Work Text:
"Never thought bureaucracy could be so exhilarating," Crow smiled, waving a data pad with a mission report in the air. The Guardian smiled weakly back before looking away.
Their first mission alongside Crow. The feeling of unease had followed them through its entirety and had not left when they returned to the Last City. The Guardian could not stop jumping between being wary and being pleased. Because they did work well together. As if they had always been a team. Crow listened, scouted, reported. Shot well.
But the echo of his gun was so much like the shot in Cayde's chest, and the Guardian winced at the memory, gripping the edge of the table.
"Is everything okay?" Crow asked, his bright amber eyes glowing with concern from beneath his hood.
The Guardian nodded.
He was not Uldren, they reminded themselves. It was Crow. And he didn't remember that shot.
"I was thinking," Crow said, "I heard some hearsay about a Scorn cache just on the border of the Tangled Shore. We could investigate. I might need a tag along. Or... be a tag along."
The Guardian looked at him. Another mission. Another string of hours beside him, confusing emotions and thoughts. And despite the unease, a sense of warmth was blooming in the Guardian's chest and... excitement.
They nodded at Crow. Another mission it was. And, they hoped, another step to erasing whatever hole Uldren left in their chest.