Chapter Text
Gaila:
So Mr. Roades told Aunt Krisy I’m dysleksick.
Dyslexic*
I’m not, though.
I can read just fine!
Sam:
Well, why did he tell Aunt Krisy you’re dyslexic, then?
Gaila:
I’m not good at spelling.
I ask for Miss Kyle’s help a lot.
Sam:
Well, you’re new at written Standard.
How are your other subjects? Are you having trouble all around, or is it just spelling?
Gaila:
Just spelling.
Sometimes I have trubble reading new words.
But that’s because Standard doesn’t make sense!
Sam:
You’re not wrong. Standard is weird.
Well, it’s been a couple months, now. If everything else is okay and it’s just that, maybe they want to make sure you’re still getting help until you’re up to par. That happens, sometimes.
I wouldn’t be too worried about it.
Gaila:
You think so?
Sam:
Yeah.
What’s going on with that girl? That mean one.
Gaila:
Taira Loring.
She called me a slut at recess yesterday and Louis punched her.
Sam:
Did he get in trouble?
Gaila:
Sort of.
He got suspended.
But Momma Garner wasn’t mad at him and took us out for icecream when she came to pick us up after school.
So, no?
Sam:
That’s good. Jimmy’ll be happy to hear you’re doing okay.
Gaila:
Have you talked to him?
Sam:
No, but he’s probably too busy leading a rebellion against the Governor to talk, anyway, fighting for the right of thirteen year olds to build spaceships or something.
You know how he gets.
Gaila:
Probly.
How’s college stuff?
Do you have a girlfriend?
Boyfriend?
Person-friend?
Sam:
You’re worse than Jimmy.
No, I don’t have a girlfriend. Just me and Aurie against our Psych teacher.
Gaila:
She seems nice.
You should date her.
Sam:
I’ll get right on that.
Gaila:
Do it.
Jimmy’s in love, so you should be too.
It’s only fair.
I have to go.
Alanna and Ruby and Louis and me are going to Johnny’s band play.
He just got out of jail, so it’s sort of a ‘Welcome Home’ party.
Sam:
Take notes. You’ll need to throw more than one of those for Jimmy, mark my words.
Message me if you need anything.
Gaila:
Okay.
Thanks, Sam.
Sam:
No problem.
*.*
“Gaila Pike, to the front office.”
Gaila frowns and pushes herself to her feet. She hasn’t done anything to merit a visit to the office.
“What’s wrong?” Louis asks. “What’cha do?”
“Nothing, I think,” she says. “Unless they figured out who painted the bathroom stalls.”
THEY DIDN’T, Aaron signs. OR ELSE THEY’D BE CALLING ALANNA, TOO.
Good point. Well, she’ll find out when she gets there.
*.*
Auntie Ren’s waiting for her when she finally walks into the office, shoulders stiff and hair still pulled back in a hairnet.
Gaila’s stomach drops.
“Auntie Ren, is something wrong?”
“Not here,” she says. “Krisy’s on her way. Let’s go, yuko.”
Japanese. Oh, this must be really bad, if Auntie Ren’s speaking Japanese. Usually she reserves her first language for when they really mess up.
“Auntie Ren, what’s happened? Did I do something?” Gaila’s starting to feel a little scared now. She’s never seen the woman so out of sorts, half-angry and half-nervous and…
“No, no.” She shakes her head as she bundles Gaila into the car a practically speeds towards home. “Your Dad’s coming to pick you up.”
Gaila’s breath catches. If the Farragut is coming all the way back to Earth just to get her… “Why?”
Auntie Ren stops, taking a deep breath.
“Jimmy Kirk just came from Tarsus IV,” she says. “And he’s really, really sick. There was… there was a… something bad happened, and he wants you.”
Something in Gaila goes cold, very cold. Which is probably a good thing, because otherwise she’d be sick, she’s sure of it.
“What happened?” she asks, numb. “What happened to Jimmy, Auntie Ren?”
Auntie Ren runs a hand through her hair, aggravated.
“There was a massacre, Gaila,” she says. “There was a massacre, and Jimmy survived it, and he wants you, so he’s going to get you. Okay?”
Gaila nods quietly. The rest of the drive is silent.
*.*
The ship is eerily quiet when Gaila materializes on the transporter pad. It has been, since they picked up Jimmy. It seems no one escaped the mind-numbing concern that had taken Chris upon bringing that boy aboard again, too thin and so angry.
He pulls Gaila into a tight hug when she steps towards him, sighing as something in his gut loosens. She looks okay— scared, worried, yes, but healthy. Safe.
Number One is waiting by Jimmy’s bedside when they get to Medbay. Jimmy’s asleep, for once, uncomfortably still against the stark white sheets of the biobed. Gaila is quiet for a long moment, eyes glued to her brother’s gaunt face, to his too long, yellow-blond hair. Then she looks up, eyes burning, at Number One.
“The man that did this,” she says, words soft and furious. “Is he dead?”
Number One stares back, assessing. Pike doesn’t know if she’ll actually answer in front of him— he’s not supposed to know, after all. If he does, he’s obligated to arrest her.
She nods, but doesn’t speak. Pike can see the movement out of the corner of his eye, just the impression of it, but he isn’t directly looking at her, so he can’t be sure. Good. It would suck to have to break the law, even if it was for a good reason.
Gaila blows out slowly, shoulders slumping.
“Okay,” she says, sliding carefully onto Jimmy’s bed. “Okay. I’m going to sleep here. Okay, Daddy?”
Chris nods.
“That’s fine,” he says. “Just be careful, okay? Jimmy’s… he’s got a long way to go, yet.”
Gaila doesn’t answer, already tucking herself against Jimmy’s side, head resting in the hollow where his shoulder meets his neck. It paints an odd picture, Chris thinks, gazing at the pair in the bed. When Gaila first came aboard, she hadn’t looked quite so thin, quite so tired, but next to Jimmy she’d looked awful, pilfered green uniform shirt hanging off her slight frame like a curtain. She isn’t so skinny anymore, now. Now, she looks like a normal little girl, his old shirt faded and shrunk from regular washes so it fits more like a proper shirt as opposed to Dobby’s pillowcase, and Jimmy…
Jimmy looks like Chris is secretly happy to be strongly suspicious about the death of a certain governor.
Number One’s hand finds the curve of his elbow and draws him away, leading him back to his quarters with the same sort of gentleness usually only reserved for Jimmy at his most upset. He doesn’t fight her on it even though he’s technically still on duty. He’s been pulling double shifts ever since Jimmy came back and Number One glued herself to his side, so he’s tired. Tired and anxious and angry in a way he never thought he could be.
Number One sits him down on the edge of the bed and pulls his shirt up over his head, tossing it into the laundry pile before kneeling to work off his regulation boots.
“You remember what happened,” he says, watching her with slightly glassy eyes as she pulls at his laces. “When I found Gaila in the cargo hold?”
Number One pauses.
“I do,” she says. It was the first time she had ever seen Chris truly aggressive outside of a political setting. There was a lot of blood, a lot of begging. She was impressed.
“I hope that…” Chris clicks his tongue. “I hope that whatever happened to Kodos was ten times that.”
Number One seems to think that over, before nodding quietly to herself and returning to her task.
That’s all the affirmation Chris needs. He can go to sleep now.