Malia stood behind Carson as he spoke, her hands crossed in front of her. The frustration and hurt was evident in his voice, but not at the council. At the Vanguard. And somewhat at himself. It seemed. No matter how many times she wanted to jump in and defend him from their questioning looks and words, she stated silent. If they messed this up, if they didn’t earn this alliance, humanity as they knew it was doomed. Even more so than they already were. Their friends would die, her and Carson wouldn’t get the life they wanted together. It had to work.<br/><br/>As he wrapped up, his shoulders hunching in defeat, Malia looked to the council. They flickered their eyes over him in thought, before turning to one another. The circled close, mutter to each other as they seemingly decided a course of action. Malia steppes up then, turning to Carson. “You did phenomenally, if they don’t see the urgency in the situation, that’s on them.” She had noticed earlier that he held some fear of the current situation, she sympathized with him. Meeting his friends scared her a bit as well, mainly because of the need to be accepted by them. Well, most of them.<br/><br/>Malia turned back just as the five turned to them. Michael cleared his throat, crossing his hands. He moved his eyes from Carson, to Malia. “We understand the urgency, we’ve heard bits and pieces elsewhere. You have given us more Information than we originally anticipated having, and for that we’re grateful.” He turned to directly address Carson. “We’ve heard your insistence to become allies once again and, while we would prefer to be a lone group, I’m afraid you seem to be right. Without pairing up, we may not stand a chance. Now, normally I’m not so quick to make such a decision. But Malia trusts you, and I trust her judgement...and heart.<br/><br/>“Let us meet tonight to form some ideas. We can meet once again in the morning for further conference. Go rest, your journey back is long. Details can wait a handful of hours.” He waves them off before turning back to the Runners.<br/><br/>Malia nodded, turning and walking away, jerking her head so Carson followed. “That was a lot easier than I thought it was gonna be.” She whispered as they exited. She walked them back to their room, closing the door behind them. She sat on the bed then, groaning softly at the comfort of being off her feet. Her feet, her knees, her neck. It all hurt, she was ready to let her muscles relax. “See? Everything worked out.”