The Lieutenant sits at his desk, shuffling digitalwork with a distracted frown. The office is spartan, empty of ornament or decoration, though a lunar panorama is superimposed on the wall as a holo. If one were to place the scene, it would be a view of the Sea of Tranquility, as seen from a station on the Lunar surface. Armstrong Station, in fact. The holo view from the man's previous office.

The officer works silently, some Lunar pop music playing on his channel. He taps his foot in rhythm with the song as he works on a series of reports. Incident reports, investigation summaries, approval of forensic analyses. The usual monotonous drudge of duplicative governmental documentation that tends follow brief periods of dangerous excitement. However, the Scouting Officer pauses, tilting his head as he receives a ping.

The ghost of a smile haunts his lips as he opens another channel. "Well, hello Mel."

There's a long delay. "Hey Alex," answers a familiar voice.

He closes out his reports and leans back in his chair. "I'm glad you pinged me. How are you holding up?"

The delay is a few seconds, lightspeed lag filling their conversation with pauses. "Doing better. We're almost at Io now, and I think most of the nerves regrew in my shoulder." She slurs her words a little, losing some vowels. "The bruises faded 'bit. Elbow still aches a lil, but otherwise feeling good. How 'bout you? You hurtin'?"

"You mean from being tased?" Alex shrugs, not that she can see. "I've had worse."

Another beat of silence. "Still sore?"

"Not really."

After a pause, she sighs audibly. "You spoiled my joke, ya know. You're s'posed to complain you're still sore, or aching, or exhausted, or something. Then I'd say, 'sorry, that sucks hard vacuum, Alex. Get Wells soon."

Alex raises an eyebrow, running a hand along the helical augment. "That's the joke?"

"Your name. Alex Wells. Get Wells soon," she says with a giggle.

"Oh, I get it; it's just that you're really reaching on that one, Mel." He chuckles, smiling to himself. "So, I'm going to guess you've been drinking?"

The giggling continues for a moment. "How better to remind myself how little I enjoy liquor without a mixer?"

The smile on his face loses luster. "Finding your courage in a bottle?"

"The courage was within me all along, silly. The rum just helps me find it," Melody murmurs softly, almost a whisper.

"Hah. That one's much better," the Lieutenant admits, nodding. "It's good to hear your voice, Mel."

The pause here is longer. "It's... really hard to hear yours."

Alex's smile finally breaks entirely. "Yeah. I know," he says softly, looking out at the holo of the lunar surface.

This time, neither of them speaks for a moment. Finally Melody sniffles. "I'm sorry. For how I reacted. For everything. And for the shit I said to you on Ganymede, back in your quarters."

Alex sniffs, the corner of his lip quirking up. "Well. It was honest, I'll give you that. And apology accepted. Besides, it was good clarifying where you stood with Sparrow. I didn't want to believe you'd been caught up in the Gaian nonsense. Of course, you were," he adds with a hint of admonishment, "But on the right side, at least."

There's a wordless murmur from Mel. "Ah, I convinced you, huh?"

Alex shakes his head. "Cartwright convinced me," he admits, tilting his head back to look up. As if he could see through the ice, to the void above. "But if it's worth anything, I wanted to believe you. You know, just trust, but verify."

She hums following the pause. "Yeah, no hard feelings about it," she adds wistfully.

"Sorry for keeping you in the dark, Mel." The blonde hangs his head for a moment. "That can't have been fun."

She scoffs, and he can imagine her waving her hand. "It was a case, I get it. The job."

"Still, we were working the angles, trusting each other." The bittersweet smile is back on his face. "Almost partners, like old times."

"Yeah, it was…" she says softly. "But I've moved on," she adds with a gruff cough.

"In a number of ways, I know. Still, it made me nostalgic." Alex pauses, thinking, and can't help but laugh. "For another man's experience, I suppose."

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She swallows loudly. "Alex. Back on Luna, none of what happened was fair to you."

He sighs. "You didn't do it to me."

"I did. I smashed your skull in."

"To keep my body from killing you," he points out softly, wincing.

"I... told them to save you. To bring you back. To bring him back. I... I just wanted him back," she says plaintively, voice cracking. "And when I didn't get him, I ran. Not caring how much it hurt you. Even though I made you, too."

Alex rolls his eyes. "Should I call you mommy then, Mel?"

"Don't be a chrome-licking moron. You know what I'm trying to say."

"I do," he says, folding his hands behind his head. "It's a little patronizing, honestly, but at least you mean well."

The pause seems much longer. "What does that mean?"

"Mel..." He sighs, closing his eyes. "You made the knee-jerk decision to try to save your fiancé. It didn't work. I was so profoundly changed that I'm essentially a different person. Fine, it is what it is. I don't blame you for that, and I wasn't traumatized by what happened to me in that archive." He shakes his head, grimacing at his own words. "That's how I know I'm not your Alex. Because I was fine, when nobody could be. Not after going through that."

"That's why I ran," she murmurs. Almost whimpers.

"I know. And I know you were traumatized, so I don't blame you for pulling away, or leaving me, or even for transferring out. I forgave you for that," he says, breathing more quickly, one hand clenching. "But how you did it? That destroyed me. You ghosted me, entirely; you abandoned me while I was recovering too..."

"You're not my fiancé," she says quickly.

"But I was your partner," Alex hisses, taking a few deep breaths, hands shaking. "I didn't just pop off the surgery-table whistling a tune, if you remember. Rehab and therapy were weeks of hell. And the whole time, I had a head full of memories that felt alien to me. Moments that had no context, no emotional weight. And the person I trusted, the person that I turned to for help, just left. Without warning, without explanation, without even a goodbye!" Alex bites his tongue, passing a hand in front of his face. "Mel, I'm not angry you dumped me. If that was done, it's done. But for years before we started sleeping together, we were partners. And you left your partner without a word," he says, softly. Softly, but full of accusation.

"Alex..."

"We had each other's backs. After what we'd been through?" The old pain makes him hold his head in his hands. "You owe your partner more than that. You owe me more. It doesn't matter whether we were platonic or banging or whatever. Fuck, Mel. Would you have abandoned Rockchaser that way?"

"I- no. No, I let my personal feelings bleed over. I'm sorry," she says in a shaking voice, and Alex doesn't need to hear her crying to know there are tears.

And a few slide down his face. "Yeah. I know. I'm sorry, too. Sorry that I didn't understand your pain, that I pushed you to see a neuron-jockey and splice it all away. I'm sorry that I couldn't be who you needed, either."

There's a much longer silence, and a few more silent tears, before her quavering voice replies. "Well, I dunno... maybe we're both oxide-huffing morons. But I'm glad we both ended up in the Jovian."

Alex wipes his cheek. "Yeah? Does that mean you'll be sticking around Io?"

There's a sniffle. "Yeah, my PI work will be based out of there," she says, with a bit more life in her voice. "What about you, what's going to happen with the precinct on Ganymede?"

"It's a mess," the Lieutenant admits, shaking his head. "Clearfield kept turnover high in order to keep a tight level of control. It also means misdemeanor-level offenses have been allowed to flourish, and procedure is a polite suggestion, and most of the newer officers are pinging it in."

After the delay, there's a snort. "Don't tell me Luna is putting you in charge?"

"For the moment. But long term, a Lieutenant? Fat chance," Alex replies with a jaded smirk. "No, HQ is sending a captain from Luna. Good news: he won't arrive for over three months, and I'll be acting Captain in the meantime. Bad news: once he arrives, I'll be heading Internal Affairs on Ganymede."

"Congrats. You earned it, Alex," she says, with real warmth.

He raises an eyebrow. "I just started here a few weeks ago."

"But you've got a pretty good record of rooting out bad cops in the Jovian already," she points out with another giggle, only a little forced.

"Hah. Well, it's more that I don't have any pre-existing local connections for anyone to exploit," he admits, shrugging. "I'm neutral, so I'm unbiased."

"Well, if there's anyone I'd trust to do the job, it's you."

The man's words catch in his throat. "Thanks Mel."

"There's... uh, there's also something else," she says, tension returning to her voice. "I know I said a little about it; Communion."

"Alien malware, or something?"

The pause is followed by a grunt. "It's more complex than that, and there's more players. Alex... the thing that ate you..."

"It ate another man, and it killed him," he states simply. "I don't even remember it, Mel."

"Do you... care?" She seems almost timid.

Another shrug. "It's done."

"There's more going on with that. I mean, if you want to know about it," she adds quickly.

"Is there anything I can do that will actually help?"

This time the sigh is clearly exasperated. "No, not really. Certainly not right now."

"Then just collate data. If I don't need to know, I don't want to spend energy worrying about it. I've got plenty on my plate as it is," he says, looking back to the Lunarscape. "If that changes, if you need a hand? Ping me."

"Th..." She swallows hard, gulping on the channel. "Thanks Alex."

"You're welcome, Mel." The silence plays out. "So, that Sparrow. You and she are going the distance, huh?"

"Looks that way, yeah. I'm in for the long haul," she says, voice warming up.

"Well, she's clearly got a good heart, and I think she'll be good for you."

The giggle isn't forced at all this time. "She really does. And she is. Not just because she saved my life, though that doesn't hurt."

"Yeah, she cares. And she's honest, which I didn't expect from a former terrorist," he adds, snickering.

Mel chuckles too. "She has a big heart. She's an idealist who goes with her gut; doesn't always think it through."

"Plenty of people with big brains out there; I'm glad you found one with a big heart," he teases. "She's got a cute look too; I like the hair." A saucy grin slides over his lips. "And just between us old partners... how far down does that tattoo go?"

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