The incident at Aries was swept under the rug. Tristan did not want people to know that a lone gunman was able to force his way into the building. The authorities were never called for Aries has a private guard force and had waived most police intervention. It had been three days since the incident at Aries, Stella had been relaxing and getting everything ready for school and her new position at the company.
Stella was sitting at her desk looking at her computer, there were several papers spread across the desk. She stopped looking at the monitor and put her head onto the desk. Stella had been going over all the different classes she would have to take in order to get her degree this semester. She was exhausted.
"I have to take five classes, and come up with a business plan for my department in the company. Why did I have to ask my dad to get me a position at the company?" Stella said as she closed her eyes.
"You did it so that you would not have to deal with Tristan anymore." Samael said from the open door between their two rooms.
"I was not asking you!" Stella said as she leaned over to see what Samael was doing. Samael was messing with something at the desk, She could not see what he was doing due to his back blocking her vision. Stella slowly moved out of her chair and as quietly as she could started to make her way over to him.
"I thought you had more work to do." Samael said when Stella was about a meter behind him.
"Ok. How did you know I was here?" Stella said as she walked the rest of the way to Samael. He had several containers of what looked like chemicals on his desk and was mixing something in a small metal pot. There were also several small rectangles neatly lined up next to each other.
"I heard you walking and breathing. The room is silent so it was not hard." Samael said as he reached into the pot and pulled out a putty-like material.
"Ok. Apart from you hearing me breathing, what are you doing?" Stella asked leaning in a little closer, as Samael worked the putty in his hands.
"I am making additional rounds for my pistol." Samael said as he pulled out a small mold and pushed the putty into it.
"How is that going to be a bullet?" Stella asked
"This is composition x-ray, a special mix used at the casing and propellant for the pistol I use." Samael said as he pulled out the projectile of the round and pushed it into the top of the mold. He pushed it down till the putty came out of the side and bottle of the mold.
"Don't you need special equipment and more tools to make things like this?" Stella asked as Samael set down the mold next to the others on the table and started to pour more of the chemicals into the pot..
"Yes and no. I would need special tools to make the projectile but I only need to mix and press everything into the mold to make more rounds for use. After the composition is set, I will take them out and trim them off for use." Samael said, as he started to mix the chemicals.
"Wait. You are making explosives right now. Isn't that dangerous?" Stella said as she took a step to the side so she was more hiding behind Samael.
"No, this mix would need to have extreme force to be set off." Samael said continuing to mix the chemicals.
"So then how does your gun fire them?" Stella asked as she moved back next to Samael.
"I will mix up a second batch that is more sensitive to impacts, and use it as the primer." Samael said as he took the putty out and started to work this batch of putty.
"Would it not be easier to just get a gun with that toon ammo I can buy for you?" Stella asked as she leaned forward to better see Samael's face.
"That would be easier but there are sacrifices to everything and this handgun will still be my best option. It has the power to take down armored targets and is accurate enough to take on a rifle at medium ranges." Samael said as he pressed the putty into another mold.
"Ok if you say so. There is something I have been wondering about Samael." Stella said as Samael pushed the projectile into the mold he just filled.
"What are you wondering about?" Samael asked as he set the full mold on the table next to the rest.
"Well. How did you know where I was when you came to save me?" Stella asked, looking intently at Samael's face. She wanted to see if he would have a reaction to the question. But he was unfazed, and showed no change in his mood.
"I found you because you kept my coat on you." Samael said as he looked over at Stella meeting her eyes. It was only now that she realized how close she was to him. She could again see that his eyes were dark red. Even after she realized how close she was to him she did not care, She enjoyed looking into his dark red eyes.
"What does your coat have to do with you finding me?" Stella asked as she continued looking into his eyes.
"My coat has a tracker in it. It was the coat I had when I was looking for spies during the war. All shock trooper gear has trackers on it in the event someone steals it." Samael said, surprising Stella and making her break eye contact with him.
"Hold on. Your coat has a tracker in it? And you used it during the war?" Stella asked as he regained her composure.
"Yes and yes." Samael said as he stood up and started to walk over to one of the wardrobes.
"Why did you give it to me if it was something you have had since the war?" Stella asked following Samael over to the wardrobe.
"That is an easy question to answer." Samael said as he opened up the wardrobe and took out the trench coat. After he took it out he turned it so Stella could see the inner liner and centered in the liner was printed 231.
"What do you mean that is an easy answer?" Stella asked as she looked at the numbers.
"For you are more important than this coat." Samael said, prompting Stella to immediately blush.
"What?" Sella said involuntarily.
"This coat was made to stop bullets and knives and to help insulate against the cold and heat. It has seen many operations and always been a reliable coat. I knew it would keep you safe till I would be able to follow your order and keep you safe." Samael said as he turned and put the coat back into the wardrobe.
"Is all you think about the order I gave you?" Stella said nervously as she fidgeted with her shirt.
"I only follow the order for you are the one that gave it to me." Samael said as he turned around to face Stella again.
"So if I." Stella started to speak but was stopped by a maid entering her room.
"Miss Stella, I have your dinner." the maid said as the door opened into Stella's room. After hearing the maid Stella moved over the doorway that connected her and Samael's rooms.
"You can just place it on my bed. The desk is a mess." Stella said as she tried to compose herself after hearing what Samael had said.
"Not a problem. You must be working hard, your desk is never messy like this." The maid said as she placed the try of food onto the bed
"Ya it is a lot of work I just took a break to stretch my legs and talk with Samael." Stella said as she smiled at the maid.
"Well, enjoy your break. Please ring when you are done eating." The maid said before leaving the room. Stella stood in the doorway not knowing what to do. She was embarrassed that a maid saw her flustered like this. But was also a little mad at Samael for making her this way.
Stella turned around and saw that Samael had started to make the bullets again. She thought to herself that she should get back to work. Stella then turned and walked back into her room, and sat back at her desk to work.
She spent the rest of the night lightly picking at her food as she worked. She managed to put together a presentation about developing a new storage medium. She had already done a lot of the work for this was something she had been slowly working on at school. It was the perfect project to get her new department working on.
Stella gathered all the papers and started to organize them on her desk into neat piles. She did not know when it happened but as she organized she had fallen asleep. The day of doing paperwork had taken its toll.
Samael looked into Stella's room after he heard her breathing change. He saw she had fallen asleep on the desk and walked over. He carefully picked her up and walked over to the bed and placed her softly on it. He then covered her with the blanket and made his way back into his room.
The next morning Stella woke up and looked around the room wondering how she got into bed. She assumed that Samael was the one that had moved her. So she looked into his room but he was not there. Everything in the room was exactly as it was yesterday except the desk, he had cleaned it off and left a note.
Curiosity got the better of her and she walked over the desk and read the note. It was addressed to her from Samael. The note just said that he would be out in the morning but would be back in the afternoon. After reading the note Stella walked back into her room and sat at her desk.
She had no plans for today and was only planning on resting for tomorrow was her birthday. She did not care to celebrate it after her experience as a war correspondent. She had not thought about it much till now. Having Samael around has brought up a lot of old memories from back then.
It was her fourth week as a war correspondent, she had already selected and stuck with Samael as her soldier. She was getting off the bus that would drive them to F.O.B. Reaper (Forward Operations Base). Reaper was a heavy mobile F.O.B. that would keep up with the front lines it had everything they could need to keep the other F.O.B. supplied.
After getting off the bus she walked along the heavy steel barricaded walls and past some tents. She stopped and looked in one of the tents due to hearing some noise. There were several soldiers standing around a covered bed. A small puddle of blood had formed directly under the bed where blood had been dripping.
"Happy birthday kid." A soldier said.
"Happy birthday." The others said together.
"Mike always wanted to have a chocolate cake on his 19th birthday, I am sorry we could not get you a bigger one." A soldier said as he placed a small slice of brown cake on the bed, and walked away.
"You would always talk about how you wanted to see the front. How you wanted to make your folks proud. How your girl was proud of you for joining the call. I am sorry I couldn't bring myself to write your family back, but I will see them when I go home. They deserve that much." Another said, leaving after he finished talking.
She watched and listened as each one said their last words to the fallen soldier. She could not help but cry, it was a humbling thing. To have someone you are so close to taken from you, and on a day that is meant to celebrate they're coming into this world. She watched until there was just one man left.
"Mike. I will miss you man. You were the little light of the squad. I still remember when you joined the squad. You were so happy. Front line infantry, you would say. My mom will never believe this." The soldier said with a smile as tears started to stream down his dirty face. He clenched his fists tight as he cried for a moment.
"Gone but never forgotten Mike. Never forgotten brother." He said, after he finished he looked up and saw Stella. He did not say anything, only gave her a nod. He then put his helmet back on and waved over to the medics. The medics came over and picked up the body, taking it outside to be loaded and shipped back home.
That was the day that Stella stopped celebrating her birthday. She did not want to celebrate after that and only did what her parents wanted her to do. The soldier lost his life on his birthday and whenever Stella's birthday came around she did not feel right celebrating it anymore.
"Gone but never forgotten." Stella said as wiped a tear from her eye.