Chapter Text
Grace has always been told he has slight anger issues. Well... maybe more than slight. It's not like he's a bad guy! He just gets passionate and when things go wrong, that passion turns to frustration, and frustration allows anger to grow, and, yeah, he has outbursts. Who doesn't?
But this isn't an outburst. This is anger and pure, unfiltered rage. Rocky has done so much for him. His life would've ended long ago if it wasn't for Rocky. This brilliant and funny Eridian is his best friend and Grace has sworn to himself, over and over, that he is going to get Rocky home to Erid, home to Adrian, home to his people. And this? This won't change that. He refuses to let it alter his swear and promise.
When the radar showed a blip, they hadn't panicked. Well, Grace panicked a bit. Rocky had hoped that maybe, maybe, it was an Eridian ship. He was so hopeful that it was someone from home coming and that they could get to Erid faster. God, he was so hopeful and Grace had played into it.
The fantasy ended quickly when the ship approached and released a bridge to connect airlocks. It wasn't a ship like Rocky's. It was human made, Grace realized too late. When the people stepped out of their airlock, the small hairs on the back of his neck stood. People. But there shouldn't be people this far from Earth.
And what do you know? Maybe his little hairs were right because now? Now, he's being pinned to the floor of his own ship. A knee digs into his back and a hand holds the back of his neck to keep his face down. Their other hand holds his wrists together and behind him as his front presses against the cold metal floor. "Get away from him! Leave him alone, please!" Tears fill his eyes.
They're trying to contain Rocky in one spot. The Eridian is in his xenonite ball, trilling and panicking. They don't know the Eridian language, but Grace has been practicing, and he can understand parts of Rocky's speech. "No! No! No! Leave Grace! Grace!" He tries to ram into the side of his ball to roll away.Rocky's weight nearly knocks them over but not nearly enough. His entire weight would break the xenonite. He can't get away.
"Stop! Please!" Grace pleads, "He's not hostile! I swear!" A sob tears through his throat. "Rocky!"
"Grace! Grace okay? Grace hurt? Bad humans!"
"He didn't do anything, leave him alone!" Grace thrashes again. He can see them trying to open the ball, trying to get to Rocky, and he can't stop them. "Don't! He'll die if he leaves the ball! Please! I'll kill you if you kill him!"
He's not a violent person. He has never been one to start physical fights. Has he been in fights? Of course, who hasn't when they have as large of a mouth as he does at times? But he's never been one to threaten one. However, seeing Rocky scared and seeing the strangers treat him like something that is lesser than them makes him unbearably angry.
One of the people says something to another before approaching Grace. He crouches down to peer at Grace, who bares his teeth like a cornered animal. He's trying to not panic but it's all too familiar to worse times for him. "You speak English?" The man asks.
"Yes."
"What is your name? What station do you align with?"
Station? What? "I'm.. Ryland Grace. I don't have a station, I don't know what you mean, I just--"
"Answer the question!" The man snaps, grabbing Grace's hair. Groaning, he looks up in a panic at the angry and stern face glaring down at him.
"I am! I am!" He lets out a sob, "I'm from Earth! I'm going to Erid! I don't know what you mean! I'm a scientist and I was sent here to figure out why all the stars dimmed and he helped me," he says, trying to motion towards Rocky but he can't move, "And you're going to kill him if you open it! Ammonia will fill the room!" Another sob, broken and raspy, escapes through his pleas. "Please, he can't... He saved me, he can't die!"
The man's eyebrows furrow more as he looks back at the Eridian, who's stopped moving as much. He's still chittering away, trying to talk to Grace and trying so hard to know his person is okay. The man stands to his full height. "You know how to fix the stars? You're... You're why they're coming back?"
"Yes!" He partially lies. They hadn't introduced the predator to any more atmospheres. Not yet, at least. It would take a few more months of traveling to Erid and then breeding more Taumoeba until they could. But right now, all he can think about is saving Rocky, and he'll say anything to do so. "Yes, I do! We both do! We fixed them and they're not dimming anymore!"
"Grace, no, no, no! Could be bad!" Rocky says with a panic. The translator is still shut off. Only Grace can understand him. "Not friendly! Grace!"
The man suddenly stands, saying something in a different language. Without a warning, Grace is lifted by the back of his shirt. The man yelps, stumbling, as he's shoved to his feet with his husbands still held behind his hands. He tries to lung for Rocky but is stopped by a hand grabbing the collar of his cardigan. "You want the rock to live?" The man asks quietly, "Then you come with me. To the C.O.I. and we will see just how useful your solution is, Scientist."
And what choice did he have besides to pilot his ship and follow them? What choice did he have besides willingly diverging from the path to Erid to follow this "C.O.I"? He can't let them hurt Rocky. Their shop is faster and much more high tech. He can't outrun them. He needs to make sure Rocky gets home to Erid, to Adrian.
After a two day detour, they reach a very large station. The shock from seeing such a place hits Grace like a truck. There should not be stations with humans on it this far from Earth. It's impossible!
They radio to him and instruct him to halt near their station. The bridge they extend to his ship is not unlike the one Rocky had used from the Blip A to connect to the Hail Mary and he watches in amazement. This technology should be far from anything accomplishable on Earth. These people: where did they get this technology? It would take at least another 30 years to do such things! Unless time dilation but... No, that still wouldn't be possible.
He goes willingly when they order him to cross the bridge. The man from before, Camden, he's learned, keeps a tight grip on the back of Grace's shirt but he would still go without the sternness. As they board, Grace realizes how large this station truly is. It has multiple floors, gravity, and so many people that stare as he's brought in. All of them seem to be adults, from what he can tell.
When he tries to ask Camden a question, the man shuts him down and tells him to not speak. Okay, fine. That was fine. He just got kidnapped technically but, sure, no questions allowed.
They march him to the second floor and into a room where he is then placed in handcuffs. Grace's skin crawls at the feeling of the metal against his wrists but he can't risk Rocky's safety, so he complies. He sits in there and has nothing more to do than look.
The metal of the station looks older. A few repairs seem to have been made over time if the welding marks are anything to go by. There's a small table and one chair, which he sits in. The walls are a bit tall but there's a vent at the top of the wall near the metal door. It looks sturdy, so probably not something that can be used as an escape route.
Finally, as he's about to start counting to give his brain some stimulation, the door opens. Camden walks in followed by a new man and a female who wears a similar outfit as Camden. "Uh.. hi?"
"This is him?" The new man asks Camden. He looks angry. Grace can't help but shift in his seat under the man's harsh gaze.
"Ryland Grace," Camden says, firmly and professionally. "He was the single human in a vessel along with the alien." Grace's eyes snap to Camden when Rocky is mentioned. "He has outdated but advanced scientific equipment in top conditions on his vessel. He is a scientist and is helping to attempt to bring the stars back. He's possibly the reason they are returned."
"Okay, hold on-" Grace speaks, nervously fidgeting with his cuffs, "I didn't really solve it yet. I-I have the solution, yes, and it's been sent to Earth and we're bringing it to Erid but we haven't yet given the stars the predators to kill the astrophage but it will work! Adrian—or Tau Ceti—had these tiny amoebas that ate the astrophage, and Rocky and I found them and are trying to solve it now, and we can even give you a breeder tank! But we have to get to his planet an—
"Jesus fuck, does he always talk so much?" The new man interrupts, looking at Camden, who nods. Grace quickly stops talking. Watching carefully, Grace shifts nervously as the man steps closer. "What station is your allegiance to?"
"What... Station? I don't .. Earth?"
Everyone looks taken aback. "Earth?"
"Y-Yeah?" He asks curiously now. His heart races. Time dilation? Did the beetles not make it back to Earth? Did he fail? Was this all for nothing? "Earth, is it... Is it okay?"
The three others all exchange looks as if they're speaking on a other wavelength than him. Grace tries his best to not be frustrated by it but he's always hated being looked at as a joke or being seen as lesser when it came to knowledge.
The woman speaks finally, a bit of a thick Nigerian accent to her voice, soothing like a song. "You said you are a biologist to Camden, correct?" She asks, ignoring his questions about Earth whatsoever, "and you have befriended an alien?"
"Well, I view myself as the alien, considering he's taking me to his planet since I'm too far from mine." He corrects, but then feels dumb saying such an absurd thing to other people. It's been a while since he's even interacted with another person. "But, y'know I do- yes, I did. He is a very good friend of mine. He's not any harm to anyone, I promise."
Camden looks towards the woman and the man. "His technology is outdated but in terrific condition, far better than the technology and machines we have. He's our solution, whether you like it or not, David." The man, David, looks displeased. He lets out an annoyed sigh and straightens his posture.
"Dr. Ryland Grace," he says, "you are going to be escorted to a lab. We have a prime specimen that we are having troubles studying. You said you are intelligent enough to bring the stars back? This should be simple for you. If you do this for us, we will let you and your rock friend go harm free. This could help our community more than you could ever imagine."
"...What specimen?"
When they escort him, still in cuffs, to the fourth floor, Grace can hear his blood rushing in his body and feel his heart racing. He's being held hostage and Rocky is being threatened. He has no choice. Whatever specimen they have, he needs to study. There should be no complexities. Study it, tell them what they need, help their people, and get the fudge outta there and continue to Erid. For Rocky.
When they walk into the room, a light switch is flicked on. There's a large table with papers spread around it. On the far wall is a large window into a room that looks uncannily like a cell. Grace's body tenses when he looks closer. Inside is a man, but he isn't sure if it's a man at all. Large, needlepoint teeth stick out from his left cheek like a second mouth, except that of a predator. The man's skin around the deformity is mangled like it had been melting off before. A large scar goes from his left cheek, over his nose, and to above his right eyebrow. Black hair covers parts of his face but not nearly enough.
Grace recoils, stumbling back. He feels ill. "What the-"
"The specimen responds to Butcher," David says, as if he's going over simple instructions. "He is a subspecies of human that was discovered on a nearby moon. His origin is widely unknown. He seems to be the one of his kind and half human. He is immune to radiation poisoning and does not need nearly as much food and hydration as a typical human."
His stomach churns and he has to bring his shackled hands up to his mouth. No. There is no way in any world that this is possible.
The woman speaks up now. "We want to find a way to give those traits to our people. It will save them, we hope. Our food gets more scarce with every passing day, but this? The Butcher's advancements in his subspecies? It could be the answer to all of our problems."
Grace shakes his head rapidly. "No. Absolutely not. He's... he looks human! I'm not experimenting on a-a person!"
Camden and David exchange a look. The woman sighs. Camden speaks to her, "Amina, tell them to get a basin filled and towels available."
"Yes, Commander."
Eyebrows furrowed, Grace wonders, are they going to make him bathe? He gets his answer for that question too soon for his liking.
He gasps for air as his head is lifted back out of the basin. Grace sobs out. His back aches at the awkward stretch from his hands having been moved to be restrained behind him. His knees hurt against the concrete ground. A terrible shiver causes trembles throughout his whole body from the frigid water he's shoved into over and over. His lungs ache and his throat grows hoarse as he begs them to stop.
"I'll do it! I'll do it!" Only when he yells that, do they let up. They let his exhausted body drop to the floor. As he roughly hits the ground and goes limp, Camden speaks. "You start tomorrow. You will be shown to a room to rest. You will wake early. I apologize for this treatment, but this is bigger than you. Than us. Than anyone."
He doesn't do this for them. He does it because he wants to live, finally had a chance to before he was kidnapped yet again. He does it because Rocky needs him to get him home. He owes it to Rocky for everything that Eridian has done for him. Grace lets two guards lead him to his quarters. He changes into the bland gray clothes they provide. He eats the bland and small rations given to him.
And tomorrow, he'll go to their lab and work past the sickness in his stomach, and he'll do whatever they want him to. He wants to live. He wants Rocky to live. And he won't stop until they do.