Nov 8, 2022
Watching Last Man Standing episodes and one of my favorite characters is Eve Baxter
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Watching Last Man Standing episodes and one of my favorite characters is Eve Baxter
I don’t know if Last Man Standing is a thing to talk about but Eve Baxter should‘ve been queer.
I don’t care what anybody else says but the vibes she gives of are just too strong.
Accidental Hostages
Part Four
(Part One, Part Two and Part Three.)
Rip rubbed his eyes as he leaned back in his chair. It had been a long night researching and he hoped Sara had better luck than he did.
Checking the time, Rip decided to make himself some tea and phone his son afterwards. He hoped Gideon and Nora managed to get some rest because he would need their help.
Heading to the kitchen, he found Sara sitting cross-legged on the table eating a bowl of cereal.
“Morning,” she said.
“Good morning,” Rip replied as he filled the kettle, “Dare I ask what you have?”
Sara grimaced, “Damien Darhk is nowhere to be found.”
“Nowhere?” Rip demanded, automatically finding the tea things, “You have no trace of him?”
“We have CCTV of him leaving his office,” Sara listed, punctuating everything with her spoon, “He got in his car, I followed it to the airport then nothing.”
Rip frowned, “Nothing? You mean he got on a plane to somewhere we can’t follow?”
“Nope,” Sara replied, “I mean, his car goes into the airport and he’s not seen again. I checked every angle, and his car is still sitting there. A team are bringing it in.”
Rip mused as the kettle boiled and he made himself his tea.
“What about you?” Sara asked, “Any luck?”
“Yes,” Rip grimaced, “Thawne is a smug self-congratulating bastard, but he is also not as imaginative as he thinks he is.”
“Really?” Sara focussed all her attention on him.
“I found the proof he’s alive and faked the murder,” Rip replied, “And I sent it to the Police, ensuring a copy was also sent to Lyla Morgan.”
“Fantastic,” Sara said, before frowning, “So why do you still look like someone kicked your puppy?”
“Because Gideon and Nora are not safe from him,” Rip replied, “He can find a way to wiggle out of this. And he will come after Gideon, we both know that. I saw it happen with Tess, and I don’t want to see it again.”
Sara winced, “I read the report, I understand.”
“The fact Damien Darhk is missing is the thing that really worries me,” Rip told her, “Thawne and Darhk have worked together for so many years. And it’s no coincidence this happened at the same time.”
“Something big must have happened between them,” Sara mused, “Because it’s doubtful anyone other than Thawne could take out Darhk. Do you think, and I don’t mean anything against her, but would Gideon be a big enough reason for the split?”
Taking a long drink, Rip frowned, “If Gideon, as per Nora, was seen by Darhk as another daughter then it’s possible.”
“You’re sure?”
“Both Darhk and Thawne are the kind of men who mark their territory,” Rip explained, “They have specific lines that the other knew crossing would end their relationship. When Thawne initially showed interest in Gideon, Darhk likely shut it down telling Thawne that Gideon was in the same category as Nora.”
“And Thawne crossed the line?” Sara asked.
Rip nodded, “Put something in her drink which Darhk caught him doing.”
“Ohh,” Sara stared at him, “That will do it.”
“Which means we need to locate Darhk,” Rip told her, “I doubt Thawne will have the guts to have killed him, not until after Nora was convicted of murder.”
“Because otherwise all Darhk’s business interests would go to her,” Sara mused, “So, I take it we’re keeping the fact they’ve been exonerated quiet for now?”
Rip nodded, “Except we can only keep it quiet for so long. I’ve been given three days.”
Finishing the last of her cereal, Sara dropped the bowl into the sink, “Then I’d better get to work. Are you telling them the charges have been dropped?”
Rip nodded, “Yes, we’ll need their help and I don’t want them to worry about that at least.”
“I’ll get to work then,” Sara told him, “I’ll let you know what I find.”
Sitting with his tea, Rip made his call to Jonas, smiling as his son chattered away to him. It was the best way to start his day.
“I should be home in a few days,” Rip told Jonas, “And we will do something lots of fun, I promise.”
“Okay, Daddy,” Jonas’ grin came through the line, “I miss you.”
Rip felt guilt spike through him, this was why he’d left this life, “I miss you too, little man. And I love you.”
“I love you,” Jonas told him, “Come home soon.”
“I will,” Rip whispered, “I promise.”
Hanging up Rip hated that he was away from his son at all, never mind for so many days. Which meant he had to solve this.
Checking the time, Rip hoped the girls and Ray were awake because he needed to talk to them.
Gideon had been awake for some time but there was nothing she could do so just lay hugging her pillow. A knock on the door made her look up and she sighed, practically falling off the bed to answer it.
“Rip?” she asked, seeing the man standing on the other side.
“I need to talk to you all,” he said, “Be in the break room in twenty minutes?”
Gideon nodded, “That gives me enough time for a shower.”
Rip gave her a small smile before he disappeared presumably to wake up Nora and Ray. Gideon had a quick shower before tying up her still damp hair and dressing in a pair of jeans and sweatshirt she found in the chest of drawers. Leaving the room, she gave a quick amused smile to Nora when she and Ray walked out the door.
“Did you get any sleep?” Nora asked her.
“A little,” Gideon assured her, wanting to tease her friend about the gorgeous guy she had been snuggled up to all night but knew now wasn’t the time.
Reaching the small kitchen, she saw Rip waiting for them, leaning against the counter looking scruffy and rumpled which she found annoyingly attractive.
“There’s coffee in the pot, and a selection of cereals or other breakfast foods,” Rip told them, “Grab something to eat then I will catch you up.”
“Did you sleep?” Nora asked.
Rip shrugged, “I got an hour or so,” he chuckled at their concerned looks, “I have a four-year-old and was an agent for several years before he came along. I’m used to lack of sleep.”
They all grabbed something to eat, Nora and Ray took the couch in the corner while Gideon sat in the chair.
“Okay,” Rip appeared, a mug in his hand, “I have some good news for you.”
“Which is?” Nora asked.
He smiled, “I found the evidence to prove not only your innocence, but that Thawne is alive.”
Nora gasped as Gideon stared at him.
“You’re serious?” Gideon demanded, “It’s over?”
Rip sighed, “I’m serious that the charges have been dropped and Argus have fixed it so your escape won’t be an issue,” he held up his hand before they could celebrate, “But it won’t happen for a few days.”
“What?” Nora and Gideon cried in unison.
“Why not?” Ray asked for them.
Rip took a quick drink, “For you to be exonerated, we have to expose the fact Thawne is alive. Which will put your father in danger, Nora.”
“My father?” Nora breathed worriedly.
Rip nodded, “Nora, I am sorry to have to tell you that we believe he’s been abducted. We manage to follow him to the airport but from there we have no trace. His car is being brought in for us to check.”
“What does this mean?” Ray asked, “When can they go home?”
“Well, Ray you can go home now if you want,” Rip told him, “A story has been leaked that you have been on a retreat for the past few days, and your abduction by two escaped felons was a joke someone picked up wrong. One of the team will drive you to the train station.”
Ray stared at him for a few minutes before he turned to Nora, “I’m staying.”
“What?” she breathed.
“I’m staying until Nora and Gideon can return home as well,” he said to Rip, “Any problems with that?”
Rip shook his head, “None. In fact, I may require your expertise at some point.”
“So, what do we do now?” Gideon asked.
“For the moment,” Rip told her, “There’s nothing you can do but we will need Nora’s help when we bring her father’s car in.”
Gideon sighed, “I need to do something?”
Rip grimaced before nodding, “I’ll see what I can find.”
Gideon left Nora and Ray finishing their breakfast so she could talk to Rip alone for a few minutes. There was something off about what he’d told them, like he was hiding something from them, and she needed to know what.
Making her way through the corridors, she found the office he was using, surprised no one had stopped her from making her way there. With a quick breath she reached out and rapped on the door sharply.
“Come in,” Rip called.
Stepping inside Gideon saw Rip hunched over his computer with a mug in his hand looking exhausted.
“I thought you said you were used to the lack of sleep,” Gideon said, smiling slightly at how his head jerked up in surprise.
Rip stared at her for a moment before shaking himself, “I usually manage a little more sleep these days.”
Gideon grabbed a chair and pulled it across to sit across from Rip.
“What aren’t you telling us, Rip?” Gideon demanded, “I know you’re trying to protect me, but you don’t have to. I’m a big girl and after everything that we’ve been through these past few weeks, I can handle whatever you’re hiding.”
Rip stared at her for a few moments before he sighed, “Once the information is released that you and Nora have been exonerated, that Thawne is alive then he will come after you.”
Fear filled Gideon and she swallowed hard.
“Look,” Rip reached out and took her hand, “I didn’t want to scare you because I am never going to let him near you.”
Sadly she whispered, “Can you actually promise me that?”
“I was not just a technician,” Rip told her seriously, “I can hack better than anyone here, true but I spent a lot of time in the field as well. I was very good at what I did, and it may have been about four years ago, but I’m not that rusty.”
Gideon smiled sweetly at him, “I trust you, Rip,” she breathed looking down at the joined hands, “I do. I am very scared, but I need you to tell me the truth no matter what it is.”
Rip nodded and squeezed her hand, “I promise.”
“Thank you,” Gideon said softly.
He smiled at her for a moment before releasing her hand, ready to turn back to work.
“I know I might not be the ruthless hacker you are,” Gideon told him, “But I’m good and if you want some help, I need something to do.”
Rip mused for a moment before he nodded, “It’s not hacking but scanning video footage.”
“Whatever you need,” Gideon said.
Eve frowned as Rip leaned against the wall.
“Are you insane?” she demanded, “Miss Ryder may be a very intelligent woman, but she is not a trained analyst. She’s also the prime target of Thawne. She shouldn’t be near anything to do with this case.”
“Technically it’s not her case I’m assigning her to review,” Rip noted, “Instead I was hoping she would look into the Damian Darhk case.”
Eve stared at him before crying, “That’s even worse. She is practically his adopted daughter.”
“No,” Rip argued, “He looks on her as family, there has never been any indication Gideon sees Darhk as anything other than her best friend’s father.”
“You know that technically you’re not a real agent anymore,” Eve reminded him, “And everything you’re doing here is a courtesy considering your former service to this agency.”
Rip frowned at her, “We need Nora and Gideon to work with us, in order for that to happen they need to trust us as well as keep them calm. I will go over your head if I have to.”
“Oh, you are so aggravating,” Eve cried, before sighing in defeat, “Fine but,” she held up her hand before he could say anything else, “This is on your head.”
Rip shrugged, “Nothing has changed.”
Us Against the Universe
Happy massively belated birthday, @fezwearingjellybananas! I’m sorry this took so long and I hope a Marvellous Ladies of DC has been worth the wait.
AO3
A loud wail came from the bassinet just as Zari finally got her piece to the other side of the checkerboard. Her mother looked directly towards her baby brother and got out of her chair. Zari watched her mother pick up her baby brother, shushing him and rocking him back and forth. It didn’t calm him down, so he either had a dirty diaper or was hungry. Probably both.
“Zari, I think we need to pause the game for a while until he calms down,” her mother said as Behrad wailed louder.
“Nah,” Zari pushed her chair back. “He’s probably hungry or something. I’ll just go read.”
She stomped off towards the stairs. The prospect of having a little brother was exciting when Mama and Baba first told her. She’d seen the other kids in her class talk about their younger siblings and been a little jealous she didn’t have that. But Behrad was too little to do anything fun. All he did was cry and sleep and poop and he couldn’t even eat halva yet. Her parents were always busy with him and barely had time for her.
“Zari.”
She looked down from the steps at her mother, still swaying with an angry Behrad. “I know it’s been harder to do things together, but we’ll be able to do it more when he gets older.”
Zari shrugged. “Okay, Mama. I think his diaper’s getting full.”
“You’re right. I’m going to change him.”
She rushed off and Zari trudged up the steps to her room. After shutting the door and opening her window, the young girl flopped heavily on her bed. Staring at the ceiling got boring quickly, so Zari grabbed the new book Baba had given her and sat next to the window. She had been meaning to read it for a while. Now seemed like a good time.
“No!” came a scream through the window.
“I’m so sorry, Lily. I-”
“I HATE you!”
“Lily, please-”
The commotion made Zari peer out her window over at the next-door neighbors to see Lily Stein crying out in the backyard. The Steins were good friends with the Tarazis and had let her stay with them when Mama had to go have Behrad. They were really into science and insects, but they had talked to Zari about their computer and how it worked. She really liked them and hoped everything was okay.
Zari stuck her head out the window. “Lily!”
Lily’s lip trembled. She didn’t respond, but just ran toward the bushes. Zari knew exactly where she was goin.
“Wait for me! I’m coming down!”
Zari backed up and grabbed her backpack. She stuffed in her new book and Mama’s old Walkman inside. Zipping it up, she bounded down the stairs and to the front door to get her shoes. Mama was sitting on the couch with Behrad, watching Zari as she stuffed her feet in her sneakers. “Going somewhere?”
“Next door to see Lily,” Zari explained.
“Be back for dinner.”
“I will! Bye, Mama!”
She ran out the door and around the house towards the bushes she’d seen Lily go through. She ran through the bushes and looked both ways before crossing the road to get to the park. Once she made her way to the other side, Zari bolted towards the woods and ran along the trail until she found the hideout that she and Lily had built. Her friend was inside, clutching her Beebo doll and crying.
“Lily?” she called out.
Lily stopped her sniffling momentarily. “Zari?”
“What’s wrong?” Zari asked as she crawled into the small fort made of sticks and branches. “Is everything okay?”
Lily shook her head. “My dad’s dead.”
Dr. Stein was dead? Zari didn’t get it. “What happened?”
“He and Mom were going on another business trip,” explained Lily. “Mrs. Jackson came over with Jax to watch me. They were supposed to be back two days ago, but then Mrs. Jackson got a call that it was going to take longer. Then Mom came back and told me Dad was dead!”
She started crying again. Zari reached out and patted her shoulder. It wasn’t fair at all. Lily’s dad had come into their class sometimes to do science demonstrations. He let her help him fix the computer when she’d been staying with them. Hearing that he was dead was awful and scary. Poor Lily.
“I’m sorry,” was all she could say.
Lily sniffled and sat Beebo between them. Zari remembered it’d been a Hanukkah present from her father. “I want him back.”
Zari nodded. She couldn’t imagine how she would feel if Baba was gone and didn’t want to.
“Want to listen to music?” she finally asked after a few minutes of silence.
Lily gave a small nod. Zari pulled out her Walkman and passed the headphones to the other girl so she could listen first. She also took out a notebook and pencil too for hangman. They played for a little while, going back and forth with different topics to eventually make each other laugh. It wasn’t until a drop of water hit the paper that either girl realized it was starting to rain. Zari stuffed everything into the bag before it could get too wet and took off with Lily.
The rain was coming down harder and the sky was getting darker as they raced down the trail. Lily grabbed Zari’s hand and pulled her back as a tree branch came crashing down on the trail. They ran through the mud and weeds to the clearing where kids played soccer. Once they were out of the woods, Zari saw something large in the clouds as lightning split through the sky. She ran further into the field with Lily on her tail, now a lot more curious.
“Did you see that?” she called over the rain. “Lily?”
“Zari!”
Beams of light suddenly shone down on her. Zari held up her arm and looked up to see something hovering above her. It was some massive thing, floating up in the sky. The lights grew brighter and Lily ran forward to stand at her side. Colors began to swirl around the two of them. Zari grabbed Lily, who clung back to her as they were lifted into the air. She shut her eyes as the light grew too blinding, holding onto Lily tighter.
Then the brightness cut out and Zari’s sneakers touched down on something solid. She cracked an eye open, then the other. No longer was she on the soccer field with Lily. They were on a pad in some large metal room. The people surrounded them all wore red jackets, but they didn’t look like people. Some had scales, others were slimy. There was a fellow with two heads and one with just eyes.
Aliens. They were surrounded by aliens.
They said something in a language Zari didn’t understand as another alien came forward. She (Zari thought the alien was a she) seemed almost human, but there were blue markings under her eyes. Pointing in a direction, she barked out something. Three aliens grabbed her and Lily and lead them away.
~~~
They put Zari and Lily in some kind of cell together and locked it. Almost immediately, they both started making a racket and screaming to be let out. Yelling felt good for Zari. But then a large alien growled something at them and gave them a stern look. Zari was pretty sure that they wanted them to shut up. She screamed at the alien again only to get a roar back that got alien spit on her before they were left alone.
“We’re on a spaceship,” Lily commented quietly as Zari took a seat on the bench next to her. “I thought if this ever happened, it would be more like Star Trek.”
“You’ve thought of being on a spaceship before?”
Lily shrugged. “It was more fun in my head.”
“Whatever happens, it’ll be an adventure,” Zari assured her. “We’ll get home and we can have dinner at my house and tell our families everything. We just stick together, and we’ll be okay.”
“You and I against this,” Lily grinned for the first time since their hideout.
Then the aliens came back but there was no yelling at them this time. They unlocked their cell and guided them down a bunch of halls. It didn’t seem like they were letting them go though. Zari reached over and took Lily’s hand as they were brought into a cabin. The woman with marks under her eyes was seated inside, two cups in front of her. Both girls were put in seats and aliens held them down as the woman approached with the cups. Zari felt her mouth get forced open and something went down her throat, despite her attempts to gag it up.
“What was that!” she shouted as Lily got the same treatment.
The woman put the cups down on their desk. “Ingestible translators.”
Zari gaped at her. “You speak English.”
“It sounds like English to you Terrans, but I’m speaking in the tongue of my homeworld,” the woman said. “Now you can understand what everyone is saying and stopping screaming your heads off at us.”
Lily narrowed her eyes at her. “Who are you?”
“Captain Mary Xavier, and this is the Refuge.”
“I’m Zari Tarazi,” Zari introduced. “This is Lily Stein. Can you take us back home? We live on Earth and I’m probably late for dinner now.”
Captain Xavier laughed and shook her head. “You’re a long way from Terra, child.”
She pressed a button, opening a shade behind them. There was no Earth. Just stars and blackness and something of swirling colors. It was beautiful and terrifying all at once.
“Terra’s three jumps away,” Captain Xavier continued, motioning for the other aliens to leave. “You’re not going home, kids.”
“But my parents-”
“Won’t miss you,” Captain Xavier barked. “You’re part of the crew now.”
“How?” Lily crossed her arms. “Aren’t you supposed to sign something? I didn’t sign up for this!”
“You have now,” Captain Xavier smiled at them. “You’re with us, girls. No going back.”
Zari crossed her arms too. “I don’t want to be part of your crew.”
“You should consider yourself lucky, child. If it wasn’t for me, the rest of the crew was going to gobble you up. They haven’t tasted Terran before. You owe me, child.”
Zari really didn’t want to be eaten. She uncrossed her arms, and Lily followed her example. “So we’re part of your crew then, I guess. What do you do?”
“We’re Ravagers. We find things and get them to people who pay us the biggest price. Sometimes we have to fight for them.”
“Like pirates? Just in space.”
Captain Xavier nodded at Lily. “You’re right. Both of you are small. You’ll be good at thieving in the tight spots.”
Zari and Lily looked at each other. Stealing seemed better than being eaten by aliens.
“Listen here,” Captain Xavier’s voice became a touch softer. “You’re with the Ravagers now. We look out for each other. You two already seem to do that. The rest of the crew’s gonna see you as Ravagers soon instead of the next meal. Okay?”
Zari nodded.
“Now, get yourselves to the galley. Food’s gonna be served and you’ll miss it if you don’t hurry.”
Lily got out of the seat. “Where is it?”
Captain Xavier sighed. “I’ll show you two today. You’re on your own tomorrow.”
~~~
Dinner was a mishmash of things that Zari had never seen before and didn’t know if they were okay to eat. Lily wasn’t sure either until another crew member whose skin reminded them of a hedgehog came over and talked to them about the food. She didn’t know much about Terran religion but seemed interested about halal and kosher food. There were other religions in space too with their own requirements about food. They ended up eating everything except the meat before Captain Xavier came and showed them to their room.
“You two share this room. Don’t start any fights or you’ll get floated.”
She shut the door, leaving them alone. Lily let Zari have the top bunk and settled into the one below.
Zari stared out at space from the small porthole. This was a whole lot different than the videos she had seen at school and when her parents took her to the planetarium. Her parents were probably worried sick about her now. She’d missed dinner for certain. When she’d left, she’d said bye to Mama but not to Behrad. Zari had been annoyed by him for so long, but she missed him and Mama and Baba so much now.
A muffled cry came from below. Lily.
Zari leaned over the edge. “You want to come up here?”
It didn’t take long for Lily to scramble to the top. Her eyes were red and puffy in the light from outside of the spaceship.
“I miss Mom,” she whimpered. “And Dad and Mrs. Jackson and Jax.”
Zari felt her own eyes well up. “I miss my family.”
“I told my mom I hated her.”
“I was jealous of my baby brother. Mama didn’t have time to play checkers with me.”
“I feel really bad,” Lily cried, staring out the window.
“Maybe it’s all a dream,” Zari suggested. “Maybe we’ll wake up tomorrow and today was a bad dream. We’ll be home and your dad will be there.”
“And if it’s not?”
Zari had to think about that now. “We’ll find a way to break free. We can run away from the Ravagers in a spaceship and go back home to Earth.”
Lily smiled. “Terra is a cooler name though.”
“It is. And we’ll make it home to tell people. Even if it’s us against the universe, we’ll make it.”
~~~
A month passed, or at least they were sure it was. Zari was using an old class calendar from her folder to keep track and Lily had made a twelve-month calendar on a sheet of paper. They’d been with the Ravagers long enough to pick out the ones who were nice and those who were mean. Captain Xavier wasn’t so bad. She acted like a mother, a teacher, or a captain. Zari had heard her once whispering with another alien about them and ‘Mon-el’ but missed the rest when she’d heard them coming and ran.
Today was their first job. Captain Xavier had a buyer asking for them to steal fuel cells. The Refuge’s crew would provide cover while Zari would go steal the cells with Lily and another crew member. It was a lot of responsibility, but the captain felt that they were ready. If they failed, the crew would eat them. Success was very crucial for their survival.
One upside of space and the Refuge was the technology and how much more advanced it was than on Terra. Zari had spent a lot of time with Lily learning about the ship and its computers and how they worked. She was doing great with learning about how to use different settings and systems. Lily was too, but she preferred learning about the mechanics of the ship.
They’d also become exceptionally good in lockpicking, diffusing energy fields, and fighting offensively from Captain Xavier’s lessons.
After a stressful hour of crawling through vents and avoiding sentries whilst holding a case of powerful but tiny fuel cells, Zari was back on the ship with Lily. Both were grimy and sweaty and had some small burns from the cells, but overall alive. Captain Xavier had been satisfied with what they’d done, and a few other Ravagers even congratulated them. For the first time, Zari felt like she’d found her place.
Then she remembered Mama and Baba and Behrad.
~~~
“What are we doing out here?” Zari asked as she followed Captain Xavier into the forest.
“You said your birthday was today,” the captain said, ducking under a branch with orange vines that seemed to be moving. “Figured I can teach you something more useful now.”
Zari climbed over a fallen tree and ran forward a little bit to catch up. “I know how to start up the ship and reboot it. I can control the thrusters now too. That’s useful.”
“You’re still a long way off of me letting you fly. No, today you’re learning how to use a blaster.”
“A blaster?”
“Yes, child. I can’t keep sending you and Lily out on your own unprotected.”
She unclipped her blaster and showed Zari how to fire it. Then she took a few shots, taking down tree branches. The young girl watched with wide eyes while they fell to the floor, like the tree branch had in the storm before the Refuge had taken her.
“Your turn.”
Zari took the heavy weapon in her hand. Captain Xavier knelt beside her, talking her through the steps. Aim it the right way. Check the levels on it. Aim again. Turn the safety off. Squeeze the trigger when ready.
“Watch out for the kickback,” Captain Xavier warned gently when Zari was ready.
She squeezed the trigger. Its force made her stagger back a little, but there was a burning hole on the bark of the tree she’s been aiming for. Captain Xavier looked proud as Zari turned the safety back on.
“I hit it,” she murmured.
“You did,” the Kree woman ruffled her hair a little, causing a few pieces of her braid to come out. “We’ll practice some more.”
“Okay.”
Captain Xavier stood back up. “You don’t like using it that much, huh?”
“You kill people with these. I don’t want to kill people.”
“That’s a good thing. Good people never want to kill.”
“But the Ravagers kill sometimes.”
“We do. I don’t like to. Some evil just needs to be taken out. Others you have to just run from.”
She got a faraway look for a moment. “Evil might come for you one day. I want you to know how to protect yourselves. I was younger than you when I got taken away from my family and forced to work for someone else before the Ravagers saved me. If I’d known how to defend myself, then I would have never been taken away in the first place.”
“But then you wouldn’t have met the Ravagers.”
Captain Xavier shrugged. “I probably would have found them eventually. I was a bit of a free spirit.”
Zari scuffed her foot against the dirt. “I don’t want to use a blaster though.”
“How about a stunner?” Captain Xavier said. “You’ve seen them. Had to use that with the Dominator that snuck onboard. It doesn’t kill, but it does sting like crazy.”
Zari nodded. “I like that better.”
“Fair. It works like a blaster. You can take a few more practice shots with it if you want. The rest of the crew is probably still getting supplies out here. There’s time.”
Zari hefted up the blaster. “Okay.”
~~~
“Come on!”
Lily was a few paces ahead of Zari as they ran down the hall of the Valeronian outpost. In the two years they’d been in space, a lot had changed. They were Ravagers now, which sounded more official than space pirates. Zari had become masterful at putting together and taking apart electronic systems. Lily worked well with small pieces and mechanical bits. When they put their skills together, they created some great things. It was enough to let Captain Xavier start trusting them to go on assignments without someone watching out for them.
“I though you said it would work to keep the door jammed!” Zari sped up a little, which was hard while holding a large axe they had been tasked to bring out.
“It was supposed to! I need something stronger to keep the bolts powered. Like dwarf star!”
“Lily, we can’t get dwarf star on the Refuge.”
“Well, I’m saving credits for-”
She skidded to a stop as a large Valeronian came out of the crater in the wall the Ravagers had blasted for them to slip through. Zari stopped, nearly running into her. The axe this guy had was a lot bigger than the one they were stealing.
“Stay back!” Zari shouted, holding the axe they had out.
Lily backed up beside her as he drew closer.
Something blasted him through the other wall. As the dust settled, Captain Xavier was there, blaster in hand. There was murder in her eyes.
“Get back to the ship,” she ordered. “Now!”
Zari and Lily didn’t waste time. They booked it.
~~~
“Beebo la-la-loves you!”
Zari pulled off her headphones. “It still works?”
“Yeah, you just have to squeeze him a little harder. Wonder if Terra still sells these things?”
“Maybe they do. We could go and see it one day.”
“How?” Lily set Beebo back on their desk, away from some of the tools so they didn’t set it on fire again. “We’re with Mary’s crew. You don’t just leave the Ravagers.”
“You can if you have a fast ship. Remember the last gathering? People say it’s happened.”
Zari closed her book and slid off the bed. “Think about it. When we get old enough and have enough credits, we can leave. It doesn’t have to just be Terra we go to. It can be anywhere! We can see all kinds of galaxies. See if Krypton is really still out there. Find the Lantern Corps. A whole life of adventure for you and me.”
Lily grinned. “I like it. But it means we’re running from the Ravagers forever.”
“But we can outsmart them! I know we can! And we’re both learning to fly and you know how to fix the ship and I’m good at managing the programming of it all. Just think of it.”
“We’d be like outlaws for the Ravagers. Outlaw space pirates. We’d need names.”
“Good point,” Zari glanced out the porthole at the stars. “Something with space.”
The preteens were silent for a few minutes, watching the stars and a few bits of space junk floating off in the distance.
“I’ll be Star Lady,” Zari finally declared. “How about you?”
“Cosmonaut,” Lily told her. “Like astronaut, but with cosmos. It sounds cooler.”
“You know, it does. Makes me think of the nebulas.”
“Star Lady and Cosmonaut, explorers and rogues of the galaxy.”
“Us against the universe. We’ll be amazing.”
~~~
Zari stared out at Xandar as she flew the ship in closer. She brushed a stray piece of hair back as she waited for the clearance to come through to the ship. Maybe she should have taken up that offer from Lily to cut her hair short. It looked really good on her friend, who was seated off to the side.
“So what are you going to do once we get the clearance?” Mary asked.
“Gradually accelerate, but not too much to damage the shield,” Zari answered. “Coast on the descent and don’t aim downward.”
“Good. Now do that as soon as we get clearance.”
Zari nodded. Lily strapped herself in as they were approved to go in.”
When they landed, Mary patted her on the back and congratulated her on the landing. Then she ordered the girls to stay on the ship while they sold off some of the things they’d picked up and stock up on supplies. Zari and Lily could practically say the speech with her now, but never knew why they had to stay aboard. Mary never disclosed the details.
“Lily,” Zari said, turning to her friend as they watched the rest of the Ravagers leave. “I want a ship.”
“Me too. But ships cost money.”
“Then let’s start saving credits.”
~~~
“Hey, Zari?”
Zari had nearly been about to drift off to sleep when she heard Lily’s voice. “Hm? Everything okay?”
“Yeah…I just want to say something.”
“Do I need to turn on the light for this?” Zari asked, pulling off her covers. It would be easy to get to the lights now that she was on the bottom bunk. Lily had wanted to switch a few months ago and Zari was happy to have her feet on the floor without having to jump down.
“No, you don’t have to. But I want to tell you something now before I chicken out.”
“Lily, you’re scaring me.”
“No, no, no! I’m fine. It’s just, um, I don’t like men. I…like women.”
“Oh,” Zari blinked. “Okay.”
“You knew?”
“Not quite,” Zari didn’t exactly lie. She had noticed that Lily always blushed more around aliens who identified as female than she did with males. “Had a feeling but I didn’t want to assume. So I figured I’d wait until you said something before I did.”
“What do you mean?”
Now it was her turn. Zari inhaled and braced herself. “I like women too. And men. Women more though.”
“That’s great!”
“Yeah,” Zari nodded. “I don’t know I would have figured it out if I was still on Terra. I didn’t know you could even like women. When I did, I figured it was either one or the other. And then we kept growing up and seeing more and learning more and…it hit me a year or two ago. But I didn’t know if I could tell you.”
Lily’s head appeared upside down from the bunk. “Why not?”
“I was afraid that if I did, I would lose you.”
“You wouldn’t. And you won’t. You’ll never lose me, Z. It’s like you always tell me. Us against the universe.”
“Us against the universe,” Zari repeated. “Star Lady and Cosmonaut stay together, no matter what.”
~~~
Zari fell back as the fist crunched against her nose. “Ow!”
“Take that, Terran- hey!”
Lily had jumped on the new girl’s back and drove her elbow into her shoulder blade. While the two fought, Zari, wiped the blood away with the back of her hand and swung her fist at her. It connected with the other girl’s eye, toppling her and Lily back. Zari was ready to go at her again before she looked up.
“Uh-oh.”
“I should say,” Mary snarled, looking down at the three of them. “I thought I told you two to teach Eve about taking inventory.”
Lily scrambled away from Eve. “She called us stupid Terrans.”
“She did.”
Eve scoffed and crossed her arms. “They are.”
“You’re one to talk. I pulled you out of that cesspool of a town and I can easily put you back there. You respect everyone on this crew, no matter from where they came from.”
Eve scowled and picked herself off the floor.
“And you two…”
Zari grimaced as Mary turned to her and Lily. “You’re old enough to know better. Both of you are. You need to show her the way. There’s still time for the crew to taste Terran.”
She’d been using that threat for years. Zari and Lily knew she’d never see it through, but they had been kidnapped from Terra nearly ten years ago. They were stuck with the Ravagers, even though they were working to get a ship and fly away from the Ravagers. Still, they’d make it out one of these days and explore the galaxy.
“What’s she mean by ‘taste Terran’?” Eve asked after Mary stalked out of the room.
“If we don’t do as she says, she’ll kill us and feed us to the crew for dinner,” Lily explained. “Probably in a stew. It’s easier to hide whatever meat is in there that day. Everyone on the Refuge could eat us and then realize afterwards we weren’t there.”
Eve wrinkled her nose. “I don’t eat meat.”
“Then we can count on you not eating us,” Zari nodded. “Now let’s just finish this inventory so we don’t have to stay in the same room for much longer.”
~~~
“You’re really trusting us to run our own job?”
Mary nodded. “You’re old enough, Zari. You can fly a ship, hack any system, and you and Lily are a good team. I trust you to do this without getting yourself killed.”
Zari nodded eagerly. This was their chance to finally escape the Ravagers. Lily was looking over at her, not saying a peep but no doubt having the same thoughts run through her mind.
“I’m still sending you with two other Ravagers,” Mary continued. “Back-up. I don’t want to lose my best thieves.”
Zari felt her heart sink a little. They wanted a clean escape. She and Lily could fight, but they didn’t want to get freedom that way. Maybe the Ravagers weren’t the best people morally, but they had been family for the last thirteen years.
“Can Eve come?” Lily asked.
If they got Eve to come, then that could help. They were on better terms with her now. She also didn’t mind getting her hands dirty if it came to it.
Mary shook her head. “I’m still teaching that girl how to fly. She’s staying around. So what are you thinking of taking?”
“We need to take a moment to do some research on what we can take,” Lily spoke up. “Right, Zari?”
“Right. Thank you for this opportunity. We’ll get back to you on what we’ll take.”
The two left the cockpit and headed to their room.
“We’re so close,” Lily sighed. “If Mary didn’t have us being supervised still, we could make our break.”
“I know,” Zari nodded, brushing loose strands of her hair back. She’d let Lily cut it short this time. When she grew it out long, she was going to keep it that way again. “How much do we have right now?”
Lily opened Zari’s old backpack where they were keeping the credits. “Probably enough for an engine and some controls.”
Zari pursued her lips. Still a long way to go. “We just need to keep saving up.”
“Yeah. Do you think Mary will pick which ship we can use?”
“If we can, we have to pick the Waverider. That’s the best one.”
~~~
Their first solo theft was a success. Mary even let them keep a share of the profits of the refined metal they stole from an Almeracian ship. She started trusting them to run more operations on their own for the Ravagers. Unfortunately, they were always supervised by at least two Ravagers that were supposed to serve as ‘muscle’. Zari just saw them as glorified babysitters.
Years kept on passing for the two girls. Even though more of their lives had been lived in space than on Terra, their home planet was not forgotten by Zari nor Lily. They still held onto their traditions or what they remembered of them, celebrating holidays and birthdays according to their Terran calendar. Everything from Zari’s backpack was around the room they shared, remnants of their culture reminding them where they came from. But they celebrated other festivals on different planets that held significance to their lives now. Space was as much as home as Terra had been.
Zari wondered about her family back there. At this point, Behrad was older than she had been when the Ravagers picked her and Lily up. Did her parents think she’d run away from home or that someone had taken her and Lily? Did they still remember her at all? And what about Lily’s mother? What became of her- losing her husband and daughter on the same day?
“Zari?” Lily peeked her head up from the floor. “Hey, Zari?”
Zari looked down at Lily’s grease-streaked face. “Huh?”
“I asked if you’d pass me the wrench. The little one?”
Zari found what she was looking for and handed it over. “Do you ever wonder about your mom?”
Lily stared stonily before shifting her eyes down and ducking beneath the floorboards to use the wrench. “Sometimes. I don’t like to.”
“How come?”
“Because the last thing I said to her was that I hated her. I wish I could have done something different that day.”
Zari thought back to how eager she’d been to leave the house to be with her friend and not stay around her brother. “I do too.”
~~~
Zari sat upside down on the bench, tapping her foot against the wall. Lily was pacing.
“Mary isn’t going to be happy with us,” her friend finally stated.
“You think?” Zari asked, picking at the hole in the pocket of her pants. “Here I thought she’d be pleased we got arrested!”
“It wasn’t just because of me.”
“Okay, Lily. But you’re not totally innocent.”
“Because the Infernian fled! He tried to drug us!”
“So you punched him?”
“Because he was trying it on another girl. When I stopped him, he punched me first! And then you joined in.”
“I’d say sorry, but I wouldn’t be sincere about it,” Zari admitted, examining the burns across her knuckles. “He was disgusting to Eve. I would do it again. But at least she made it out.”
Lily finally took a seat next to her. About time, since she’d been pacing for at least twenty minutes. “Do you think she told Mary?”
“Stein, Tarazi!” a guard came in with a key.
“Actually, she’s Star Lady and I’m Cosmonaut,” Lily piped up with a grin.
The guard rolled his eyes and unlocked their cell. “You’re free to go.”
Zari swung her legs down so she could stand upright. “Say what now?”
“Nova Corp took a look at it, and they’re after the guy now,” the guard told them. “But you’re still in our systems. Next offense and your stay here will be longer.”
“Thank you,” Zari smiled as she exited the cell with Lily. “We wouldn’t dream of causing any more trouble.”
Lily raised an eyebrow, but waited until they were outside before saying more. “We wouldn’t dream of causing any more trouble?”
“I might have thought the rest to myself. We wouldn’t dream of causing any more trouble and then get caught by the Nova Corp.”
“Good idea on not saying the rest. Now let’s go find Mary and make up a reason for why we didn’t make it back last night.”
~~~
“Tarazi!”
Zari quickly stowed the credits she’d been counting under her bunk and ran to the door, meeting Mary just in time. “Hey there.”
“I heard you didn’t bring in anything on the last assignment.”
“It’s true,” Zari crossed her arms, staring Mary down. “I gave it away.”
“You did what? I know I’ve taught you better than that. We’re Ravagers-”
“There were kids,” Zari’s voice broke. “They had children in captivity. Apparently, they were planning to sell them off to the high and mighty of the galaxy as servants. More like slaves. So I backed out of taking the haul for us. Eve, Lily, and I set the kids free. We gave them the credits we were taking and got them to ships. We left a beacon for Nova Corp to find them and get them home.”
Mary tilted her head. “So your plan that took a week just got thrown to the wind because of some children.”
“I won’t ignore a crying child.”
Mary was silent for the longest moment before nodding. “Did the children get picked up by Nova Corp?”
Zari nodded.
“Good. But you’re going to have to make up for those lost credits.”
“And I will.”
Mary walked off and Zari exhaled, shutting the door.
Lily sat up from her bed. “Are we getting closer to our own ship?”
“More than halfway there. But we might have to lose some of it to make up for giving the kids the credits.”
“That’s okay. The universe might have taken this round financially, but we win morally.”
Zari smiled to herself. “I hacked into the Nova Corp when we got back. They found the kids’ families or ones that will take the orphans. We did a good thing.”
~~~
“Well then, Star Queen and Cosmos again?”
“Star-Lady,” Zari grumbled as she and Lily sat in front of the desk of the Nova Corp officer.
“And it’s Cosmonaut,” Lily mumbled, trying to move her hands up to wipe the blood from her cheek.
“Eh, you’re still officially Tarazi and Stein in here. So what was it this time?”
“Mine,” Lily raised a hand. “My date was not who she said she was.”
“And I had to help her out. So I followed her to where they were holding her and set her free. Yes, there was some fighting, but we didn’t know there was flammable material.”
“And no one died. That’s important.”
Zari nodded. “She’s right, no one did die. Just a few minor burns.”
The officer groaned. “This is the third time I’ve seen you this cycle.”
“Did you miss us?”
“No. You’re about to lose a bunch of credits for bail.”
Zari’s shoulders slumped. They had to get better at dealing with their money.
~~~
The Dominators had invaded Terra. It was buzzing all across the galaxy. Zari didn’t think it was a coincidence that she grounded the Refuge when they first got the reports. Someone had managed to get footage of what was happening on the planet. Lily and Zari watched together, wondering about their families again.
But there were people fighting back. Mostly a bunch of people in colorful costumes. A beautiful woman with dark hair with a hammer used lightning to fight back. A robot flew around sending energy blasts out while another with pale skin and white hair frozen them solid on the streets. Two archers fought from above and on the ground. The most surprising to both of them was a woman dressed like Captain America, who Zari remembered hearing about in a book when she was in school.
Then it all ended. The Dominators all collapsed dead on the streets. Their hive had been hit and severed their links, rendering every single one lifeless. A whole species gone in an instant. Even if they had been warriors used for muscle, it still chilled Zari. If something ever happened to Terra and everyone died, it would truly be them against the universe.
“It’s still there though,” Lily said that night. “Terra. We can go back one day.”
“One day,” Zari agreed.
They just needed more credits.
~~~
The banner was silver and blue, rippling in the wind in front of the museum. Zari stopped and looked up at it. When she and Lily had been younger, Mary or someone else had taken them to museums on other planets. Part of it was teaching observation with some light pickpocketing, but it also served an education purpose. As a result, Zari knew about most of the habitable planets along with some dead ones. She had never heard of Morag before, but what was the harm in asking about it.
“Hey,” she greeted someone who looked official when she walked in. “You’ve got a banner out about an exhibit on Morag. What’s that?”
The alien smiled, her three eyes focusing on Zari. “Most people haven’t. It was once home to an advanced civilization before global warming wiped the whole planet out thousands of years ago. The only people who really know about it are archaeologists. With the artifacts we’ve found, we figure we can teach people about the influences they gave to the galaxy as well as a warning about the fragility of the environment.”
“Artifacts?” Zari asked.
“Mostly tools, a few books, and remnants of a temple. We sent a team to search for the Orb, but the water levels were too high. Now we’re trying to raise money for a recovery of it since the water levels lowered.”
“What’s the Orb?”
“No one knows,” the alien smiled dreamily. “From what we’ve recovered, it was an object of great power. Too much power, according to some texts. The inhabitants of Morag built a temple to guard it from those who might try and steal it for their own selfish purposes. After the planet flooded, the temple became inaccessible with the increased water levels.”
Zari frowned. “I thought you said the water levels were lower and you could recover it.”
“The seas lower every couple hundred years. This might be our only chance in my lifetime to retrieve it if we get enough funds. If we do, people will come from all across the galaxy for it.”
“So it’s a pretty big deal?”
“Extremely.”
Zari thanked her and headed out of the museum. If this Orb could bring people across galaxies to see it, then it had to be worth a lot. She and Lily could get it, sell it off for money or give it to the museum for a reward. But they would definitely get a lot of money out of it. It would likely be enough to buy their own ship and leave the Ravagers. They could do everything they planned, including Terra.
She set out to find Lily, thankfully finding her coming out of their favorite fence’s office. “Hey!”
“Hey, yourself!” Lily laughed. “Guess who just got us another hundred credits.”
“You didn’t sell Beebo, did you.”
Lily put a hand to her chest in mock offense. “I wouldn’t dare!”
“Good, because I’ve got an idea of a new job.”
I may be overthinking things but one of the main characters in this show is wearing a shirt with a rainbow heart on it. Could she be an ally?
my new favorite meme ft. my favorite characters