Delta 7 Pt. 03

As Delta made his way through the narrow passageways of the ship, his mind was still a whirlwind of emotions. He'd always tried to be the best soldier he could be. He'd always wanted to focus on the mission ahead, defend the base against the threat of the slowly advancing enemy fleet. Being a delta was wasted on his training. He wanted to fucking scream, to hit something.

Maybe the gammas noticed the mood he was in, because they all quickly made way for him when he passed by.

Good, it was better to seem intimidating. Vulnerability would surely be preyed upon. He'd seen it happen in the academy, and he knew it would happen here, especially with the chip keeping him subservient to even these lowly ranking gamma soldiers. He had to keep his composure.

When he approached the doors to the bridge, they slid open, and he could hear voices quieting. The three beta couples were standing with their backs to the door, facing the alpha, who looked up with a mild expression as Delta stepped in.

The alpha motioned with his arm for Delta to join him. But when the beta turned their heads to see who'd come in, Delta stiffened in his tracks.

Among the beta officers stood Mitch and Iris. They'd been his friends back at the academy. They'd trained together, fought together in the practice modules, supported each other. Their eyes widened in shock as they recognized him, and for a moment, there was only silence. Despite his best efforts to keep himself in check, Delta could feel his face burning with shame.

'Delta 7.' Alpha 7 said, slowly dropping his arm. 'Meet your new beta officers; Zoe and River, Olivia and Jack, and Iris and Mitch.'

Delta forced a nod, trying to push down the turmoil within him. 'Hello,' he managed to say, his voice sounding weak even to his own ears.

'You?' Mitch stammered, unable to hide the shock in his voice.

Iris maintained her composure, but her eyes searched for answers. How could he even begin to explain this to her?

Before he could say anything else, the alpha stepped through his gathered officers, placing a hand on his shoulder. 'Delta 7 will be working closely with us on this mission,' he said.

The words felt like a cruel joke. Working with them, his former peers, in this subservient role would be a nightmare. The details of the meeting completely passed him by as he stood next to the alpha, whose hand rubbed the small of his back. He caught himself leaning into it, and pulled away.

Once the meeting concluded, the alpha let go of him, and went over to discuss some details with Zoe and River.

Mitch and Iris came over to him, concern etched on their faces.

'You're...' Iris asked. 'a delta?'

He nodded.

'Are you okay?' Mitch's hand hovered in the air for a moment, as if he was unsure whether to touch him or not. With regret, Delta watched Mitch drop it down to his side again.

'I don't know. It's complicated,' he admitted. He probably would have told them that it had been a mistake now-- that he didn't agree with this-- if the directive hadn't removed that desire from his mind.

But his friends knew. He could see it in their eyes.

'This is so messed up,' Mitch said, his voice tight with emotion. 'How could they decide this? You were the best of us, you are the best of us.'

'Thanks.' Delta said, uncomfortable under their empathy. 'But I can handle this. It's okay.'

'Just-, just tell us when something is wrong, okay? We're here for you.'

A tremor went through Delta's spine. It had probably not even been a conscious command, but Iris's directive conflicted with his alpha's words not to complain about his situation. It wasn't like she could overrule the alpha's higher ranking directive though, so all Delta could do was give her a nod.

'Wait, oh I'm sorry, did I just-?' Iris clasped a hand over her mouth. She seemed horrified. But she didn't take her words back either, Delta noticed.

Whatever. They weren't friends anymore. They couldn't be. It was like Alpha 7 had said. It was nice of them to care about him, but they would never be equals. And there was nothing to do but to get used to that.

* * *

After the introductions were over, Delta was sent away from the bridge. He hadn't been assigned to one specific task force, but found himself passed along between artillery, machinery, and maintenance, tasked with a series of simple, menial duties he'd familiarized himself with during his years at the academy. He scrubbed floors, oiled weaponry and machinery and was sent to the bowels of the whip for stupid ventilation cleaning. Earlier he'd been joined by a gamma or two, but ventilation shafts were small, and for the first time that day, he was alone.

He preferred to be alone, knowing that some gammas might try to compensate for their own feelings of inferiority by asserting dominance over him, someone even lower in the hierarchy. It had gone well today, but he knew their temporary camaraderie was likely fueled by the excitement of their first practice mission this afternoon. The resentment might just come later. He wasn't deluding himself; Delta's weren't respected, and he shouldn't hope for special treatment.

The alpha was different though, way different from what Delta had expected. He hadn't pushed to have sex with him. They'd just... hugged? So, was he frigid, a prude? Not that Delta was complaining, but it was unsettling. Had those stories about alpha's and their crazy hormones been mere locker room talk?

Dragging him from his thoughts, the sound of Alpha's calm commanding tone filled the ship from hidden speakers, echoing through the tight metal vents that Delta was crawling through.

The battle simulation was starting.

Delta looked down at his comm device, and pushed down his frustration when he saw his announcement didn't change from 'Bowel ventilation cleaning' into something more useful. They really weren't going to let him contribute to the war then? Their fucking loss. At least Mitch and Iris should have known they could use him. They were all fucking idiots for keeping him out of it.

With renewed energy, Delta started scrubbing away at the oily layer of dust heaped up in the corners of the air shafts. Fucking disgusting old ship.

Hours later, he was still scrubbing away wildly when a bright flash of light alerted him to a new comm notification. 'Delta, proceed to Bridge,' was all it said.

Comm notifications didn't activate his chip as spoken words did, but it wasn't like he could disobey the order anyway. And he was curious. After hours into the battle simulation, suddenly now they wanted his help?

* * *

When he passed through the door, it wasn't Alpha 7 who greeted him, but the older beta officer he'd briefly met that morning, River.

River grabbed his upper arm, and dragged him in the direction of the chair Alpha 7 was sitting in it, still with the controls clipped onto his temples. His skin looked pale and clammy, drained of color, while a thin layer of perspiration formed beads on his forehead.

'Look what you did to him.' River's tone was full of contempt.

The alpha tried to brush it off with a smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. 'Just a bit tired, River. Nothing to worry about.'

'You barely scored a 30, damn it. 30. You're supposed to be a reliable 40.'

The alpha tried to push himself up, but his hand fumbled, and he sagged back into the seat.

'You shouldn't be taking suppressors at all, certainly not in repetition. Your health isn't worth it, the safety of your crew isn't worth it,' River slammed against Dust's shoulder, 'and sure as hell this shit isn't worth it.'

The alpha's expression tightened. 'Watch your words, beta. And we'll be fine. You can't expect me to just-.' his eyes flickered towards Delta.

River's eyes went wide with disbelief.

'We're taking it slowly,' the alpha added, as if trying to justify himself to his subordinate.

Delta didn't understand a thing of what was going on.

'I've sent a report to the base. You're not taking those suppressors anymore. We can't have a half incapacitated alpha on this ship. You need to take care of yourself. And if there's something wrong with Delta here, take him to Biocare and get it fixed.'

Delta's heart skipped a beat. They couldn't send him to Biocare. He wouldn't... Shit, if the alpha was really considering...

Alpha hesitated for a moment, glancing at Delta before turning back to River. 'Delta is still adjusting, and it's difficult on him. We don't want to rush him into anything. He needs time to-'

River let out a sharp grunt of exasperation, his eyes fixed on his superior. 'You're the alpha here. you need to-'

Before he could continue, Zoe, River's mate, stepped in, her tone stern. 'With all due respect, Alpha, we can't afford to take things slow here. We rely on you. We need to be battle-ready before we launch into war zones. You've been given a delta to take care of you, and he needs to start fulfilling his role.'

Delta felt a surge of resentment. Towards her, towards all of them. He wasn't some problem that needed fixing. And it wasn't like he hadn't been obedient. He had a fucking functioning chip for fuck's sake.

'Okay, all right.' Alpha pushed himself up, this time successfully making it out of his seat. 'I'll stop after Delta has been to Biocare for a check-up.'

River nodded firmly. 'This evening.'

'Tomorrow.' The alpha countered. 'And that's all I want to hear about that.'

Delta just stood there. His eyes drifted to the back of the room, where Mitch and Iris stood grouped together with Olivia and Jack, cowards. They hadn't said a thing to defend him, didn't even look at his face.

Without saying a word, Delta stormed out of the room, feeling fucking free to do so.

* * *

Mitch's heart sank as Nameless, now Delta, stormed out of the room. Even now that he was gone from the bridge, the weight of that dagger-like stare still lingered to tear at his core. All he wanted to do was run after him, talk to him, comfort him. But Alpha 7's warning held him back, and it hadn't even been a direct command. He felt like such a coward.

Over the years, he'd always admired Delta's strength and determination. Slowly, his feelings had grown deeper, but Delta had always been so focused on his career, the war, the endless training. Mitch had never dared to make a move, and now it felt like it was too late. They were soldiers now. They'd both been mated to their true life partners.

Alpha 7 had obviously noticed how Iris and he had recognized their classmate. As soon as the alpha had sent Delta to the bowels that morning, he'd made it clear that he wanted his beta officers to focus on their own duties and not get too involved with his mate. Mitch knew that he had to bury his feelings away. But seeing Delta in pain like that, he knew that he'd let him down.

Iris looked at Mitch with concern in her dark brown eyes 'Should we do something?' she asked quietly.

'You will do nothing.' Alpha 7 interrupted. 'We will all give him some space. He'll come back to me when he's ready.'

* * *

Later, once the battle simulation was filed for review, and they'd put the gammas back on their regular schedule to prepare for the launch, Mitch and Iris walked back to their rest unit hand in hand. They took a quick shower in the shared beta washrooms, brushed their teeth, and finally settled into the small confinement of their private bedroom.

Now that they were alone, Iris turned to Mitch. 'I know you used to love him,' she said softly, her voice gentle.

Mitch looked at her. 'You... you knew?' he stammered.

Iris nodded. 'I've seen you look at him, Mitch. It's okay. I know that you still care about him.'

Had it been that obvious?

'I just don't know how we can help him,' Mitch said, his gaze lowering to his hand, clasped into Iris's. 'It must be so hard on him. Who would have thought they'd make him a delta. Of all people...' He sighed helplessly. 'It's just too bizarre.'

'The military doesn't make mistakes.' Her fingers gently caressed his.

'I know,' Mitch said, looking up to meet Iris's eyes. 'I just hope they can help him.'

It was silent for a moment, then Mitch shook himself from his thoughts. He leaned in to softly kiss Iris on the lips. It wasn't a passionate kiss, just sweet and intimate. He cared about her too.

Iris returned the kiss, her hands holding him in a gentle embrace. The warmth of her body was comforting, and in that moment, he felt so grateful to the army, for choosing her as his mate. She understood him, she always had.

As she pulled back, Iris rested her forehead against Mitch's. 'We'll figure this out together,' she said.

'I love you,' Mitch whispered, pulling her close.

'I love you too,' Iris replied.

Their chips responded to those words by releasing a surge of endorphins. The sudden rush of emotion was overwhelming, and they held onto each other more tightly. She kissed him again, pressed him back against the bed. Their bodies intertwined, and in that moment, it felt as though their hearts beat as one, their souls touching each other.

The chips weren't just there to control them, for the success of their mission. They were also there to strengthen their bond, they were a gift. And so, although fully aware of the chip's manipulation, he embraced the feelings that washed over him. Their love would only deepen over time. They had each other, forever.

But even in the warmth of their embrace, as they settled into each other's arms, his thoughts returned to his friend. Hopefully things would get better for him too. Maybe a visit to Biocare would be good for him, to help him cope with his new role as a delta. And next time, no matter the restrictions set by their alpha, Mitch would find a way to talk to him, to support him.

As... a friend.