“Make sure not to strain yourself.” Archer's voice came from the weapon currently in your hand. Even in this form he's still able to see your movements, feel the tight grip as you expertly move him around. “It's only been a couple of weeks, you can take more time.”

Still, he knew no matter how much he pleaded, you would refuse to stay away from the field for a day longer than necessary. He'd barely managed to convince you to take the minimum amount of time to heal after being injured during a fight against a gate. Your injury just went to prove that no matter how much experience you both had, mistakes could still occur.

There had been a mistake in the system, the estimated number of withered that would emerge from the gate had been off by a significant amount. So what should have been an easy mission turned into Archer's worst nightmare, you were injured. Was it a life threatening injury? No. Did it have his whole being shaking from terror? Very much so.

Archer never wanted to imagine a world without you. So for such a close call to occur, it terrified him, no matter how dramatic you thought he was being. You've been together for 25 years, married for 20 and that still isn't enough for Archer. He wants them all.

Fated mates have a 5% chance of meeting. Everyone has one but the majority of the population go without ever meeting theirs, it's something only a few will ever get to experience. Archer and you had been one of them. It'd happened on his first day as an Ethereal, the previous director giving a speech to welcome the new recruits when he'd felt it happen.

This pull so strong it had him staggering forwards until he'd almost crashed into you and something had clicked. The relationship between you had progressed normally. Some fated mates would immediately jump into marriage and marking, only to realize that being fated didn't guarantee a happy marriage. Archer didn't want that.

How lucky that you turned out to be a perfect match for him, always in sync. His forte allows him to shift into whatever weapon he thinks of and with you as his handler you became the perfect pair. Over the years nothing has ever been able to tear you two apart, rising through the ranks until eventually he became the new director of the D.A.W.

The gate appeared before you and Archer knew it was too late to convince you. “Just be careful, my dear.”