen’s hand and bolts, running down the hallway away from the uniformed people that showed up on the other end. They burst into a bustling boulevard; the crowd murmurs and turns their heads to follow the pair as they weave and push through. They run past alien looking plants in flower beds surrounded by chrome benches and stores with holographic ads floating by. The pair winds through corridors until they reach an atrium and jump as Tay turns into a bat, catching Ellen and landing on a lower level.

Eventually they end up in a narrow side street, next to what sounds like a car garage, but couldn’t possibly be. They’d seen all manner of things in the few minutes they’d been wherever this is, but the only familiar thing is the garbage bin they’re hiding behind.

Garbage bins really are the same everywhere.

Once the last set of heavy, plated footsteps thunders past, Tay turns to Ellen.

“So we’re in space? Like, *outer* space?” Ellen whisper-shouts, not wanting to draw more attention their way.

Tay grins. "Looks like it! Where did you set it to? I think there were like, *aliens* in that crowd. Did you see the tall blue woman with five eyes?" She whispers back excitedly. "I saw Earth behind the glass! I think we're in orbit?"

“Tay, I set it for a time jump, not a space one! Ok, no big deal, we just gotta get back to-” her eyes widen with horror, “the bike! Ohhhh you gotta be kidding me! I bet the space cops or whatever have it by now.” She knocks her head softly against the bin, producing a dull metallic thud.

Guilt flashes over Tay's face. "Fuck, I'm sorry. I didn't think about it, I just… Grabbed you and ran. I'm sure we can get it back? How much harder could stealing from the space police be?"

“Real hard, trust. Once they got your stuff in a net, it’s only coming out with a key.” An uninvited third party clambers out of the dumpster, plopping down on the floor. They wipe their hands on their dress and extend one to each of Ellen and Tay, while a third and fourth smooth their hair back out of their face. “Emily, good t’meet you! Heard you’ns say you're from waaaaaaay out.”

Tay's jaw drops. "*You have four arms that's so cool,*" she says, before realizing that might be rude. "Sorry. Er, wait, you heard about us?" She shakes their hand. "I'm Tay."

"Yeah, well, you've got fangs and a tail, that's pretty cool in my files." Emily chuckles and points to their ears. "Got good hearing. So, you need help?"

“Ellen.” Ellen shakes the other outstretched hand. “Yeah, you said something about a net. How hard is it to get our stuff back?”

“Hey, Hoh, Hey! Calm it, yeah? You’ns rush in and you end up in a net, too. Plus, not every day I get to talk to,” they lean toward Tay and smile conspiratorially, “*a werewolf*!”

Tay pouts, her tail swinging. "I'm not a werewolf! I'm just a vampire with a slight case of cat. Slight!"

Emily's eyes widen. "A vampire? In space? Oh, that's dangerous. Sun's everywhere in space." They place one finger to their chin in thought, two other hands steepled together, the fourth scratching their head. "Yanno, I've always wondered whether I could adjust some shipshield for ambulate use. Could be interesting." They eye Tay up and down.

“Ok, Emily? Right? Couple of questions: one, what does ‘ambulate’ mean? Two, will it help us get our stuff back? And three, could we be having this conversation somewhere other than next to a dumpster?” Ellen ducks back from checking the hall for more cops.

“Hoh, course!” They stand, taller than expected, and walk four steps to a door into the garage across the alley. “I’as just taking a break n’all. You’ns coming in?”

Ellen and Tay look between Emily and the now-open door and dart into the shop just as more footsteps approach in the hallway .

“Lost viz, but last saw’m in Section I. Do a scan, but make it quick or thella run too far.”

A ray of orange light sweeps the corridor. It passes over the door to the shop, which, imperceptible to the people chasing, glows slightly, then fades.

"Nothin. Move out!"

The footsteps fade.

Inside, Tay and Ellen breathe a sigh of relief as Emily turns back to them, arms extended in welcome. "Welcome to Starlight Shipyards. Course, I’ent got an actual shipyard… Gotta rent that. It's aspirational."

The store is larger than it appeared from the outside, a ring full of work tables and shelves full of incomprehensible technology around a shallow pit sectioned off by railings. A large ovoid vehicle hangs from a series of mechanical arms above it. The vehicle's lower plate is missing, cables and machinery spilling out into the floor below like a large beast spilling its guts.

"Not everythin’ in here is strictly legal but then, we got that in common, hey?" They wink.

The girls chuckle nervously and follow Emily further inside the shop, getting a tour of the place and an explainer as to where they’d ended up overall. “New Halcyon Station,” they said. “Year’s 2345,” they said. It makes their heads spin, turns out they’d made a space *and* time jump? It's hard to take it all in at first, but they’d seen Earth through that window. They’re in *space*.

“So first youlla need some suits, should help ya camo your way round. Yanno, helmets hiding you’ns faces and all. And yer whole *vampire* situation.” Emily rubs two hands together excitedly while the other two take rough dimensions of Tay and Ellen. “I’ll see what I’cn find. Hoh, can’t believe I met some timepires! Talk about a day, hey?”

And so, for a while after that point, Ellen and Tay would don their “suits”, which looked more like mechanics onesies than spacesuits — though given it was Emily who got them, that made sense — whenever they had to venture out into the rest of the station. Sometimes for parts Emily needed, sometimes just to look around. To find another window through which to look at space.

The space station was a fascinating place. Apparently originally built as a refueling station for spaceships, it had grown into a city of its own over the last century and a half. A multitude of different species lived there, and whole generations had grown up never even setting foot on Earth. They found all of this out from terminals embedded in the walls at regular intervals — apparently there was an extensive educational system in place, complete with AI teachers.

One thing they avoided was the space cops. Station security, they were called, though their duties had expanded past that long ago. They weren’t very numerous, but had the annoying ability to show up out of nowhere at any time. Still, Tay and Ellen were used to running.

A few weeks in, Emily calls them back to the shop mid-walk. When they arrive, the four-armed alien holds up a thin, cylindrical device, like a cross between a fountain pen and a digital thermometer.

“I made you a key.”

“Hell yeah!” Ellen inspects it from multiple angles. “How the hell does it work?” It doesn’t look like any kind of key she’s seen before, but very little has been familiar lately.

“Doi, just poke and pierce. Whatna sun were keys like back in the past?” Emily leans in the way they always do when they get really excited about something. Every time it reminds Ellen of when she first met Tay.

Tay’s eyes drift from the key in Emily’s hand to a stack of shiny, gold plates on the worktable behind them. As she watches, a light on one of them activates and a slight purple sheen covers the entire thing. “What’s this?”

“Oh! Yeah, you’ns are gonna need that. The vault you told me your ‘bike’ is in is a spacewalk away.” One of their free arms snatches up one of the plates and holds it up to Tay’s cheekbone, adjusting it slightly. “Gotcher size right, good. Gonna have ta operate though, but I got a machine for that.” They smile.

“Wait, I get to be a fucking cyborg?”

Emily bursts into laughter, holding their stomach with all four arms. “I never saw someone so excited about surgery! ‘Specially from some’un who’s not a stitch!” Wiping the tears from their eyes, Emily continues. “Freal though, won’t be a problem. You got my guarantee on that!” They strike a confident pose, all four arms engaged to convey certainty. Tay and Ellen can't help but laugh along.

They decide to test out the implants at a playground near the shipyard — one of the sun-side ones. For all intents and purposes, it looks just like a regular playground, like any they’d seen back on Earth. There are even some trees, with kids climbing through the branches between the play structures. Ellen regards it all with bemusement before turning back to the massive window, where Tay stands, fully suited up, staring at the sun.

“You ready?” Ellen readies the tarp they’d brought from the garage in case Tay combusts.

Tay nods, trying to appear confident. There's a slight waver in her voice as she answers. "Yep."

*Really, Tay? Yep? That's the best you can do? Ugh.*

She takes off the helmet and closes her eyes tight, ears flat back against her head, expecting to go up in flames.

It doesn't happen. Instead, as she opens her eyes, a barely perceptible field of purple octagons flashes across her eyes before fading.

"Ha!"

She grins widely and unzips the spacesuit, clambering out of it and examining her bare arms. The gold plates, implanted into the grey skin, project similar fields over her limbs as the UV light touches them.

"Hahahahaha HAHAHAHA!" She starts laughing out loud and twirls to face the sun, looming over the scene on the other side of the glass dome.

She flips it off.

"Take that, sun, you big burning bitch in the sky! YOU CAN'T HURT ME ANYMORE!"

As the two celebrate Tay’s triumph over the sun, they pay no attention to onlookers side-eyeing them or parents try to shield their kids from the swearing. Nor do they notice the station security apparatuses focusing on them, transmitting live audio *and* video to the sector office.

On the other side of that feed, a station security agent makes her report. “Yeah, I think we got those hop-ons from 37-C. Hang on,” she peers closer at the monitor, “why doesn’t the file say anything ‘bout one of 'em being a werewolf?”

Her supervisor bends over to look at the monitor over her shoulder, holding a steaming mug of coffee. “No clue. She seems awfully pissed at the sun, though. Guess werewolves prefer the moon?”

Back at the playground, Tay throws her arms around Ellen. “Yesssss! E this is \*so cool\*. We should get back and prep to get the bike back!”

“Right. And I think I’ve got an idea about how to deal with the whole ‘spacewalk’ part too.” Ellen nods up at the ceiling above the playground, where a group of kids play tag, their shoes lighting up on impact with the surface rendering them immune to gravity. “How hard can it be to get some shoes?”

"Huh? Probably pretty easy?" Tay follows her girlfriend's gaze upwards towards the kids. "Oh! Oooohh. Hell yes."

They leave, headed towards the nearby shopping district. A few minutes later a group of people in uniform arrive at the park and question the kids before dispersing.

It takes a few hours and a bunch of different stores, but they eventually find out what the kids were using: ‘moon shoes’, or so they’re called. It takes longer to actually find a pair in adult size; apparently they're mostly sold as novelty toys. They find an old pair — a little beat up, kinda clunky looking next to the newer, sleeker versions — in an engineering supply store, made for on-the-go repairs to spaceships, complete with variable gravity settings and locking clamps.

With all of the pieces in place, all that’s left is to break into the ‘vault’, locate the bike, and drive to… well, pretty much anywhere else would be fine. *No problem, right?* Don’t worry about the fact the ‘vault’ is actually a cargo ship set to launch out to who the hell knows where. No need to think about all the station security who keep popping up wherever they are without fail. Nope. No problems here.

*Try notta get distracted out there, hey? Lotta nothing to look at, yanno?*

Emily’s warning echoes in Ellen’s mind as she and Tay make their trek across the exterior of the station, each step slow and deliberate. *Eyes forward. Just keep walking.* She repeats the instructions over and over in her head, trying not to think about what would happen if the shoes lost their grip. This may be the faster route — staying inside would’ve required them to go \*through\* the security depot — but their destination looks miles away: the ‘vault’ ship containing their bike is set to depart in a few hours. Time is of the essence.

Tay clings to Ellen’s shoulder in bat form, tiny claws pinched onto the carbon fiber fabric of the spacesuit. Her glowing little bat eyes scan the horizon — or, rather, the surface of the space station, with all of its windows and ports and docked ships and corridors. So far, it doesn’t look like they’ve been spotted. Still, it was slow going, and the prospect of being stuck in the 24th century was unappealing.

She reaches out with a tiny bat claw and *tinks* Ellen on the helmet visor to get her attention, then points a wing to the right, to a blocky annex on the other side of a major gap. She attempts to mime being thrown, then clambers down to a pouch on the side of Ellen’s suit and clambers back up with one end of a fiber cable in her mouth.

Tay is launched to the other side like a baseball, with Ellen following once she receives the ok — a tiny bat thumbs up. She takes a running start and leaps off the edge, hands gripping right on the cable.

*Shit! SHIT! Not far enough!*

She tries to reel herself in, grabbing hand over hand on the cable, but she can already tell her trajectory is falling short of the target. *Eyes forward! Just keep moving!* There’s a sharp tug on the cable that jerks Ellen back towards the station. She misses the first contact but hits feet-first on the second and the gravity locks in the boots engage.

“Holy shit, Tay,” she’d forgotten they could talk in the panic, “good fucking timing.” She takes a moment to calm down and look out at space around her, then continues towards the airlock where Tay landed. *Lots to get lost in. No shit, Emily.*

Tay, in human form, holds on to a handhold with one hand while peering at the airlock — a large, circular door made of spiraling plates, like the shutter of a camera blown up to the scale of a garage door. She spots the keypad immediately — a series of arrows in fading orange paint crisscross the frame point towards it, on the side — but ignores it. They don’t know the code, and any attempt at entry through that would instantly trip an alarm. Which, judging by the dormant defense turrets dotting the surface of the vault ship, they don’t want.

“Think this is it?” She says, as Ellen gets closer. Though Tay wears no helmet, her hair floating through the vacuum of space like a model’s in an underwater commercial, Ellen still hears the sound transmitted through her helmet’s comms. Subvocal transmitters were apparently pretty cheap in the 24th century.

She points at a point about 80 centimetres below the keypad, where a faint line can be seen bisecting the alloy paneling covering the airlock’s frame.

The manual release.

Ellen nods. “Go for it.” She readies herself and climbs in as soon as there’s enough space, pulling Tay with her. They hit the emergency shut button and head further into the shuttle; they don’t have much time now that emergency klaxons have begun to blare.

“Yanno, it’s almost nice, leaving the same way we got here: running away, soundtracked by alarms.” She jokes as they turn another corner, dashing past signs pointing them to their destination.

“Yeah, it’s some nice bookending!” Tay’s laugh gets cut off as she turns a corner and the two come face-to-face with a very alarmed-looking woman in overalls, holding a wrench, next to an open wall panel.

“Uh, hi?”

“‘Re youn’s responsible for this awful noise?”

“Noooo. Nope. Not at all?”

The woman narrows her eyes.

“They’re here!”

As the technician yells they’re off, Ellen dragging Tay along in the opposite direction as footsteps echo down the hallways behind them. Despite the detour, they manage to find the path again pretty quickly, the signs present on every intersection pointing towards the impounded vehicle bay. They come across a group of three officers at one intersection but dodge them, Tay turning into a bat and dodging between their grabbing hands while Ellen adjusts the gravity on her boots and runs along the walls over their heads.

They make it to the door as the footsteps converge from all sides.

“Least we don’t have to worry about breaking this one, hey?” They both tear into the room. Well, room may not be the right word; the bay is a massive space full of every imaginable size and configuration of transportation device, each one covered in a shimmering yellow stasis net. And they just needed to find *one*.

“You go high?” Ellen glances at Tay.

“You stay low.”

And they break, Tay fluttering into the air and Ellen running into the maze of machines, in search of the bike, pursued by security.

Tay flies over a horse-drawn cart, complete with stasis-ed set of horses. Ellen runs between a police box and a full-size trireme. Tay dodges a net swung by a security officer and drops behind the tentacle of a large, robotic jellyfish. Ellen hides under the carriage of a volkswagen beetle as the ankles of two officers pass by.

They find the bike together, at the same time, sandwiched between a chunky black monolith of a spaceship and a zeppelin. Tay transforms back into human form as on both sides, groups of security officers run into view.

She holds up a hand, and violet forcefields spring into place around them.

“That is so *fucking* cool!” The net around the bike melts away from the puncture point made by the key and Ellen revs the engine, relieved to hear it rumble to life. “Get on!” She spins it round by Tay and they’re off again.

“We need to get out into the hallway again, I need a clear straightway to go fast enough to jump.” The bike ramps up off a beat down 1980s sports car and over what can only be described as a hovering donut-shaped submarine before crashing back into the corridor stretching out in front of them. Ellen guns the bike to top speed, flipping switches on the overclock.

*C’mon, you stupid thing. Work this time!*

And they’re gone in a flash.

“Do you think they knew they just needed to sign a time immigration form and we would have given it back?” One of the station security agents in pursuit says, after they have caught their breath.

“You know, Sam,” their partner responds, looking down the hallway, now empty except for burn marks where the tyres vanished. “I really think they didn’t.”

**Hyperion Colony, Mars. February 21st, 2255, 9:50 AM**

Ellen and Tay marvel at the fleets of terraforming robots making their way across the sky as behind them, a fascinated mechanic fixes some of the damage to the bike.

San Diego, California. June 2nd, 2087, 10:32 PM

They walk around town, marveling at the eclectic mix of clothes and people and technology.

**Drummond House, Halcyon City. Monday, July 19th**

Marie Drummond watches curiously as her daughter and said daughter’s girlfriend run around the house packing for their next road trip. They’d only just got back from the last one a day or so ago, but they apparently can't wait to get back out on the road again.

“So, Dodo, what do you wanna do for your birthday?”

She doesn’t get an answer to that question.

**Charlottenburg, Berlin. Wednesday January 11th, 2012, 1:00 PM**

The bike is parked on the street below. Tay sits on the rooftop of a house, knees hugged to her chest, shoulders tense, as she looks out across the street at the backyard of a home.

Her home.

A family sits around a white plastic set of lawn furniture laden with food. The father comes out of the back of the house carrying two more plates, while the mother, an average height woman in a blue dress and olive hijab, balances a toddler on her hip. At the head of the table sits a young girl with shoulder-length black hair, excitedly bobbing up and down.

She wears a birthday hat. A thin plastic tube coils around her cheeks and under her nose, attached to a small machine next to the seat.

“Is this before you- she has to stay in the hospital?” Ellen slides an arm around Tay’s shoulders and gives her a squeeze.

Tay nods, slowly. “Yeah… Back then it was still in and out. I would spend weeks at home, then have to go in for a while.” She mumbles into her arms, as the Tay below tears into the wrapping paper of a present. “In a few years, the hospital weeks will become more common, and the ones at home will start feeling like a holiday.” She leans into the contact with Ellen, grateful for the comfort.

“Did something happen on this birthday? Or did you just wanna check in since we were close by?” Ellen checks the time. *Any minute now…*

The whole family looks back at the house with confusion and Tay’s dad goes inside while the rest stay to continue opening presents.

She shakes her head. “Nothing special. It’s just a birthday… Maybe it’s special because of that. I just…” She sighs. “I wasn’t sure I wanted to see this. I’m still not sure. It hurts, but it’s… it’s nice, too.

Wait… I don’t remember that. What’s happening?”

When he returns a few minutes later, Ahmad is carrying a big bouquet of tulips and several large foil balloons. He looks as puzzled as before, maybe more so, as he hands the delivery to little Katayoun, who is making grabby hands, eyes wide with joy.

Up on the roof, an 8-bit version of 'Happy Birthday' plays on the phone as Ellen sings along and pulls out one last tulip she’d hidden in her jacket.

“I’m not sure if any of the flowers will last until she’s in the hospital again, but they can’t hurt at home either, right? Plus, I saved you one.” She hands Tay the slightly bent flower. “Happy birthday, Katayoun!”

Tay’s face is frozen, staring at the scene playing out before her like a movie. When Ellen starts singing she turns, slowly, tears streaming down her face.

She launches herself towards Ellen, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend as she cries loudly.

“Woah!” Her boots lock on to the roof. “I’m gonna guess that means you like it?” Ellen laughs and lets Tay cry all her tears out, gently scratching her behind the ears.

There’s a yell from the backyard, where little Tay has stood up from her seat and is excitedly waving a piece of paper in the worried faces of her parents. They both try to calm her down with little success as the toddler laughs at all the shouting.

“Uhhh… I may have also included a letter from ‘Valkyrie’ to ‘her strongest fan’. Too much?” There’s a grimace on Ellen’s face, mirroring the worry of Tay’s parents.

Tay laughs, wiping the tears from her eyes. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me. By, like, several lightyears.” She hugs her again, this time carefully trying not to exact too much pressure while still hugging tightly enough to express her emotions.

“Seriously, you are the best. I…” She blushes, as she realizes what she was about to say. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“Anytime.” Ellen hugs Tay back. “We’re gonna make sure she’s never alone again, right?”

“Yes. And to do that…” She grins, her eyes flashing. “Let’s visit a doctor.”

**University Hospital Nuremberg, Nuremberg. Saturday January 14, 2012, 12:17 AM**

Lucretia Edelgard flips through the pages of the new file she had been given the previous day, taking note of the details. *Just turned 11 years old, this is a key developmental period. Condition has worsened in recent months; longer periods of exhaustion, increased use of an oxygen tank. Treatment would require my relocation to Berlin. Hmm, it’s been some time since I was last there, but the de-*

“Doctor Edelgard?” Uli, one of the janitorial staff, taps gently on the door, pulling her cart behind her. “You’re still here? God, that paperwork must be brutal to keep you here this late!”

“It’s no worry, Uli. It has to be done and I shouldn’t have left it this late.” Lucretia smiles softly and leans back in her chair so the light from her computer screen highlights the dark circles under her eyes. “I’ll be fine, but would you mind coming back later?”

“Of course, Doctor. I’ll come back when you’re gone. Make sure to take care of yourself as well!” Uli chuckles and closes the door.

Lucretia sits upright again with a cunning smile. The night, after all, has long been her favourite part of the day; the quiet, the darkness, the freedom it all affords her. She copies the particulars of the file into a small notebook, well aged and leather bound, and tucks it back into her coat pocket. She never did understand why people were so dismissive of paperwork; there’s always so much to be gained from a few mere slips of paper.

A brief, barely noticeable red light flashes over her shoulder as a portal opens in the corner of the room. Lucretia freezes. Her brown eyes flash, a glint of red in the pupil expanding until the whole eye glows crimson as she sniffs the air. One human: warm blood, metal, the whir of technology and… strength. The other scent is fainter, barely detectable if it wasn't for its familiarity. A vampire and a superhero. This could be interesting.

"Why don't you show yourself so we can talk this out like civilized monsters?" She says, leaning against her desk in a careful show of nonchalance.

“Go fuck yourself, *mother*.” A grey, clawed hand appears out of nothing immediately in front of her, grabbing her by the throat. The air shimmers, revealing Tay in a silvery cloak.

At the same moment, Edelgard’s hand shoots out from under her lab coat, aiming a stake at Tay’s heart.

Another hand, this one gloved and not where you’d expect a hand to be, stops and grabs the stake out of Edelgard’s grip. Ellen slides out from under the cloak and tosses the stake playfully in the air.

“Damn, going straight for the kill, huh? I thought you wanted to 'talk'?” She gives Edelgard her most shit-eating grin before her eyes move to Tay, uncertain about what comes next.

Tay laughs coldly. “That’s just classic fucking Edelgard isn’t it. All of that talk, all the promises and noble gestures, they’re just thin veils for the threats and violence and manipulation. Three weeks with you and anyone would be a monster, whether they drink blood or not.”

She digs her nails into Edelgard’s neck.

“You- you’re one of mine?” The doctor stammers, clawing at Tay’s hands. “That’s impossibl-. No, I recognize those eyes, the fangs… it’s true. How? I’ve never even met you!”

“And you never will.”

**The roof of St. Lorenz church, Nuremberg. Saturday January 14, 2012, 4:33 AM**

Tay leans against a spire, looking out over the city below. Restaurants circle the church plaza, empty patios in front of darkened windows. There is still life, though — a drunk teen cycling home, a cat darting through alleyways.

She looks up at her girlfriend, sitting next to her. The way the moonlight glints off her hair, the difference between the dull dyed black and the shining blonde even clearer in this light, her eyes that seem to Tay to reflect all the stars above.

She reaches for her hand.

“Thanks for stopping me.”

“Did I really need to?” Ellen squeezes Tay’s hand in return. “Let’s be real, Tay — if you’d really wanted to… y’know… you would have. You coulda gone through me. And we both know you could take her. But you didn’t.”

She smiles at Tay, placing a hand on Tay’s cheek and rubbing her thumb along the implant there. She thinks about the first time they got to know each other, sitting in a weirdly high place at night, the light illuminating Tay’s face, talking about the weird perils of their day. *Look at us now, huh?*

She rests her forehead on Tay’s. “You’re better than her.”

Tay smiles, blinking away the tears. “It’s because of you.”

And, at least in this timeline, Lucretia Edelgard never hurt anyone again.