Work Text:
Int. Carte Blanche's main room. Day.
JET is playing a complex form of solitaire, with Rangian street poker cards. VESPA hovers over his shoulder, pretending to be disinterested.
JET
Hm… the five goes on the four, and- ah, the seven goes on the six, and the war-goats-
VESPA
No, idiot. War-goats are high. You can't put the serpent on them.
JET
You are right. Thank you.
VESPA
Don't mention it.
JET
You seem to know these cards quite well.
VESPA
(Grunts noncommittally)
JET shifts the cards around for a few moments, before looking back at VESPA.
JET
I believe I am close to losing. Would you like me to deal you in for Rangian poker after I am done?
VESPA
(startled) Hell no.
JET
All right. (A pause) I could teach you how to play, if you do not know the rules. It is a rather simple game, once you catch on.
VESPA
(derisive snort) If I don't know the rules? I'm from Ranga, you know.
JET
Ah. I was unaware.
VESPA
What, Sikuliaq, did Buddy not talk about me when I was dead, or did you just not listen?
JET
She told me quite a lot about your heists together, as well as your manner of speaking, skill at cooking, and the way you always asked her to dye your hair for you-
VESPA blushes with a little scowl. Secretly, knowing Buddy talked about her is a little ego boost, but she's not so sure if she wants JET to know all this.
JET
But not that you were from Ranga. Nor, I do not think, your aversion to street poker.
VESPA
(acidly) Drop it, Sikuliaq.
JET
Of course.
He continues to deal and shift cards for several seconds. VESPA doesn't interject again, until-
VESPA
You're killing me here, card shark. What kinda bullshit house rules say the hanged man's a higher card than the king's court?
JET
(a little embarrassed, but hiding it) Hm. I thought I might be able to get away with that one.
JET moves the card back, scowling at the remainder of the deck.
VESPA
Come on, Sikuliaq. Haven't you ever heard of honor among thieves?
JET
Our Captain always says that cheating is but another part of the game.
VESPA
Yeah, well. (A little scowl) That's something we never saw eye to eye on. I've lost too much cash to cheaters to think it's anything other than a way to make a quick buck off someone who needs it more than you do.
JET
I was not aware that you gambled.
VESPA starts to pace around the room, looking more than a little agitated by now. When she starts talking again, her hands alternate between punctuating her words, and twitching towards her knife.
VESPA
Oh, I don't. Not since I was real little, at least. Everyone gambled in the schoolyard and the swamps, but it was just for marbles and trinkets and the truth about who you think the cutest guy in the grade is. Nothing big. We didn't even kill people for lying or backing out, you know? Just beat 'em up pretty bad.
JET
Ah. But you said-
VESPA sits down heavily, picking up one of the deck's jokers and folding it in half, over and over until there's a neat crease down the middle.
VESPA
Dad played in a different league. You know, he never even told us about it. We weren't stupid, though. We knew where my oldest brother's paychecks were disappearing to. (Laugh) One night I caught him digging through the box where I kept the change that I'd stolen. Not like I could complain. We all did what we had to do, you know? I was only ten. Didn't want him dead, not back then, and they liked to use family as collateral, too.
She tears the card in half, tossing the two halves to the ground and grinding them under her heel, then looks up at JET. He looks back at her, seemingly impassive.
VESPA
(embarrassed cough) Man. Sorry. Didn't mean to just drop all that on you.
JET
It is all right. I should not have pressed you about gambling.
JET reaches under the table, picking up the halves of the ripped card. VESPA sits down heavily in a chair next to him.
VESPA
It's the principle of the thing, you know?
JET
No. Tell me.
VESPA
Just. When you gamble... it's always gonna be the bigger guy that comes out on top. You know? The house always wins. But people don't get it. They don't stop coming back for more. They keep thinking that maybe... maybe next time, they'll win it all. Keep going for bigger and bigger jobs-
JET
Jobs?
VESPA
I mean- bets! Feeling like they need to make up what they've lost. Or, or maybe, or maybe, they get on a winning streak, don't know when to quit when they're ahead, and then, boom, one bad roll of the dice, and there goes all the cash they've won, and everything in their pockets, and in their kids' wallets, too.
JET
(all of a sudden, understanding- this goes deeper than bad memories from Vespa's childhood) I see. Or, one could say, there they go right off the edge of the bridge.
VESPA
(suddenly quiet) What did you say?
JET
Apologies. I didn't mean to pry, I only-
VESPA draws her knife and leans across the table.
VESPA
No, no, go on, say it. You think you know what it's like? You think what Buddy and I had- you think we were just gambling with our lives, huh? Unlike you, Mr. Unnatural Disaster,
JET refrains from taking the bait, only a little perturbed. Her knife looks dangerously sharp, but he doesn't think he'll be finding out firsthand. He's lived with Vespa for long enough to know that, even when she lashes out like this, she's not dangerous. Not to him.
JET
Well, were you?
VESPA
(mirthless laugh; she puts her knife away) Okay, I get it. I see what your game is now. (muttered) God, it's like I can't even try to play a game of solitaire without being psychoanalyzed with you people.
JET
Vespa, you know that was not my intent.
VESPA
Don't tell me what the hell I know.
JET
I did not mean to imply that you and Buddy didn't know what you were getting into. I only meant to empathize. To say I understand what it feels like. To get in deeper and deeper, until one day it all falls apart.
VESPA
Huh. Got a funny way of empathizing, you know?
JET
So I have been told. (a pause) I apologize for my comment about the bridge. It was unnecessary.
VESPA
Yeah, it sure as hell was. And closer to true than I gave you credit for.
JET
Sometimes it hurts the most to hear what we are trying to say.
VESPA
You know what, I don't know what that means, but it's catchy. How do you come up with those things?
JET
I admit, they do not come to me naturally. I have found that people are helped by statements like this, so I spend time trying to come up with them.
VESPA
Hah. Buddy does that too, you know. Plans out all the shit she wants to say a few hours in advance. Days, for really important stuff. You two are a match made in heaven.
JET
We are indeed rather compatible. But of course, as you know, I have no feelings for her beyond the deepest of friendship, and only the affection that comes with such a-
VESPA
(laughs; she sheathes her knife) Hey, relax, big guy, I'm not jealous of you two. You helped her when I wasn't around. That's enough to get you in my good books.
JET
Helped her... yes, I suppose I did.
JET remembers the deck of cards in his hand suddenly, and deals out four before flipping one over.
VESPA
(narrows her eyes) How's this for psychoanalysis. You've got a thing about helping people, huh? Always trying to plan out what to say, trying to work through all our tangles, hell, you sold the Ruby just to buy my girlfriend an eye. What's that all about?
JET
There is plenty of suffering in the world. I feel it important to do my part to help those I can.
VESPA
Noble as hell. (a beat, for emphasis) Trying to make up for something, then?
JET
Vespa, you know what they used to call me. You know the answer to that.
VESPA
So... this whole "family" thing, the Curemother heist, is that all a part of it too?
JET
Buddy needed a mechanic for her crew, and I had no other work to do. But, yes, I admit. I cannot change the past, but nevertheless I find myself trying to make up for it.
VESPA
So you think it's gonna work out, then.
JET
(parroting her tone) So you have your doubts, then.
VESPA
Listen, don't- ugh. God. You know what? Yeah, I do. 'Cuz it seems like too fuckin' sweet an ending to this whole thing. I get the radiation cured, and Bud gets enough hush money from the companies to pay off our crew, and you get to make up for all the stuff the Unnatural Disaster did, and we all live happily ever after, right?
VESPA kicks the table. The cards scatter around, and JET sets to replacing them.
VESPA
But it doesn't fucking- it never works out like that! Bud and I were always looking for- we were always talking about what our last job would be, something impossible and legendary and then we'd either retire to a resort planet and live in luxury or we'd wind up rotting in the ground next to each other. And this- this isn't any different, Sikuliaq! Tell me you understand. Tell me I'm not an idiot. I've seen Buddy's plans, and Zolotovna's just the beginning of it. We're gonna need to get to some galactic criminal in Dark Matters custody, gonna need to break into the fucking Board of Fresh Starts... Jet, come on, tell me I'm not just being paranoid about this. Please.
JET
... I choose not to dwell on failure, beyond having a plan for if it should happen. I agree that our job seems... rather disproportionate to our crew. But I trust Buddy Aurinko with my life. If she says she believes in us to put her plan in action, if she says she has assembled us for a purpose- I choose to trust her.
VESPA
Huh. That sounds real nice.
JET
It certainly eases the mind.
VESPA
(a little bitterly) Wish I could choose to believe something like that. Mind could use a little easing sometimes.
JET
I did not mean to imply-
VESPA
'Course you didn't. It's okay, though. I trust her, too. Just... some days it's a little harder than usual.
JET
I have seen what we are capable of. All of us- yes, Vespa, even Ransom. I do not need to like someone, or even trust them, to appreciate their skill. I do not believe we are... recklessly gambling with our lives.
VESPA
Hope you're right.
JET
As do I.
VESPA
(pause) The Curemother isn't even the only thing I worry might've been a sucker bet, you know. Our crew-
JET
Vespa, my feelings about Ransom have been made clear. And though you and Steel have your differences, he is a competent wit, and his marksmanship ability returns stronger every day. I will not cast doubt upon my closest friend's choice to trust them.
VESPA
(chuckles grimly) Good guess, big guy, but I didn't mean Ransom or Steel. They might be grade-A assholes, and I trust Ransom about as far as he could throw me, but at least they can do their jobs without a babysitter to tell them whether every scary sound is real or not.
JET
Ah.
VESPA indicates the torn card, then the knife.
VESPA
You're a smart guy. You know I'm not... you know that even with the Curemother, the odds are against any of that getting better.
JET
(pointedly genuine) I trust you, Vespa, Curemother or no. There are no odds to speak of. I am not betting on your recovery. You are a skilled doctor, and a competent assassin, and we do not have another of either of those on our crew.
VESPA
(She thinks this over, then offers a small smile; when she speaks again, her tone is lighter, but forced. She's deflecting from a conversation she doesn't want to have.) Well, the hacker's probably watched enough medical dramas to know her way around a medbay, and she's gotta know some stuff about poison, just from all the junk that she eats.
JET
But does she know as much as you do about solitaire?
VESPA
Point taken.
VESPA and JET pore over the remaining cards.
VESPA
Huh. Think you might be out of luck here, Sikuliaq.
JET
It seems that way.
He begins to clean up, shuffling the deck.
VESPA
(casual) Are these the same cards you use when you and Buddy play street poker?
JET
(guiltily) Ah. I was not aware you knew about our little habit.
VESPA
Oh, I don't mind. Yeah, she told me. Like I said, we don't see eye to eye about the whole gambling thing, but that's fine. If we saw eye to eye about everything, we wouldn't be there to check each other, to keep each other from getting too caught up in work or worrying or whatever.
JET
I see. It must be very nice for her, to have someone on board who knows her that well. Who can offer something to work against like that.
VESPA
Huh. Guess so. Maybe that's why she keeps me around.
JET
Among other reasons, I'm sure.
VESPA
One more round? Maybe we'll get lucky this time.