With a glad cry, Kira threw herself at her friend, grateful when he let her snag him for a hug.
"How?" she managed to ask through the tears that wanted to fall.
"Proximity."
Kira nodded, forcing herself to recover a modicum of control. With Elena still in danger, they didn’t have time for an emotional reunion. "Makes sense."
This close he’d be able to connect with the J1N in the same way he did his spawn.
The drone jerked back and forth. "What did you do in here? Everything feels wrong."
"I had to improvise."
"On my body?"
"I judged it necessary. Yes."
"Son of a—we're going to have a long talk later about boundaries," Jin griped, leading her toward the needle like structures.
"What's Elena's status?" Kira asked, ducking under a low lying branch.
"You're not going to like it."
Kira was certain of that. There wasn't much she liked right about now.
"They have her."
Kira ground to a halt. "How did that happen?"
"A very unfortunate series of events," Jin answered, sounding grim. "I don't know whether to call that child brave or stupid."
"What did she do?" Kira asked as she started walking again.
This time her pace was a little faster than before.
"She decided to play spy and landed in a situation over her head."
Jin came to an abrupt stop, bobbing in place as he rotated one way then another.
Kira stepped into the shadow of a tree, suddenly alert as she scanned the forest around them for signs of enemies.
"There you are, asshole," Jin declared, shooting off without an explanation to Kira.
She sprinted after him.
"I did not miss this part of our relationship," she grumbled to herself.
Would it kill him to give her a little warning?
A few minutes later, they left the forest behind and entered the outskirts of the city.
Kira slowed, taking in the cliff to her left, the curved building jutting out of its side, darkened windows making it difficult to know if someone was standing on the other side, watching them. To her right was an immense valley, the city she'd spotted from the air with its black streets and tall towers that seemed to devour the light nestled in it.
The sound of fighting came from up ahead, Jin arrowing straight toward it.
"Slow down," Kira hissed.
Reunited for five seconds and he was already testing her patience.
