#*throws sand*

He jerked his head in their direction as she stopped beside him. “You’re just in time to watch the show.”

“I’m curious about him. Plus I told Archer I’d give him my assessment."

"Settle in," Mason grinned. The two vanguards started to fight and Mason found himself watching Enzo keenly, looking for a familiar flow that would link him to Nico. He realised he wasn’t the only one when Marie spoke. Her tone was more than a little surprised.

“He’s… He’s nothing like Zeus is he?”

Mason folded his arms across his chest, his eyes never leaving the duelling vanguards. Biotics crackled in the air. “No, it doesn’t seem like it,” he agreed. “Zeus is our battering ram. He’s linear, all short, sharp charges in direct lines. I have to keep repositioning him on the field because he’s too predictable, but... he's powerful. His shockwave is unbelievable.” Mason watched Enzo blink away then the resulting boom as he clashed against Ben again. “Ares is clearly nothing like that from what I can see here though.”

The fight felt standard enough to start with and Ben was getting bored. Mason didn’t expect it to go on much longer, already deciding he’d seen enough when he heard Oliver mutter beside him. He was watching with clenched fists and chanting something Mason couldn’t work out. He narrowed his eyes, sensing he was missing something.

“Ollie-“

“Don’t look away! He’s gonna- Yes! There he goes!”

“What?” Mason’s mouth popped open in surprise – not because Enzo vanished in a blink of blue shimmer, but because he stayed gone.

Even Ben stumbled in his steps, whirling around to scan the area around him. Mason wondered briefly if Enzo had Ben’s skill of teleporting through decks but there was too much crackle in the air, too much shimmer.

Then he saw it - an outline of a figure circling, oscillating and nebulous like azure smoke.

“Bloody hell,” Mason breathed, the odd little notes Ethan had managed to uncover in Enzo’s files suddenly clicking into place. Enzo had volunteered so little information when Mason pressed him about his previous position with Cerberus, and now he knew why. “He’s not just a phoenix. He’s a fucking spook too.”

Marie glanced at him sharply. “A what?”

“Fuck,” Mason said, almost unable to believe what he was seeing. “I heard rumours of them but I’ve never met a phoenix who had the ability.” He shook his head and Marie waved an impatient hand for him to continue with his explanation. “Vanguards that can maintain their hops almost indefinitely,” he clarified. “Their amps… I don’t know the science of it, Ethan probably does – something about the amps have the ability to trickle feed their charge so they don’t need cooldown– it was all experimental and very much just a pipe dream… or so I thought. Shit,” he added as an afterthought. “Nico’s gonna lose it over this.”

They kept their eyes on Ben on the floor, now visibly confused. He blinked in and out a few times, but by the time he arrived the shadow had already moved on. Only a few times he got close enough, landing a punch or a kick, clashing against a ghostly looking Enzo before they exploded part again. It was oddly beautiful in a way, almost a synchronized dance in a cloud of blue flame, although it was starting to become clear that Enzo currently had the upper hand when Ben's hits were making less and less contact.

Enzo was toying with him.

“Ben’s getting frustrated,” Marie observed. She folded her arms and rocked back on one heel with a smirk. “A hundred credits says Ben will get him though.”

Mason laughed. “Yeah, I’m not taking that bet. Enzo might be a spook but Ben’s got a whole heap of other goodies going on to even the odds.” He gave her a pointed look and a smirk of his own. “You should know that, Mrs Gibbons-Rose.”

She wrinkled her nose at him and another clash had them tuning back into the fight. Enzo continued to hop, fast enough that he really was invisible. Ben’s fists were raised and sparking and his face was a mask of intense concentration. Then his feet, only seconds ago moving so fast, abruptly… stopped.

It happened in the space of a few heartbeats. Ben stilled in place, bowed his head and closed his eyes. He became as still as a statue as the air continued to shimmer around him.

“What is he doing?” Marie asked. “Is he-”

“He’s not giving up,” Mason said, noting the slight tilt to Ben’s head. “He’s-“

Mason didn’t get a chance to finish when Ben’s head suddenly snapped up and he pivoted with one arm raised. He braced himself, just as Enzo materialised right on top of him, his own biotics flaring in answer to create a boom that whited out the room and sent everyone in the vicinity diving for cover.

Mason opened his eyes to the two vanguards on the ground, both on their backs and panting heavily. Ben recovered first, rolling onto Enzo to straddle him, one hand at the blonde’s throat, his other raised in a fist.

“Shit, I gotta call this or they’ll tear the ship apart.” Mason shot up quickly and strode out onto the floor. He ended the fight, considering it a draw and trying not to notice how tightly Enzo’s hands were gripping Ben’s hips as the two men stared hotly at each other.

Huh. That was confirmation right there.

He had almost forgotten Oliver had been watching too when he burst out of nowhere to throw his arms around the necks of both vanguards and squeezing them tightly in some kind of exuberant three way hug. They ended up in a laughing, ridiculous tangle of limbs on the floor.

“Ennie! Ben! That was amazing, you guys are amazing!”

Enzo caught Ben’s eye over the top of Oliver’s head. “Gave me a run for my money out there, gattino.”

Ben grinned at him, hair slicked with sweat but eyes brighter than Mason had seen in a while. Mason pointed at the Enzo, then at himself.

“You and me, we’ll need to debrief later.”