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After about an hour of radio silence the confirmation call from the Fireteam on the moon, Titan, finally came through. But they brought no good news. The team had prevented a Hive ritual, however, the Guardians they were sent in to rescue had been lost. This struck the Vanguard heavily. They weren’t expecting to add so many more names to the list of fallen Guardians so soon after the Red War.“Fireteam Legado returning home.” Cayde noticed it wasn’t their Fireteam leader speaking, which was unusual and put him slightly on edge. He joined Zavala down in the hanger, and didn’t have to wait long before three ships came in. A Titan and Warlock transmatted out first and hastily walked over to where their leader, a Hunter, transmatted out. They had a hushed conversation before walking towards Cayde and Zavala. As they neared, Cayde immediately noticed something was wrong with the Hunter. She was leaning forward, slightly dragging her feet, like she was in a trance, or pain, or both. She was clutching her right arm tight to her chest and her left hand was shaking slightly.He had seen something similar to this before. Cayde dashed forward and caught her just as her knees buckled. He lowered her to the ground, putting himself between her and the curious eyes of the hanger. Gently Cayde un-clipped her helmet and was shocked by what he saw. A dark purple bruise lined the right side of her face; blood stained the area around her ears and nose. “Shit, K-Lin, what happened to you?” He mumbled, struggling to push down his panic. She shook her head muttering something about the Hive but Cayde couldn’t make out what.He looked up at her Ghost, “Nix what happened?” His shell spun around anxiously, “The Hive, they caught us, tried to t-take—” His voice failed. Cayde realized it wasn’t just K-Lin who had been hurt. Sundance floated up towards Nix, gently bumping her shell against his for reassurance.“They almost g-got us Cayde, they almost k-killed—” Her breath caught on the last word, causing her to sharply inhale. She was panicking, causing her Light to react. Cayde felt the aggravated pulses of it pushing outwards. She was a NightStalker and if her Light lashed out it could be devastating for both herself and the people around them. “Hey, hey it’s okay, it’s okay, I’m here, your safe, it’s okay.” He cupped her face, his solar Light surrounding her void Light. It fought against him, invisible void tendrils slashing against his light. “Please K-Lin.” Cayde pleaded, trying to ignore the pain, “I’ve got you, your safe!” He placed his forehead against hers, mindful of his horn. He kept talking to her until her Light calmed and started flowing with his. “That’s it. There we go.”K-Lin was shivering despite his warmth. Her skin had gone a whiter shade of pale blue, the bruise had gone a blackish-purple and veins of void now sliced their way along the sides of her face. “C’mon let’s get you to the infirmary.” K-Lin grabbed onto his cloak, shaking her head vigorously, “No! P-please, just t-take me home.” Cayde was about to argue but thought better of it when he felt her Light tense up again. Before he lifted her into his arms he removed his cloak and draped it over her, hiding her face from potential curious eyes. This was not something you wanted a civilian to see. Nix snuggled into the crook of K-Lin’s neck, softly mumbling to his Guardian.The Titan and Warlock sharply looked up from their conversation with Zavala, as Cayde neared. The Titan was tense and had gone two shades paler. “It’s okay Lex. I’ll take care of your sister.” Cayde said reassuringly. The Titan hesitated for a moment before letting Cayde pass. “Cayde.” It was Zavala calling out to him, “The Tower can function for a day without its Hunter Vanguard.” He walked over and placed his hand on Cayde’s shoulder. “Right now, she needs you more.” Cayde was shocked by the amount of sincerity in his voice. “Thanks Zavala.”Cayde tried avoiding the busy streets, but the few civilians they did pass still stared. It was common to see a Guardian being carried by another, but it was very rare to see the Hunter Vanguard, without his hood, carrying a Guardian whose face was purposely hidden from sight. As he neared the area where they lived, however, he got a lot more worried looks from the people who recognized it was K-Lin he was carrying. With a gentle shake of his head he let those who came to see what was wrong know that now was not the time to ask.Cayde managed to unlock the door to their apartment and gently pushed it open with his shoulder. He walked into the living room and lowered K-Lin onto the couch. “Love, your gonna have to sit up for a bit.” K-Lin slowly nodded her head. Cayde walked towards the bedroom cupboard, retrieving the med-kit and a pair of loose-fitting clothes. Before going back into the living room he motioned for his Ghost, “My girl please keep an eye on Nix, no matter what he says, he is not okay.” Sundance nodded her shell, “I’ve never seen a Guardian and their Ghost like this… It must have been something really terrible that happened to them.”“Yes, just don’t push for answers. They’ll tell us when their ready.”“Or we’ll find it out from the report.”“Or that.” Cayde walked back into the living room, crouched in front of K-Lin and started unclasping her armour. This close he noticed a lot of damage that could only be caused by Hive magic. The armour around her neck was partially melted. “Hive Wizard…” K-Lin muttered, “Grabbed me from behind and somehow got a hold of Nix…” She was cradling her Ghost, making space for Sundance so that she could nestle in right next to Nix. His core and inner shell was scorched black. Thankfully there was no major damage to his core. No damage that Cayde could see anyway. “Nix your core—”“There is no bad damage to it. I made sure of it.” K-Lin answered. Cayde nodded. Once her armour was off, he helped K-Lin into her clothes and started cleaning the blood and grime from her face. Cayde gently lifted her and carried her to the bed. “I know you’re not going to sleep, but at least try to rest.”“Please don’t leave me alone.”“Was never planning on it.” After getting into more comfortable clothes, Cayde sat down next to K-Lin. “I almost died today…” She said in a tiny voice. “Like it was just… so…” She tried to carry on but couldn’t. Cayde’s chest ached when he saw her tears and he immediately wrapped his arms around her. Her Light reached out to his, seeking its warmth. Cayde lay back onto the bed, tangling their legs, holding her close to him.“I’ll never leave you.” Cayde mumbled softly.