Chapter Text
Uh oh.
That was the first thing you thought when you awoke in a place that was most definitely not your bedroom. It wasn’t even your house. You had absolutely no idea where you were.
You blinked your eyes open, crusted with sleep and burning with exhaustion, but it was too dark to properly see anything around. The smell of something like jet fuel stung your nose, and there was a muffled, repetitive beeping noise coming from somewhere nearby. Maybe you were in the hospital? Yes, you had to have been admitted to the hospital; nothing else would make sense-
Oh shit was your next thought when you suddenly felt the cold metal barrel of what seemed to be a gun press against your temple.
“Don’t. Scream.”
Only then you noticed the leather-gloved hand pressed over your mouth. You nodded as much as you could in your near-paralyzed state, and the hand slowly and cautiously lifted away from your mouth.
“Who the hell are you?” A man- or something like a man- covered nearly head to toe in some kind of metal armor came into view as he kneeled over you, his voice modulated and crackling like he was speaking from a walkie-talkie.
Your eyes widened in shock and you ever so slowly raised your hands beside your head in a gesture of surrender. “Uh, hi. Please don’t hurt me.” You chuckled nervously, “I have money, I think.”
“I don’t want your money,” The robotic-looking man gritted out, “I want to know how you got on my ship.”
“I don’t know, you’re the one who kidnapped me!” You shouted at him, the adrenaline caused by your current predicament beginning to flow through your body.
The man seemed taken aback at your words, helmet tilting slightly to the side in what you assumed was confusion. “I did not kidnap you, you’re not my quarry.”
You ignored the unfamiliar word. “Look, all I know is that when I went to sleep I was in my bedroom. Now I’m in- I’m in your ship or whatever, and I have absolutely no idea how I got here, so please just let me go. You can use my phone and call my family, I’m sure they can give you what money I have in my bank account.”
“Phone?” He asked quietly, more to himself than anything before turning his attention back to you, “Who are you? What planet are you from?”
In a state of panic you rambled off your full legal name, full street address, and even your parent’s phone number for him to call for ransom, which only seemed to confuse the man more.
“I did not come onto your ship, at least not purposely. Please, you have to believe me!” You finished off your ramble, huffing breathlessly as you focused on the man above you.
He studied you for a moment, and it was as if you could see through that strange helmet of his; you could feel his eyes burning on and through you as he assessed you for potential trickery. You tried your hardest not to cower under his hidden gaze.
“I do. I believe you,” He muttered after some time, his voice softer and calmer than it had been since you first heard it. With a tired sigh, he continued, “I can take you back to your home planet.”
You breathed out a sigh of relief, closing your eyes for a moment in gratitude and trying to hold back tears. “Thank you, thank you so much!”
He simply stood, groaning as he did, and held out a gloved hand for you to take. Hesitantly, you slipped your hand into his and allowed him to pull you up off the ground, not gentle by any means. Once you were secure on your feet, he turned away from you, moved towards a short ladder, and began to climb it, signaling for you to follow him.
Once he was at the top, you climbed the ladder behind him and followed him through a door… and your jaw dropped.
You truly appeared to be on some sort of ship. It looked straight out of some sci-fi show, with a control panel full of flashing buttons, plus a hoard of mechanical equipment and technology you didn’t recognize. But what really took your breath away were the stars.
Stars, endless stars surrounded you. Out of every window, stars of different colors glistened in the dark sky. If this was some strange, lucid dream, the sight alone made you never want to wake up. You almost wanted to jump out of the ship to try and touch them, but with your limited knowledge of space you knew that probably wouldn’t be a good idea.
“Holy shit, we’re really in space!” You cried out joyously, moving closer to the windshield to get a better look at the stars. “Is this a rocket ship?”
“No, it’s a gunship.” He replied, a hint of confusion in his tone that nearly flew over your head. You decided to ignore it considering your own confusion at the term ‘gunship’, and he continued, “I assume you’ve never been off-world before.”
“No.” You murmured, but quickly clarified, “Not many of the people on my planet do. Only the trained astronauts- professionals- are allowed to travel through space, and they usually don’t go very far.”
He grunted in acknowledgment, not uncaringly, gesturing towards a chair towards the back of the cockpit. “Have a seat.”
You nodded and sat in the slightly uncomfortable passenger seat, fastening the seatbelt securely around yourself. You began to fiddle with the straps over your shoulders, trying to calm your nerves.
The man began to configure the ship’s controls, pressing buttons and flipping switches. “What planet are you from?”
“Uh, Earth?”
“Never heard of it.” He grumbled, looking at some sort of screen on the control panel, “Is it inner or outer rim? Do you have its coordinates?”
“Um, I don’t know what that means, and no.” You began to wring your hands anxiously, “It’s between Mars and Venus? In the solar system?”
“Never heard of those planets either.” He turned in his seat to face you, and you could practically feel the suspicion rising from him. “I can’t take you home if I don’t know where ‘home’ is.”
You chewed your bottom lip nervously, a sinking feeling gnawing at your stomach. “So what does that mean for me?”
“I can try to ask around and see if anyone knows the coordinates to ‘Earth’, seeing as it somehow must be outside the outer rim, but for now…” He trailed off with a sigh, “You’re stuck here. With me.”