Reed's storyline - Charm

The first thing Reed did was to pick up a new uniform and a fire emblem at the chemical reception. He got a petty standard lieutenant's uniform but it was still better than his black tank top and jeans. He made a mental note to pass by the tailor later to get a new general uniform to replace his old with. If the tailor shop still existed that was. The second thing he did was to obtain a new phone from the helpdesk. To his big relief was all his data stored in the cloud, including the few photos he had managed to snap at kit as he had talked with rot the second time. Thirdly he headed towards terra's office to report for duty.

“General Sir…?” Diesel asked as he ran behind Reed marching through the halls.
“Are you still around?” he asked a bit surprised to find Diesel following his footsteps.
“About my car keys…”
“They’re in my pocket.” he answered dismissively with no intention to hand them over again.
“Could I by any chance have them back?” Diesel asked modestly.
“Brannon!” Reed exclaimed happily and ignored Diesels question as he caught eye of his colonel at the other side of the hall. Brannon shone up in a bright smile. Reed jumped over him and gave him a bear hug.
“Reed, you're okay!” Brannon said delighted to be reunited with his friend.
“Of course I'm okay!”
“I had started to think you died in the explosion.”
“It was just an explosion and some lava, you didn't think a bit of lava would kill me?”
“You can still drown in it you idiot.” Brannon smiled skeptically.
“I'm a demon I don't need to breath.” Reed laughed relieved to see that Brannon seemed unharmed.
“Where have you been? I've been needing your help.” Brannon asked. Reed lay an arm over his shoulder and they started to walk further into the chemical complex.
“I was abducted into the forest, I just got back.”
“You were? By the rebels?” Brannon asked surprised and seriously.
“By his boyfriend.” Diesel, who was still following them, answered. He sounded annoyed that Reed had ignored his question earlier. Reed cursed silently, he should've let Nell take the soldier after all.
“Boyfriend?” Brannon asked surprised and interested. “I didn't know there was a boyfriend?” Reed gave Diesel the evil eye over the shoulder which he hoped signaled not another word before answering.
“Rather fuckmate really.” he grunted concerned and questioned himself why he had chosen to tell Diesel about Delmar. Rumors spread like wildfire inside the faction and of all people, he did not want Brannon to learn about the relationship. Not only because Reed was a really bad liar and didn't want to seem unprofessional to his older colonel and best friend, but also because Brannon had mostly only heard him tell all the bad things about Delmar. The running meters of Delmar's crime files in Reed’s office shelf had been the topic for discussion for years and years. “He saved me from the blast.” Reed added.
“Really? A fuckmate? A hopeless romantic like you? “Brannon said fascinated. “I thought you didn't do half-arsed relationships? Either one night stands or full out…”
“Does it look like I have time for that?!” Reed interrupted him and waved with the paperwork Shrapnel had just given him, he desperately wanted to change the topic.
“I have been doing an awful lot of your work lately.” Brannon sneered.
“And that's why I had time for a fuckmate. Seriously Brannon. Don't we have more important matters to discuss? What's the status? What happened? What's the death toll? Do I still have a home? Is the army ready for a counterattack? When do we attack? Why…” he made a pause looking around in the hall. As he walked and rambled he realized there were lots of colorful people sitting alongside the walls in the corridors. “Why are there scouts camping in our corridors?!” he asked confused.
“As Antimatter blew up the mountain, the whole eastern living area collapsed. That included several dorms, apartments, dwellings and the like. So no, you don't have a home anymore. We have to house all the survivors at any place with a roof, while we rebuild what have been destroyed.” Brannon explained. “The death toll? We lost about a third of the whole army and a fourth of the whole district population.”
“A fourth of the whole district…” Reed exhaled appalled and tried to wrap his head around the whole concept. Under his 390 years old life he had experienced both human wars, environmental disasters and the edge of a natural apocalypse. But he had never experienced such a devastating catastrophe for the district and the shifter population.
“As for a counter attack? We plan to do one as soon as we've figured out the location of the rebel base. Did that answer all your questions?” Brannon asked but Reed had stopped listening attentively, a golden girl sitting in the hall had caught his attention. Her yellow golden locks reached all the way down to the floor where she sat among her colorful thermal friends.
“Reed, are you listening?” Brannon asked when he got no answer.
“No…” Reed turned back to his colonel. “Could you give me a second?”
“One.” Brannon counted. “Okay back to the schedule. We still have about 100 different soldiers from our division missing. Either they died in the tunnels or they joined the rebels. At least the statistic is a lot better than the first and third division…”
“No seriously.” Reed interrupted him. “I need to speak with one of the shifters over there."
Brannon frowned and looked at the miserable group on the floor.
“The scouts? Why?”
“Don’t worry about it. Go ahead and I'll catch up with you. And Diesel, you go and report yourself for active duty, that's an order.” he wanted to make sure Diesel and Brannon didn't discuss this ‘fuckmate’ at a deeper level. It wouldn't take much information for Brannon to figure things out. Diesel bowed and left, but Brannon just tilted his head with a skeptical expression.
“I don't know how the scouts can help you…” he said doubting. “I don't know why anyone would want to speak with a bunch of scouts anyway?”
“Don’t think about it. I'll catch up with you in a minute.”

Brannon didn't walk away but waited for Reed at the same spot while Reed scurried back towards the group on the floor. As he approached them they crept together looking suspiciously at him, intimidated by his lieutenant uniform.
“We’ve already told you we’re not rebels!” a yellow girl outburst looking defiantly at him. Reed squatted down beside them.
“I never said you were.” he answered calmly.
“But you assume it! We have already been questioned. We know nothing.” a blue-skinned Male added angrily. Reed looked at him and suddenly he couldn't think of anything but Delmar. He had just the same kind of dark Blue skin and dark messy hair.
“I don't mean no harm.” Reed said a bit taken back. “I didn't come here to question you.” the members of the group exchanged confused glances. Reed turned to the golden girl hiding behind her friends. ”you're Gold, am I right?” he asked friendly. She peered at him scared and looked confused. Then she slowly nodded.
“I'd love to ask you for a favor.” Reed said and smiled to her.
“A favor?” she asked shyly.
“Could you make me one of those kind of pendants you put pictures in?” he asked as nicely as he could.
“A charm?” she asked surprised and peered back at him like he was some kind of alien. “You want me to make you a charm?”
“Yes!” he said excited. The yellow girl leaned in front of Gold pushing her protectively behind her.
“And why should she do that?” she objected upset. “Does this look like a jewelry shop to you?!”
“A favor for a favor. I'd owe her one. A really big one.” he answered calmly.
“She don't want no favor form a douchebag lieutenant!” the yellow girl outburst. The Gold lay a hand to her arm.
“It’s okay.” she said and then turned to Reed. “What do you want it for?”
“I want to put an image of my newborn daughter in it. If I'll die protecting everyone in the society I'd love to have her close to my heart. I might never see her again.”  Reed explained. The members of the group looked a bit ashamed as they yet again exchanged glances with each other. They had counted with being taunted and ridiculed by this chemical shifter, not the other way around.
“I can help you with that.” gold smiled warmly, cupped her hands together and started to build the fine parts of a charm amulet. When she was done she placed the fine jewelry in his hand.
“Good luck.” she said. He lay his other hand on top of hers.
“Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

He rose, gave them his name and rank for when she wanted to collect the favor, bid them farewell and headed back to Brannon. The group looked perplexed when they realized he had not been a lieutenant but one of the five chemical generals. Brannon crossed his arms and looked skeptically at Reed when he returned.
“What was that all about?” he sneered.
“Nothing really. I just thought I saw someone I knew.” Reed shrugged and tried to brush it off. Brannon turned to look back at the group on the floor and the blue shifter whispering to the others.
“The psychic?” he asked.
“It wasn't him.”
Brannon hit his arm hard.
“He’s not your problem anymore. Let radiation deal with her own lost outlaws.”