Chapter Text
“Mm,” Rachel said, stirring her meal around idly with her fork. “Rabbit and dandelion. Again. Oh, joy.”
“It’s not exactly the same!” Jake insisted, huffing. “I fried it this time!”
“And it makes all the difference, honey,” Cassie said with a tight smile.
“You are such a terrible liar,” Rachel chastised.
“Oh, hey, is that rabbit?” Tobias asked as he came down into the galley from the bridge, and Jake turned and handed him a plate from where he was still working at the stove on the last pieces of rabbit. Tobias immediately went over to Cassie’s side of the table and traded his dandelion greens for her rabbit while she gave him a grateful smile. “So where’s Ax and Erek?” he asked.
“Well, now that we know Erek’s an android, he doesn’t have to pretend to eat,” said Jake. “And Ax is currently banned from the galley until after everyone’s had their share, seeing as how he always eats too much.”
“You know, he didn’t used to eat that much,” said Rachel. “He hated protein cubes.”
“Because everyone hates protein cubes,” said Tobias.
“Remember to keep the bones for Tom’s soup,” Cassie said as Rachel stood to move her plate to the disposal. Rachel made a dismissive gesture, but she dropped the bones into the stock pot.
Jake turned off the stove and took up the last two plates. “I’m gonna take this to Marco,” he told Cassie, lightly kissing her on top of the head as he passed by.
“Okay,” she said, smiling up at him. “Let him know I’m checking in on him tonight, after I finish the modifications.”
“What the fuck?” They all turned to Rachel, who was leaning against the counter and scrolling through her panel. “We just got a summons to a derelict site.”
“What?” Tobias demanded, quickly moving to her side. “I thought your license was revoked.”
“Maybe they forgot you have to do more than tear it up?” said Cassie.
“Hold on.” Rachel tapped the screen a few more time, then nodded, saying, “Yeah, my license is listed as up-to-date.”
“Well, decline it,” Jake said, moving back to the door.
“Jake, if they realize their mistake, this could be our last chance at good work for a long while!” Rachel objected.
“Too bad,” he said. “We’ve got an appointment to make.”
“What, Marco can’t go to Alexandria next month?” Rachel demanded.
“He could, but Peter can only meet us there now.”
Rachel’s hands fell to her side. “What?”
“Marco’s leaving?” Tobias asked.
Jake glanced to Cassie, but she was gazing sullenly at her lap. “I don’t know,” he said at last. “He hasn’t decided. He just… He needs Peter. And, right now, we need to give him what he needs.”
“What is this about?” Rachel demanded. “First, he blows up at Ax. Then, he locks himself in his shuttle, only letting in you and Cassie and never coming out. And now he’s leaving? What the fuck happened on that Cruiser?”
Jake shook his head. “I’m sorry, but it ain’t your business.”
Rachel snorted. “Seems like I ain’t got any business lately,” she said, and she tossed her panel onto the table before storming out of the galley.
Jake sighed heavily, gave her a head start to be polite, then left the galley himself to head to Marco’s shuttle. He found Marco where he always was lately － in bed. “Brought you food,” said Jake, setting his plate down on the coffee table and Marco’s plate on his bedside table before sitting on the edge of Marco’s bed.
“Not hungry,” Marco mumbled into his pillow.
“Yeah, I know,” Jake said, rubbing the spot between Marco’s shoulders. “But if you don’t eat it, I will force-feed you broth.”
Marco swatted at him but eventually turned over. He gazed up at him blearily and started to say something. Instead, he grabbed Jake by the collar and pulled him into a deep kiss. Jake’s tension melted just slightly, and he kissed back eagerly. Marco’s hands slid down to his waist, but Jake captured them by the wrist and backed off while Marco made a small noise of disappointment.
“That’s not gonna make things better,” Jake said quietly.
“No, but it’ll feel like they are for a little while,” Marco said, leaning forward to kiss at the line of Jake’s jaw.
Jake couldn’t help smiling a little. “Tell you what,” he said. “Eat your dinner, and then I promise I’m all yours.”
Marco scowled. “You are an assassin of fun,” he said.
Jake smirked. “Of course. How do you think I worked my way up to corporal?”
－ －
Marco checked his appearance in the mirror for the umpteenth time. He hadn’t worn a suit in months, and he was certain it wasn’t sitting quite right, but no amount of fussing was resolving the issue. He’d removed all his ear piercings but left the nose ring. His jewelry was minimal and masculine and so was his makeup. His hair was smoothed back into a neat, low ponytail.
There was a knock at his door. “Come in,” Marco said, quickly smoothing out non-existence wrinkles in his trousers as the shuttle door was pushed open.
Ax entered, already with a nervous energy about him. He was a fidgeter, like Tobias. “Captain Berenson said you wanted to see me?” he mumbled, eyes on the floor.
Marco couldn’t help smirking. “Doesn’t always saying ‘Captain Berenson’ get awkward for you?” he asked.
Ax appeared confused. “No?” he said.
Marco shook his head. “Nevermind,” he said. “Uh, look, first thing I want to say is that I’m sorry for blowing up at you. Deeply sorry. I’m mortified at my behavior, and really, I should have told you that sooner. I’ve been… selfish these past few days.”
Ax finally lifted his gaze and considered him carefully. Finally, he said, “I accept your apology. I am glad that it has been made.”
Marco nodded. He started to run his hand through his hair, then remembered that he’d just gotten it right, and dropped his hand to his side. “Has Jake talked to you about… about why we’re landing on Alexandria?” he asked.
Ax shrugged. “He said you wanted to visit your father and there was only a small window in which to do so without flying into the core zone.”
Marco nodded. He sighed and leaned back against his dresser. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, um… The thing is… I’ve always been the man with the plan, you know? Any situation that came up… Anything that needed doing… I could see the bright, clear path from A to B. From A to Z, even. It’s not always a nice path, but it’s the one that works. It’s what makes me so good at my job.
“For the first time ever… I don’t know what the path is. I try to grasp it, and it falls through my fingers like smoke. I’m not even sure what the end point is. I think I see it, but it’s like a dream where no matter how fast you run, the object of your desire remains on the horizon, too far to reach.
“The one thing that I do know I have to do before I can do anything else is make sure that everyone I love is safe.” He met Ax’s eyes evenly then. “That’s what I’m asking from you. I need to know… Could you tell if my father is a… host, or whatever you called it?”
Ax considered what Marco had said for a what seemed like ages to Marco before finally saying, “There are signs by which I might be able to tell if he is a Controller, but I cannot, for certain, tell if he is not a Controller without being able to observe him for the entirety of three UA Standard days.”
“You can just say ‘days,’” said Marco, rolling his eyes. “We get it; you’re an alien. Why would you need to observe him for three days?”
“Yeerks require Kandrona radiation to survive,” Ax explained. “They must leave their host and return to a Yeerk pool to feed on Kandrona within three days or they will expire.”
Marco straightened up, eyes wide. “Expire?” he repeated.
Ax nodded. “They will starve. Usually, fleeing the host and then disintegrating, though sometimes disintegration happens within the host, which can be potentially damaging, depending on biological－”
“You mean we can kill them?” Marco demanded. There was a hint of a grin playing at the edges of his lips. “Without killing the host?”
“Yes,” said Ax. “What is more difficult is doing so without being noticed and to prevent re-infestation.”
That only made Marco’s grin broaden. Suddenly, he was hugging a very startled Ax. “Ax, my man,” he said, pulling away, “you’re telling a smuggler that the hardest part is keeping something out of reach.” He patted Ax on the shoulder and headed for the shuttle door. “I think I might be seeing the line again!”
Ax stood there for a moment, confused. Then, he called after Marco, “Are all humans this wildly emotional?”