Found Family
Posted on Sun Feb 27th, 2022 @ 4:34am by Alden Loxley & Alison Bliss & Daiyu & Chloe Waltz PhD & Kindra Graham & Jacy Wright
Mission:
Li Shen's Bazaar
Location: Li Shen's Bazaar
Timeline: November 3rd - Afternoon
He felt responsible, but then Alden always did. It was that eternal big brother status rolled up with being Captain and mixed together with a bunch of people he considered family. Alison was correct in her assumption here, and always had been - Alden’s ability to consider folks family was bordering on troublesome. Rescues. Strays. Good friends. Actual blood family. It didn’t take him long to wrap them all together into one big care package that he felt duty bound to defend and protect. And now…
Now Alison was hurt, and he knew this was his fault. He’d been focused on helping Daiyu and they’d been dragged along into whatever the hell was going on with the young woman’s life. Big trouble, clearly. Which didn’t explain why they’d found her in an escape pod, but did kinda bring into focus the chat he and his once XO, now pilot, had shared not long after said finding.
Unconscious best friend held close against his chest, Daiyu right beside him, Alden stopped before committing entirely to pursuing the Hands and Grimshaw’s posse. His head hurt, he had two women to protect and his best chance of that was going to ground. Back to the Firefly they called home. It felt a little less like running away when he couldn’t argue the state of current affairs with Ali, and a lot more terrifying. Didn’t mean he hated it any less. That internal conflict kept him caught between the two decisions.
Go back into the med center. Or go Home.
Daiyu just stood there, trembling in terror at all she had just witnessed.
So Alden stood, caught halfway between the two options as if a medic might wander past and offer up their services, those recent gunshots still ringing in his ears as people flowed around him. It slowly came into the wider realisation of his fuzzy head that those shots had faded and the sounds of a general alarm was ringing out from the medcenter behind him.
"Daiyu," Alden said, quietly. "Stay close." And he took his first purposeful steps in the direction of Fortune's Echo.
But Daiyu was gone. An unknown compulsion beyond her understanding sent her in the direction of Grimshaw and those terrible men with blue hands.
Kindra and Chloe had left 'Charlies Junkyard' and were headed to the place they were meeting the rest of the crew for Ice Planets, when an alarm sounded throughout the space station. The series of neon advertisements on a nearby billboard cleared, to be replaced with a stark station-wide warning to evacuate all businesses and public spaces in the vicinity of the medical center. The area was now off limits, except for security personnel.
Kindra stared at the displayed warning, then turned to Chloe, wide-eyed. "Alden and Alison were taking Daiyu to the medical center."
Chloe's eyes widened a bit, but otherwise she kept her emotions mostly hidden. "We should get back to the ship," she said. For two reasons; one, she didn't want to be involved with whatever was going on and she had an awful suspicion that whatever was going on related to Daiyu. Chloe had no desire to endanger herself on that woman's behalf. And secondly, well, Chloe was a ship engineer. The only thing helpful that she could do was on the ship; surrounded by all the mechanisms and engine was the safest place for her.
Just for a fraction of a second, Kindra had hoped that Chloe would say, don't worry, they're probably fine. But both of them - engineer and companion - had the same intuitive reaction. Even with Alison and her cool-headed thinking, of course those three would be at the center of whatever disaster was unfolding. Kindra controlled the sudden urge to go looking for them and nodded. "You're right, Chloe. Best thing we can do is get back to the 'Echo. You can prep her for a fast get-away if needed, and I… well I'll help you if I can. And, uh… wave the others to meet us there."
Chloe immediately turned around and started back towards the direction of the ship. Although she was new to this bazaar, she had a good memory and knew exactly which direction to head back. "You can try to get any information about the others, and I'll start warming the engines up." She did not know how much Kindra knew about engines or controls, and didn't want to have to figure that out right now, on top of everything else.
Kindra followed Chloe, her attention on the cortex device on her wrist. She took a deep breath to compose herself, and recorded an audio wave, modulating her voice to sound calm and reassuring. "This is Kindra. In light of the station's security alert, Chloe and I are headed back to the 'Echo' to prepare her in case a swift departure is advisable. Reply or join us when you can." She sent the wave out to each member of the crew with a portable cortex, then picked up her pace to keep up with Chloe.
Karen didn't answer when Alden attempted to make contact. Comms just told him - out of range - so she was already en route elsewhere. And Daiyu? Daiyu had vanished into the milling crowd of folks trying to figure out what they were running to or from. Alison... needed help and a safe place. Then, just when he needed a voice to steer him, a beep from his cortex signalled a message being left. Alden had no hand free to check it, so soldiered stubbornly onwards until he found a temporary lull from the busy marketplace and its milling crowds, located a place to rest his back against a wall for a moment. Then? Then those silken words caught the Echo's captain and pulled his attention towards home.
"Kindra," Alden's delayed reply returned with a strained but certain tone as it hit the Firefly's internal comm system and blared from the ship's speakers "Ali's hurt. Need help. Need a Doc we can trust. You have any contacts we can count on?" Maybe, his addled brain told him, the Companion might have some connection or lifeline they could follow, but he wouldn't risk taking Ali back into danger.
Kindra had stopped at the station kennel to collect the puppy whilst Chloe went on ahead, and had hurried up the 'Echo's cargo ramp just in time to hear Alden's incoming message on the ship's speakers. Her stomach wrenched. Ali was hurt. Oh yes, she definitely could use her Companion status to get a doctor on board immediately, but they'd be Alliance and would most likely arrive with a squad of guards. She tapped the ship's intercom and answered while looking back down the ramp. "Yes, I can get a doctor. How badly is she hurt? Alison recruited a medic today, in the bookstore. Her name is Jacy Wright."
He heard some of that, though not all of it, the words drowned out by noise from the station aroun him. Alerts. Warnings. A particularly ear-splitting advert with a peppy pop song wrapped around it. Something about a new recruit? Alden shifted position, ensuring he didn't jolt Ali too roughly, and picked up his pace. "Thanks! Be with you soon," Alden returned, his voice a little louder than it needed to be as he countered for the external noise.
An Alliance doctor still her backup plan B, Kindra accessed a station search for Jacy Wright on her cortex, and entered her companion credentials to bypass routine security. Then she hurried to the infirmary. Karen had been teaching her a few things, but mainly how to assist in an emergency. While Kindra made what preparations she could, a station news bulletin reported an execution-style mass shooting at the medical center – the perpetrators were still at large. Kindra's cortex search of station records finally turned up a room that Jacy had rented, but she had checked out – destination unknown.
Cooper didn't have any cortext that Kindra would be able to reach - this one purchased today from the Li Shen's market - but beside him, Jonas' pinged up with the alert from the Companion. Cooper hung in limbo between the conversation they'd just had, Whit's own personal mission and the Firefly he knew would be a potential ride back to the Border. He shrugged, and looked to Jonas.
Alden reached the Echo's ramp, Ali still held close and far too quiet for his liking. Boots clanged on metal decking as he hurried in the footsteps of the others into the cool familiar space that had been home for most of this year now. In the shadows of the cargo bay his mind conjured up the bodies that had haunted the shadows when he and Alison had originally found the Firefly, the imagery sending waves of anxiety through his lungs and a sensation of unwelcome tightness in his chest.
"Everyone on board?" He shouted, hitting the comm button to ensure anyone here heard him as he stood by the base of the stairs. "Jonas! James! - I need some help!"
"Kindra and I are on board," Chloe responded from her place in the engine room where the engines were warm and ready to go.
"Okay, thanks Chloe." Someone he could trust to get them up and running was definitely a Good Thing. "James! Daiyu!" Yelled the Echo's captain, checking for the others to no immediate avail. There was some cursing, then... "I'm coming up!" Called Alden, but he paused as he heard boots on the ramp behind him.
Slinking down a back alley where a Shepherd had no business being, Whit came across a wayward soul in need of compassion if naught else. He tucked a sheaf of papers into his beltline before warily approaching a weeping Daiyu.
"Miss Daiyu?" he asked. His body language said caution even if his voice kept an even, casual tone.
If Daiyu had heard him, she gave no sign. Her whimpering continued apace while her feet dangled just high enough to let the toes of her shoes scrape over the ground.
"Heard about the trouble before," Whit continued, "back at the clinic." He chuckled wryly. "Me and half the bazaar. T'was a ruckus that could rightly raise the dead."
At that, Daiyu lifted her head just enough to make eye contact after she slowly craned her neck to face Whit.
"You are no Shepherd," she hissed. "And that was no monastery!"
Whit pursed his lips as he thought about that. "Shepherds are as Shepherds do," he said at length. "Now I might notta' went through any fancy seminary, but I did take an oath. One I mean to keep." He nodded to punctuate the statement. "Me and my brother Shepherds take action no lawman dare to take. They know what happened at Hera. They know those evil men are after you. Go with Father Grimshaw. He can protect you."
"No..." Daiyu covered her ears and shook her head. Too many words. How could they know? She had killed a man. She awoke with blood on her hands to prove it. That's why Father Johns sent her away. It had to be. If she was guilty and these Shepherds were willing to help her, what did that make them? "I can't..." Looking at Whit with fresh tears and fear in her eyes, Daiyu pleaded, "Please don't give me to them!"
That posed a conundrum for Whit. She couldn't stay here. If she wouldn't accept Grimshaw's help, the man wouldn't force it on her. None of them would.
"How's this?" Whit said. "I take you back to Captain Alden. You still trust him?"
Daiyu thought for a moment and then nodded.
"Good 'nuff." Whit offered his hand. "Let's get you back to the Fortune's Echo."
With her bag slung over a shoulder, atop the backpack she’d been given by Arlo, Jacy had paid up what she owed for her room and set out to do this job that she had basically been forced into. In a way it hopefully wouldn’t be all bad, the ship needed a doctor, it was the reporting on them that was the issue. But, these people would also be strangers and Jacy hoped that would help her feel less… guilty. What she did feel a teensy bit guilty about was that she was just going to meet those new people she’d met earlier in the bookstore.
Those were thoughts for another day, another time.
It took no time in finding the right ship, Fortune’s Echo. Noticing that the ramp was down, she took a deep breath, letting it out slowly and steeled her shoulders. It was now or never. Or she could run, but if Arlo stuck to his end of the deal… not running sounded like the best thing Jacy had heard in years. She approached the ship cautiously, stepping up onto the ramp as if she were seeking out a crew member, “Hello?” her curious blue gaze landing on a figure standing by the ramp, though it looked like it -he- was holding someone. Jacy froze, swallowed and wondered just what she’d walked right into.
Alden turned, taking care to keep Ali close in against his chest, and regarded a new blond-haired lady with a cautious feel to her stance. Worry coloured his own features, lines creasing his brow as his eyes were bright with the stress of this enlongated moment. He didn't know this person. What did they want? Why did they want whatever it was right now?
"Hullo," Alden returned, already slowly backing towards the stairs, but cautiously defensive as to this new arrival. "Who are you?"
The man turned, the look on his face making Jacy want to take a step backwards, but that wasn’t what had her standing there, twisting the strap of her bag in her hands as she regarded him and the body in his arms. Maybe she should just take a few steps backwards, say she had the wrong ship and just run. She was good at that. The person he was cradling didn’t look good, in fact they looked in need of medical care. And there was something familiar about the person he was holding, something she couldn’t quite -Then it hit her. Blue eyes rounded in recognition moments before they darted up to his.
Dropping her bag, rushed forward, her tone accusing, “What did you do to her?!”
Instinctively protective, Alden fronted up physically, stance solid on the metal ramp despite his current solitude in that position. He saw no weapon though, no overt intent to harm despite the incrimination in the woman's question and those signals (or lack thereof) combined to keep his response verbal.
"Who are you?" He demanded again, but was unable to resist answering the unknown woman's own question. "We were both attacked," Alden said. "Both of us. She just won't wake up." Then, in the careful aftermath of his own paranoia, another realisation began to dawn. This unexpected stranger's concern had another implication. "You know her?"
Even though Jacy fully expected an answer she was still slightly surprised that he actually gave her one. His question preceded the short explanation, and she dismissed it, instead focusing on the key ones he’d said. She just won’t wake up. Curious blue eyes scanned his face before dropping to the woman, to Alison. Not Adabel, Alison. Her brow furrowed, gaze dropping to look the woman over, opening her mouth only to snap it shut and jump slightly at the sound of her name, her head whipping in the direction of the voice.
At the sound of Alden's voice calling out to the crew, Kindra rushed from the infirmary to the cargo bay. And there he was, just standing there holding Alison's limp form and talking to... "Jacy! Oh, thank the gods you're here. Alison needs your help." The companion spoke fast, worried for Alison and unaware of the stand-off she'd just interrupted. "Alden, this is Jacy Wright - a medic. She's patched up Ali before. And Jacy, this is Alden Loxley, ship's captain. The infirmary is ready and…" she trailed off, only now getting a good look at said captain. "Who duh tian ah. Alden. You're hurt too."
Words. Lots of words. They blew across Alden's beleagured mind like a gale looking for weaknesses and his expression mirrored that internal struggle. Jacy? Who was Jacy? Kindra. Taking charge. Alison - definitely not pulling her weight in that role which he'd previously become accustomed to. Quick words well spoke rattling his brain that ached as if he'd bashed it against a wall too many times. No.
That didn't matter.
He was fine, he told himself. Headaches were something he could deal with. The scent of blood in his nostrils was fading, dried. He was a little jangly, muddled and anxious, but he was alive and conscious and coherent. Then realised his words were purely internal.
"I'm alright," Alden insisted, taking the metal steps upwards now to the infirmary. "Worry about Ali. Fix Ali. I'm gonna get us outta here," he promised. "Once she's safe."
Behind him, in the station's main floor beyond the cargo ramp's lower edge, hove into sight a small ragtag group of others. Whit with Daiyu in tow, accompanied and suitably flanked by the purposefully striding duo of Cooper and Jonas.
"Alden Loxley, you are clearly not all right," said Kindra crisply. Her companion training kicked in and she took charge. "Jonas and Cooper, please get Alison and Alden to the infirmary." Then she addressed the medic. "Thank you for coming, Jacy. As you can see, we really needed a medic, and you've arrived just in time."
Alden rolled his eyes, though didn't bother to argue further. Kindra-mode was activated and her bossy nature was actually kinda welcome at this point. He wasn't feeling up to doing much more than yelling and moseying deeper into the ship, and Ali was starting to feel sorta heavy in his arms. Better to go put her down safely somewhere before he did something really stupid like fall - either over or asleep.
Well wasn’t this just…great. Questions, lots and lots of questions floated through her mind, each one picking up before the other had even finished forming, which was leaving her a bit scattered and confused. This was the ship, the one whose captain she was supposed to meet and see about getting hired. But there wasn’t time to think about that, and she blinked at the Companion. What was her name again?
More people had arrived and the woman… Kindra, right, was giving out instructions. Her gaze snapped to the Captain, to Alden, assessing him, but he was right. Alison was the priority. “Where’s the infirmary?” she asked, “And I’m a-” Jacy shook her head, now wasn’t the time, “Infirmary?”
"Up this way, ma'am," the broad-shouldered Shepherd grunted in response. Then, between them, Cooper and Jonas started the process of guiding Alden up the flight of stairs to the Echo's mid-deck without denting the captain's pride too brutally.
Daiyu froze upon the threshold of the cargo bay at the sight of bloody crewmates. The glazed look in her eye began to stir into something feral.
"Let's go, wo de háizi." Whit knew better than to grasp Daiyu by the arm, but he did lightly tap twice on the sides of her shoulders in a grounding technique. "Captain Alden will be fine. How's about we check on your plants?"
Eyes blinking, mind awakening, Daiyu gave a twitch at the suggestion. "Plants?"
"Up yonder, right?" Whit gave a directional nod.
"...yes."
"Then lead the way." Whit was overly cheerful in tone, but the parting glance he gave the others bore a suggestion to keep the ruckus to a minimum.
As Alden and Jonas placed Alison's prone form on the patient bed in the Echo's infirmary, Cooper took up residence on the sofa placed outside the medical room's entrance. He planned on remaining here for a while, and adopted a blank stare as he allowed his mind to slip into park. Bible verses repeated behind those eyes in a self-comforting mantra while the shepherd waited to see how things panned out.
Back down in the cargo bay, the main ramp rose up and locked into place as Chloe secured the ship for take-off.
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