I slowly reopened my eyes. I could see fire everywhere! I slowly raised my hand to my face, as if I was afraid I wasn't going to feel anything. I looked around again, between the hellish fires and me was a wall of purple. Something shoved me, but I didn't bother to check what. An echo, a faint yell in the distance begged me to look, but I couldn't make myself. Was this Valhalla? I sacrificed myself for someone I loved, so, was this the outcome? Sanctuary from h*** beyond? I sat still, waiting for a Valkyrie to lead me to the Great Hall of heroes. "Alaaaannnn...." I could hear their voices now. "Alaaaannnn...." The closer they got, the more clear their song of courage got. "Alan, get up!" Their voice was gentle, but authorative nonetheless. "Let's go! The team is waiting, and this bubble won't last forever!" I blinked repeatedly. I was confused, but I didn't know why. I looked to the voice to see a figure tower over me. "What's... going on?..." I asked. "What's going on? You're wasting bubble time, we better get moving." "Where are we going?" I asked as I slowly stood up. "Away from here. That's all I can really tell you," the figure led me through a wall-- a gateway to new lands. Here, through this door, I would see all other valiant warriors that had died in battle. I stepped into the new world. "Sit down here, Alan... You're a bit out of it," said the voice as his hand gently pushed me to the ground. "Alan!!" Yelled a woman as she threw her arms around me. I stared at her for a moment. Her long, blonde hair that waved in the wind, her brown eyes that seemed to drown in tears; I knew her, "Kourtney?... What, what are you doing here?" "You saved me from the explosion, Alan. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." "Explosion?" I thought for a moment. "Explosion. The... uh... Shattered Suns, right? They, uh... explode... Shouldn't I be dead?" I asked as I looked around. "Nah, but you gave it a d*** good shot," said the titan in white. "Yeah, I jumped back through the portal and threw up a ward around us," the titan in blue, Blake propped himself against the wall. "Are you better? Do you think you can continue?" Dakota asked. "I... Yeah, I'm good," I had a killer headache though. "I don't know," James said to Dakota. He looked down to me, and through my mask, I shot him a look. "Our CO is still in shock... and I think we all could use a breather..." "It'll buff out..." Morin said as he reloaded his Invective. Blake, Dakota, and James shot Morin with looks. Dakota walked to the edge of the balcony, if you can call it that, and crossed his arms. He stared into the abyss then returned to us, "All right. We can rest here, there are no threats on the radar." Everyone who was still standing took a seat, except for Dakota. The warlock remained standing, auto rifle in hand. I looked up at him. I could tell just by the way he stood, he didn't want to be here. Who could blame him? This place had weakened the best of us. I got up while everyone slept. Dakota was still awake, still holding his rifle in a death grip. I tapped his shoulder, "I'll take watch. Try to get some rest... if you can." Dakota was hesitant at first, then he took a sigh of relief, "All right," Dakota propped his Red Spectre against the wall and sat down. It was like even with me on post, he couldn't let his guard down. I sat with my feet hanging off the edge. I washed off my Ace of Spades and checked the sights. I constantly looked around to see if anything was trying to attack. I looked at the sleeping group. Dakota finally dosed off, but someone was missing. "I know you're there," I said softly. "Well, I tried," Kourtney sat down beside me as her invisibility shut off. "Are you okay?" I asked as I spun around to face her. "Yeah, it's just this place... I don't like it... I don't know how you could handle it?" Kourtney curled up under my arm and rested her head on my shoulder. I rubbed her shoulder and tapped my helmet to hers. "It's not the best place to visit, no. It won't be long before we're back in our apartment in the City..." I glanced down at her and smiled, which was pointless since I was wearing a helmet. "I can hardly wait..." Kourtney laid her head on my chest and drifted back to sleep. I rested my back against the wall and kept an eye out. I felt my eyes getting heavy, but I refused to let them close. I kept looking to Kourtney to make sure she was still sleeping. Afterwards, I would look over to Wolf Pack-- they were all asleep. A couple minutes later, I heard someone stirring around. I looked over to see Blake standing up and pop his back. He glanced over to me and nodded. He leaned against the wall, and crossed his arms and legs. "What do you think will happen when it all ends?" I asked. Blake looked to me, "Huh, what do you mean?" He asked in reply. "The time when the Vanguard retires us, or when all the major threats stop showing up. What then? What will you be doing?" "Well, I don't know... Might go back on wall patrol or something like that. I might slow down, get a proper family and house. You?" "I don't know..." I looked to the huntress. "I. Don't. Know."