The detective had been helping the strange botanist, The Grineer had made an injector to poison the forests to kill the trees and plants so they could make more room for themselves. This, of course, made the man beyond angry; The man who, was now fully what would best be called a Warframe. Because of this, The Grineer were very easy to dispatch and an Anti-Toxin was injected to heal the damage they caused and allow for even more growth to occur.

"Thank you for helping me..." The Man sighs, "Every turn I take the Grineer are attempting to get a foothold."

"It's... It's really no problem, you've helped me with several of my missions it only felt right to help you with yours." The detective said, slipping out of the vessel she used for combat and sitting on a log and smiling at the man softly. "It's what friends do for each other."

"Alden." The Man says, his voice softer than usual.

"What…?" She looks at him with a confused expression painted on her face.

"Alden, Alden Thorne." He looks up at her, and gently dusts off his cloak. "It's my name, I was a-"

"A Botanist." The detective finishes his sentence looking down at her shoes, "You... You were on the Zariman Ten-Zero. I... I remember you, You worked with Hombask...."

The forest was silent, The detective's voice being the only noise cutting through the silence when she looks up and feels something pressed into her temple; It took her a moment to realize what it was: A handgun.

"You just got done saying we were friends, So I'd hate to have to show you the business end of your own job," His voice was cold and distant. "Everyone who should have known that information is dead, I was the only one that made it off of that ship."

She freezes up, panic setting in, as her eyes slowly begin filling with tears. She chokes back a sob both from fear and the flood of traumatic memories flooding her head, But she fails. A stream of tears waterfall down her cheeks, her stumbling to find something to say... Anything.

Alden lowers his gun, and puts his hand on her shoulder. "I take it I wasn't the only survivor, I just assumed I was since... Between the Adults tearing each other apart and the children punching holes in their parents with pure void energy..."

She shakes her head and wipes the mess from her face, sniffling.

"After Seeing Hombask... Lose her life, Cavalero pulled the pin on the grenades he had on his belt as he got stampeded." Alden kneels in the dirt, "I... I was afraid. And I ran, I didn't know what else to do..."

"What the hell could I have even done... I'm just a doctor who studies plants..." Alden drops his Laetum, as his arms fall to his sides. "I took one of the Parallaxes and flew off"

"I was twelve when it happened." She says quietly, her eyes distant. "I spent years after thinking I was the only one who made it out. That somehow that made me responsible for everyone who didn't."

"I kept hearing the song long after I left, it followed me everywhere, echoed in my thoughts, my dreams, my nightmares. I thought I was losing my mind." She looks at him, her voice barely holding together. "You weren't the only coward on that ship, Alden. You were just as scared as everyone else."

The silence that follows is heavy, but not uncomfortable. Slowly, almost cautiously, she reaches out and pulls him into a hug. He stiffens for just a moment, the reflex of someone who hasn't been held in a very long time, before something in him finally gives, and he holds her back. Not desperately, just... firmly. Like he's making sure she's real.

Two survivors of the same impossible thing, finding each other in a forest at the edge of a broken planet.

Neither of them says anything else for a long time, just holding each other as the fire crackles.