Before Rift Apart (Complete)

Business as Usual?

Corson V, Nefarious City, Verdagris Sector: 7 years after the death of Layden.

Rivet had been on Corson V for a few years now, searching for clues and whereabouts for anyone who was in the Liberation Front. All she found were dead-ends and news reports of several members killed or in hiding. Some are never even mentioned at all. She hoped that meant that Phantom and the other big leaders were still out there alive. She'd turn over every rock just to find them. Emperor Nefarious had only recently "officially" crowned himself Emperor because it seemed he had only recently been successful in killing or putting his opposition in prison. So while his take over occured 7 years ago, he only just now owned the planet and was still heavily in the process of taking over other worlds. Meridian City was appearently still out of his reach, so at least one of maybe a handful of worlds was free from his tyranny.

As Rivet made her way around the city to follow what little clues she had to go by, she managed to track a trail to one of the most elusive ex-Liberation Front member: Phantom. Rivet knew she wasn't good enough to just find him. He wanted to be found, which means he knows she's back in town so to speak. She followed the trail to it's end, an alley way with no one in it. Every part of Rivet screamed that it was a trap. She went on anyways. A mistake as it turned out, when a Nefarious Trooper came into the alley, and backed into a wall. With no weapon in hand, she looked at Trooper who was all too happy with the idea of turning Rivet into a cooked Lombax. Rivet was relaxed. Calm even. She figured it could end like this. She closed her eyes, and held onto her scarf, and thought of her brother. The best of times, the worst of times. His death.

Her thoughts were interuppted by the seemingly sudden destructiom of the Trooper that was eagerly ready to cook her only a moment ago. In reality, it's destruction was assured the moment she saw it by use of several micro explosives placed on it by none other than the Phantom. Rivet looked up after she heard a familiar voice. "Nice to see you again, Rivet. I see you needed my help." Said the Phantom. Neither her nor him seemed to be ready to talk about how much she was willing to die just then. Phantom actually went out of his way to ignore it, but Rivet couldn't. It was firmly entrenched in her thoughts just how ready she was to give up and accept it. Not really a thought she enjoyed. Rivet changed her attention to Phantom. "Thanks.." Rivet said, slightly wincing that it sounded rather ungrateful. "No problem ms. Stubborn. Just glad to see you back in action. What brought you back?" He asked. Rivet very quickly shed a tear with her response. "Forgiveness..."

The response given isn't what Phantom was expecting, but it was good enough for him. Rivet and Phantom has discussed things for hours, the old days when she was a kid, her years as a teen and errand girl for the Liberation Front, and when it came up, her brother. Phantom knew it pained Rivet alot to mention him. She winced everytime she had to remember she didn't have her brother anymore. Phantom also knew that she really had to talk about it or she'd never truly let him go. So, in an uncharacteristic move, Phantom went straight for the heart in the most unsubtle way. "I heard what you said to yourself." He said. This made Rivet nervous, as she was sure she didn't say a word at all, nothing offensive she hoped. "What.. Did I say to myself?" She asked, genuinely confused. He simply looked at her, seriousness in his voice, which didn't happen too often..

"I'll be with you soon Layden..." Phantom said it so coldly. But he relaxed, and continued. "Do you really think he'd want that for you Rivet?" He asked, almost in an angry tone. Rivet was taken aback by it, not knowing she'd even said, but Phantom doesn't lie. She tried to search herself for a quick answer, but Phantom wasn't having any of that. "Rivet, Layden did what he did for you. Don't trample on that and waste his life, and his death just for that feeling you have. He'd never want to see you like this. Layden would be broken..." She stared, she couldn't find the words she was looking for. Instead, she broke. Rivet's heart broke. Maybe it was broken all this time and she just didn't care.

But now, thanks to Phantom her heart truly spoke to her for the first time since Layden's death. Through all the streaming tears, and the hurt voice she simply screamed. The way she wanted to scream when she saw her brother dying. "LAYDEN!! WHY?!" She took the scarf off and held it to her chest tightly, crying harder and harder. While her thoughts on Sargasso made her feel like she was better, she wasn't. But now, the true healing process just began for her. Phantom watched, taking no joy that he just ripped off a rather large band-aid. But was somewhat relieved she was reached so easily, especially after all this time. Rivet cried until she fell asleep exhuasted from it. Phantom watched over her. Rivet was back, if she really wanted a second shot at fulfilling Layden's dream for a better galaxy, she had to be more like him. A broken girl isn't exactly prime choice for a resistance fighter. But with Rivet back to how she was before his death, she could feel again. And that, that was important...

Rivet woke up in the morning, head hurting from all the crying but she sat up. Noticing that Phantom wasn't in the room she grabbed her gear and went outside. There, she saw Phantom over-looking the area from his deck, and he looked over at Rivet. "Nice to have you back, Rivet." She nodded, not much else to say really. She stood beside Phantom. "We need to get anyone who is left together again." She said suddenly. Phantom smiled. "You have something in mind I can tell." He said. And Rivet confirmed. "Business as usual?" With a smile on them both, but a realization at the same time, they set out to do what needed to be done.