It's kinda neat... Tyger mused to himself as he sat up in the hospital bed that he had been pretty much confined to since he had been admitted. ...how good of a job that they did. The surgery had gone very well, with no small thanks to his squad mates applying the tourniquet so quickly and his quick admittance into the hospital itself. I guess it still gets me every time. Tyger flexed his fingers and rolled his wrist around with a smirk. The surgery to grow and then attach a new forearm and hand had gone off without a hitch. "I guess it's no surprise though, considering how well they wired up Richard and Brogan." Tyger smirked as he wiggled and flexed his hand once more, almost as if he were flaunting the new hand. His hand. Before he turned the page in the latest Advanced Mecha Dynamics magazine he was reading.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door that caught the Clade in mid-sentence on a particulary intriguing caption detailing the theories of miniaturizing a high-powered Cold Fusion reactor and using it as the primary powersource for a Positron Cannon scaled for the use of Power Armor. "Come in." Tyger answered with a slightly annoyed huff.
What came through the door before the last syllable was even out of his mouth was the absolute last thing he expected. A massive canine Clade wearing full composite body armor, burst into the room. The feline knee-jerk reaction in Tyger had him hunched against his bed, fur standing on end. Directly behind the first Clade was a another figure, also wearing full composite body armor, though this one was human. Or at least so it seemed.
The Clade, after a quick sweep of the room moved off to the left. The human, also checking his partner's back and providing another once-around the room moved to the right and to the window, carefully peeking through the blinds. After a muffled, barely audible 'clear' was heard, Director Alice Cadbury stepped through the still open door. Another armored figure, most likely another Clade, followed the Director inside, carefully watching her back and closing the door behind her.
Tyger blinked several moments at the Director's worn appearance. She somehow seemed worse than the last time he had seen her. Tyger calmed down slowly, and it was only then he had realized the magazine he was reading was curled up in one hand like a rolled up newspaper. Dammed dogs. Almost as bad as Ninjas.
Cadbury made her way to one of the chairs in the room and sat down. Tyger noticed that she was using a cane this time. This was very different, and the look of just being very tired and worn out was also quite different, though not lost on the Clade. And yet, despite the fact that she seemed somehow diminished, she was still impressive. "That will be all gentlemen" Cadbury murmured aloud, though her eyes were locked onto Tyger.
"Ma'am?" the canine Clade replied. There was a lot more in his voice than just that question.
"He's fine." Cadbury returned almost instantly, her eyes still on Tyger.
The canine nodded curtly and he and his companion moved out the door. The guard by the window peeked outside once more before closing the blinds, then he too left quickly and quietly, closing the door behind him.
When they were alone, Cadbury's face changed from its previously stern to one that seemed a little more benevolent. "How's the arm?"
It was only now that Tyger had calmed himself a little more and had only now settled back into his bed. The magazine was unrolled and set aside as he looked over to Cadbury, yet he was unable to meet her gaze. "It works well enough I think. Just as good as the old one I guess." He paused for a moment. "I guess you're prolly wondering what I needed to talk to you about."
"The question has crossed my mind. What did you need to talk to me about?" Cadbury returned.
"A couple of things...actually." Tyger began. "I'll be straight with you ma'am. I got some sorta curse on me. I don't know how I got it, who I pissed off and where. Fact is, is that I did it. Hell, I'm surprised that the surgery went so well. But that ain't the point. Jama told me what I needed to do to break the curse. But even then, thinkin' about it more and more, it's something that should have been done a good long while ago."
The director glanced back at the door and then returned her attention to the Clade, a hint of a smile on her lips. "There's a very flustered young girl outside, did you know that?" She inquired, then settled down on a chair nearby, listening - both hands folded on top of the cane.
"What is it you have to say, Tyger?"
Tyger grinned "Yeah, that's kinda my fault too." His features changed so something a little more serious, though he was still unable to look at her. "Ma'am, awhile back...I got pretty angry and frustrated. I said some things that I meant at the time, some stuff I didn't...but all of it was said without thinking." He paused and gripped the blankets in both hands, bunching them up for a moment. "I've thought about it a lot since then, and I wanted to apologize for it.
"You've done a whole hell of a lot for me, Marcy and Ninth Squad in general. You got your reasons and ways of doin' the right thing just like I have mine."
Cadbury nodded, and a light frown crossed her lips. "I accept your apology." She informed him as her brow creased in thought. "Sometimes what we do is less important as why we do them."
Tyger gave a slight nod, his face solemn. "Yeah...I know." He was silent for a few moments. He then looked at Cadbury. "I...I just want to set things right. Mend any bridges before they were burnt and all that rot."
He then took a long deep breath and let his attention wander to the window. "There is something else ma'am. something I would really like you to do for me...if you can. It came up just recently." He paused for a couple of beats, allowing the Director to formulate any theories.
"And what might that be?" She inquired, tilting her head slightly to the left. "I sense there may be something more here, certainly."
Tyger turned to look at Cadbury, though this time he had a slight almost self-satisfied grin. "I'd really appreciate it if you could come to my wedding ma'am. We haven't set a date or anything yet, so I imagine that when we get a couple of minutes to sit down and plan it out, we'll have one shortly after this whole mess is over and done with." He allowed the request to sink in a little before continuing. "Ma'am, you're the closest thing that I have that I can think of to a mother, and from what I hear, mothers are supposed to be a big part of the whole wedding thing."
Cadbury blinked. She paused, opened her mouth, closed it. Perhaps the first time anyone, much less Tyger has seen her at a loss for words. "I'd be honored." She finally manages to say. "If I'm able to attend, I shall."
"Well then...I guess we all outta make sure that we do what needs to be done so that you will be able to make it." Tyger returned, never losing that grin. He was well aware of the situation. He knew Cadbury was losing strength in face of the constant and more powerful Entity incursions. He grew a little more serious then. "Ma'am, I know that you are a very busy lady and you have a lot of stuff that needs to get done. I don't wanna keep you from your duties any longer than I already have...but I really appreciate you coming out here to listen to me anyway. Thanks."
The director nodded and rose to her feet, her pale eyes glancing around the room. "I hope your recovery goes well, Sergeant." She replied to him, then paused, looking at the uniform and equipment stacked up in the hospital's supply closet. "That's quite an unusual knife." She said curiously. "Wherever did you get it?"
He blinked at the question and then gave a slight shrug of his shoulders. "Awhile back...when I was suspended I went out and did some of my own legwork at the docks. Things got really ugly really quick...there was this girl..." Tyger gave another shrug of his shoulders. "...I don't even remember if I got her name or not. All I know is that she was in the wrong place and really didn't deserve to be in the middle of the sort of trouble that tends to follow me when I go and do stuff. She gave me the knife because I saved her life and made sure she was safe when it was prolly easier and better that I didn't."
Cadbury lifts an eyebrow. "The girl gave you the knife?" She inquires. "Really? How interesting." She remarks. "Not something I'd expect to see owned by a girl." The director shrugs and moves to the door. "Good day Sergeant."