Private The Eagle is in the Nest

[Aurelian Veruna]

Location: Time to get to work
Tags: Sibylla Abrantes

Aurelian saw the flinch, small and instinctive, and it hit him harder than anything she had said. Shiraya. He hated that he had put that look on her face. Not fear, exactly, but caution. The kind that came when someone you trusted did not know where you might land next. He dragged in a slow breath, grounding himself by force, because the truth was ugly and unfamiliar.

He was not angry at her. He was drowning.

He had no practice with this feeling. No training. No neat box to slot it into. Power, pressure, violence, consequence, those he knew. This was different. This was emotion he could not rein in fast enough, and it bled out rough around the edges. He swallowed hard as she spoke of protection, of extraction, of not losing Ace the way she had lost Lysander.

That name again.

Something sharp twisted in his chest. He was painfully aware of the history there. Of how well she had known Lysander. Of how close she must be to Ace to fear that same loss. The comparison was not meant to wound him, he knew that. Still, it did. Jealousy reared its head, hot and unwanted. He crushed it down before it could show. He would not let that be what guided him now.

"Done," he said quietly.

The word landed solid, decisive, and he felt her shoulders ease just a fraction. Good. That was something he could give her. Certainty.

"We keep this contained," he continued, voice steadier now that he had a direction. "Very small circle. Dominique only. No Great Houses. No one with divided loyalties." His jaw set. "Not even your brother."

He turned away before his expression could betray too much and crossed back to the desk. Familiar ground. Orders. Systems. He keyed into his workstation, fingers moving with practiced speed as he spoke.

"We station units just shy of Covenant space. Close enough to move, far enough not to be seen as provocation. Immediate extraction capability if he signals. No delays." He paused, then added, softer, "I will make sure of it. Quietly."

Inside, the tension did not vanish, but it focused. This, at least, was solvable.

"Ace will have backup," Aurelian said. "Real backup. And from now on, any intelligence he gathers goes through Republic channels." He glanced back at her. "That includes you. I need you to keep them informed, even when everything is burning and time is short. Even if you don't get a moment alone with me. You tell them."

He sent the message without ceremony, a quick directive to Cordé for Sibylla. "Schedule a meeting. Sibylla and Dominique. As soon as possible. She needs the full picture. Ace, the Covenant, Mandalore. All of it."

He exhaled and straightened, some of the weight easing now that action replaced uncertainty. "We'll get this sorted," he said, more to himself than her. "One problem at a time."

Then his gaze sharpened again, fire banked rather than extinguished. "I'll leave for Mandalore as soon as I can. I need to speak to Aether directly."

A humorless edge crept into his thoughts. "Maybe we'll have something in common soon," he added quietly. "Because if there is a traitor within the Great Houses, if one of them is feeding the Covenant…"

​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Location: Why shouldn't I tell Cassian?
Aurelian Veruna

Okay, so they had a plan.

Sibylla gave a nod as Aurelian spoke, hearing what he said regarding stationing units just shy of Covenant space. That they keep this to a small, tight circle, relay it to Dominique, and not tell Cass --

Wait. What?

That made Sibylla do a double take, confusion washing over her expression.

"Do not tell Cassian? Why?" she inquired, never mind that she had already told Cassian, and that had been only two days ago. Why wouldn't she tell Cassian? He was a General of the Grand Army.

On top of the knowledge that Aurelian was going to meet Aether directly after this, that she would have to arrange a meeting with Dominique, and now that they had to navigate whatever the Covenant was planning, Aurelian's insistence that she not tell her brother seemed out of the ordinary.

"I know you do not care for him, but his loyalties are not divided. He is someone I trust." Perhaps it was naïve to do so, but he was her brother, and he had never given her reason to think otherwise.

Certainly, Aurelian and Cassian were never going to see eye to eye or become the best of friends, but there had to be some measure of respect for his position and responsibility, didn't there?

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Location: Let's just tell everyone
Tags: Sibylla Abrantes

Aurelian sat back slowly, the fight easing out of him in a long exhale. He rubbed at his temple with two fingers, eyes closing for a brief moment as the pieces shifted again. It sounded like she had already told Cassian. The odds had always been high. Brother. General. Trusted. And yet the fact that he knew before Aurelian did scraped raw.

Am I always the last to know?

He opened his eyes and looked at her again, expression tired rather than sharp.

"Why not tell your brother?" he repeated, quieter now. He shook his head once, more at the situation than at her. "Because you asked me to protect Ace. Because you said you will not lose him the way you lost Lysander." His hand fell back to the arm of the chair. "I am trying to prevent that."

He leaned forward slightly, forearms resting on the desk. This was not anger. This was control, carefully applied.

"The more people who know, the more variables we introduce," Aurelian said. "I know you trust Cassian. I know his loyalty to the Republic isn't in question. But trust doesn't eliminate risk. It multiplies it when information moves."

His gaze held hers, intent but measured. "Do you know the person he is romantically involved with? Do you know who he confides in when he's off duty? Who he vents to within the army, or outside it?" He spread his fingers once, a restrained gesture. "I'm not accusing him of anything. I'm acknowledging that people talk."

Inside, the pressure returned, dull and constant. Every name added was another thread he had to track. Another potential fracture point.

"I am trying to keep this contained long enough to get Ace out alive," he said plainly. "That's it."

He leaned back again, shoulders settling, acceptance replacing resistance. "If you insist on involving Cassian, I won't stop you."

​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Location: I am sorry
Aurelian Veruna

Watching the entirety of Aurelian's expression, the way emotion crossed his face in swift succession before settling into the weary line of his posture as he sat struck Sibylla with a quiet, piercing ache.

"I am sorry," she said so softly her voice barely carried, as though anything louder might fracture what little calm remained.

"I am not seeking to question you. I am merely…" The thought faltered, and Sibylla swallowed, her breath hitching as too many words pressed forward at once and refused to arrange themselves into anything sensible.

Before doubt could reclaim her, she moved.

She rounded the desk slowly, skirts whispering against the floor, stopping at his side with a hesitation that betrayed how much this moment mattered. The need to touch him had grown too insistent to ignore, not as demand but as instinct, a desire to feel and receive comfort rather than complication, a need for reassurance rather than argument.

Even then, she paused.

Would he allow it?

Ever so carefully her hands rose with care, fingers brushing the shadow of his jaw before she cupped his face fully, thumbs resting just beneath his cheekbones. She bent toward him, her forehead coming to rest against his, her lashes lowering as a fine tremor ran through her. Shiraya, the warmth of him steadied her more than she expected.

"I did not intend to hurt you," Sibylla murmured, earnest and low. "Nor to add to the burden you already carry, when I ought instead to be a steadier presence at your side. One who bears it with you, not against you."

She lingered there, breathing him in, exhaling slowly as if releasing something she had been holding far too tightly.

"Thank you," she continued quietly. "For all that you do. For what you are doing now." Her fingers shifted into a gentle, grounding pressure. "You are the most important person in the galaxy to me. The last person I would ever wish to wound through my own decisions or ties."

Her voice softened on the admission that empathically followed.

"I love you, Aurelian. Truly, madly, and deeply."

She swallowed hard, then rested her forehead against his once more, honest in a way that felt almost frightening.

"This is new ground for me," Sibylla said. "How I feel for you. What we are. How that intersects with our elected positions and the uneasy space between them." Her lips curved faintly, self-aware and a touch rueful. "And attempting to navigate all of that while the galaxy seems determined to collapse at our feet has left me stumbling where I would much prefer sure footing...but even then, there is no where else I would rather be than with you. "

At last, she pulled back, hands falling reluctantly to her sides. A half-huff of a laugh escaped her, weary and overwhelmed in equal measure.

"I am truly, sincerely looking forward to a holiday with you," she confessed. "Just you and me. No work. No comm calls. No briefings." Her eyes lifted to his, warm with longing and unguarded affection. "I want you entirely to myself. Completely, utterly, and perhaps a little selfishly so."

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Location: Soon
Tags: Sibylla Abrantes

Aurelian stayed where he was as she came around the desk, watching her with an attention that felt almost fragile. He did not pull away when her hands found his face. He leaned into them instead, eyes closing as her forehead touched his. The contact grounded him in a way nothing else had managed all day.

He listened. He did not interrupt. He let her words settle, let the apology ease something tight in his chest. He had not realized how badly he needed to hear it until she said it.

This is what I fight for.

When she told him she loved him, something warm and steady replaced the chaos. He opened his eyes, meeting hers at close range.

"I love you too," he said quietly. No theatrics. No armor. Just truth. "And you need to trust me." His thumb brushed lightly at her wrist. "Everything I do now, I weigh with you in mind. Your voice is already there, whether you know it or not."

He exhaled, resting his forehead against hers once more. "We'll figure this out. Maybe not cleanly. Maybe not quickly. But we will."

When she pulled back, he caught her hand before she could fully retreat, fingers closing around hers with quiet certainty.

"And I'm looking forward to it too," he added, a faint curve at the corner of his mouth. "That holiday." His eyes flickered with something playful beneath the exhaustion. "Though I suspect you'll be doing most of the talking. You know far too many of my secrets already. It's only fair I get to hear about these mysterious friends of yours."

His grip softened, but he didn't let go just yet.

"Soon," he said. Then, gently, "But first, we have work to do."

​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Location: I need this.
Aurelian Veruna

Sibylla let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

Aurelian's words settled into her like warmth after cold, and something inside her eased at last. She gave a slight nod, swalling the knot she had felt linger in her throat, and this time taking the completely inappropriate motion to sit upon his lap, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and drawing him in close. One hand sank into the inky curls at the nape of his neck while the other spanned across the breath of his shoulder blades at his back, drawing him near, the softness of her cheek brushing the faint rasp of the dark shadow along his jaw, accepting the promise for what it was.

"I do trust you," she said softly. It was not a concession, but a choice. Her embrace tightened with the familiar certainty of him, and at his teasing, Sibylla felt a faint, wearly, but amused smile cross her lips.

"Careful," Sibylla murmured. "You may decide that my endless chatter regarding my most senseless antics and guilty pleasures are boring compared to yours."

She drew back enough so that she could look at him more clearly, her gaze lingering upon him a moment longer than necessary.

"Soon," she echoed quietly, well aware that she was still processing everything, still sorting through the aftershocks. Yet being there with him made that small tension filled tremble she'd been feeling slowly ease.

Then, well aware he would be leaving for Mandalore shortly to meet Aether, Sibylla kissed him. It was slow at first, then it deepened, the urgency threading through the tenderness, her hands finding him with a quiet desperation that betrayed the confusion still coiling in her chest. Fear and resolve, love and worry, all tangled together, seeking release in that single, grounding point of contact.

She needed it. Needed this.

Him.

Just him right now. If only for a moment during the chaos.

When she finally pulled back, Sibylla's forehead rested briefly against his, breath uneven but a little steadier than before.

Soon, indeed.