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"She's... your mother? "
"Oh yeah, in all the ways that count."
Ash had said those words as the meds kicked in and she went under in the back of that pelican. She had tried so hard to keep her kids safe, made difficult choices, pulled every string she could, and swept evidence under the rug. She hopes it’s enough to keep them alive. All three of her kids made it onto the pelican before she fully lost consciousness and the darkness took all thought.
When she wakes again, it's in a ship's infirmary. Bandages cover her arms, torso, and head. The beeping monitors display her waking panic as she becomes aware she's alone. Orderlies move to sedate her and their faces and voices blur. She's outside herself again. All of reality is shifted to the left as she hears herself call for her kids, asks where they are. The hands on her arms don't feel real but the splitting headache coming on grounds her. Veta hisses and growls, throat cracking open as she demands to see her kids. Tears sting the corners of her eyes as desperation crawls up her spine. A pinch and she's fading as the door opens and two spill in.
Her brain is foggy but the details stick out. She was a detective and a damn good one, she knows what's important. Ash and Olivia are standing there, panic in their eyes and tension in their jaws, their clothes are ill-fitting and bandages show under too short sleeves and too small tunics. Where's Mark? She hears herself say.
Olivia looks to Ash and Ash looks down and the world goes black again.
The next time she comes to, she's been moved. Veta takes in the closed door, the dark cramped quarters, and the warm hand holding hers. Lolling her head over takes great effort but she's rewarded with two pairs of tired eyes. Ash and Olivia. They're sprawled out next to her bunk which cannot be good for their own wounds. Mark is nowhere to be seen and the burning panic threatens to drown her again. She inhales and holds it before squeezing the hand in hers. It's a monumental task but she lets out a hoarse cough and something close enough to a question.
“Mark’s alive.” The gulf after those words should be joyous but the looks on their faces tell her there’s more there.
Her kids don’t cry easily but Ash’s lips are almost white with how hard he’s pressing them together and Olivia is blinking more than she’s ever seen.
“He’s hurt real bad, Mom. They weren’t sure–” Olivia looks away first and Ash reaches out to touch her shoulder.
“Hey.” She croaks and their eyes shoot up to hers. Hot tears slide down her face and the headache coming is nothing compared to the storm of feelings building in her throat. She swallows thickly. “He’s alive. You’re alive. That’s all that matters. We can handle what happens next.”
Exhaustion takes her soon after, but it comes naturally. The cracks in her skull are healing and the nightmares are fewer and far between. If she gets her strength and balance back, she can make the walk to see Mark. There is no need to hide on the Spirit of Fire . She can ask questions and mother her kids as much as she wants. ONI isn’t out here.
–
When she sees Mark again, her composure is gone. She’s too tired to put on a front for this crew; these are her kids and they almost died and Mark is so pale, so small on the bed with tubes and wires coming out of him. His oxygen levels are low and his breath stutters and wheezes, his heartrate a little too fast as his body tries to heal but there’s so much damage.
She’s able to keep the tears at bay until she’s sitting next to him, clasping his large pale too cold hand in her smaller ones. Even with the bandages and the oxygen mask covering so much of his face she can see how young he looks. She squeezes his hand, thumbs rubbing his knuckles as he sleeps. Olivia and Ash join her vigil and stay as long as they can, unless it's a bad night and the nurses kick them out of the room as Mark fights for breath.
Veta and her ferrets become a fixture of the medical wing, and the crew has the good graces and common sense not to separate a mother from her children.
Rest comes for them eventually, and breathing gets easier for all of them.
–
Awareness comes shrieking into her brain like a banshee and it's only years of training that keep Veta still as she wakes and takes stock. One arm is slightly numb and her head is colder than she remembers it being. That awful haircut, kept only to maintain their cover, shaved off and replaced with bandages and then the soft fuzz of regrowth. Warmth surrounds her, and the droning hum of cycled air is familiar enough. Gunmetal gray meets her eyes as she cracks them open. The dregs of panic slide away along with the memories from the nightmare. Cold water seems like a distant and fake reality as she lays curled up under the blanket. Veta's propped up with her head pillowed in the corner of the bunk with a heavy weight on her stomach.
Focus comes and goes as she squints her eyes towards the sleeping figure across the room. Standard bunks barely contain the awkward lanky limbs of her mutant children. Olivia's head is shielded by her arms as she sleeps folded in on herself, one hand under her pillow. Ash is pressed against the far wall with his hand gripping the edge of the top bunk. Even in sleep they're ready for a fight. If her plan works and she can pull the strings she thinks she can, she’s hoping they won’t ever have to fight again.
Squinting causes the pain in her head to flare and she closes her eyes again before looking down at the weight on her gut. Mark’s hair is finally growing back enough to comb her fingers through. He’s curled around her, breathing still slightly strained. The stilted cadence is music to her ears now, after weeks of listening to him struggle and fight for breath. Words come slower now or in the wrong order, and while he gets frustrated and his brow furrows so much like his dad’s, Veta is grateful to have him alive and in arm’s reach. She doesn’t do well when they are out of sight.
Luckily Captain Cutter had given them quarters together. They had been recovering well enough given that the old tech the Spirit of Fire was equipped with was years out of date. What she wouldn’t give to be back on the Infinity. Their downtime had left her kids squirrely and usually she would be trying to wrangle them into focus for the next mission, but the last two years had been a constant state of anxiety. Their mission and lives had been balanced on the edge of a knife. And they had almost tipped more times than she wanted to think about. It was over, at least their part in it. Healing was the mission now, and waiting to see if the crew had reestablished comms after finding one of the beacons the Infinity had left in an attempt to make contact with the UNSC forces on the Ark.
There’s a knock at the door and she tilts her head. They had been given time alone to rest and she wonders who thinks they are so important they need to bother her and her brood.
She startles, bumps her head, and hisses softly as the door slides open and Fred is standing there, ducking into the doorway and appearing out of nowhere like one of her better dreams. He’s out of the armor and she greedily takes in his naked face. Her mind goes back to their goodbye and the note.
“Easy Inspector, head injuries are no joke, believe me I know.” His voice is quiet but the effect is instantaneous. Olivia and Ash shoot awake and nearly tumble out of their bunks and Mark follows more slowly. His eyes take longer to focus on Fred than the others and Veta squeezes his shoulder as he twists and blocks her view.
Even now he’s ready to defend his family.
Fred smiles and raises his hands to chest level and the ferrets’ defensive postures become open and the most energetic she’s seen in the last few years. Their body language would give nothing away to someone unfamiliar with Spartans but she and Fred can read them like an open book. Fred returns their joy as much as he can, still awkward as he shifts out of the commanding officer role into something more familial.
He comments on their new height and what he’s been told about their mission. He touches Ash’s and Olivia’s shoulders, asks about their own healing injuries and nudges them as he checks them over, all subtly lost after he got twin smiles and two sets of leaking eyes on him.
Mark shuffles next to Veta to make room on the already crowded bunk and she almost waves him off, not expecting it when Fred nods to the now empty spot to her right. Veta nods back and feels like she’s on autopilot or in a dream.
The bunk protests under their combined weight but holds as Fred gingerly sits next to her, arm coming behind both her and Mark and resting across their shoulders. He’s even warmer than Mark and she finds herself leaning into him. They fit together so easily, slotting like puzzle pieces. He squeezes them together and she wraps her good arm around his side as best she can. She feels him slouch and rest his chin on her head, her short hair tickling his throat as he rumbles a quiet “I missed you”. She squeezes him back.