Aegis 3.0

[Wyosch]

Misha grabbed his father's hand and nodded, smiling happily.
"Yeah, I think it'll be fine now.", he replied. "I made my wall blue and pink with bears protecting it!"

Jim stared at his son with big, glittering eyes, gulping as he was holding back his tears.
"Ash... that- I...", he just decided not to say anything, and hugged his son tightly, closing his eyes for a moment, picturing how it felt when Jim first held his oldest son in his arms.
"I know you'd be there for me, but I'm just not someone who likes burdening others with their own problems, and would rather keep them bottled up inside to deal with them later on.", he replied, turning his head to the sky, a sad smile on his face.
"As long as none of you, your siblings and your mother do the same, it's fine. Even if I weren't there when you needed me most, I'm here now and not going anywhere. If you ever need help or advice... you can always come to me."
He took a deep breath, closing his tired eyes for a moment before he looked back at Ash, a proud smile on his face.
"I'm proud of you, kid. I love you."

"And I know she likes doing that!", Cole replied, chuckling.
As Sam started talking about how Cole was at the beginning of his mother's and Sam's relationship, he smiled softly.
"I just needed someone to show me how to be me. And what nobody succeeded in for years, you did in one day, so you should be proud of yourself too, dad."

Mike gasped horrified as he looked at his wooden arm.
"I didn't do anything! Turn it back! How am I supposed to work with a wooden arm?! I can't take out the trash with one arm!"

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac smiled softly at Misha's description of his mind wall.
"Mine is in all colors of the rainbow, with snowflakes falling from the sky and a forest in front of it", he explained smirking. "And in that forest is a little hut where my brothers and me sometimes go to camp and play poker together. I wonder if Jim would like Nico, Morty and Dexter. I bet you would've loved them."

Ash shook his head, sighing as he put his hands on his father's shoulders.
"Dad, you want us to not do that, but you yourself so it all the time? That's not fair. I know you want to protect us, doing that, but it hurts us more than it protects us. We are your family dad, please- trust us."
He hugged him gently, planted a kiss on his cheek and smirked softly.
"I love you too, dad. In fact- I wanted to ask you something:
You know I asked Emily to marry me once we both reached legal age. And I would love if you were my best man. It's still about one and a half years, but- why not ask you already."

",You know, you are a great young man, Cole. I couldn't imagine having a greater family than your mom, your siblings and you. I love you all."
Sam smiled softly; however his eyes widened when the church bells started to ring.
"Time to get into the church! Oh wow, I'm about to get married...is my hair okay? My suit? Oh wow I'm nervous!"

Ava just yawned as she made her way into her office and shut the door behind her with a rough "get to work, boy!"
Inside her office, she untied the bun her hair was tied into and shook her platinum blonde Bob cut for a moment, sighing relieved as she took off the formal jacket and just leaned back in her office chair for a moment to stare at the ceiling with a slight frown on her face.

 

[Wyosch]

Misha slightly tilted his head, raising an eyebrow.
"How can you go play poker with your brothers when they're dead?", he asked, turning his head as he heard the noise of the church bells in the distance.
"Is it time already?"

Jim just nodded silently as Ash replied to him keeping his problems to himself, a soft smile on his face as his son said that he loved him too.
"W-wait, what?", he mumbled after having stared at his son for a moment.
"You want me to be your best man? But- don't you want that to be a friend of yours, or maybe your basketball coach, or one of your teammates?", he mumbled, raising an eyebrow.
"I mean... I'd absolutely love to... but are you really sure? Being best man is usually the job of the groom's best friend... not his father."

Cole chuckled as Sam suddenly seemed to be only all too nervous, and gently fisted against his chest.
"Calm down. You look good. It'll all be perfect, okay? Just don't forget to breathe."

Mike rolled his eyes as the door was shut, sighing frustratedly.
"I already forgot what that bitch wanted from me."
He sighed, thinking for a moment, and just decided to take out the trash. Probably what should be done.
He'd just take the entire night for that and then he'd have his rest.

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac let out a soundless sigh, smiling sadly at Misha.
"I don't. I wish I could, that's why I imagine that forest and hut at my mind wall...", He explained silently, looking up at the sound of the bells. "Yes! Let's go!"
He gently picked Misha up and made his way into the search, reserving three spots for Heather, Noah and hunter when he sat down with Misha on his lap so he could sit a but higher and see more of what was going on at the altar.

"Dad", Ash chuckled, shaking his head with a slight smirk as he wrapped his arms around his father's shoulders and led him towards the church.
"My best friend will be my second best man. Many people have two to three, and you..you are just very important to me. and I just want to share that very special moment of my life with you."
Stopping at the church doors, he smiled softly. "Let's see if Mom and the little ones have taken a seat already....there, over there. First row."

Sam closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.
"Okay okay, I'm calm. Calm calm calm. Let's go, can't be too late. I'm the groom. Hell I'm the groom!"
He just hasted towards the church, taking another deep breath as he took his place in front of the altar.
Only a few more minutes and he'd be Samuel Anderson.

"Oh by the way, Breakdown", Ava said into the micro of the speaker system with a devilish smirk.
"The last few workers will already leave in a few minutes. I gave them a free day. We will take over their tasks for today.
You have five minutes for the trash. Come to the darkroom down the left corridor when you're finished. And don't make me speed you up."

 

[Wyosch]

Misha was making himself comfortable in his father's lap, looking around at the church with big eyes.
Those windows were really pretty!
"Why are those windows rainbow colors?", he asked, giggling happily as his mother sat down as well, Heather on her lap, Noah on the seat between Macon and Hunter.
"Are you feeling better now, baby?", Hunter asked, a soft smile on her face as she saw how cutely Misha was staring at everything in the church.
"Yes! Daddy taught me how to build a wall, and I made one now but I'll change it later to something like daddy's!"
"A wall?"

"You should introduce me to your best friend once. Gotta check his background.", Jim replied, winking, ruffling his hair.
"And I'm really honored that you asked me to be your best man. I'd love to."
As they entered the church, he immediately sat down next to his family, gently taking his wife's hand and kissing her cheek.
"I love you.", he whispered, smiling softly at his children and then making sure Ash was following.

Cole walked up to the altar as well, smirking softly as he imagined himself walking up there, in a couple of years, marrying the love of his life.
As he stood behind Sam, he quickly looked at all the people in the church, trying to find his beautiful girlfriend, but couldn't find her in the crowd.
Was she with Emma?

Mike growled angrily , but just took out the trash and lastly made his way back to the darkroom.
"Fine. Took out the trash. What do you want now?", he mumbled as he opened the door, annoyingly rolling his eyes once more.

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac smiled softly as he watched how the sunlight fell through the church windows in a million different colors, painting beautiful pictures of light everywhere.
Still, after all this time, and even though he had known it before, from the time before he had been an Android that only saw in shades of red, black and green, he was stunned by the beauty of all the colors around.
"Look how the colorful windows are making the light that shines through them", he whispered to Misha's ear. "It makes everything look just a bit more magical, doesn't it?"
Smiling at Hunter as she asked about the wall, he shrugged. "A mental wall to block out the thoughts of everyone around."

Ash grinned softly as he took out his phone to show his father a picture of his best friend, after he had taken a seat beside him.
"His name is Dustin. We met during a basketball game, when he asked me for an autograph after a game. We got to talk and just hit it off right from the start. You should hear our friends- 'oh watch out, Ash and Dust are coming up again!' those idjits."
He chuckled softly, before he put his phone away again.
"You'd like him, he's awesome.''

Sam, standing just about 4 feet away from Cole, gasped as the doors opened and Bailey walked, yes, walked up to the altar with a soft smile, looking like an angel in her dress.
"But... how?"
Bailey just smirked on as if nothing was going on, looking at Cole as if they were about to marry.
"How in the world did she gather enough power for that...?", Sam mumbled silently. "Bailey, how-?"
Bailey just smiled softly. "By imagining a certain someone else, waiting for me in front of the altar", she explained without taking her happily sparkling eyes off her boyfriend.

"Well I thought since you're already there, you can well help me take care of the experiments in section four", Ava explained, having to raise her voice to be audible over Linkin Parks 'what I've done' blaring out of two boxes in the room while she turned Mike's arm back into normal, excepting a small circle around his Ringfinger that looked like a wooden ring, to remind him of who was in charge here.
She ran her fingers through her hair a couple of times, to get the stiffness out, and held up two sheets of paper, apparently lists.
"Ah eh- information: when we have the night shift together and nobody else is here anyway, we can loosen the strict orders we have here a bit. I mean, you know my name anyway, so- just Ava. We have two sorts of creatures in our little...well, I call it a zoo. Carnivores and herbivores. You wanna go get the meat and fish for the carnivores or the vegetables and fruit for the herbivores?"

 

[Wyosch]

"Oh, you got a wall too?", Hunter asked Misha, who didn't hear anything because he was too busy staring at all the colors.
Hunter just smiled softly, her eyes widening as she saw a beautiful young woman walking up to the altar.
"I love her dress! Is that Emma?"

"He looks like a guy I once knew.", Jim replied, smiling softly at his son. "I'm glad you have a friend you can rely on that much. Great friends are really rare, and perfect ones even more."
He turned to his wife for a moment, his eyes sparkling softly, and lastly turned back to Ash.
"I'd love to meet him once."

Cole just stared at Bailey for a moment, until his eyes widened hugely, his jaw dropping.
"You- you walk...", he mumbled, totally baffled, until a huge grin appeared on his face and he let out some happy tears as he hugged her tightly.
"You're a miracle, baby... I love you.", he whispered, gently stroking over her cheek as he stared into her eyes, mesmerized by their beauty.
"You look like an angel..."

Mike raised an eyebrow at Ava, quite confused by how nice she suddenly sounded, but just lifted his shoulders.
"Herbivores. Allergic to fish.", he replied, staring at his pinkie for a moment. It was terrifying how that woman could make a Pinoccio out of him without even touching him.
"Where do I go then?"

 

[Scripted Away]

"nah, that's Cole's girlfriend, Bailey", Mac explained as he watched her with a soft smile.
"Sam told me he'd bet on his left arm that these two will share their lives for a very very long time. Just look how cute they are to each other...!"

"Well, once Emily, the kids and I moved back here, we of course will make a little party to celebrate that, I was thinking of a nice barbecue or so, and Dust of course would come too. You could meet him then", Ash suggested shrugging, while greeted Bailey with a nod of his head and a smile.
"Bet you'd like him. He's a fan of classic rock."

Bailey smiled happily as she cuddled against Cole with her eyes closed, before she gently kissed his tears away.
"I wouldn't have thought that my ability could be boosted enough to do that", she admitted, while she got lost in his deep brown eyes with a soft smile.
"I love you too. ... Baby...?"
While a slight blush colored her cheeks Rosy, she gently ran her fingers over his shoulders and looked down for a moment.
"Do you... Do you think we will be standing here one too?

"Just follow me, the storage room for the carni food and the Herbie food are right next to eachother", Ava explained as she led Mike down the corridor.
"We will just fill up the carts with everything on the list, and then go to the animals and then feed it to them.''

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter awed as she stared at Cole and Bailey for a moment.
"They're really cute together! Just look at those loving smiles."
She smiled softly at Macon, thinking back to the day where they stood in front of the altar, and sighed happily.
Her life was perfect.

"Oh a fan of classic rock is always welcome.", Jim replied, winking at Ash.
"So who's that girl? Sam's best man is Cole, and I am assuming she is Emma's maid of honor?"
He frowned as he heard the ringing of a phone.
Nope, wasn't his.
"Eh, Ash - I believe that's you."

Cole's smile widened, his eyes sparkling softly, and nodded.
"Definitely.", was all he replied, before he just kissed Bailey and blushed akwardly as he noticed that literally the entire church could see them.
"You'll be the most beautiful bride ever."

Mike was just thinking that this was another trick of her to make him talk. Pretend to be nice so he'd warm up. Hell no.
"Why do you got animals here anyway?", he mumbled, his tone seeming rather annoyed than interested, and so did his facial expression look.

 

[Scripted Away]

Smiling softly, Mac wrapped his arms around Hunter's shoulders, gently stroking over her arm as he watched everyone. Their own wedding had been far smaller; at least their unofficial one; and Hunter... Hunter had taken his breath away.
"By the way, did you already think about when you want to ask Rey and Jim to make you immortal?", He asked silently.

Ash shrugged at Jim's question. "I don't know if she's the bridesmaid, but it does look so, doesn't it? Her name is Bailey Grigio, she's Cole's girlfriend. We texted a couple of times. She's great. her ability is quite wonderous:
As long as she's in a good mood, she brings good luck to everyone around her and herself. Good weather, problems just disappearing or basically solving themselves...but as soon as her mood goes bad, the luck turns around and accidents and misfortune happen around her that could even end deadly, if she was just upset enough. Scary..."
When his phone rang, he at first turned it soundless, then picked up. "Davis? Make it quick, I'm on a wedding."

Bailey smiled softly as she planted a small kiss on Cole's cheek and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.
"I have to take my place on the other side of the altar now."
Smirking at him happily, she went over to the opposite side, so she would stand behind Emma when the wedding would start.

Ava shrugged, a hint of sadness crossing her face.
"Well, for various reasons, actually", she explained, stopping in front of the door of the storage halls.
"Some animals are known to have abilities. Take lizards or starfish, for example. They regrow lost limbs. There's a lizard that shoots its own blood to defend itself. Jellyfish, glowing like UFOs in the dark, yada yada yada. We are trying to find the connection between them and us. We hope to learn more about the anoms evolution. Maybe find a missing link.
Other animals were rescued from HACK labs. Dogs, cats, but also bigger animals. They suffered permanent damage and can't live in the wild, or with a regular family anymore. They need special care and we are giving it. And some of us rarely ever leave this building. Our shelter is like balm for the soul. I myself often spend my late shifts there and carry my beeper around to warn me about dangerous hack movements. My dog Bethany spends most of her time there, too, while I take care of Aegis Force."
She furrowed her eyebrows when her phone rang, and her voice immediately gained back that sharp leader tone.
"Fox.
...
Don't call eclipse.
...
You dont. I take care of it later.
...
Go home."
Putting her phone away again, she raised one eyebrow at Mike, smirking slightly. "Do you like jets? We have to fix one in section three later."

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter nodded, smiling softly at Macon.
"I was thinking about asking them at the buffet? And then we could see when they'd do it. Like I have no idea how long that takes or what has to be done. Maybe it's just at touch?", she lifted her shoulders, her eyes sparkling happily.
"You look really handsome in that suit, by the way."

Jim raised an eyebrow at Ash's explanation of Bailey's abilities. Quite interesting, actually. And honestly reminded him a bit of himself, though it was not an ability of his to very probably hurt someone when in a bad mood.
That was just his stupid personality.

"Future Mrs. Davis wishes to speak to her fiancé!", Emily replied, giggling. "Was thinking, if I'm not there to see it, you could put me on cam so I can see them! And they'd see me if they'd look at your phone, but that's a different story."
She moaned annoyed as Jasmine started making strange, puke-like noises again.
"I just hope Jas won't barf again. That'd ruin the ceremony."

Cole straightened his back, smirking softly at Bailey, and then quickly hit Sam's shoulder.
"Stay calm. It'll be fine, 'kay?"
As the music started playing and the people in the church all stood up, Cole immediately started grinning widely as his mother walked in.
Emma was smiling softly, her eyes sparkling like diamonds, all in all she was one happy, beautiful woman, walking down the aisle to her one and only love.
She probably was one of the few women who walked themselves down the aisle, but with her having no father nor brother, and not wanting one of her sons to walk her down, she had decided to just walk down the aisle on her own, and honestly, she didn't mind at all.

Mike was still thinking about what Ava had told him about the animals when she asked him if he liked jets.
"I eh- I'm not particularly keen on planes, but I do like hearing them when they fly by. I just have no idea about them, how should I help repair one then?", he asked, raising an eyebrow at her while crossing his arms. "Don't you have special people for that?"

 

[Scripted Away]

"I have no idea how that works, to be honest", Mac admitted while he lifted his shoulders. "It's a secret the gods and the ones who are made immortal are not allowed to share."
At Hunter's compliment, he wiggled his eyebrows and smirked mischievously.
"Well I once have been asked if I'd be interested in modelling", he admitted laughing. "But I'm not."

When Emma came in, Ash raised his eyebrows and just whispered "wow". At the same time, he imagined Emily and himself and Emma's and Sam's place and smiled softly.
"Just imagine how beautiful Emily will look...", He whispered with a dreamy sparkling in his eyes while he put Emily on video call.
"Imagine us in their places", he mumbled with a soft smile.

Sam's eyes widened to the size of saucers when Emma came in.
She looked like an angel...
Gently taking her hand as she arrived in front of the altar, his sparkling eyes glued to her, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
"You look breathtakingly beautiful", he mumbled silently enough so only Emma would hear him.

"I do, but I don't want to ruin their evening off", Ava explained shrugging.
"Look, as a leader, I have to be strong and hard on every mistake. But as a person, I 9nly want the best for my people. So why shouldn't I take over their tasks for tonight? I'm here anyway."
She handed Mike a huge cart to drag, and the list for the herbivores.
"That's everything you'll need for the herbivores. You can leave out the 65 pounds of salad for 'Lookie' though. I already fed him this morning. Everything clear?"

 

[Wyosch]

"I modelled for some label when I was 15.", Hunter replied, giggling silently, gasping as Emma walked in.
"Is that her? Whoa, she's absolutely gorgeous!", she whispered to Macon, smiling happily at him for a moment before she stared back at the bride and groom.
"Look how cute Sam is! His eyes are as big as stars!"

Jim had barely noticed Emma walking in, as he had been too distracted staring at Rachel, but when everybody seemed to gasp, he turned around too.
Was that Emma? He'd imagined her totally different, actually. Taller, for one. Though she probably was about as tall as Rachel.
He smirked softly as he saw Sam's reaction, thinking back to how he had reacted the first time he had seen his wife walking down the aisle, and turned back to Rachel.
"So, who drooled more when seeing their bride walk to the altar? Your brother, or me?", he asked silently, winking.

Emily gasped when she saw her mother, a few happy tears rolling down her cheeks - though one must admit, she was still overly emotional because of her pregnancy hormones.
"I can't wait for the day I walk down the aisle into your arms.", she whispered, her eyes sparkling lovingly.
"Aww and Bailey looks absolutely stunning too! But eh... is that dried blood on my brother's jacket or is it just me imagining things because I'm tired?"

Emma smiled shyly, gently squeezing Sam's hand back.
"You look just as handsome as always.", she whispered, her eyes glued to his, sparkling like a sky full of stars.
"I love you.", she mouthed, her smile lighting up her entire face.
This was it.
Her perfect day.
Their perfect day.

Mike quickly read the list, nodding at Ava's explanations.
"And eh, will I have to feed the animals too? I mean, I don't have any troubles with that, but I don't know who's who.", he mumbled, asking himself why Ava was acting this nicely all of a sudden. He was terrified of her, honestly, but now she didn't seem that scary.

 

[Scripted Away]

"imagine how awesome the two of us would look on a professional photo", Mac mumbled with a mischievous smirk.
As he was watching Sam, a proud smile formed on his face.
"Unbelievable, before he had been kidnapped by hack, he was...unable to do anything. The docs didn't give him longer than till his mid twenties. And now look at Sammy. All happy and healthy."

"Macon", Rachel whispered back with a silent giggle.
"Remember he had to steady himself on the edge of the altar to not fall over?"


Ash frowned when he saw what Emily meant indeed, it did look like dried blood.
And he looked like had gotten punched in his face not too long ago, guessing from the slight swelling under his left eye.
"I have no idea what happened but Bailey and me will try to find out", he mumbled to Emily. "Amazing, isn't it, though? Remember first time I saw your mother was when we still were young kids and she was drunk, unkept and had completely lost herself...and now look at her. It's beautiful what true love can do..."

Sam let out a soundless chuckle as he wiped a small, happy tear off his cheek, blushing slightly.
"I love you too", he whispered with a soft smile and gave Cole a small thumb up, winking at him.
Now...where was the priest?
"Ems?", He whispered, leaning a bit closer to Emma. "We should probably finally decide which surname we will take. Gene or Anderson?"

"We will feed them together, this is only where we keep the food", Ava explained, then unlocked the door and called "Bethany!", A three-legged, black German Shepherd/Aussie mix running towards her.
An until now unknownly bright smile lit up her face as she fell to her knees and hugged the pup. "Hey girl", she chuckled happily, before quickly standing up again, straightening her jacket and clearing her throat. "I mean...let's go", she said, back in her neutral, emotionless tone. "Bethany, heel. You too..." She seemed to internally discuss with herself for a split second, before her hard face softened just a tiny bit again. "...Mike."

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter turned her head to the other side of the church, where Jim and Rachel were sitting, looked at them for a moment, and then back at Macon.
"Love can heal anything.", she whispered, a soft smile on her face.
"You just have to believe it enough."

"Alright, that's true. He didn't drool though - unlike me.", Jim replied, letting out an akward, yet silent, chuckle.
He looked at Sam and Emma for a moment, smiling softly.
"Hey, honey?"
He looked at Rachel, a loving smirk on his face.
"Imma make sure everything stays like this. No worries, everyone happy and at peace... you without a worried expression in your eyes."
He grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it for reassurance.
"I promise."

"Slap him from me if he got into a fight.", Emily replied, slightly annoyed for a moment, but soon grinning all over her ears as Ash mentioned how much her mother had changed.
A couple of happy tears rolled down her cheeks as she nodded, a proud sparkling in her eyes.
"They both put out the best in each other. It's beautiful how much one person can change someone else."

"I want you to decide that. The kids will remain Anderson, but I want you to decide wether you'd like to stay a Gale, or wether you'd want me to become one.", Emma replied, her smile widening as the priest finally appeared at the altar.
"Sorry for being late, my sister just had her baby.", he whispered to Emma with an apologetic smile, and turned to the crowd in the church with a peaceful smile.
"Dear beloved ladies, gentlemen and all our non-binary people, we are gathered here today to unite these two people in marriage. Their decision to marry has not been entered into lightly and today they publicly declare their private devotion to each other. The essence of this commitment is the acceptance of each other in entirety, as lover, companion, and friend. A good and balanced relationship is one in which neither person is overpowered nor absorbed by the other, one in which neither person is possessive of the other, one in which both give their love freely and without jealousy. Marriage, ideally, is a sharing of responsibilities, hopes, and dreams. It takes a special effort to grow together, survive hard times, and be loving and unselfish."
The priest smiled softly, looking at the groom and the bride.
"Do you both pledge to share your lives openly with one another, and to speak the truth in love? Do you promise to honor and tenderly care for one another, cherish and encourage each other, stand together, through sorrows and joys, hardships and triumphs for all the days of your lives?"
"I do.", Emma replied, looking at Sam with big, sparkling eyes, smiling as widely as never before.

Mike smiled softly at the pup, immediately going back into his "I am annoyed with everything in the entire world"-mode as Ava turned to him again.
"She's cute.", he mumbled, following Ava. "So how can you feed herbivores and carnivores together? Won't they attack each other?"

 

[Scripted Away]

"you don't have to tell me, I know it first hand", Mac said with a proud sparkling in his eyes as he looked at Hunter.
"After all you healed me from being a monster."
He placed a small kiss on Hunter's cheek before he listened to the priest again, soundlessly mouthing his words along as he remembered them from his own wedding.

"They are just perfect for eachother", Ash mumbled while he was smiling softly and watching them.
"Really, I can't wait for our wedding... Whoa, Benny and Jasmin will already be almost two then...!"

"We are a family, down to the surname", Sam whispered back with a soft smile. "I'll take your name."
When the priest arrived and mentioned his sister's baby, he grinned slightly and mouthed 'congratulations' to the priest, before he gently stroked over Emma's hand while the priest was holding his speech to everyone.
He was smiling happily while he remembered every moment ever since he had saved Emma from the robbers in the dark alley.
Going to the cafe together, their first date, painting the walls in the house that later became their beautiful home...so much more beautiful than he had ever imagined.
Their first kiss, cooking together and cuddling on the couch while watching Titanic...
So many great memories shared, so many hours spent knowing they had found something unique in eachother.
After Emma had said 'i do', Sam smiled warmly at her... His almost wife.
"I do", he said with sparkling eyes, and didn't even wait for the priest to say 'you may now kiss the bride' before he gently pulled Emma closer, into a tight embrace, and kissed her softly, his left hand gently resting on her neck. "Now you got me glued to you forever", he whispered with sparkling eyes while another tiny tear sneaked out of his eye. "An eternity of years living couldn't have prepared me for a love like this..."

"They are kept in different shelters, of course", Ava chuckled, shaking her head at Mike's slightly stupid question, but turned blood serious when she stopped in front of the next door and turned around to Mike, her eyebrows slightly furrowed and her eyes full of sorrow and wonder.
She opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, then silenced again, slightly shook her head and turned back to the door, just to turn around a few seconds later again.
She was pretty sure she knew what was going on in Mike...pretty much from herself, and as much as she despised what both of them had done, and how cold he acted about it, she genuinely wanted to help him.
"Just so you know, Mike; I care about my people here, down to the last low-security newbie recruit. I know I have been hard on you... Maybe a bit too hard when I threatened to kill you. I just don't want you to throw away the last chance you have. You have a lot potential. Don't let it go to waste."
She gave him a compassionate smile, before tucking her hair behind her ears again and lowering her gaze to the ground. "Don't become like me either."

 

[Wyosch]

"You never were a monster to me.", Hunter replied, not sure if he had heard it, and just went back to listening to the priest talk.
She loved looking at how Sam and Emma secretly kept staring at each other while listening to the priest as well.
Sam could barely keep his eyes off of his bride. So damn cute!
And Emma was smiling so brightly as if this was the first time ever smiling.

Emily nodded, even though Ash couldn't see her as his phone was turned to the altar.
"It's still so hard to believe that we're parents. We're parents and we're going to marry. Can you imagine it already?", she mumbled dreamily, smiling gently as she quickly checked up on the babies. Both sleeping peacefully in their cradle.
"Hey, honey? I love you."

The priest smiled softly at the freshly wed couple, congratulating them, nodding slowly as the crowd all got up and started clapping.
"You'll never get rid of me again, you do know that, don't you, Mr. Anderson?", Emma asked, smiling happily, embracing Sam tightly.
"Heh, well now I can call you officially my dad.", Cole mumbled, smirking at them, chuckling when his mother hugged him tightly.
"I'm so happy. Finally happy.", Emma mumbled, quickly turning around to Bailey and hugging her as well.
"I'm hungry.", Cole chuckled, making his mother giggle too.
"You're always hungry. But before we can start the buffet, let's get everyone out of the church and start off with the traditional bouquet throw!"

Mike silenced, not really knowing what to say, and finally spoke up after a while of thinking.
"Well eh... first of all, thanks, I think?", he mumbled, akwardly running his hand through his hair, sighing.
"And hey... I get that you gotta be tough and hard on your employees, but don't be too hard on yourself. I do believe you're not as tough as you make everyone believe. And there'd be nothing wrong with turning out like you."

 

[Scripted Away]

"Well you have never seen me really fighting...", Mac mumbled, his gaze locked to the ground while he gently squeezed Hunter's hand.
"And to be honest I'm glad you didn't. Trust me honey, the Android I was before I ran from hack...he was a monster. And I'm thankful our paths never crossed before my system broke down. Otherwise I would have killed you."
A hint of fear and bitterness lay in his voice for a moment, before he shook his head and leaned his head against Hunter's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin the good mood. Let's go out." Picking
Misha up, he slowly made his way outside with all the other people, looking back at Hunter with a slightly insecure smile. Honestly, he was afraid he had just scared her.

(I just realized I forgot to reply to Jim! O@O)
Rachel smiled softly as she stroked over Jim's arm and gently leaned her head against his shoulder.
"Honey...we will always find new things to worry about, new challenges we are afraid to face, new reasons to argue and even more reasons to fall in love every single day again."
She planted a soft kiss on his cheek, her eyes sparkling gently as she looked up into his.
"You don't need to be perfect. As long as you learn to forgive yourself and live healthily and steadily, all I wish for is already fulfilled. Just trust your heart, honey."
When everyone went outside, she watched with a soft smile as Rose ran off with Luis and Max, while William was sleeping in Rey's arm.
She gently took Jim's hand and got up, smiling proudly. "C'mon darling, I heard Sam ordered our for the buffet, just for my beloved husband."

"I love you too", Ash said with a soft smile, and immediately went over to Emma and Sam after the wedding. "Congratulations, you two. Emily couldn't come, but she didn't want to miss your wedding for anything", he chuckled, holding up his phone. "So, here she is."

Sam smiled softly at Cole and put a hand on his shoulder with a loving smile.
"Ah Cole. You have been my son long before this day. I've cared about you long before you even accepted me."
When everyone left the church, Bailey caught up to Cole and just jumped on his back, hugging him from behind.
"Heyyyy hot stuff, wait for your future wife!", She giggled winking.
But just a minute later, when the bouquet flew high into the sky...and landed right in her arms; she blushed deeply, bit her lip and looked at Cole with a kind of overthrown expression.
"I didn't even try to catch it!"

Ava raised one eyebrow at Mike with a kind of suspicious expression.
"Who are you and what did you do to the guy who didn't care about anything or anyone but himself?", She mumbled, but then smiled slightly, even though there was a hint of sadness in her smile.
"Isn't it a vicious circle how we become what we aren't because the people around us make us believe that's who we are because they think that's who we really are? ...Oh wow that was a full-grown jack sparrow."

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter followed Macon, Heather sleeping in her arm, Noah walking beside her, and kissed Macon's cheeks as she had caught up.
"Snow and ice can be beautiful. People build snowmans, they love seeing snowflakes tumble down from the sky...
But snow and ice can be deadly too, which many seem to forget because of its beauty.
Avalanches. Icicles. Snowstorms. The freezing cold."
She smiled softly, nodding to let him know that nothing he could ever say would scare her.
"The past is the past, and what we did can't be erased nor changed. But nonetheless what we did, who we are is still our choice to be made. Just like you."

Jim was holding Jack's and Angel's hands as he followed Rachel, smiling proudly at her.
"Everybody better keep their hands off my pie!", he replied, chuckling, Jack grinning widely too.
"I can have some pie too right?"
"Of course."
Jim smiled softly at his kids, before he looked back at Rachel with a happy sigh.
"I'm so happy to have you, you know? I love you."

Emily squeeled excitedly when she saw what her mother had done, and immediately started grinning widely.
"ASH! Get over to Bailey and Cole noooooooow, I don't wanna miss this!"

"That's because it was planned.", Cole replied, gently stroke over Bailey's cheek - and got down on one knee.
Emma happily hugged Sam, smiling proudly at her son, who was blushing brightly because everybody was looking at him.
"We've been together for quite some while now and... I know people will say we're too young and this is just a fling, but... when I thought I had lost you, I just knew you were the one I wanted to spend my life with. I want to have children with you, open up our center for veterans... I want to stay by your side forever."
He gulped nervously, taking out a black box and opening it, revealing a beautiful diamond ring.
"Bailey, will you marry me? ...please?"

"You don't know me at all, and I'm not as egoistic as I make myself seem.", Mike replied in a slightly annoyed tone, but then raised an eyebrow at Ava's Jack Sparrow-moment.
"Eh... yeah. I think I got what you wanted to say."

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac just smiled thankfully as he wrapped his arms around Hunter's shoulders.
"How do you always know exactly what to say?", He said happily.
When Cole suddenly proposed to Bailey, he raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Okay that was unexpected", he mumbled.

"I'm glad to have you too", Rachel said with a soft smile, winking at Jack as he asked about the pie.
"And I need a piece of pie, too! Sorry hun. I won't keep my hands off your pie."
Giggling silently, she winked at Jim and cleaned closer to him so she could whisper to his ear.
"Nor will I keep my hands off you, my hottie."

Bailey stared at Cole with big eyes, her hand slowly raising to her mouth while her other hand held the bouquet tightly.
Never in a thousand years she would have expected this to happen this early.
They weren't even 18 yet!
Nonetheless...
She slowly lowered her free hand again to softly stroke Cole's cheek and lastly just gently helped him up again, looking up into his eyes with happy tears gathering in hers.
"You...you really want to-...?"
Finally flinging herself into his arms, she just cuddled against him with her heart racing.
"There's nothing I'd rather do! I will! I will.."
Smiling happily at Emma, she cuddled against her fiance tighter. "I would've never expected this...!"

Ava smiled slightly at Mike and raised one eyebrow. "I know, Mike. In fact, I think you care a lot, and you are trying to numb your feeling of guilt by acting that cold and careless."
She had said it completely casually, as if it was an everyday thing to talk about, but her eyes showed a hint of concern. "We aren't able to undo our mistakes by acting like we never made them, Mike. The only way to put it right is to make it up."

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter giggled at Macon's comment, winking.
"I just have a feeling for that kind of stuff.", she replied, awing as she saw how nervous Cole was, even still after Bailey had said yes.
"Oh my god so damn cute!", she sighed happily, chuckling.
"Some guys propose on one knee, mine while laying on their back on the cold floor.", she winked, kissing Macon's cheek with a happy smile.
"Loved it."

Jim smirked michievously at Rachel, playfully raising an eyebrow at her.
"Well, who says I want you to keep your hands off?", he replied, winking, frowning as he heard some silent cheering behind him.
Why was everyone gathered around in a circle? He'd thought they'd all run off to the buffet.
"What's happening there?"

(you forgot to reply to Emily. XD)

Cole grinned widely, kissing Bailey passionately as she had pulled him up again.
"I know we're still young, for many too young, but I almost lost you once, I don't want to lose you ever - and what's the best way to take care of you and be with you forever?", he mumbled, gulping nervously.
"I honestly want to spend every single second of the day with you. It feels as if I've known you for years and as if I've loved your forever... I want to grow old with you, start a family, love each other through thick and thin... everything with you."
He smiled shyly, gently putting the ring around Bailey's finger, stroking over her palm as he'd finished.
"I love you."

Emma happily leaned against Sam, smiling proudly at her son and future-daughter-in-law.
"You should've seen him when he came to me this morning to ask me if I would be okay with him proposing on our wedding.", she whispered, giggling. "He was so nervous, almost on the verge of panic I'd say."
She cuddled against her husband, sighing peacefully once more.
"He didn't ask you because he wanted to surprise you with it. Though I think he's too distracted now to remind himself to ask you. He'll need a best man, after all."

Mike rolled his eyes, lifting his shoulders.
"Who says I care?", he replied, looking away from Ava and to the wall.
"And how would you want to make up for what you did? You can't."

 

[Scripted Away]

Mac laughed softly as he remembered how awkward his proposal back then had been.
Oh God.
"I wasn't laying, though!", He laughed. "I was standing...with an epic face palm and tears in my eyes because I was afraid you'd hate me after our argument, and because I had made you cry...again."

"I don't know, let's go see!", Rachel said, already pulling him with her towards the crowd.
Cole and Bailey hugging.
A diamond ring on her finger that hadn't been there before.
A bit of dust from the church floor on Cole's left knee.
Wait.
"Oh my God he proposed to her!", She gasped with a soft smile. "
She tilted her head to the side when she saw the blue-haired boy, Hunter's brother, who was cheering the loudest.
"That's so cute!"

(Dang!!)
Ash watched with wide eyes, smiling proudly at his future brother-in-law as he clapped slowly.
"My my my, congratulations, you two!"

Bailey sighed happily as she cuddled against Cole tightly and buried her face at his chest.
"Did I ever care what others might say?"
She chuckled softly, before she looked up again with an excited sparkling in her eyes.
So, I thought, I'm turning 18 next week, and I found this amazing building a few miles outside the city. It's right beside a beautiful river with a little lake and a meadow... A beautiful, vast place.
I thought you might want to have a closer look at that building together. You know, for our future veteran center. There's also enough space to build our own little house beside it..."
Standing up on her tiptoes, she ran her fingers through his hair once and smirked happily. "I love you too."

Sam's eyes were sparkling proudly as he watched his son being that happy and in love.
"I know how he feels, I've been too nervous to ask you for good two months", Sam chuckled as he gently poked Emma's side.
Turning from looking at Cole to looking at Emma, he looked at her with sparkling eyes.
"So...I was thinking about names recently...I don't really have any ideas for a good name if it's a boy, but, for a girl... What do you think about 'Hope'?"

"I know I can't, you hypocritical asshat!", Ava hissed at Mike, her expression turning cold and hateful again.
"We should get back to work. It was a mistake even getting this private..."
Throwing a bunch of bags for the food to Mike's feet, she scoffed soundlessly.
"I don't know why I even thought there was a person worth getting to know inside you."

 

[Wyosch]

Hunter frowned sadly at Macon, looking down at her faint scars on her arms for a second before back up at her husband.
"Honey... yes, you've made me cry. Yes, you've made me hurt myself. Yes, you've made me really angry at you before. But look at these scars, and look at us. These scars, the wounds, are fading. Our love isn't. A small wound won't kill anyone, just like it wouldn't make me love you less. Ever. Someone who I'd lay my life down for is someone I'll love forever, no matter how much we'd fight. And you know what? Our last fight... I can't even remember it because it's been so long.", she smiled softly, kissed his cheek and gently squeezed his hand.
"Your proposal was crazy. And I love crazy."

"That's cute.", Jim said, smirking softly as he saw how wide both of the freshly-engaged smiles were.
"Hey, congrats you two!"
"Thanks, Jim.", Cole replied, smiling widely.
"You didn't steal a car for that ring, did you?"
"Will I hear that for forever now?"
"Boy, we're family now. I'm your stepdad's brother-in-law. You'll hear that for years."
"You surely taught me a lesson. What kind of level crazy do you have to be to put an electric-shock-device on your car in case someone touches it?!"
"Devil level of crazy."
"I figured."

Cole turned to Ash after quickly having exchanged some words with Jim, grinning all over ears.
"Thanks, Ash. Now we both gotta work on vows for when we turn old enough.", he replied, winking. "Say, were you this nervous too? Even after you proposed?"
"I AM SO HAPPY!", Emily shouted, making Cole flinch and look at Ash's phone with a frown.
"Ems?"
"You look good- if it weren't for those blood stings. What did you do, Cole? I thought you were done with that!"
Cole immediately looked down at his jacket, frowning akwardly at his sister... who was looking at him through his future-brother-in-law's phone.
"My friend, Levi, talked to me about his bully, who wrote him that it was Levi's fault his parents died in a car crash... you know me, I couldn't just-"
"And then what? Your blood, or his?"
"Both."
"COLE!"
"I'm sorry! I won't do it again. You know I don't like hurting others... I kinda got carried away..."
Emily sighed, feeling as if she were her brother's mother.
"Just promise me you won't do it again. I don't want you to end up-"
"I won't fall back, sis. I got Bailey, I got you all, we got Sam."
Cole smiled softly at Emily, before he finally turned to Bailey to reply to her.
"Wow that already sounds amazing. I've always wanted to live near a lake.", he smirked softly, wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling her closer. "We could go there tomorrow? Is the building for sale?"

"Hope?", Emma repeated, stroking over her belly for a moment. "Hope. I like that. And it fits perfectly...", she mumbled happily, looking up at Sam with huge, sparkling eyes.
"Hope. Hope for a girl... and what about Cruz? Or Von? That's Norse for Hope."

"Wait-", Mike put his hand on Ava's shoulder, turning her around to him, his gaze all apologetic and sad.
"I didn't mean it how you thought I did. I... I wasn't saying that you can't make up for the past... I was more asking how you think I could make up for what I did.", he replied, quickly taking his hand off of Ava's shoulder and turning around, grabbing the bags she had thrown to his feet.
"I'll go grab the food for the herbivores.", he mumbled, disappearing in the room with the food he'd need, honestly not sure why he had just told Ava what he'd actually meant. He could care less, right? Or maybe what Ava had said to him had hurt him...? Nah. Nothing could hurt him...

 

[Scripted Away]

"still though...", Mac mumbled silently while he wrapped his arms around hunter from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder with a soundless sigh.
"I feel like I've changed a lot since we came together. To the better. Thanks to you."
He planted a small kiss on her head and then just rested her chin on her head as he watched the people all around.
"Thank you for that, by the way, my queen."

Rachel laughed softly at Cole and Jim's conversation and gently poked her husband's side.
"You and the baby", she giggled. "Should I be jealous? Will I find my side of our bed occupied by the mustang sometime? Tell me when I got to sleep in the garage because you two want some alone time."
Giggling, she winked at Jim. "Do you already hear the roaring of little engines on our meadow?"

"Cole!", Bailey sighed upon hearing what had happened to him and slightly shook her head. "C'mon, don't get yourself into trouble again now!"
As he suggested to have a look at the building tomorrow, she grinned excitedly, however smiled awkwardly when her fiance asked about the building being for sale.
"That's...kind of the special thing about the house:
It's abandoned. Very old, belongs to nobody. I researched ever since I found it two months ago, and even asked a ghost I found there, but it has no owner at all, and nobody wants it because it's a hellish piece of work to renovate it. But I'm certain we can do it together. You and me, the dream team."

Sam nodded, smiling softly. "I like Cruz for a boy", he mumbled happily and gently stroked over her belly. "C'mon now, let's finally open the buffet. We also have to open the party with a dance and I still have...a little surprise for you..."

Ava looked after Mike, before her hard expression softened once more and she silently walked after Mike.
"Mike, wait a moment", she said, walked around him and took his hand to put a silicon glove on it, then did the same with his other hand.
"Some of the food is poisonous for humans. We don't want to risk your health, do we?"
Looking up into his eyes for a moment, she scoffed sadly.
"Well, for once, stop acting like you don't care! That just makes everything worse. It Hurst yourself and those who care about you."
Sadly closing her eyes, she looked to the side.
"Look, your family is disappointed, hurt, angry... But they gave you a second chance. That's nothing self-evident. It's one of the biggest proofs that they love you. My family didn't. They didn't give me a second chance, they threw me out and cut contact and now I'm all alone. The only one I have left is Bethany. Trust me when I say you should be thankful for this chance. Don't let it go to waste, do your best, and show your family how much they mean to you. That's the least you can do."

 

[Wyosch]

"I didn't do anything. You are the one who decided to change. I only gave a small push into the right direction.", Hunter replied, cuddling her head against his chest, sighing softly.
"Hey honey? What about a movie night this evening?"

"I'd sell, even wreck my car if you'd say so.", Jim replied, smiling happily as he kissed Rachel's cheek. "So, you know I gotta go to Mayrose this afternoon... I know you said you think it'd be better if you wouldn't come with me, but I honestly think the opposite. I'll probably just shut down again and won't say a word to that woman. And I don't want to disappoint you and really work on me."

"Nice! I love old buildings, always give a special vibe. As long as it's not the horror vibe.", Cole replied, winking. "And I love to repair stuff. You know my friends always bring me their tech stuff that needs repairing - or just a punch."
Cole raised an eyebrow as Emily shouted through Ash's phone again.
"You gotta come visit us too! Bailey hasn't even seen her future-nephew and niece-in-law!"

"But I don't have a surprise for you!", Emma replied, yet nodding when Sam suggested opening the buffet.
"You want to open it?"

Mike stared at Ava with big eyes, opening his mouth to talk, yet shutting it again after a while.
"I...", he gulped, sighing. "I'm sorry to hear what happened to you, and I know I'm actually quite lucky with a family like mine, but it hasn't always been like this. I've had to... act like this for years, and now I suddenly have to change? I don't know how I should do that after having let them down so much."