Chapter Text
Fleet Admiral Page stared at the greying man as he entered, setting his officer cap off to the side.
"Heya, Eddy."
The Fleet Admiral stood up steadily, calming his nerves as he approached the man that was, by all accounts, dead.
"Emile?"
The man rocked backward as the massive Admiral embraced him, nearly tipping Emile over had his cane not been there.
"Easy there, hotshot", Emile smiled as he steadied himself. "Still old."
Page nodded shakily as he broke it off, regaining his composure before directing both of them to some chairs.
"How long has it been?"
Emile sighed as he sipped from his brandy flask, his memories racing as he recalled their time together in BUD/S.
"Thirty years, give or take."
"Why are you visiting now?"
Emile looked at the fireplace, his visage showing the obvious emotion of discomfort.
"You got a gym anywhere? Somewhere we could spar?"
Page's eyebrow quirked up at that.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm kinda busy at the moment. Fleet Admiral and all that."
Emile smirked and pulled out his phone, tapping in a quick message before taking another sip of brandy. As if he was there already, a stout man in an officer's uniform entered the office and took one look at the Fleet Admiral's desk, nodding to Emile as he started resuming the Fleet Admiral's work.
"You don't have to worry about Johnson here. He's as diligent and thorough as you are. Anyways, the gym?"
Page eyed the stout man warily, sensing something was... off about him.
"Page? Hello? Earth to Eddy?"
The Fleet Admiral followed his friend, his eyes darting to the armed men in suspicious uniforms guarding his office.
"Who were they?"
Emile coughed a little, choking on the brandy before regaining his composure.
"Just some friends of mine. Why?"
Page jerked his head at one of the men's badges.
"They're from ALSEC. That was the unit you were assigned to, wasn't it?"
Emile scoffed. Still the street-wise swim buddy he knew.
"Never were an idiot. Walk with me."
The men's footsteps echoed down the hall as they made their way to the gym, with the occasional officer or enlisted stopping to salute the two.
"What does Ten want?"
Emile sighed as they entered the lockers, obviously pondering his next words as he removed his uniform, exposing several scars and mechanical parts grafted onto his body.
"That looked like it hurt."
Emile scoffed again as he pressed a button mounted on his index finger, a luminescent blue fluid running through the clear tubes on his body.
"Trust me. The operation after hurt more."
"What does Ten want?", Page pressed as he removed his own uniform, showing off his own scars.
The men took their stances, with Page testing his opponent with a right jab.
"I heard about the anti-sex law", Emile said as he blocked the jab, countering with his own jab to Page's solar plexus.
"And?", Page asked as he righted himself, stunned that the originally frail man could hit so hard.
"Must've been rough, seeing your worst fears realized", his opponent commented as Page's right hook was blocked by Emile's forearm.
Page groaned internally as his blocked arm was smacked away by Emile.
Not another one.
Page grunted as Emile landed a jab to his face, bloodying his nose and knocking him back.
"And?"
Emile grunted as Page landed an uppercut to his torso, cursing himself for being distracted by Page's left haymaker.
"Just concerned."
"Bullshit", came Page's flat reply as another left haymaker connected, sending his swim buddy staggering.
"Ten's concerned that this'll be a trend, isn't she?"
Emile hissed a little at feeling his lip split.
"You have to admit that you've been a pain in her ass lately."
Emile suddenly lifted his arms to block Page's flurry of punches, breaking the assault with a well-timed jab to the face.
"And if she hadn't discontinued the ship-girl hunter project, maybe I'd be in a better mood."
"You know those were designed to fill a market of fear and paranoia, right?"
"You don't know where their loyalties lie!", Page shouted, tired of having to repeat himself. Why couldn't they understand?
"I don't understand?", Emile countered as he landed another blow to Page's core, followed by three punches aimed at Page's face.
"I understand that you lost your men and older sister to the Sirens."
"Shut up", Page snarled. Friend or not, Emile was treading some very dangerous waters.
"I understand that you don't trust the ship-girls who returned."
"Shut. Up", Page growled. Things were about to get personal very soon if Emile didn't stop probing.
"So you decided to fuck them over in every conceivable way as revenge."
"SHUT UP!", Page shouted as he advanced on his swim buddy, fully intent on releasing his rage.
But before he could take one step closer, he felt the wind leave him. He felt his feet leave the ground. He felt his body hit the mat and tumble. He looked at Emile, his arm extended with his hand ending in a tightly closed fist that would've met with Page's sternum.
"What are you?"
Emile retracted his fist, his face expressing remorse as he helped his friend to his feet. He flicked his wrist, and a blue light shone through, illuminating a barcode on his arm.
"A weapon. A weapon made to fill a market of fear and paranoia."
Page noted the tubes filled with luminescent blue fluid, taking note of the fibrous sheath that coated parts of his friend's arms and legs.
"You... You're one of them?"
Emile nodded bitterly, concealing the sheaths with a flickering camouflage that looked like a hologram from a sci-fi show.
"Yeah. And I watched as my unit was decimated by a ship-girl that barely came up to my shoulders."
Emile shuddered a little as he remembered her cruel laugh before snapping himself back to reality.
"But I married one anyway. We have a daughter."
"So?"
"So I have a just as valid reason to not trust ship-girls as you do. Yet I still trust them", Emile said as he helped his classmate to the lockers.
"That's different. You-."
"Lost people close to me. Had to put some of them down myself. Had to barely escape only to find myself with guns trained on me as I returned", Emile interrupted as he injected Page with a needle filled with... something, "Yet I still trust them despite everything that's happened to me."
"Because you're naive."
"Because I accepted that I couldn't save my men. Because I accepted that had I tried, I would've died and my men would be one ship-girl hunter light."
Page grunted as he put his uniform back on, watching his friend become frail again as he put his weight on the oak cane.
"A word from the wise: hating yourself is never a good idea."
Emile's words were punctuated by another sip from his brandy flask.
* * *
"How did it go?"
Emile sighed as he hung his officer cap on the rack, feeling his wife's arms remove his jacket.
"Delivered Ten's message", Emile scowled. Why did that woman have to use him like this?
"Because she knew that you could get through to him a little better than most", Prinz Eugen replied honestly.
Emile was about to answer, but his attention was grabbed by the pitter-patter of footsteps that hurried in his direction.
"Papa, papa!"
He smiled as he held his angel in his arms, touching foreheads with her as he carried her towards the dinner table.
"Hey, you. How was school?"
"Miss Ranger couldn't make it, so Miss Nimi stepped in."
Eugen sighed. How like Nimi.
"Yes, but this little troublemaker...", she said while ruffling Laura's hair, "... got into a little accident while in science class."
"Yuubari again?"
Eugen sighed and nodded as she set down the curry wurst.
"Mixing chemicals without labelling them. What could go wrong?"
Emile made a mental note to ask Geist if he wanted to fill in. Soon the wurst was finished, and Laura was put to bed after brushing her teeth. Both sighed as they collapsed on top of each other, feeling the soft sofa and the other's breathing.
"Tired?"
"Ja. Honestly, being by myself and raising Laura ist... stressig. I'm half tempted to grab a bottle and stay in my room while she's away at school."
"But?"
Eugen sighed as she unbuttoned his service shirt, revealing the black t-shirts he always wore.
"But I don't want her to see me like that."
Emile smiled as he tapped the button again, sweeping his wife up in a bridal carry and escorting her to the bedroom.
"Ara? I thought we agreed that you wouldn't use your nano-machines in the house?"
"My wife is stressed and needs to be spoiled a little. I think this is a special exception."
Eugen put a finger to her lips and smiled seductively.
"Ok. But you know the punishment, ja? Then again, you are spoiling me. Hmm. Decisions, decisions."
Emile rolled his eyes as he laid his wife onto the bed and got into his night clothes, watching his wife get dressed into hers and dropping her bra with a sensual wink.
"I can handle it, thanks."
Eugen rolled her eyes and tapped the button, returning her husband to his frail state.
"My husband helped me up the stairs. It's only fair that I return the favor. Well, in more ways than one."
Emile blushed a little as Eugen drew closer. Were they really going to do it? How would Laura react to the news? His thoughts were cut short by his wife giving him a peck on the cheek, followed by her spinning on her heels to walk to her side of the bed, swaying her hips enticingly as she went.
"I said I'd return it. I didn't say I'd return it today. Did your heart skip a beat?"
Emile smirked as he turned out his lamp, meeting his wife's eyes in the darkness of the room.
"But do you really want another one?"
Eugen smirked and pushed her breasts up.
"Maybe. If you can be a good boy and not gallivant off anywhere."
Emile smiled as he kissed his wife's forehead.
"How about I use my vacation time?"
"Oooh, that sounds quite... delightful."
"Good night, Eugen."
"Guten nacht...", Eugen smirked, "...Fantôme."