Alright, time for How Alden And Kodiak Actually Sort Their Shit Out. Get ready, it’s gonna get long
It’s a railjack mission, somewhere around Pluto. Kohlrabi and Alden invading ships where needed, Kodiak doing work on the railjack Peregrinus itself along with the human crew (gunners Die and Ched and engineer Maxi), and ofc Cy himself
It’s overall a good day of plundering and blowing shit up and setting various new Contraptions of Kodiak’s design on the corpus occupying the sector. Cy seems satisfied with their results so far. Die pilots and proceeds to argue about it with Ched non-fuckin-stop. Shanty the ship kavat patrols along the corridors like her job includes being a beast of battle instead of one of blanket piles
Alden and Kohlrabi are investigating an orokin derelict floating in orbit, already swarming with corpus, when there’s a cut off SOS signal and Kohlrabi reappears on the Peregrinus, not far from where Kodiak is working on stuff. Stumbling, wide eyed, clearly shaken
It turns out they and Alden wandered into a trap. An ambush. Y’know those grineer bullshit orbs on the Zariman that force you out of your frame? Yeah well the corpus have figured out the opposite it seems. They had scrambled the transference signal enough that Kohlrabi’s brain cut it off on instinct and now they’re back here on the Peregrinus with absolutely no connection to Alden, who was left behind
There had been so many corpus and proxies, so many, hundreds of them swarming in the halls of that derelict, and they had said something about stripping a warframe for parts, and-
Basically Kohlrabi is terrified out of their mind but determined to go back and both of those transfer to Kodiak as well. He wouldn’t let Kohlrabi back on to that derelict alone Anyway but. Alden. These fuckers went after Alden and he’s alone down there and they’re taking Alden away from him, again, out on a mission he will not return from bc he will no doubt find a way to deal with this that’s stupid and heroic and not something he can survive-
They need to go. They need to go Now
This is the part where maybe someone else would say hee hoo Kohlrabi transfers into Kodiak and they work together and I am v specifically and spitefully pointing out that I am Not Doing That bc I hate the trope of “character development but it’s just the character becoming more willing to let their boundaries get walked over.” Not doing that. Kodiak is not doing transference shit ever again and it’d put him in great distress if he did and They Can Do This Without That
Anyway
They go in one of the landing shuttles that railjacks Have. Idc that they don’t in game, there Has to be a way for 1) ppl who aren’t warframes to get on and off, and 2) anyone to get on and off anywhere that isn’t the total of uhh. Three? I think? Dry docks you have access to in the game
So they go to get Alden back. From the fuckin derelict. From the fuckin corpus
The shuttle is remote controlled by Cy with a manual override for emergencies, so on the short ride over Kodiak gets to get a bit more detail out of Kohlrabi regarding what they’re walking into. They’re both angry and determined and scared, and everyone on board knew it’d be pointless to try and stop them. Is it a stupid mission with bad odds? Yes. Are they still the most likely to succeed? Also yes
Kohlrabi is fidgeting with the knife they got from North. Kodiak is bringing his chakkhurr that Alden had gotten for him, gifted with the undertone of “I hope you will never have to use this. I hope it’ll keep you safe, when you do.” It’s way bigger than what he’d prefer but also definitely insane enough to be right up his alley. He’s never aimed it at a living target before but suddenly he doesn’t find the thought so alien anymore
They dock at one of the corpus airlocks jammed into the side of the derelict to allow safe entry. The inside is a smaller corridor, thankfully deserted. When Kodiak tells Kohlrabi to go immaterial as long as they can and hide, it’s not bc he doesn’t believe in them. It’s bc this is two of them against possible hundreds. They can’t win this by force
-
Alden is...alone, against hundreds, and fuckin terrified. No shit. He’s outrunning the worst of it for now, but he knows it’s only a matter of time before he runs out of space in the bowels of the derelict. He’s bleeding and limping and lost and there’s corpus fuckin Everywhere
The bullets stuck under his skin giving their repeating magnetic pulses scramble his HUD, make him dizzy and disoriented and tired. He feels like he’s running in circles
He feels like he’s been here before, millennia ago, except that was a ship, not- not this place, and oh anyway, he has to find the reactor- there is no reactor, but there is, no, there-
In his delirium he is constantly swinging between past trauma and present danger. Struggling to survive either. Whatever he’s got left in him is draining fast. He just wants to go home more than anything, and with every step, every corner he feels more certain that that’s simply not an option anymore
And then the building around him hums, sings, and he knows immediately even through everything that he must be imagining it, because the tune is something Kodiak used to whistle when he tinkered in his workshop. But Kodiak is not here, Kodiak is- dead, probably, right? Maybe not. Probably yes. He’s not sure, he’s not sure about anything anymore except that it all Hurts
And then then derelict comes alive
Doors open and close of their own accord. Sentry drones float from their sockets to take aim at- at anything that isn’t Alden, apparently. Igniting chaos. Decorative contraptions animate not to dazzle but to tear apart anything that gets near them. The Neural Sentry stretches its horrible phantom limbs and makes every single soldier aboard it fight to retain their own selves
And as Alden keeps running, keeps searching for a way out or a way to end, the chaos parts around him. Overhead lights beckon and lead him, dimming back down to their ominous lacking once he passes. Doors open way ahead and then lock behind his back, layer after layer separating him from the fighting, until he can’t tell how much of it he’s imagining anymore
And then- then, there’s a corridor, with an airlock at the end
Kohlrabi is the first by his side, tackling him in a hug, a real hug despite the flesh-steel and the weak static electricity that’s the best Alden can really produce right now. He hugs them back the moment he realises what’s happening. If they’re here, if they made it this long alright, if they can afford the time to do this, then things must be okay. They must be. They must be. But he holds them tight just in case they aren’t
Kodiak lets them have a moment but can only hold out for so long when he’s also terrified and relieved and trying to take stock of Alden’s injuries from far away. So he comes over, gently lays a hand on Alden’s arm, watches as he sways closer. Promises him that they’re getting him home now, getting him fixed up. Alden hasn’t said a word and Kodiak is worried about a million things and that’s one of them, but he does at least nod. Kohlrabi looks up at Kodiak and things would probably turn into a group hug of their doing if Cy didn’t choose that exact moment to tell them to come the fuck back on board so they can all go home and get Alden some medical (Helminth) attention
It takes a bit, for the Helminth to fix everything. Kodiak and Kohlrabi spend that time sitting together. Kohlrabi is the most tired out of all of them, between having a human body and the shock of being thrown from transference on top of an already long day, so they end up settling down against Kodiak’s side and under his arm despite him not being Soft. Kodiak tells them stories of harmless, stupid things Alden would get up to when they were both young
When Alden emerges again, it’s more hugs and softness and making sure he’s doing okay. Kohlrabi keeps yawning. They only put up token resistance about Getting Some Rest but Alden jokingly threatens to call Hako anyway, and their response is “I already have two dads telling me to go to sleep, pls don’t sic my brother on me too D:”
This is a very normal thing for both Alden and Kohlrabi (and holy fuck did it take long for both of those found family relationships to get accepted as they are named now but Hey We Got There) meanwhile Kodiak is just standing there trying to have a coherent thought bc dad?? dad??? am dad???
So Kohlrabi ends up going to bed proper (tho they also end up sleeping like shit, but at least for the moment things are looking okay in that department). And Alden kinda just starts towing Kodiak along to his own room bc he Also wants to rest but also he Really Does Not Wanna Be Alone rn. Neither does Kodiak. Or maybe they just specifically don’t wanna be away from each other. They know things turned out okay but that residual fear is Still There. The Helminth heals faster than a once-human mind can keep up with
But Kodiak stops walking the moment they’re in Alden’s room bc. Okay. They need to talk. Bc he almost lost Alden Again and they both relived Horrible Fuckin Things and Kodiak doesn’t even know most of what Alden had just gone through bc they haven’t Talked about it yet. But he needs to tell him what he’s gonna now even if it goes wrong bc he’s been quiet for millennia but the chance of never getting to say it at all bc Alden will just be Gone again is too great to bear at this point
So he says, “I need to tell you this. I love you.”
And Alden is confused and amused and fond bc This Is Not New. They’re best friends! This is not new! “I love you too.”
“No, you idiot, you- I’m in love with you!”
And Alden is still amused until the next second it Clicks and he kinda. Short circuits. Also mind you they’re still holding hands and Kodiak tries to pull his hand away and Alden won’t let him. But otherwise he’s stunned silent so Kodiak is Expecting The Worst. He’s forcing himself to stay quiet but he Knows that he’s practically radiating anxiety
Eventually Alden asks, “How long?”
Which. What the fuck. Unexpected enough that Kodiak just...answers. “Since we were 25, I think?”
“Oh you motherfucker”
“????” (even more anxiety)
But Alden is laughing. Jittery and adjusting his hold on Kodiak’s hand and Laughing. “You beat me by a year! I- I think we were 26 anyway, remember when Teerak-”
“You can’t be serious.”
But he is. He’s so giddy and his free hand keeps flitting about and this is a grown man but he’s acting like a teenage boy in love and Kodiak loves him So Fuckin Much but he’s also maybe gonna kill him bc what the fuck. What the fuck
“So you’re saying. All this time-”
“Every fuckin day back then I was thinking about wanting to kiss your stupid face, and then I died and all this shit happened and I realised I’d never get to, and then- then we found you again, and I just went back to the same, I guess.”
Yeah Kodiak is gonna kill him. “Why didn’t you just Say Something”
“I was waiting for You to say something!”
“For me to- Bunny, I was so obvious! Everyone knew!”
“Everyone but me, apparently!”
-
They...argue about this pointlessly for a while. It’s fine. They’re just very giddy about it
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