(sorry, sometimes I hit the publish button when the chapter isn't done.)
"Why do you want me to drive you home?" Asked Will.
Winter had started over two weeks ago. But this was the first significant storm since the beginning of it. Steven had invited Connie over to hang out. They had spent the last half hour just roasting marshmallows and talking in front of the fireplace. Until Connie had a phonecall.
"Because my mom said I needed to get home before it gets dark." Said Connie.
Then Steven put his hand behind his back in a why expression. "And Garnet lent me her future vision to see what would happen if dad brought me."
"I'm guessing that all the outcomes ended poorly." Said will in a deadpan expression.
Steven sighed. "That's an understatement and besides your the best driver we know." Said Steven.
Will looked outside to the other why snow falling to the ground. Then he looked back to the two 13 year olds in front of them.
"Alright, get your stuff and I'll grab a warthog. Meet me in front of the house." He said.
"Don't they not have a roof?" Connie asked.
He looked at them with a smile. "You really think I didn't make one for colder weather."
________
Will opened the heavy Titanium garage door. He built it into the side of the cliff a few years ago because he was tired of having to go to the barn to get vehicles.
He smiled at the memory of little Steven watching him work. He was always an energetic kid.
He walked into the large space. The lights overhead burning their bright white color, illuminating the room.
The two mongooses were in the front just to the left of the door. The space was layed out so vehicles were out to the sides so he could drive through the center.
Then he passed by the warthog, gausshog, and rockethog.
Up next came the Scorpion. The main battle tank of the UNSC. And finally after that came the all weather warthog. It's open sides and top have been covered with half inch Titanium doors fitted with actuators to make it light to open. There was ballistic glass windows fitted into each one. He walked over to the driver's side and opened the door upward. He buckled himself up in the driver's seat and primed the reactor. The fusion reaction roared out of the heatsinks in the back.
He out it into gear and drove out of the garage. He pulled up next to Steven and Connie who had been waiting for a few moments.
"Hop in." He said.
Steven then opened the door and got in the back seat with Connie following. They buckled in and Will drove off.
Will took the main road out of beach city. They travelled down the road for a little while before Connie asked something.
"Why does all of your stuff look like it's from the military?" She asked.
"That's because it is, I just made some modifications to this particular warthog." He said.
This seemed to satisfy Connie as she didn't ask any more questions.
Will had to concentrate even harder on the road. The snow had started to fall even harder. And to make things worse is it was getting dark. He probably had another ten minutes before the sun set.
He flipped a switch on the dashboard. This opened the heat sinks of the reactor. The heat from the fusion reaction melted the snow in an area around them. Almost like a bubble shield of warmth. Although it might melt the road a bit. He chuckled to himself.
He took an off road that led to Connie's house. Honestly for being relatively modern and her mother apparently being very strict it was a surprise that they lived out in the woods by beach city.
It was a bit close to the Arcturus crash site if he said to himself. Thankfully the ship had been moved a few years ago in pieces. Although the graves of the crew is still out there.
He remembered the day he had to bury them all. The gems offered to help of course. But it just didn't feel right to him at the time to let someone who didn't at least somewhat know them let alone aliens bury the dead. He must've sorted through and placed over 200 dog tags.
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a loud roar. The winds from the storm nearly hid it. But he just picked it out. He pulled the warthog to a stop and opened his door. Steven and Connie were confused.
He materialized his MA5B and skied it to where he heard it. If may have just been a wolf. But he wanted to make sure. Never know when something might jump out at you.
"What are you doing?" Asked Steven from the Warthog.
"Get back in. There might be something out here." Said will in a serious tone.
He slowly walked into the forest. His flames were slightly activated to keep him warm. He pointed his rifle at almost everything that moved. He could almost see a shadow move in the slowly retreating sunlight. It was nearly impossible to see even with his enhanced vision through the snow and dark.
'why did I leave my armor off for maintenance.' he thought to himself.
He heard a branch crack in the distance. He slowly approached it. His army BDU pants protected him from the falling snow. Combat boots trigger through the powder and a green long sleeved UNSC short worn in his torso. Most back in the UNSC wouldn't believe seeing the 6 foot 6 Spartan in this kind of gear. Hell most havent even seen a Spartan outside their helmet, let alone full armor.
He walked around the side of the tree and pointed his rifle to a cave that was underneath it. He damn near fell in because it was covered in snow. But the one thing that unnerved him was what lived in it. Because a wolf. It even a bear makes claw marks that big. He thought looking at the scratched up tree.
He then heard yelling in the distance. His heart was k as he ran back to the warthog at just over 40 MPH. He got back and saw the entire Warthog was flipped over. Scratch that, it was completely trashed. And to top it off it was covered in snow and ice.
He quickly got in top of it and tried to open the door. He smashed it with his robotic arm. Breaking the lock he ripped the door up. But he didn't see anyone inside.
Just then he was grabbed around the leg. Whatever grabbed him dug it's teeth into the hardened convey boot and pants. Despite the protective layers it was no Mjolnir. A few of it's teeth dug into his foot. One even reached the bone but it's teeth cracked and broke when it hit his Titanium hardened bone. That got it to let go as he was dropped. Will tell to the ground. He quickly ran around the other side of the Warthog and materialized a can of biofoam. He sprayed a decent amount into the sounds I to his foot before the thing skidded to a stop next to him.
It lunged at him and he thought his rifle up to clamp down on instead. It's large teeth cracked but it dented the MA5B enough to make it non functioning. He dematerialized it and brought out an M7 smg. He punched it hard enough to send it skidding back with a close powered punch. He brought the sky up and hipfired the entire 60 round clip into it.
He growled as he saw the bullets just sink in. He was about to pull out a grenade when he saw Stevens shield hit the thing.
The monster looked over to where he was. His bright pink jacket stood out ridiculously in the snow. "Now Connie!" He yelled. A loud crack rung out as a few gem fragments erupted out of the things gem. She had hit the direct center of the things gem. It immediately poofed and the gem shards fell to the ground.
Connie walked out of the woods with her DMR in her hands. Her eyes were filled with worry. "I... I didn't mean to." She said.
Will then limped over to the gem shards and examined them. "Don't worry." He said.
This confused Steven and Connie. "What do you mean dont worry?" Asked Steven.
"Because this is antarcticite. It's a special gemstone that only hardens when it gets cold. So if I heat up the shards it will turn into a liquid. And if I'm right it will reform whole. I just have to collect all the shards." He said.
This visibly relieved the distraught Connie and the worry dissapeared off the face of Steven. "But just remember. Gems can reform if their poofed. But if this was any other gemstone it would be dead. So only aim for the gem as a last resort. Excellent shot by the way." Will said as he patted Connie on the shoulder.
Steven then took notice of his limp and looked at the yellow foam poking out from Will's leg. "What happened to your leg?" He asked.
"The mutated polar bear but me." Used some biofoam to patch myself up and wait for it to heal. Probably need to reattach some muscles though." He said.
Steven pulled on his hand to stop him. "I'm going to heal you." He said
"Steven I'm fine." He tried to convince his nephew but he wouldn't budge. "Your going to sit down and let me heal you or I'm going to force you." Steven said seriously.
Will thought about it for a moment before he sighed and sat down. Steven's serious attitude dropped instantly. Will pulled off his boot and sock. Then rolled up his pants leg. The piss colored foam had hardened. He had to pull it off. The area underneath still had foam in it but it would dispel harmlessly into the body.
Steven then licked his ungloved hand and put it to his foot. The nasty tooth marks then started to close, it even dissolved the foam.
A few moments later the woundshad closed and he could tell even the muscles were re attached. He wiggled his foot to test it and it worked perfectly. He then slipped his boot and sock back on and stood up.
"Alright, the Warthog is kinda trashed so we'll have to walk the last quarter mile." He said to the teeneagers.
He materialized his M6 SOCOM in case anything else wanted a fight. He strapped it to his pistol holder on his belt. "You might want to put that away Connie. I don't know how your parents will react to you having a gun." He told her. He activated his flames to keep himself and the two warm.
Connie then flipped the switch on the side and it dematerialized into a disc that she out into her pocket. It was one of his most challenging inventions to use quantum storage on that DMR. But it worked beautifully. Even the magazine had nearly a thousand rounds from quantum storage.
"What was that stuff you sprayed into your leg?" Connie asked.
"That I called biofoam. It works as a quick stop to bleedi g and hemmoraging. It keeps internal organs in place. It really works as a way to keep someone stable before they can get medical attention." He told her.
He could see the lights of Connie's house through the trees. The three rounded a corner and walked up the front steps. Will extinguished the flames and knocked on the door. He waited a moment before the door opened.
Her mother opened the door and was surprised for a .moment before she recognized him and saw Connie and Steven. "Thank goodness your home." She said as she went to see if Connie was okay.
Connie's mother then stood up and looked at Will. "What took you so long to get back. And were you respinsiboe for those gunshots earlier." Priyanka quickly asked.
"We had a bit of an accident on the way here. Our car was attacked by a gem monster and broke. It attacked but Steven and Connie are fine. I just got a bit banged up. And yes the gunshots were me." He said.
"So your stuck bere." Doug said more then asked.
"Yes, I'm afraid so." Will said.
Connie suddenly got a look of brilliance on her face. "Can they stay the night. Please." She pleaded with her parents.
Priyanka then looked at Will and Steven. Then to Doug. He simply shrugged. She sighed and looked to Connie. "Alright, they can stay the night. But in the morning they have to leave." She said to Connie.
Steven and Connie then gave each other a high five and celebrated. They quickly took off their shoes and jackets and ran to Connie's room to hang out.
"Well they certainly ran off quick." Will said.
"You are Stevens uncle, correct?" Asked Priyanka.
"Not by blood, but I was close friends with his mother and actual aunt's. I didn't really have any family left besides by buddy Quasar so they took me in 15 years ago." He told them.
"And how old are you now?" Doug asked.
"I'm almost 44." Said Will as he sat on the couch.
This surprised the couple. "But you look so young." Priyanka said.
"Well I'm half gem like Steven. That and one other reason why I look so young."
"You mean like Steven's alien aunt's. So your half alien." Doug asked.
"Yes." Said Will.
"So about you turning into a woman during dinner." Said Priyanka.
Will had a gloomy look in his eyes when she said that. "I'd rather not talk about that. It wasn't one of my finest moments of greatest ideas." He said.
"Alright, would you like something to drink." Asked Doug.
"Do you have any apple cider." He asked with stars in his eyes before he regained his composure.
"I believe we do." Said Doug as he got some from the bridge.
Will looked to his right and saw a few books sitting on the end table. Their titles read Arms and Armor, Modern Military, and History of Weapons. Priyanka saw that and sighed.
"Connie has become almost obsessed with learning all she can about weapons lately. Honestly I'm a little worried. It doesn't interfere with her studies or clubs but I'm not so sure she should be learning about that kind of stuff." She said.
Doug brought back the cup of hot cider. Which will grabbed both kindly and eagerly. He returned his expression back to normal as he answered Connie's mother. "I don't think it is a cause for concern. I also like firearms, I mean I use them for missions all the time." He said neutrally.
Will dematerialized his army top into a more comfortable green t shirt. The Mahashawarren's took notice of this and eyed him with a calculating gaze. While Connie's mother focused more on his prosthetic and the subtle green glow as he took another sip from his cider with it. While Doug eyed the M6C SOCOM strapped to his belt.
"Where do you get all those guns you use." Doug finally asked a question that had been on his mind.
Will set his cup back down on the table and turned to them. "I'm one of the higher ranking officers of the UNSC. As well as being a member of the Crystal gems." He said.
"Ah yes, the UNSC. I remember it was all over the news. The government's of the world pulling their armies together into one group. And all of a sudden human civilization almost gets a 'boost' in technology. I mean one day we barely invented the iPhone. Then the next we have holograms, spaceships and artificially grown organs." He said as he went on a small tirade.
Will had seen this kind of behavior before. While it wasn't anywhere near the same, it had been familiar. Someone upset with the UNSC. Although it was for entirely different reasons. 'being out out of the job maybe'. He thought. He'd have to be careful. After all this is how Innies are born.
"I don't believe their bad, or anything their doing is bad. I mean after all the next step in human progression would be the unification of our military and government. Makes dealing with threats and politics easier in the long run." He said calmly.
Doug eyed him curiously. "And how would you know that?"
"I'm not the first one to theorize this. I'm simply one who would promote the idea. So I believe the pros outweigh the cons." He recovered quickly.
Doug was silent for a moment as he thought on it. "Maybe your right, I'm just a little mad that they make the people like me feel obsolete."
He then turned to Priyanka. "I'm going to go check on Connie and Steven, then head to bed." He said as he went up the stairs.
Both Priyanka and will watched him leave. Once he was gone she spoke to him. "I won't pretend to know what you've gone through in your life. Because judging by the scars I can see on your neck and arm alone I can tell something happened." She said referring to the augmentations scars that we're still present on his body. The three on his arm and one on the back of his neck just being one of many that littered his body. These were simply the knees she could see.
"But." She said as she walked closer to him. She eyed him up, like she was analyzing him. "I wonder exactly what you are. I would assume your height is because your half alien. But Steven isn't nearly that tall. But above all."
"But." She switched from from analytical to emotional quickly. "I want to know my daughter is safe when she's with Steven, you and your family. I'm just worried about the stuff you get into." She said in a worried tone. She was clearly worried about what Connie was getting up to. He couldn't really blame her. Even with his more limited understanding of society he would be worried about his children. Hell he is terrified of some of the stuff Steven gets into. One of the reasons he made a heavy Titanium nano weave layer in Stevens peace suit. Even going as far as adding a hydrostatic gel layer to absorb impacts as well.
"I don't blame you for wanting to make sure your daughter is safe. But trust me, she can take care of yourself. The gem on the way over here got the drop on me. It got me in the leg. But while I was about to get heavy ordinance Steven and Connie worked together to take it down." He replied in a proud manner.
Priyanka seemed to stare at him. Possibly trying to see if he was lying. Her face soon softened. "That's good to know. Now I do think it's time for both of us to get some rest. You can sleep on the couch or take the floor. There are some blankets in the basket by the end table." She said as she turned off the kitchen light and walked up the stairs.
Will went about laying a thicker blanket on the ground and a couple on top of himself. He grabbed a pillow from the couch and rested his head spin it's softness. He was fine with the hardness of the ground. After all, he had slept in a lot worse and more dangerous places. So it didn't take long for the coin flip of sleep to overtake him.
Time to see if he'd have a pleasant dream, or yet another nightmare.