Pain. His universe was reduced to an atom of unending, concentrated pain. His nervous system had been overloaded long ago, as had been his energy. Now, he was just suffering in silence. In silence...in the old times, with the squad, he had been one of the quietest. Not the quietest, of course. The girls were too good at this to be outdone. One of the perks of them being born mute – the only one.

For a second, he felt something that wasn't pain, or at the very least not physical pain. Regret was another kind of pain, one he was not that familiar with. Regret was not one of the feelings the favorite children of Papa were allowed to understand or feel, as they had lived utterly without reproach. They were the apex of evolution, the perfect beings, the absolute enforcers.

The Nines.

Nine Alpha, the firstborn, the blonde leader, the golden angel. Nine Beta, always smugly smiling in his shadow. Nine Gamma, the red-haired brother full of energy and passion. The triplets, as deadly and skillful as they were silent. And of course, Delta, the little Delta, his partner, the tiny wolverine of their bloody battlefields. Only now could he understand how lucky he had been to be partnered with her, and not with Eta, Theta or Zeta. In their big family, they had always been closer than most pairings – mostly because the three girls were not very communicative. He had heard that in most human squads, communication and lack thereof had been an issue for...quite a long time. The Nines never had that problem, be it on the battlefield or in the plantations.

Nine Epsilon, the tall, handsome member of the squad, felt the pain slowly decreasing, and tried to move his arms. He probably had a few broken bones – maybe even a whole limb, it was too soon to tell. Anyway, he decided to let his suffering recede completely before attempting to move again. His breathing tried to be slow, controlled. Control. Another notion the Nines had become very efficient at. No need to be too hasty if that lead to more bones being broken. In the meantime, he could try to do something productive and think about what had brought him to this situation. That was supposed to be the last battle, where they were supposed to hold the line against the final assault while Iota, the pink-haired horned pistil, and Code 016, her now permanent partner, were using the fabled Star Entity, the ultimate weapon of the klaxxosaur race, to erase their foes from the surface of the Earth, for the glory of Papa and APE. And then...everything had gone wrong. The klaxxosaur princess had pierced their lines and reached Star Entity herself, and Papa had revealed himself to be an alien from outer space, here to assimilate mankind and to use Star Entity for his conquests across the galaxy. And Papa wasn't alone – he had brought an army with him, and his minions of "VIRM", as they called themselves, had attacked them, swarming the FranXX they piloted. They had attacked some of the most loyal followers of Papa on earth, the ones who would have gladly given their lives for him without any kind of remorse or regret. Epsilon remembered, trying to stay calm, the screams Delta had produced when their M9 had been destroyed by their enemies. After that... everything had been darkness, and suffering.

Epsilon's sight was clearer now, and he could look around him, look at the scrap that had been, in another time, the proud ride of the elite pilot. He had spent so many months in this metal beast, killing so many klaxxosaurs, fighting on so many battlefields, that he felt a part of him die with it. The last gift of the M9 had been this terrifying suffering, the full brunt of the empathic link they shared. Many a pistil had died on the battlefield because their brains had been fried by the pain this link could cause in case their FranXX was damaged. However, the metal beast had also protected him from death...and now, through the torn metal and destroyed cables, he could see the sky out there.

Calm down. Just wait a few minutes more till it doesn't hurt anymore. Then get out of here, find Delta. Then everything will be alright. Everything will be alright.

She couldn't be too far away. Well, she could. But Epsilon did not want her to be far away. Right now, he needed her. Any of the Nines he could talk to about the current situation would do the trick. But Delta was the one who was no doubt the closest geographically to him, and the one who would understand their predicament and...and...and screw it, he wanted her to be there because she was his partner, and partner are supposed to be able to rely on each other. Pushed by his desire to survive and see her again, he tried to move again. Pain was now duller – and neither his arms nor his legs seemed to be the origin of it. A good thing. Papa would give him strength. Slowly, he got out of the pistil position, even managing to get on all fours. His four limbs were in working orders, truly a miracle. If only he could find Delta - alive and well of course – that would be everything he needed for the time being. His pistil suit, red as all the Nines' were, was torn in several places, but the wounds Epsilon displayed beneath were superficial, and bound to heal quickly. Right now, they weren't worthy of his time and attention. Ten meters between him and the outside world – but for now, he had to check for her, even if that meant staying longer in the belly of the fallen beast. So he turned back, searching for her body, anything that could reveal where she was. That task was made considerably harder by the fact that the cockpit was now a metallic pandemonium.

His heart skipped a beat, even a few dozens, when he saw her arm, her hand, sticking out of the wreckage. Slowly, like in a dream about to turn into a nightmare, he extended his own, grabbing her wrist to check on her pulse. Only when he detected a faint heartbeat in the body of his partner, did he notice that he had been crying during the whole ordeal.

Alright Delta. You're here and you're alive. Time to go home now.

With as much care as he could show under his heavy stress, he started to free her from this tomb of metal, discarding the plates and tubes and esoteric parts of the M9 quickly to get her out of here. Something in him, beyond mere camaraderie or partnership, gave him a newfound strength, a new sense of purpose. At the moment, there was no Papa, nor APE nor Alpha. She was everything that mattered at this point of Epsilon's life, and not only because Papa was an alien, APE was a bunch of adults fooled by an alien, and Alpha...well, was not here. He needed to have her by his side again, he needed to tell her how important she was to him now that every other pillar of his existence had been shattered during this last battle. It took him a few minutes to get her out of here, relieved to see that, just like him, the tiny Nine did not seem to suffer any visible injuries, even if parts of her uniform had been ripped in the wreckage. After wiping off the blood and tears from his face, Epsilon tried to take her out of the destroyed FranXX : sure, their crushed M9 had protected them from a certain death, but there was no guarantee it would protect them further. As he took her out, he was amazed at how easy it was to carry her body around : sure, he was the physically strongest of the Nines – with Gamma, who was, of course, a big guy too – and Delta was the smallest one, but still. He felt like he could have carried her for hours without needing any rest.

Five minutes later, both of them were outside, where the sun was setting and the rain falling. Delta was still unconscious, but at the very least, she was breathing and her heart was beating, something for which Epsilon was incredibly grateful. Now, he just needed her to wake up before they could decide their next move...and yet, holding her against him, sheltered under a roof that had been the arm of a klaxxosaur-destroying titan, he felt at peace. Once again, he smiled as he remembered Nine Iota, and her partner – her Darling. A human boy, of course. He had seen a few times how they interacted, the way they looked at each other. He now started to understand how they felt, how they probably were feeling if they had survived the battle. Epsilon's blood started to race when he heard her move, seeing her wake up again in his arms. Her wide, lime-colored eyes met his own, widening with surprise as her mind started to understand her situation. With a yelp of surprise, she yanked herself out of his arms, landing on her behind on the soil, before starting to yell at him :

"What the HELL Epsilon!? Are we...are we dead? What's that place? Where are we? Why were you carrying me like this? Where are the others? What...the battle...Papa..."

"Calm down, Delta, calm down," he told her, giving her a hand, "everything will be alright. The battle is over, and it looks like we're still alive. For what happened to Papa and the others...I don't know, I just woke up, just like you. I just...well, tried to carry you away from the wreck, to safety. So we could decide on a plan for...what comes afterwards."

His explanations managed indeed to calm Delta down, and the surprise in her eyes was replaced by a relieved, warm expression. Her smile was beaming when she spoke again :

"Well...first things first, thank you for getting me out of this, Epsilon. As for 'what comes afterwards'...how much time has passed since the end of the... battle? How much time did we spend here?"

"I don't know. Most of the sensors of the M9 are dead, including the ones for time and position. But anyway," he added, making no mention to the fear in Delta's eyes when she had spoke, "I don't think we're that far from the Nest. A few kilometers away, so we could be there by the end of night if we..."

But Delta had already stopped listening, and had taken out her comm device from...where had she been hiding it anyway?...probably to contact any other member of the Nines, or anyone who could fetch them here.

Code Nine Alpha...Denied

Code Nine Beta... Denied

Code Nine Gamma...Denied

With every single one of her brethren unable to return her calls – or out of reach of the device – Delta was feeling more and more anxious. This little thing was theoretically supposed to reach even low orbit, from the COSMOS flying fortress to the ground of the Nest. Breathing deeply, Delta tried another code to reach, anyone would probably be good, while Epsilon was getting up.

Code 007...Incoming...

After a few seconds of dreadful waiting, the screeen lit up with the video call, showing the impeccable hair-do and the squinty eyes of Delta's target. Every single plantation had, besides their parasite squad, a pair of caretakers, supposed to monitor and command said squad ; and where all parasites had codes above 10, these pairs, former parasites retired from active service, always had the same codes : 007 and 008. Truth be told, Delta had no idea about the former affectation of this one, but that wasn't like she cared about her, beyond the fact that she would help them get out of here. Her voice had a bit of a metallic, distorted sound, but that was probably just due to radio problems.

"Code 007 here, who are you? How may I help you?"

"Codes Nine Delta and Nine Epsilon here, from the Nines Elite Special Squad. We need an extraction from the battlefield ASAP, and schedule a meeting with the highest commanding officers of the Nest. We need to talk."

"Right now, I am the highest commanding officer in the Nest...also, the battlefield? Which battlefield?"

"The one of the battle against the klaxxosaurs, you idiot! We just got back to our senses about five minutes ago...You know what, just put Nine Alpha on the line, he will know what to do, unlike you..." Delta's anger had always been a marvel to behold for Epsilon, especially on the battlefield, where it sublimated into a thirst for blood which almost reached Iota's levels – a fact that annoyed the little pilot to no end. Right now, he was amazed to see her coming back to her wrathful self as soon as a stupid caretaker was in the way of her coming back to civilization. However, her fury disappeared as soon as she heard the answer of 007, replaced by full-on surprise.

"I'm sorry, Nine Alpha went to space with the other Nines a few days ago. I'm sending you a cargo to pick you up...it should be there in twenty minutes at most. There's...quite a lot you need to know."

The communication was cut short by Delta, who looked at Epsilon with a face so full of incomprehension that he couldn't help but burst out laughing. Of course, her following pouting, in such a dire situation, could only foster further hilarity, as was her half-serious anger and the few punches she tried to throw at him before getting trapped in a bear hug, her legs flailing helplessly half a meter above the ground. The grapple lasted a few minutes – definitely longer than it should have. But, hold tightly against the chest of her partner, feeling his heartbeat directly at the source through his half-destroyed uniform, Delta had...surprisingly few reasons to protest against this treatment, however clearly improper and insulting it was. Even when Epsilon lifted her up another ten centimeters and rested his face in her green hair, she felt that interrupting this would be somewhat wrong, freezing however when she heard him whisper in her ear :

"We're...we're alive, Delta. And the fighting is over, now." She could hear the tears of relief in his voice without even needing to look at his face as he was going on with what looked like the beginning of some...weird confession. "For a time, I thought that I had...that you were..."

Nope, it's not gonna happen. Not now. Not here.

She could not listen to what he had to say – besides, there would be many a moment to continue this conversation somewhere else than on a muddy battlefield, in front of a destroyed FranXX. She started to wiggle, exaggerating her moves to show her will to get out of her partner's grasp, and mumbled, jokingly :

"Gah, don't start with that and let me go, you dumb oOOOOAF!"

Dumb oaf indeed : Epsilon had decided to let her go literally, releasing her from the cage of his arms. Something that could have been nice – but Delta was a lot smaller than he was, and, for the second time in less than one hour, she fell to the ground on her butt. This time, however, she got up by herself, refusing his extended hand with a feral growl and a lot of curses, some of them she probably didn't even know the true meaning of.

"Goddamn stupid tall partner. When are you going to understand the world doesn't revolve around giants like you!?"

"The day you're going to understand it doesn't revolve either around tiny gnomes like you."

"Those are fighting words, Epsilon..." she muttered, an angry flame shining in her green eyes.

"I know, so let me explain better, Delta." he responded, playing along. "You're the tiniest cute green dwarf to ever walk the earth."

He did not know how these words had come to him so easily, but it looked like they had been the best he could have thought of in this situation : Delta jumped at him with what seemed like utter frenzy. But Epsilon had fought with her in too many battlefields, been at her side during too many missions. For the best and the worst, he knew her – and he knew when her anger was genuine and when it was just a veil to mask her true self. Here, 'fighting words' or not, she was playing with him. He still had her trapped again under his mass in a few seconds, chuckling softly as she was disabled, her lithe body struggling, trying to get away from him. Just like these hand-to-hand combat training sessions, back then...But where, back then, Alpha was here in the corner to encourage them to start anew, to become better, faster, stronger. And Delta had won, sometimes, with the help of a clever armlock or headlock. Right now, there was no Alpha. No Papa, No APE. Just Delta and Epsilon, the anger of the first one melting to join the second one in mirthful giggling. Two people, two partners. Away from their squad, their leader, their god. Away from the world, in a little dream bubble. Overtaken by this dream, drowning in her emerald eyes, Epsilon gently raised his hand towards Delta's cheek, wiping off residual traces of dirt and blood, before slowly lowering his head towards her own.

There was no way for Delta to tell what he was up to, seeing as the lights and sounds of the cargo coming to pick them up were now visible, prompting them to get up as if nothing had happened between them. During the way back to the Nest, the caretakers coming to get them home said nothing about the guilty faces of the two elite pilotes, preferring to drone about the changes that had happened during the last weeks – for it had been weeks since the battle. Papa had disappeared, and the APE-controlled human society had disappeared with it, as VIRM had snatched the souls of every human that had undertaken the magma immortality treatment. Even worse was the fact that Alpha, Beta and Gamma had managed to survive...only to go in space towards Mars, deprived of maintenance, to "die a warrior's death" with the P13 squad and help save Nine Iota's soul ...reminding the two last members of the Nines that such a fate awaited them.

Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But eventually, lack of maintenance would get them.

At long last, a bit of calm. Most of the caretakers in the Nest had no qualms with giving Delta and Epsilon a bit of additional comfort over the normal parasites, knowing their former status. Of course, in the long term, it would not mean much, and they probably would join the others in "working for a future without Papa". But for now, peace, and a room for each of them.

Epsilon, right now, was trying to find this 'peace' in a hot bath...alas, inevitably, his thoughts always brought him back to the same subjects. Delta. Maintenance. Delta. Maintenance. Delta. Maintenance. Code 326 and Code 556, the wimps that had been mindwiped by APE for their blasphemy against Papa, were running the place now – and, supreme irony, they had been unable to recognize them, even if the Nines had been the ones, as Papa's enforcers, to bring them to heel. They had told them about the ghastly state of their brethren, about their pale skin and bloodshot eyes, and about how they did not want to die such a death. Epsilon, right now, could not help but disagree with them on it. He did not want to die at all. At least, not in the coming days.

Why?

Because of Delta, of course.

In a world where the Nines were the ultimate enforcers, the absolute elite squad, the perfect children of Papa, the golden boys of APE and the thought police, having some of them – beyond Iota, of course, but Iota was...well, Iota – develop feelings beyond camaraderie, untainted loyalty to their Papa and pride in their own skills would be utterly ridiculous. In fact, the Nines were prone to prune the parasites whose loyalty could be compromised by such unneeded feelings. But now? In a world where APE had disappeared? A world where Papa was no more? Where his legacy had been tainted, sullied by his alien nature and the depth of his lies? Where the century war against the klaxxosaurs was over? Could...something else...bloom beyond the old battlefields? Now that, out of the battlefield, he could think clearly, such interrogations were futile. Of course it could – it had. Epsilon couldn't lie to himself, not about this : what he felt for his partner, for Delta, was clearly above and beyond what he was supposed to. He cared for her, in a way he did not think the others, Alpha, Beta and Gamma, had ever cared for someone. Only one problem needed to be solved now.

What was he supposed to do?

One thing was sure, he would not achieve anything by staying in the bathtub, whose water was becoming colder and colder anyway. Beyond a towel around his waist, he was naked when he stepped into his room – a shame, seeing as Delta was waiting for him on the bed, only wearing herself a plain white nightgown that revealed her alabaster arms and legs. Her only reaction to his nudity was arching an eyebrow, eyeing his muscular frame with appreciation – an appreciation that was clearly returned by Epsilon, who ogled her back, interested in the gracious curves of her lithe limbs. How cute. She cleared her throat as he came to sit beside her, before starting to talk, with a soft and resigned tone.

"So. I spoke with that Nana earlier about our...condition. She...may have a solution."

"I don't like your voice...Is everything alright? What is the solution you're talking about? Is that so bad?"

"She...she suggested that the coming withering could be quelled by the magma immortality treatment. If we do it...we won't able to pilot anymore."

He understood now. More than every other member of the Nines – bar Iota, but Iota was special – Delta was finding purpose on the battlefield. She was a fighter, a warrior, a war hound, never as happy as when she was crushing klaxxosaur cores. And the magma immortality, by stealing their fertility, would forever deprive them from their ability to pilot. A fate that would be normally... worse than death for her. Epsilon felt his chest tightening at the mere thought of her worries ; extending a hand to comfort her, he finally decided to take her in his arms.

For a second, she resisted his attempt, before sinking into his embrace. There she was, sobbing in his arms, letting go of her restraint to cry about their stolen future. Papa had made them perfect, then had let them to die. That was not fair. Even more than the little moments in the aftermath of the battle, her helplessness, her presence in the circle of his arms, the contact of her hair and tears against his chest, again roused in him forbidden thoughts and unspeakable feelings. Half-analyzing the situation, half-confessing about his own state of mind, he whispered at her ear, as gently as he could :

"Delta...I think...I know we should take this chance. I thought I was dead, once...worse, I thought you were dead. I can accept not being able to pilot anymore, I can accept Papa not being there anymore, I can accept having to mingle with the normal ningens. There's one thing I can't accept... and that's losing you, Delta. You mean too much for me. I can't. I just can't. Delta, I...I..."

"Sh-shut up...you, you idiot..." she tried to answer between her tears."Just...just hold me and shut up."

"...I think I love you, Delta."

She didn't answer, not with words. She didn't slap him in the face, she didn't call him an idiot, she didn't even get away from him, choosing instead to hug him even tighter. Love, to them, was supposed to be an aberration, a chimera that the weak chose to embrace instead of staying true to Papa's teachings. And yet, the little green-haired wolverine that, even in the face of VIRM, had maintained his loyalty to the supreme ruler of mankind, did not react with fire and fury to Epsilon's confession. He felt her coming closer, her face trying to burrow into his chest, muttering unintelligible words directly to his skin. Taking the cue with a wide smile, he gently nudged her, taking Delta's chin in his fingers before lifting it towards her, until she was forced to look at him in the eyes ; his head lowered until the purple-haired pilot was nearly touching her lips with his own.

"Did you say something, Delta?"

"I...I think I love you too, Epsilon, but...but..."

Was there something left to be said? Delta's 'buts' were drowned in a muffled moan of ecstasy as Epsilon's mouth joined her own in a tender, heartfelt kiss – had it been her goal to have him stop her that way? Anyway, for a few seconds...maybe a minute...maybe a dozen...time stopped in the room. Once again, the outside world had disappeared ; all that remained was their union, in an everlasting kiss that pushed every worry and concern outside the boundaries of conscience. Delta and Epsilon, Epsilon and Delta ; and where her lips were as fiery as her reckless behavior on the battlefield, his own were cold, sweet, soft. Their mouths' meeting was akin to peppers on ice cream, but, truth be told, they wouldn't like it any other way. Second after second, the kiss became deeper, their mouths parting and joining again in a rapturous dance.

Soon, mouths, after words, were not enough to exprime what they felt for each other – and lost in the throes of budding, mutual love, they had to switch to more primal ways of communicating it. As APE's secret police, they were supposed to have an extensive knowledge of the kind of activities they had to monitor in the past, including mating for the purpose of reproduction. As the clones of Iota, both of them were already infertile by nature...but they had all the parts needed for it. Without these, they couldn't have been piloting a FranXX as Papa's most elite pilots ; and they couldn't have been trying to get further and further down the road towards utter bliss. Without these, Delta wouldn't have pushed Epsilon down on the bed, discarding his towel without care, before straddling him with an insolent smile, her former restraint vanished like snow under the sun of her newfound lust. Likewise, Epsilon wouldn't have, between whispers expressing his undying love and affection, helped her get rid of Delta's gown, his wandering hands yearning to discover the hidden secrets beneath, eliciting breathless giggles and lecherous moans from her everywhere they teased. Soon, his own stamen had risen up for this new challenge, and soon Delta had decided to sheathe it in her pistil, while still being relentlessly assaulted by Epsilon's hands. Pure military strategy from his end, no doubt about it – his battering ram was pounding the gates of her secret garden, while his hands constantly searched for weaknesses, tweaking and caressing her body to discover newer, more intimate way to reduce her into a panting mess.

Of course, it was only their first time. But the Nines were utterly superior to lowly mortals, and as such neither of them had no problems with keeping up with such an extraordinary lewd experience without waver...or flinch or come. However, such a remarkable endurance would be broken quickly enough – deciding to take charge and not let his usually-in-the-stamen-position partner and lover have all the fun, Epsilon pushed her down on the bed, feasting on the sight of her tiny naked body and on the love he could feel tonight in her emerald eyes. Now towering over her, the speed of both his tender ministrations outside and his...onslaught inside considerably increased, a teasing torture instinctively designed to let her wait on the edge of paradise and deny her entry. Then finally, after hearing her begging for deliverance through her moans, Epsilon freed her from her tantalizing predicament, going deeper than ever and connecting with her at a level he had never reached...He heard her scream, a scream born out of pure love and unadulterated lust, the parting cry of a mind going blank...a scream that probably was his own too, as, in that moment, they were one and the same, united in passion.

The morning found them together in that very bed, huddled together. Their past was gone, forgotten in that shelter they had found in each other's arms, and their future was still shifty and uncertain. But in that embrace, in that warmth that covered them like a blanket, they had found something that was previously lacking in their vision of a world without Papa.

Hope.